Standard Spirituality Primer: Spirituality as Social-Relational Self and Spiritual Self

Throughout the history of humanity SPIRITUALTIY HAS BEEN PIVOTAL IN HUMAN SOCIETY AND HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS. There is no real reason to expect anything different in modern times - though seemingly primarily unconscious. In spite of the modern academic materialist ideology which is horribly repressive of spirituality especially transcendental spirituality, studies consistently demonstrate that somewhere between 1/3 to half of people have spiritual or spiritual-psychic experiences of one kind of another – though totally ignored by mainstream psychology. Furthermore, as Carole Cusack observes -through fandom studies – there has been a “democratization” of spirituality and spiritual beliefs.

“Spirituality is a natural human predisposition!”….It is more primal than institutional religion and concerns a person’s sense of connectedness with self, others, and the world (or cosmos)!” - (Children’s Grief Dreams and the Theory of Spiritual Intelligence, by Kate Adams Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln Brendan Hyde Australian Catholic University) As Karen Armstrong noted in The Case for God, the first evidence for human ideologies can be found in the prehistoric cave paintings of “shamans” in the French and Spanish caves dating as far back as twenty or thirty thousand years.

‘Spirituality’ “is more primal than institutional religion”

“It [spirituality] is more primal than institutional religion” – that is Fact. Nicholas J Conrad, et all state that “Here we report the discovery of bone and ivory flutes from the early Aurignacian period of southwestern Germany. These finds demonstrate the presence of a well-established musical tradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe, more than 35,000 calendar years ago. Other than the caves of the Swabian Jura, the earliest secure archaeological evidence for music comes from sites in France and Austria and post-date 30,000 years ago6–8 (New flutes document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern Germany Nicholas J Conard , Maria Malina, Susanne C Münzel) That is - very roughly - about the same time cave paintings appeared in France and Spain. Cave paintings in Indonesia appeared a decade or so before the cave paintings in France and Spain.

The Social and Spiritual Self

Music is a fundamental part of our evolution – and functional because it facilitates “human contact” and out “social self”

“Modern humans can be differentiated in the archaeological record from our predecessors and our sibling species (such as Neanderthals) by an immense leap in cognitive flexibility and by a capacity to enter into and sustain a wide range of social relationships and interactions (Mithen, 1996). It seems likely that proto-musical capacities and their cultural particularisations as musics were crucial factors in precipitating and sustaining the social and cognitive versatility that mark modern humans (Cross, 1999). In effect, musicality can be interpreted as complementing language in human evolution, filling in the 'gaps' in language function through its combination of embodiment, entrainment, and transposability of intentionality. (p. 5 – 6) (Music and evolution Ian Cross)

Music is a core human experience and generative processes reflect cognitive capabilities. Music is often functional because it is something that can promote human well-being by facilitating human contact, human meaning, and human imagination of possibilities, tying it to our social instincts. Music is a fundamental part of our evolution – and functional because it facilitates “human contact” and out “social self” (The evolution of music and human social capability Jay Schulkin, Greta B. Raglan Front Neurosci. 2014; 8: 292. Published online 2014 Sep 17. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00292)

The Social & Spiritual Self: Relational Spirituality

David Hay, researcher and theologian observed: “‘Relational consciousness’ caught us by surprise, because we had some notion of spirituality as a solitary affair, something very private. What impressed us very strongly was how ‘relational consciousness’ not only seems to be closely related to, if not identical to spiritual awareness; it also underlies the ethical impulse. In our research we always ask people to tell us in what way their spiritual experience has affected their lives. By far the commonest of all answers is that they say they want to behave better. One way of putting this is to say that the ‘psychological distance’ between themselves and other people, the environment and (if they are religious believers) God, becomes much shorter. If someone else, or the environment, is harmed they feel that they too are damaged in some way.

That great Scottish philosopher John Macmurray (1961), had already enunciated something similar in his Gifford Lectures in Glasgow University in 1954: ……the unit of personal existence is not the individual, but two persons in personal relation; and that we are persons not by individual right, but in virtue of our relation to one another….. The unit of the personal is not the ‘I’ but the ‘You and I’.” I.     (THE SPIRITUALITY OF ADULTS IN BRITAIN – RECENT RESEARCH David Hay)

Genetics, Spiritual Symbolism and Energy:

After tens of thousands of years of spiritual and religious beliefs it should be no surprise that spiritual symbolism is a reality in the unconscious – but for many academics it is not just surprising but shocking. Tim Spector states, “They [the researchers] estimated the heritability of spirituality to be around 40 to 50 percent, which is quite high considering how tricky it is to measure. Other U.S. studies using even more detailed questions in larger numbers have found similar or even stronger genetic influences. These studies demonstrate our variable but innate inherited sense of spirituality, which affects how we perceive the world, ourselves and the universe. (What Twins Reveal About The Science Of Faith (Popular Science, August 8, 2013)

The Reality of Unconscious Spiritual Symbolism Sociological Evidence from the massive social popularity of Fandoms – of Star Wars, Harry Potter

The contemporary-modern popularity of Star Wars and Harry Potter, and the numerous other imaginative fandoms, that provides massive data and evidence of the existence of unconscious spiritual symbolism. Rhiannon Grant in The Sacred in Fantastic Fandom, Grant observes in 2001, the British government ran a regular census, but they included a new question about religion. In response, almost 0.8 percent of the total population said they were a “Jedi” or Jedi knight!” (p. 38) Those results were repeated in Australia and New Zealand.

