Do you talk to GOD?

Discussion in 'Religion' started by sculptor, Oct 6, 2021.

  1. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    and
    people emit light
    and, not just infrared

    Have you ever seen an aura from a human?

    Long ago and far away as I lay down with a young woman, as she fell asleep, it was as though someone had put out a blue light. So her light was blue?
    I never saw it when looking at her, but perceived it indirectly.
    No less real?

    ................................
    Back story
    She was a cocktail waitress. and would occasionally bring home the wrong guy, whereupon she would call me and ask for a rescue.
    I would go to her house, pretending to live there,, and after a few minutes of pleasantries announce that I was tired and, asking her to join me, head to bed---bidding the unwelcome guest to find his own way out.
    It was on one such night that I saw the light.
     
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  3. Yazata Valued Senior Member

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    I have (very occasionally in the past) but not as a rule. I think that many/most people do, even atheists. I don't see anything wrong with it.

    Even if one has no belief that there is anyone out there to hear the prayer, I suppose that one could think of prayer as a sort of meditation practice. As a centering exercise of some sort.

    (I'm struck by the ubiquitous use of strings of prayer beads in the world's religions. Catholic rosaries, and very similar objects in Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism all used for very similar purposes.

    I do meditate (not as often as I should, mostly breathing meditation). But I don't form it into conversation or direct it at anyone, whether the personalized ultimate principle of reality or whatever.
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2021
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  5. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    How do you know it's God you talk to and not an independent agency of your own brain?
     
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  7. Beer w/Straw Transcendental Ignorance! Valued Senior Member

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    I talk to God through religious ceremony

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  8. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Perhaps that independent agency in your brain likes the ritual......

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  9. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    As an atheist myself, I can't imagine what might prompt an atheist to try talking to God. That old myth about atheists in foxholes doesn't really stand up to scutiny.

    By "talking to God" I mean sincerely trying to reach out to a supreme being - not just shouting out "Jesus!" when you stub your toe on the furniture or something.

    Since I became an atheist, I have never talked to God. There have been a few times where it has crossed my mind that it might be useful if a caring, loving God could step in to help with some kind problem, but I've always been aware of the irony behind that kind of thought.

    I think that if you were to poll atheists, you wouldn't find many who would support your belief.
    At best, it's a pointless time waster. At worst, it means that you might be depending on a non-existent entity for assistance, comfort or similar, which might actually be detrimental. If you think that a supernatural being is going to solve your problems for you (or help you to solve them), and that's an unrealistic expectation, that might well prevent you from effectively addressing the reality.
    If one has no belief that God will hear a prayer, then one is aware that the benefits of the meditation practice have nothing to do with God.
     
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  10. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    I've met several people who enjoy the ceremony, particulary in Catholicism. Frankly, the ceremony creeps me out a bit. (Think of the Thuggee human sacrifice in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.)
     
  11. Beer w/Straw Transcendental Ignorance! Valued Senior Member

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    If this is what you are talking about:

    well, I don't know what to say. I thought you'd be braver.
     
  12. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    I'm not afraid of Kali any more than I'm afraid of Jehovah. As with most religions, it's the believers who are really scary.

    But I didn't say I was afraid. I said I was creeped out by the ceremony. The mindlessness of it bothers me.
     
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  13. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Are you speaking from personal experience?
     
  14. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    Which is why I avoid political rallies.
     
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  15. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    Among other lines of evidence, yes.
     
  16. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    What were you actually expecting?
     
  17. Ultron Registered Senior Member

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    Personally Im kind of agnostic seeking for truth. Maybe there is some God, but it seems to me even if there is one, he has just set the stage and is not actively communicating with individuals. But maybe there are some "messenger of God" intelligent beings. Any maybe they are somehow communicating with me. Especially in my dreams and during trips. Sometimes very strange things happen to me also in real life. But this is very rare.

    But there are quite easy ways to confirm there is something real going on or not. For example if I get granted my wish, that I want to stay young and healthy for at least 150 years of age, or even for 2000 years, this could serve as an good proof that there is something going on. Or I will have prophetic dream that I should buy some weird altcoin because it will gain 1000% in next month and then it will happen for real.
     
  18. Beer w/Straw Transcendental Ignorance! Valued Senior Member

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    "So you're the messenger of God telling these people to go screw themselves?"

     
  19. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    Regarding what?
     
  20. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    When talking to God.
     
  21. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    I think I already posted about that, above.
     
  22. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    OTOH believing there is an infinitely powerful and all knowing being on your side and helping you may be just the confidence booster to get you to take action. It's hard to feel helpless when you believe in a loving and involved God.

    I am an agnostic at this stage of my life. In desperate times, I pray to what I know not. I call it the Universe, the Great Spirit, Mother Earth, God. The praying seems to work in calming me down and relieving my worries. It's as if I've handed over my burden to fate, opening me up to whatever it turns out to be. It usually turns out ok since I am a bit of an overworrier.
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2021
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  23. arfa brane call me arf Valued Senior Member

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    I'm fascinated, I have to say, with what people have to say about God.

    Lots of people say God has to be a hallucination, or some imaginary being; God doesn't exist because, they tell you with firm conviction, they've seen no evidence of God.

    But I think to myself, no, such opinions are those of people who just don't know what or who God is, and this appears to be, to me at least, because they don't know what or who they themselves "really are". Being human is part of this whole conundrum, of course. Perhaps people who convince themselves God isn't real, just don't understand what being human "really means".

    Religions, of course, are founded on something else, (or, perhaps, on a really good understanding of how superstitious we all are).
     

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