Legion Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 This may be an odd subject for the spirituality forum. I don’t know. I knew a woman one time with whom it was very difficult to interact. And I didn’t really understand her. She was very manipulative in my opinion, but I could see no purpose behind it. I began meditating on her one day, without actually realizing it. I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom. I often spend time in silent thought where ever I happen to find myself. But this time something strange happened. At some point the room around me faded from my awareness. And I had something that was akin to a vision. I saw this woman’s face floating before me. And then slowly other vague and unidentifiable faces appeared arrayed behind her, like a silent army. Then I became aware of a dark and menacing presence that was floating nearby this woman and the field of faces behind her. The appearance of this dark presence shocked me. I distinctly remember being shocked by it. I didn’t know what it was. And then its name came to me almost as if being spoken from another person. Spite! Its name was spite! And when the name of this malicious presence came to me, it was as if I was simultaneously given an understanding of it’s nature. And then the vision faded and the room came back into my awareness. I don’t remember having an experience like that before or since. But I know now that I don’t ever want to act out of spite. In my estimation spite only turns your own energies against you and those around you. And it seeks to reach its tentacles into any opening it can find. I can see no redeeming qualities of spite at all. Anyway, I thought I would share that with you guys and gals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franko47 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 That's an interesting experience. I thought I would comment on it, since it is similar to a couple of things that I have encountered when one is either deep in thought or in that groove between waking and sleep. I had a sort of concept-rush that concerned the notion of hate; and a sense of just how powerful it can be. In this experience I realized how anti-life it was, and how unlimited destruction can flow from it. Similarily, it had to do in a way with a person who had wronged me deeply about a year before; and I visualized this person choking a harmless robin, just for the pleasure of snuffing out a life. Any life. In the waking vision I had to slowly watch the small bird being strangled, and then the look of satisfaction on the person's face. It caused quite a reaction in me, as I abruptly snapped back to normal-world status, but even to this day I'm reminded of it sometimes when I watch birds going about their business. Kind of funny, I know. Some would call this kind of experience a sort of "gestalt" thing, at least in concept, where a single basic idea is amplified in meaning and texture in a most extreme way. The "spite" thing is kind of interesting, since the effect can work both ways. As humans we should be shocked by hatred or spite directed our way, as well as when we do it ourselves. When I was younger there was an incident once where I had to fight off a person for my very life; it was pretty scary, although it was a brief altercation and I was helped by a couple of guys who happened to be driving past. My assailant was just some nut case high on drugs (or not medicated) who had a weapon and had decided to viciously attack me for no reason. Strangely though, I never resented that lunatic, nor did I ever really find out what happened to him after the police took him away. It didn't even affect me that badly, since it wasn't personal. He wasn't even trying to rob me; he was just in a highly psychotic state. Through the years I always felt sorry for the guy, and hoped that he got treatment or whatever. Never felt any spite. Never even had nightmares about it. Not like I have about other things, most of which weren't really life-threatening. Kind of strange, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 That's an interesting experience. I thought I would comment on it, since it is similar to a couple of things that I have encountered when one is either deep in thought or in that groove between waking and sleep. Hey there Franko. I welcome your comments. I thought it was an interesting experience too. I believe you’re right. Deep thought describes the state I was in. In the waking vision I had to slowly watch the small bird being strangled, and then the look of satisfaction on the person's face. It caused quite a reaction in me, as I abruptly snapped back to normal-world status, but even to this day I'm reminded of it sometimes when I watch birds going about their business. That’s it. Just as you, I had a strange experience and then I snapped back to a normal state of mind. Except I felt elated afterwards. I felt that I had been given some deep insight. It was very odd. Did you feel as if you had been given deep insight into the nature of hate after your experience? Kind of funny, I know. Some would call this kind of experience a sort of "gestalt" thing, at least in concept, where a single basic idea is amplified in meaning and texture in a most extreme way. Yeah, I know that it took place entirely within my own mind, like a waking dream. But it was so vivid and meaningful. I wonder how many other people have experienced something similar and attributed it to the supernatural or thought it was divine revelation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franko47 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Did you feel as if you had been given deep insight into the nature of hate after your experience? Absolutely. It took a while to sort out some of the concepts of my experience, like being blasted by information that still must take a little time to get sorted out. One thing that I began to look for was the intrinsic mechanism of hate, and to some degree the mechanism of evil. It's interesting to note that there are very few studies that have ever really taken on the challenge of dissecting the basis of human evil. Religion keeps telling us how evil we all are, and how we need to try harder, and be better people, and blah, blah, blah....but never really discuss the foundation of this phenomenon. The main failing point to me, of the