As Carole Cusack correctly observes “the imaginative exercise of realizing that world (of spirituality and supernatural force in Harry Potter and Star Wars) is extremely attractive……(p.27) In light of the "Fandom" sociological reality, spiritual symbols might best be understood in terms of Jungian analyses of emotions attached to spiritual; symbols.

Pivotal Piece of the Puzzle: Emotional Motivations Derived from Unconscious Spiritual Symbolism

A.  Preface: Unconscious Processes = The Lion’s Share:

Modern Research Demonstrates that the “Unconscious” processes 11 million bits of data per second vs 40 bits of data per second processed by cognitive processes

The unconscious processing abilities of the human brain are estimated at roughly 11 million pieces of information per second. Compare that to the estimate for conscious processing: about 40 pieces per second. Our conscious processing capacity isn’t insignificant, but clearly, it’s just a retention pond compared to the ocean of the unconscious. And more and more research is uncovering abilities of the unconscious that defy reason. (From: Forbes: Your Brain Sees Even When You Don’t June 24, 2013)

The Lion’s share: Based on the accumulated evidence, the authors conclude that these various non-conscious mental systems shoulder the lion's share of the self-regulatory burden, thereby keeping the individual grounded in their current environment.”

“The idea that social perception is a largely automated psychological phenomenon is now widely accepted.” If you think of how much information of social interactions is available that makes sense. Even in basic exchanges between two people involve a lot of information such as tone of voice, body language, hand gestures, and facial features which studies show convey a lot of information. Then there is social context and circumstances. Plus, there are theory of mind processes which process information about the intentions of another person.

Synthesis Consensus of Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung and William James: a (practically) useful frame-work for understanding

Quantum Physics has added another dimension to the argument that [spiritual] “experiences create a sense of reality” The famous physicist, Werner Heisenberg, one of the founding fathers of Quantum Mechanic, perhaps, put it even better, when he argued that "Science no longer confronts nature as an objective observer, but sees itself as an actor in this interplay between man [sic] and nature. The scientific method of analysis" was unquestionably altered by the "fact that by its intervention science alters and refashions the object of investigation."

The famous physicist John Archibald Wheeler, who popularized the idea of "black hole" in physics, mirrored Heisenberg, when he stated, “this is a participatory universe [and] observer-participancy gives rise to information.”

The Synthesis-Consensus of Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, and William James: a framework for understanding spiritual experiences

The synthesis consensus of Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, and William James simply put is that "spirit, spiritual processes, and religious beliefs create meaning, a sense of reality - and ultimately Reality, and Truth. In the anthology, Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology (2014), Paul Wong, observes: “Frankl considers meaning seeking as stemming from one’s spiritual nature.

Three characteristics

1.          "spirit, spiritual processes, and religious beliefs create meaning, a sense of reality - and ultimately Reality, and Truth.

2.          Tolerance: That different experiences create different worldviews and understandings

3.          Spiritual symbolism generates emotional energy 

William James emphasizes in his classic work, originally published in 1902, The Varieties of Religious Experiences: “They [spiritual experiences] determine our vital attitude [sense of reality] as decisively as the vital attitude of lovers is determined by the habitual sense,…” Jung observed, in the Collected Works (CW8: 648 -1968 revised) that “Life and spirit are two powers or necessities between which man is placed. Spirit gives meaning to his life, and the possibility of its greatest development.

Spiritual and religious beliefs and ideas are very real and incredibly powerful.

From that perspective, the idea of "spirit" as energy and force is very real, especially in light of a social-collective consciousness.

William James: “They [abstractions (symbols) and spiritual emotions-experiences] determine our vital attitude as decisively as the vital attitude of lovers is determined by the habitual sense, …… They are convincing to those who have them as any direct sensible experiences can be, and they are, as a rule, much more convincing than results established by mere logic are……if you do have them, and have them at all strongly, the probability is that you cannot help regarding them as genuine perceptions of truth, as revelations of a kind of reality [my underlining] which no adverse argument, however unanswerable by you in words, can expel from your belief" is what William James emphasizes in his classic work, originally published in 1902, The Varieties of Religious Experiences. (P.47) William James goes on to say that religious experiences and spiritual experiences create and generate a “sense of reality” (p.48)

The psychologist Donald Kalsched observes, "Archetypal energy is rooted deep in the unconscious and it is ‘archaic’, primitive, and also ‘typical’. He goes on to say, "because they exist in raw, unmediated form they tend to be over-powering."

Nancy Furlotti similarly states, " Affect emerges from archetypes, which are the a priori ordering principles of nature, the world, and the psyche. When an archetype is activated, energy is put in motion that does not adhere to the laws of causality, or time and space." (Tracing a Red Thread: Synchronicity and Jung’s Red Book:(2010), Psychological Perspectives, 53:4, 455-478)

Spiritual Idealism: Social and Moral Order

In The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, first published in 1912, Emile Durkheim, a founding father of sociology, stated that "A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, i.e., things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite in one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them.

