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Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina  The way I got past skepticism wasn't to turn to faith. It was to become an even bigger doubter. I began to question skepticism itself. I started asking myself, "What if there are non-physical entities all around me, and I'm blocking myself from seeing them?" At first I thought that would be very scary because it would tear apart my comfortable view of reality if it were true. But I had to know if it was possible. So I started saying to the universe, "Ok... if there is more to life than just the physical universe, show it to me. I'm open to seeing it now, even if it turns my entire world view upside down."
The universe obliged. All sorts of stuff started coming through, beginning with the most "impossible" synchronicities, stuff that seemed like it would have had to affect the past as well as the present. Within months I was doing lucid dreaming and having astral experiences. To be totally honest, it was not a pleasant time. I was freaked out quite often. My skeptical friends thought I was nuts and kept trying to talk me back down, but it was too late. My intention had opened some kind of door. This was more than 14 years ago.
If you need to see proof *before* you step through the door, you aren't ready to step through the door. The proof only appears when you drop the old lens and willingly decide to experience other perspectives.
Imagine what it would do to you if you did see proof of non-physical entities interacting with physical reality. What if you learned that privacy was only an illusion? Really give that some thought. Is that really a door you want to walk through? |
Wow Steve, I just read backwards in this topic and this sounds so familiar! And talk about turning my world upside down... For me this happened while I was just beginning to get clean from years of drug abuse, and I was absolutely terrified, it was so difficult to sort out delusional experiences from experiences that I trusted and believed in. I still have some trouble to this day :-/
Fortunately during this awakening of sorts I have recalled many experiences from when I was much younger (especially involving lucid dreaming and intuition) and have learned that many of the things I have been learning I must have always known, but never understood intellectually so after a while I guess I just forgot about them.
Speaking of privacy, years ago now my intuitive voice started telling me that my thoughts aren't truly private and to get used to it! This has been a tough challenges... I'm still clinging to that one...
I've been lucky to have some amazing teachers during the last few years, one of which is a former CEO of an Artificial Intelligence R&D company. After some of the long talks we've had about how different AI systems work and make decisions, I found the way my own thinking process worked began to change! It became very easy to mix and match ideas of my own, and to watch my reality change almost immediately before my eyes.
However... This opening up started with a single experience when I was laying in bed really frustrated and depressed, and during this "experience" my intuitive voice told me that, for lack of better words, everything that I would learn would "reduce to one" and that all I needed to do was trust my intuition. For a long time I have struggled with internalizing the ideas of spirits and auras, because they seem to me just external devices to believe in instead of my own intuition. It's almost as if I refuse to let those in because to do so would mean I'm not "good enough" to simply trust and believe in *myself,* and that would mean I'm a failure. And of course that brings me back to the crux of the problem, not believing in myself! Whew. This has been the most frustrating conundrum so far. It's a mental trap I need to find my way out of.
After reading one of your recent replies I have been reminding myself that even though spirits and auras and such things may be "outside" of oneself, they are still just a projection of what's internal and are no less real and valid. And with that, perhaps they are even a useful and beneficial tool for us humans who are so used to looking outside of ourselves? Would it be too easy if we could let go completely and just trust and believe in ourselves? I'll have to keep working on this one...
Thanks Steve for the great articles and the forum to talk about this in!
- James