Bible and most religion, is that it doesn't tell us anything about the nature of reality, or the mechanics of human nature. If anything, it attempts to continously recreate the conditions for disaster that we have seen throughout human history and even today. I wonder how many other people have experienced something similar and attributed it to the supernatural or thought it was divine revelation. It's easy to think about it as something coming to you from "out there". It sometimes seems like that. It's funny to be an atheist who has mystical experiences. In some abstract way, the whole may be greater than the sum of the parts. But once again, religion loves to disqualify insight and revelation that may conflict with the carefully guarded rules of approach. Like other forms of mind control and indoctrination, it tries to force the individual into filtering their experiences through their specific system of rules. Or disqualify them as having an evil source. I've run into that one, too. I guess that brings us to the notion of fear. A key component in the mechanism of hatred. However, I don't need to expound upon that one. By now most people realize that clearly, fear is the fuel of political, social, cultural, and religious ideology. The need to control; the need to be controlled. The fear of that which is different. New. Even provocative. Yeah, that's worth a few threads all on it's own. Despite this being an "ex-Christian" site, I still feel the need sometimes to mention that every time I embark upon a key and valuable insight, it goes against some kind of popular religious viewpoint. Someone once said that there are many of us who think "outside the box". Those that believe in religion were made for the box. That's who the box is for. It's not that they are too shallow or dumb to understand interesting concepts; they just don't want to. It's not even a matter of their mind being closed. They just don't want it to become more interesting. They want it mundane. Controlled. Final. Without mystery. Explained. And certain. I call it the "nazification of the mind". Just look at these believers who come on to this site and within moments are sputtering Bible quotes and regurgitating pompous and obsessed rhetoric that they've been indoctrinated with to a point where they can't even think differently about it at any level. Lost in their maze of illusion... yet few of them will claim direct personal revelation in a powerful experience that forms the basis of their religious belief. Meaningful and imaginative personal experience. That's the mind-blowing part. It's like going to a yard sale and buying someone else's diary. What, you're going to center your life around the experiences and personal revelations of other people ? Yet that's what many of them do. Eventually, humans will discover the gracious and wonderful miracle: the human mind. And that in the end, there's nothing wrong with us. That's an illusion too. We are all wonderful creations of nature, as wonderful as that lion in the jungle, or the eagle in the sky, a beautiful part of the cosmos, or the creation of some kind of matrixed intelligence (God). Whatever the case, when we cease teaching everyone to hate themselves, feel inadequate, and dangle impossibly foolish and imaginary scenarios that make little sense and are of little use, will our species significantly progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotBlinded Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 This may be an odd subject for the spirituality forum. I don’t know. I knew a woman one time with whom it was very difficult to interact. And I didn’t really understand her. She was very manipulative in my opinion, but I could see no purpose behind it. I began meditating on her one day, without actually realizing it. I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom. I often spend time in silent thought where ever I happen to find myself. But this time something strange happened. At some point the room around me faded from my awareness. And I had something that was akin to a vision. I saw this woman’s face floating before me. And then slowly other vague and unidentifiable faces appeared arrayed behind her, like a silent army. Then I became aware of a dark and menacing presence that was floating nearby this woman and the field of faces behind her. The appearance of this dark presence shocked me. I distinctly remember being shocked by it. I didn’t know what it was. And then its name came to me almost as if being spoken from another person. Spite! Its name was spite! And when the name of this malicious presence came to me, it was as if I was simultaneously given an understanding of it’s nature. And then the vision faded and the room came back into my awareness. I don’t remember having an experience like that before or since. But I know now that I don’t ever want to act out of spite. In my estimation spite only turns your own energies against you and those around you. And it seeks to reach its tentacles into any opening it can find. I can see no redeeming qualities of spite at all. Anyway, I thought I would share that with you guys and gals. Hi Legion. I can't say that I've had any experiences like this probably because I don't really meditate. But, I had a dream once where I was outside a childhood neighbor's house. Jesus was inside and he was being stoned. He told me to let the white stones pass but to stop the black ones. I've never really made sense of that dream in a way that I like. I think Franko made a wonderful post here in regards to filtering our experiences through what we know. These mystical experiences can happen to anyone and they will naturally filter it though what they know. I think this happened to Paul and Jesus became what Paul envisioned through his own filters. His was one of Judaism. He didn't think outside of this box and put it into a perspective that was inclusive. I find now in the world of information, that we can put these experiences into a perspective that would be more universal in nature, as you have done. If you would have had this vision as a protected Christian, you probably would have seen this dark essence as being a deadly sin that damns one to a literal hell. You could create a new religion out of it! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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