Indeed, the whole Ifugao social order, including practical ways of life, social institutions and rules, morality and everything else, constitutes a unitary system; and it is looked upon as a religious phenomenon of supernatural origin. Describing an example of this primitive Filipino world-view, an anthropologist says,. . . They see in the environment countless deities and potentially malign spirits, and interact with them daily. When a huge tree crashes on a person who is making a clearing, it is seen as the act of an angry spirit. In treating the environment as social, the people are provided with an ordered explanation of 'natural' phenomena. In sum, one social and moral order encompasses the living, the dead, the deities and the spirits , and the total environment.) Religious Experience in the Philippines: From Mythos Through Logos to Kairos RAMON C. REYES)

Durkheim argued that religion was the most fundamental social institution of humankind, and further, that religion gave birth to social-religious beliefs that later became integrated into the social structure. Durkheim felt that social interaction was the pivotal factor of forming society and that religious beliefs are a major influence on social interactions - and thus essential to the formation of 'society.' The fact that religions have consistently advocated ideals such as compassion, justice, righteousness, as well as truth (being cynical, I should add - at least among their own members), would seem to lend strong support to Durkheim's arguments. That is, the synergies between social factors and religious influences, which emerged simultaneously in primitive societies, produced a collective consciousness - a social-religious community as it were.

Modern Sociological Evidence that Unconscious Spiritual Symbolism may, in fact, be the social and moral foundation of society.

Catherine Hall in her study and analysis of Harry Potter fans and fandom observes: Wizard rock, often stylized in written form as ‘wrock’, creatively engages with and augments the content world of Harry Potter through musically and lyrically diverse performances. Fan studies centred on Harry Potter have often discussed the application of fictional heroism to real-world issues, and wizard rock musicians are frequently cited as fandom activists.

Similar to their heroes in the books, these musicians imbue their music and their self images with the series’ morals, historical tropes and archetypes. They make this morality tangible by donating proceeds of compilation albums or music subscription series sales to nonprofit organizations, and by weaving these messages into their music. I argue that the wizard rock community’s application of fictional heroism through music, lyrics and performance encourages fellow Harry Potter fans to embrace heroic qualities in the real world. (CATHERINE HALL ‘Reading and [w]rocking’: Morality and musical creativity in the Harry Potter fandom)

Conclusion: Unconscious Spiritual Symbolism is correlated with ideals and prosocial values 

A people focus: J.E. Kennedy and H. Kanthamani

An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Paranormal and Spiritual Experiences on Peoples' Lives and Well-Being

Data from a convenience sample of 120 people actively interested in parapsychology who reported having had at least one paranormal and/or transcendent experience showed that these experiences increased their interest and beliefs in spiritual matters and increased their sense of well-being. More specifically, the majority of respondents indicated that the experiences resulted in increased belief in life after death, belief that their lives are guided or watched over by a higher force or being, interest in spiritual or religious matters, sense of connection to others, happiness, well-being, confidence, optimism about the future, and meaning in life. They also indicated decreases in fear of death, depression or anxiety, isolation and loneliness, and worry and fears about the future. A large majority of respondents indicated that these effects resulted from a combination of more than one paranormal and/or transcendent experience. The magnitude of changes in well-being and spirituality were positively associated with the number of anomalous experiences. Measures of current well-being and current importance of spirituality were positively associated with reported changes in well-being and spirituality resulting from anomalous experiences. 

(Original publication and copyright: The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research,1995, Volume 89, pp.249-265.)

Up Close and Personal

Although 45% of the respondents indicated that a paranormal experience had made them very afraid, this fear appeared to be temporary or mixed with positive feeling because only 9% indicated that their experiences have been scary with no positive value. Further research should investigate the extent to which the findings for this selected sample apply to other populations and the extent to which motivations relating to spirituality direct or underlie the occurrence of paranormal phenomena, including in experimental settings. 

Rebecca: "fractured by this weighted sight"

Rebecca, who was very private about her experiences, as many are, spoke about the essence of spirituality in a poem about her experiences which is really both eloquent and succinct. The pivotal question is as Rebecca says: "I must believe or not believe"  - Yes, Spiritual Experiences ask Hamlet's Question punctuated by powerful emotions: "To Be or Not To Be; That is The Question!"

Rebecca's Poem: "I must believe or not believe"

The gift and curse of this sight

Colors my world in shades of blue

I must believe or not believe

Stay blind or walk the path to you

And while I surrender to the mystery

All the feelings come along too

I get fractured by this weighted sight

Flynn: "What is the meaning of it ,I am not sure, yet It happened several times and it is my reality."

Flynn, who at age nine, had a dream that his mother would die mirrors what Rebeca Says as well! Flynn observes:

"Many times I have explained to my children that reality is a very important observation and that understanding it, is living in the now the present regardless of the past reality which only exists in your mind .They have started to understand and understanding it does not destroy the world you live in if you have always been kept in the loop as it is called your reality for example if i have seen the future told others of it and it happens what is the meaning of it ,I am not sure, yet It happened several times and it is my reality."

William James & Sense of Reality! William James First Law of Spirituality

Both Carl Jung and William James emphasized the fact that experiences shape and determine peoples beliefs and worldviews. William James in his classic work The Varieties of Religious Experience, originally published in 1902, observes that "if you do have them, and have them at all strongly, the probability is that you cannot help regarding them as genuine perceptions of truth, as revelations of a kind of reality which no adverse argument, however unanswerable by you in words, can expel from your belief" is what William James emphasizes in his classic work, , The Varieties of Religious Experiences. (P.47) William James goes on to say that religious experiences and spiritual experiences create and generate a “sense of reality” (p.48) Jung said the same thing actually - that experiences shape a person's reality (Duh!) 

Normalcy 

Minimally 110 Americans Have Spiritual-Psychic Experiences. Consistently studies show that somewhere between one half to one third to half of people have spiritual-psychic experiences of one sort or another. Crystal L. Park and Raymond F. Paloutzian, editors of the comprehensive anthology, Handbook Of The Psychology Of Religion And Spirituality, observe that "Numerous survey studies in both the United States and Europe have demonstrated the normalcy of reports of religious experiences, including mystical experience (see Spilka, Hood, Hunsberger, & Gorsuch, 2003, pp. 307-312). (p. 67 The Guilford Press, New York, 2005)

As a point of information I would emphasize that none of my five psychology of religion books, while they all discussed William James, every one overlooked the concept of "sense of reality" which many spiritual people highlight - and frequently. I asked a current student of child development psychology if she had ever heard about William James 1902 classic or sense of reality. On top of that materialist psychologists on FB psychology groups quite honestly don't give a damn what William James thinks. That is literally a true fact - I encountered that in many discussions. I should say protocol rules on Linkedin in are different. I would describe FB science and psychology groups when it comes to spirituality as a free fire zone.

What Spiritual People Say about Spirit and Spirituality

Gerlinde

I'm Gerlinde Staffler, a writer from Italy, I started to write in September 2020.

My poems are mostly emotional and strongly philosophic and spiritual! This sides in me are the motor to live the life in fullest way!

Spirituality is a limitless dimension of human experience and has a special approach to life, where research and inner growth counts, extending our life to a deeper level of existence that brings balance to body, mind and soul.

I have written the poem "The path..my path" during a walk in nature...walking is like let flowing my feelings and thoughts about life inside and outside me. The path is a writing about our choices for the future and at the same time life lays many surprises on the way, therefore we never know exactly our destination ... but we should never worry too much and go ahead listening to our inner voice.

Linda

Linda Skarrup observed that "Spirit" covers a wide range of beliefs and experiences that are personal! I don't think it's possible to pin it down to just one 'thing'.....for myself, it was a gradual awakening as to who, I AM. It was always there waiting, my first direct experience was at a meditation retreat in Montana... 30 days, no talking, nothing but meditation, food, sleep. One morning, while watching the snow come down outside through a big picture window, I heard the phrase: "this", is all there is"!

Later Linda added that "My spiritual practices GOT ME TO HERE! There are many paths, many teachings and many teachers.... seek and you will find the right One For You...

Last year when I started my spiritual awakening, coming from a life of agnosticism and eventual atheism, I felt that I was only now beginning to reclaim something that was stolen from me a long time ago.

Angel

In a parallel way of looking at spirituality, Angel, a counselor and companion in my journey, also spoke about spirituality being "everything" - an all inclusive way of looking at the world at coping with the world. She proclaimed: “Spirit, to me, is literally; everything. It is the universe beyond our very small, limited existence as human in a physical world. This encompasses your view too, of Spirit being a creative force. It is THE creative force since it is everything. So, when we as humans, create or connect or dream or heal...we tap into Spirit.”

Annie, a psychology student in a masters program:

I went through a major 'dark night of the soul' for a few years that led me to question and dig deep deeper into my false beliefs and what is really going on in the world. In a separate comment she told me that "Spirit is definitely primordial - existing prior to, within and after material. Everything is energy. Like a fish in water, many are just unaware. It's also largely a highly personal experience so the experience may come sooner for others or not at all if they choose to look at a superficial level.

Almost all of education unfortunately focuses on developing and using the left-brain, logical mind and not the right- brain creative mind. Both must be balanced. When people are stuck in the left-brain, they will never understand your spiritual message. The unconscious speaks in symbols and is the key to spiritual truths but people no longer understand how to use this. I feel it is by design...."

Similar to Linda, and Angle, Annie's concept of spirit in that it is "pervasive in consciousness" (everything) and a way of thinking is "everything" as well. She also talks about energy. A moment's consideration of how science might objectively describe or define life in an abstract way, describing "life" as energy or an energy system would seem likely candidates.

Marwa, a passionate - and sometimes fiery -Muslim woman who has had some spiritual experiences of her own   said spiritual experiences are a "Gift by Allah, giving to those who love believing in him, and give them this spiritual gift" - a "gift and will commit leading to creativity and geniuses."

Marwa went on to say that "Loguman is Massinger of Allah, was given spiritual gift called wisdom." Luqman was one of those whom Allah had given immense wisdom. Wisdom is the result of thought, deliberation, and experience. Many people possess this quality and live long enough to learn and inspire generations to come.

There are spiritual gifts like clemency and patience. Prophet Muhammad said to Ashajj ibn Qays: You possess two qualities that Allah loves: gentleness and patience. (Muslim)

Then there is the intense faith of Abu Bakr,`Uthman’s modesty, Ali’s bravery, Abu al-Darda’s wisdom, Amr’s resourcefulness, and Mu`awiyah’s leadership skills.

There are spiritual gifts of an intellectual kind, like keen discernment and inspiration. Memory is one of these gifts, possessed by the great hadith scholars like Al-Bukhari and Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

Then there are intellectual gifts of a scientific bent, like mathematical genius in which many of the great thinkers of the East and West excelled.

There are linguistic gifts, like those possessed by Sibuwayh, al-Khalil, and many great poets.

There are physical gifts like strength, speed, and coordination which are celebrated by the world today through sporting events and which constituted part of the heroism celebrated in the past.

MIrabai: Nancy Poiteau, a counselor who has worked with people on their spirituality and spiritual-psychic experiences did emphatically state that - these people do tend to be very independent - something I have found to be true as well. Mirabai, who has had foresights in her dreams, is a very independent hybrid Christian-Hindu, states that "In our Vedas teachings, we each have a Dharma...a sort of duty... There is the Dharma of an educator...there is the Dharma of an intellectual person...who will always be in the pursuit of gaining knowledge...& enlightening others about it... There is also the warrior Dharma...The merchant Dharma... The labourer Dharma... The other is the outsider Dharma... These are the people who change things... None is superior or inferior. All the above is needed for us to function in this world, relying on each other's Dharma."

In William James’ classic 1902 work, The Variety of Religious Experience, William James states unequivocally that spiritual and religious experiences create a “sense of reality!” It is a self-evident fact and truth. When you look at the experiences that William James cites, then it is easy to see that spiritual experiences do indeed shape and influence spiritual and religious beliefs – something modern social sciences largely ignore and bypass. 

The Synthesis-Consensus of Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, William James, and Emile Durkheim is that "Spirit" [spiritual processes] create meaning and a sense of reality (truth). It is probably expressed by Carl Jung when he said "Spirt gives meaning to [his] life!"

Spirit Within

A Different Perspective:

I have done a substantial amount of research, and in my research I came across Christ's statement to worship in "Spirt and truth!" (John 4:23-24) After turning that over in my mind for some time, I came to the realization that Christ's statement that to worship in "spirt and truth" was an excellent guiding principle for me personally. I look at things differently, and in my view that statement is not just a spiritual truth, but also as a very valid and true scientific statement.

I reasoned it this way: If you look at Geertz's five part definition of religion, four parts, in a round-about way, essentially described and defined "Truth." In fact compared to Geertz's universally accepted definition of religion, the only thing Christ left out was the part of Geertz's definition which stated that one characteristic of religion are "long lasting moods and motivations" were an important characteristics. In fact, Christ had "spirit" which Geertz left out.

I happened to be reading Brian Hayden's book, "Shamans, Sorcerers, and Saints" when I realized that Geertz had left spirit out of his definition, so I emailed and asked Hayden if leaving out "spirit" didn't invalidate Geertz's definition which as Ira Chernus pointed out had been universally accepted throughout all of the social sciences since 1965. To my surprise he agreed with me. So, in my mind Christ's statement about "Spirit and Truth" had to be one of the most brilliant spiritual and scientific insights into the nature of humanity.  among all the world's spiritual and religious literature! What struck me is that Jesus Christ's simple statement and observation about religion which could be grasped as "spirit and truth" was an insight which beat out all the social scientists two thousand years before - and "we" have all this amazing technology and unbelievable scientific knowledge. From my view my experiences are real - and a physical reality. So I view spirit and spirituality as being real and true with a fundamental scientific reality as well. 

 That separates me from a large portion of religious people, mystics and even Jungians (Jung once said that "Spirit is myth") who view spirit and spirituality as being in a separate "spiritual realm." I believe that is psychologically and spiritually unsound, being both untrue and unscientific. I frequently point out there are a large number of very real and very worldly - and beneficial - types of spirituality such as the spirituality of compassion and the spirituality of civic activists like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Tolstoy who found inspiration and raw drive to endure beatings and imprisonment.



             Autistics and Spirituality

High Functioning Autistics

Brief Highlights of High-Functioning Autistics by B.G.

My kids don’t stop creating things, you wouldn’t know they are autistic, they are just very focused into what they are doing but they need to be creating and doing something all day long, they are homeschooled, always, since before covid.

We are considered high functioning, people think we can out-grow being autistic or have a break through, I think it may be true for some, but for most of us, we find ways to cope, learn behaviors and stay away from stressful situations so it appears like it just goes away (like when being creative) but its really a different way of thinking, this is why I believe that the growth in the autistic population as of lately may have something to do with Edgar Cayce's new 5th root race being born.

Most of us have special hobbies that we obsess about, can you guess what mine is ?? 🙂 Its the Edgar Cayce Readings. 

Through the Eyes of an Autistic Child

My son has always been close to the spiritual domain. He was supposed to be a twin but the twin died early on while still in the womb. When he was born, he didn't come crying - as is normal with some babies - he came out cooing. By the time he was two he was just barely starting to talk. The doctors told he may never develop normally. From the time he was two to about the age of six, he communicated with someone named Joseph. They would play together, sometimes quarrel; my wife asked him one day who Joseph was and he said that Joseph was his brother, One night he was up sitting in the living room and my wife heard a scream. She went in there was my son just shaking. She asked what was wrong and he said he saw a ghost. She asked him what did he look like? He pointed to the picture of my wife's dad who was killed in a truck accident when she was 5. He said it looked like him. By the time he was about 12 my wife asked him if he ever saw Joseph anymore, and he said that Joseph went away. As he got older and he learned how to pray and the meaning of prayer, he would pray for hours a night. One night I stayed up to listen and it sounded like he was talking to his best friend. To him God was his best friend. As I've aged and put aside my foibles of youth and I have learned a lot from my son. I now have relationship with God. I don't have long conversations with him like my son but feel a presence in my life I hadn't felt for a long time. Yes, you have my permission to write your essay. My one question is how do you quantify and qualify those kinds of spiritual experiences?

From the time he was two to about the age of six, he communicated with someone named Joseph.

I would add a comment that I encountered a plumber who told me of the son of one of his friends would talk to his grandfather who had passed away and come up with information only his  grandfather would have known.

This is an excellent question!

My one question is how do you quantify and qualify those kinds of spiritual experiences?

When I encounter people with spiritual-psychic stories I know for a fact that nearly every one had an experience that is "Real." I also know form personal experience that God doesn't give you an instruction manual - and the types of experiences are incredibly diverse and different - that I am very nonjudgmental; in talking with people 

Filipino Fireflies and Spiritual Beings

According to my grandfather me at the age of 5 yrs old i was missing at 1pm they go around the town to seek me but nothing he live me near the big tree. afterwards at 6pm they found me im stay there.after for whats happening on me i really wants to catch fireflies to put inside my mosquito net i can sleep well if my mosquito net becomes bright .fireflies come from the tree when i am lost. one night i saw little girl with wings and fly in front of me it was im 9 y/0 thats why i stop to catch fireflies after that

After i lost in a tree i make a habit to catch fireflies until 9y/0 here in the Phils especially in a province no lights in night at my time only a lamp thats why im happy when i saw a brighter light from the fireflies

Not a dream i saw it but in a real life. Maybe a girl with a wings is only 3 inches

She have an sparkling wings and sparkling white dress thats why i cant see her face and i can moved i dont know why,?? afterwards maybe im sleep and when i wake up i never catched it again

I dont know if this girl with a wings connected when i have a family ..but some old people telling me especially the falls prophet or in filipino manghuhula i have a guardian

Mirabai

 Here are the spiritual-psychic experiences of Mirabai, who I have known for some years now 

As a preface I would observe that she comments that most of her dreams are about family – which could possibly be a general reality for many women. 

1, Mirabai

"Also the recurring dream that my late spouse was leaving me...weeks before his actual death."

2. Mirabai

"So, in this family outing dream..my deceased aunt was present.. All of a sudden the hill we were on collapsed.. We somehow managed to escape & there were no casualties.. We took shelter in an abandoned small house..etc. I woke up from my dream in the middle of the night.. I was wondering why did I dream of an aunt who had passed away... Checked my phone messages I got my answer. There was a message that informed that her husband had a heart attack & passed away. So of course, I had to get in touch with my cousins & all."

3.Mirabai

"One night, my mum entered my dream... I suspect that women often dream more about families than foreign events In my dream I know she was dead... She was sitting in a rock behind a house of my early childhood days... It was hilly. She was holding an infant in her hand... The next day I got the news that my sister had delivered her third child."

4. Mirabai

"My aunt...when I was in Canada..a few years ago. This same aunt had died before her daughter delivered the first grandchild. In my dream she came to me one night..Told me to tell her daughter to buy a garland for the mother goddess as her child had been delivered safely.. True enough, when I went back home.. I got the news that my cousins had delivered her child safely..

5. Mirabai 

"Premonitions are usually quite vague... Dates, names etc..

Before the major Tsunami in Asia...

I dreamt that I and other people as well were drifting in the sea on furniture & such..

We are not in imminent danger but I was wondering why is everything covered by the seawater.. I was not afraid, in my dream... More like an observer...

Because the Tsunami did not affect Sg but parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand & India.. Neighbouring countries especially Malaysia..."

For perspective I should mention briefly that I also encountered an Evangelical woman Dawn, who spoke of a dream of a tsunami as well. Later, when she had no other spiritual-psychic experiences, her views changed and she concluded that her dream was accidental or incidental. My sense of it is that the impact of "apparently" precognitive dreams is much stronger with westerners than many from Eastern countries like he Philippines and others like that. Although Mirabai had the dream about the tsunami the night before, she observed she really didn't connect the dream and the event until much later, partly due o the horrific damage it did to surrounding countries like Malaysia. 

I have come across the concept of unconscious archetypal water symbols and symbolism - which makes perfect sense. Hypothetically, vibrations or historical earth cycles could possibly trigger a perception - hypothetically.   

Other Spiritual Experiences that Brought People out of Depression

A Muslim Woman shared a similar spiritual experience: "I wonder those who have psychological disorder, if the get some seed of the spirituality, and cultivate it in their unheated mind and heart, things will be different to them, I passed by one very tough experience, and I witnessed depression, and when I was about to be on medicine, one of my soul-father asked me to connect my heart with Allah, as I was practicing spirituality that I discovered had been once childhood in my heart, I did it. The spiritual experience of seen vision "dreams sending from God" that my tragedy it is totally solved, I get cured, and depression free. If you want to ask me I'm ready to answer!"

The education system also seems to kill imagination!"

This is the observation of Annie, a student of psychology, who is going for her masters:

"I went through a major 'dark night of the soul' for a few years that led me to question and dig deep deeper into my false beliefs and what is really going on in the world. So many great independent scholars enlightened me through the amazing work they share online. Michael Tsarion is one, he has a fantastic website. He used to have a lot of great content on YouTube but removed it due to Truth being censored on that platform. Some is still available though."

The bottom line is that a student of psychology has to go outside of psychology to search for the truth. Also in talking with people, depression appears to be a rather common reason for turning to spirituality. This is just one response. 

In a separate comment she told me that "Spirit is definitely primordial - existing prior to, within and after material. Everything is energy. Like a fish in water, many are just unaware. It's also largely a highly personal experience so the experience may come sooner for others or not at all if they choose to look at a superficial level. Almost all of education unfortunately focuses on developing and using the left-brain, logical mind and not the right- brain creative mind. Both must be balanced. When people are stuck in the left-brain, they will never understand your spiritual message. The unconscious speaks in symbols and is the key to spiritual truths but people no longer understand how to use this. I feel it is by design....

It is a spiritual war to keep people stuck in materialism. This is actually the symbology of the inverted pentagram - material over spirit and it how people are easily controlled. Those in power intentionally want people driven by materialism and blind to their own great power as spiritual beings. The education system also seems to kill imagination, a necessary ingredient."

Ana

Ana, who doesn't talk a lot about her spirituality also said that her interest in spirituality began while she was going through some rough times.

There are studies which definitely show that some traits of religiosity are genetic, and in light of tens of thousands of years of spiritual beliefs it would stand to reason that in the unconscious there would be numerous symbol-ideas and archetypes of spirt and spirituality - and that in times of stress people would tap into to cope with their situations.  

Thoughts and Comments on FB

Linda

My spiritual practices GOT ME TO HERE! There are many paths, many teachings and many teachers.... seek and you will find the right One For You...

Last year when I started my spiritual awakening, coming from a life of agnosticism and eventual atheism, I felt that I was only now beginning to reclaim something that was stolen from me a long time ago.

I think it's the fact of us becoming more isolated. And it's becoming harder and harder for many people to truly connect with others. And when you have millions of people feeling like they don't truly connect with anybody physically, some of them are probably going to kill themselves.

Spiritual Experiences Create A Sense of Reality

Angel, who had a really rough go of it after her partner died, told me that she attended group sessions on how to cope with grief - which is never easy. My mother also had a very difficult time after my father died.  Angel said that in one session, someone said that grieving is like being in a night which is pitch black and completely dark - yet after a while your eyes adjust and you begin to see tiny lights light up in the darkness and it dawns on you  that those lights are other souls like you - and suddenly you realize that you are not alone!   She said that really resonated with her and made quite a difference to her mindset!

Jo's Story of Grieving

Jo,

Who had been through the grieving process after her husband died wrote this out as suggestions for my mother after we lost my father. 

"Let me suggest that she talk to him and even if feelings of anger show up scream and yell out loud. Now is not the time to hold back. Spirit knows and hears our thoughts and feelings. Talking out loud is for our benefit. Deep breathing was very useful for me and of course meditation. She can look for signs that he might send her or you. Immediately after my husband died I began seeing the very small white butterfly. I never saw them until that time. She can ask him to send a sign. It might take a while as I believe spirit needs time to adjust to their new surroundings. (at least 6 to 12 months). I asked my husband to go find my father and get help on understanding how to reconnect with us.

I still have triggers that send me into "flashbacks" caused by the trauma but that has become less and less. Tapping is also in the magic box and there are books and web sites with the details. If you know about Hay House Publishers, they have a tremendous amount of resources to use. Grieving is part of our process as humans and if we didn't Love with our hearts and souls, we would not be grieving with such pain. Time will help ease the pain but it never removes the longing for our loved ones. I hope this helps both of you."

Christine Veazey's Story of Transcendence and Survival 

Diane M.

"I am adopted to a Lakota elder and medicine man who lives on Pine Ridge reservation with extended relatives on Rose Bud and Standing Rock. There is a lot that has been written by non natives that is just flat inaccurate or outright lies."  She contributes regularly to the fB group The Nature of Human Reality: https://www.facebook.com/groups/180311252519414

In reference to this article: Researchers At Large Hadron Collider Are Confident To Make Contact With Parallel Universe In Days: The article says that,  "If successful a very new universe is going to be exposed – modifying completely not only the physics books but the philosophy books too."

It is even probable that gravity from our own universe may “transfer” into this parallel universe, researchers at the LHC say. The experiment is assured to accentuate alarmist critics of the LHC, many of whom initially warned the high energy particle collider would start the top of our universe with the making a part of its own. But up to now Geneva stays intact and securely outside the event horizon. Link to article https://www.sciencenatures.com/2020/10/researchers-at-large-hadron-collider.html?fbclid=IwAR0Hc-eBzObPrlRxmhEVCP7glviOLbhrcvkmI9HjjtAVLewqiR-KZIv_0Os

Her sense of it is that gravity fluctuations will severely effect human consciousness, and she may be right. I did run across an article that said that fluctuations in the geo-magnetic field have an effect on spiritual-psychic experiences (which affect peoples' worldviews) - and it is well know that the human brain does, in fact - and reality - at times generate a magnetic field. Furthermore, Persinger has demonstrated putting a magnet in proximity to the temporal lobe can generate a sense of "presence" of others, beings, or even 'God.' To me, it appears readily apparent that all the physical changes in the environment - the introduction of new communication technology with all its electronic 'stuff' in the atmosphere, as well as the new reality of endless streaming information in highly visible format has had (an adverse) effect on the human environment). I never completely discount what anybody says. Diane may well have an excellent point.   

.....and all my loved ones family and friends. What have I been saying for decades and decades is finally going on now. Those who know me the longest know this is true. Scientists are confident they will make this breakthrough within weeks because the truth is they have been bumping one parallel dimension next to ours on and off for for the last 4 to 5 years with some success and more so recently. I know because when they do it, I hear and see it more vividly than ever before, which will sound unbelievable or totally crazy to many people until they see the scientific truth for themselves.. I am speaking truth and it is up to you what you chose to see or ignore.. No judgment at all and I guess by now most would understand I am unafraid of judgments but would rather people have the understanding they need to go forward. I walk in two worlds in spirit and consciousness as do the rest of you but I am aware of it and always have been. Question is are you aware of it? People ask what has happened to our world and reality turning it upside down? Why have things gone off the rails in an insane manner. Why do I feel I am losing it or coming apart? Why are some people seeing reality clearly and others are seeing a different more mean and ugly reality entirely? There is a major piece of the puzzle coming soon via science and now there will be hard proof. For all of those feeling out of balance or at times think they may be going crazy, know you are not. The universe parallel to ours has been bleeding over into ours in irregular waves for some time now. It is not fixed and neither is ours. Not the way we think. Millions across the planet are feeling it, perhaps billions in their own way.. Some are becoming paranoid, others frustrated, others scared, some angry and many just lashing out at the uncertainty while others thinking they are losing their hold on reality entirely. You are not losing it but you must learn to flex as the dynamics of our reality are impacted and they are being impacted in ways beyond imagination.. Be fearless and face the future with strength not fear. Fact is we don't know for sure how it will all settle or if it will settle completely in our lifetimes, but just knowing it is happening will help you greatly. So here is the truth and I am sharing something about myself that most have never heard and many will not understand and frankly am fearless doing so right now because it is time. I am not talking end of the world nonsense but the very real possibility that we will see a blending of two universes in which we all are functioning to some degree, consciously or unconsciously right now. How much will our dimension/reality be be impacted? Enough to feel like the world is going crazy especially in 2020 and into 2021. I have known this my entire existence and so have the aboriginal and native people around the world. To the west it all sounds crazy. To those who have not lost their connection to the truth of reality, they will know exactly what I am talking about. Move with, kindness, love and certainty of a better future. It's all about energy, it has always been so. The truth is that the more positive energy we give to life, all the creatures and aspects of this reality and the people and the planet, the more in balance we can give our existence in this world and beyond. What I am saying here is no challenge to religion or spiritual beliefs nor is it a challenge to agnostics or atheists. The fact is that we are all part of this universe and our origin is from a single point in time long ago and here we stand at another point and time together. The greatest and most challenging time to be a human being of this world and this dimension.

                                         The Spirit of Minya the Cat

Judy said, "Minya was my beloved cat who died a couple years ago. She comes to me sometimes. I named her Minya because she looked and acted like a Russian Blue cat and because I thought the name went well with Matie, our Maine Coon cat at the time. Minya is a Russian name meaning "Who represents God?" It fit her beautifully. Minya was a very clean cat and very nurturing. She also had a funny little quirk she would do. She would get up on the dining room table and pick the toothpicks out of the holder one at a time and drop them on the table.

After Minya died, I got a kitten, Cali. Cali, now 11 months old, is a sweet, long-haired cat, but she was not keeping her tail as clean as she should. I tried everything I could think of to teach her, but to no avail. Remembering how Minya had taught Nia, the kitten we got after Matie died, I decided to call on Minya and ask her to teach Cali to keep her tail clean. Within a couple days, Cali was cleaning under her tail and has kept herself clean ever since. Two days after I had called on Minya to help, when I got up in the morning, there on the dining room table were several toothpicks having been taken out of the toothpick holder. I knew Minya had been here."