What backs your faith?

[ZenFender]

Heya there guys, just dropped in to ask a few questions.

I read around this forum and I always wonder "where are these people getting their ideas from?"

All this talk about the "one source" and the "consciousness living on past death" and "law of attraction"- what are your reasons for believing in them, and is there any proof behind them?

Personally, I do not believe in the law of attraction, or an afterlife for our consciousness, but I wouldn't be surprised either if they were true/real. But do we really have the knowledge or insight to be able to make a good solid decision on whether these things exist?

Basically, I'm agnostic- I don't believe we can make a good decision about these things now with our limited knowledge and perspective.

But what are your reasons for choosing to believe in them? I'm not trying to attack anyone, I'm just seeking to gain more understanding.

[DaveTyler]

Well for Subjective Reality aka perception and LoA Iknow its just perception so I dont waste time on it. Im going for enlightenment.
Reason I believe in spirituality IS SIMPLE: I have m own experience of kunalini seeing into the future, seeing prana, intuition of things I could never know etc. ANd all this happened before I knew wtf spiritualit was, later on I found out my dad and mom was very spiritual too. And had similar experiences. My aunt and grand mother is too. So theres no doubt in m mind spirituaity is TRUE.

Can I proof it physically? no, do I care? no, people is on different levels on their path and if their doubting, it just proves they are not ready.Which is cool.
This is on my POV. You are 100% entited to believe whatever you want

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by ZenFender

But what are your reasons for choosing to believe in them? I'm not trying to attack anyone, I'm just seeking to gain more understanding.

Of course it's different for everyone, but for me it's what feels right. What makes you feel better about yourself and makes your life feel right.

Max Power
"I'm God, you're not get over it"

[DaveTyler]

Thats the most arrogant quote in the history and it contradict it self God is opposite of ego, so what ou can say is that you ahve trapped yourself the rest of your ife in ego but if it feels good for you, goodluck karma next life is a bitch

[Sunnybayes]

Take a look at the thread in my signature, and in the "Neuroscience of Leadership" link I recognize a few spots where it can be interpreted as the law of attraction.

[ZHereford]

Originally Posted by ZenFender

I read around this forum and I always wonder "where are these people getting their ideas from?"

Hi ZenFender, speaking for myself, I've always been an inquisitive person. I was brought up in a religious household and had a lot of stuff pounded into me ad nauseam.

Needless to say I refused to accept anything 'just because'. I made it my business to find out for myself what made sense. I took studies in psychology and philosophy and I must say that blew my mind somewhat. I read about quantum physics, esoteric teachings, psychic phenomena, near death experiences etc. and from there formulated my own belief system. I loved watching movies like "2001 Space Odyssey, "The Omega Man" and "The Matrix" which make you stretch your mind.

I found that taking philosophy taught me to use logic and reason. I remember one of my professors always saying "does it pass the ha, ha test"?. In other words if it's silly and nonsensical don't even bother using it in an argument because I'm not going to entertain the thought.

Ultimately the best course of action is to explore everything you can, keep an open mind and know that anything is possible (within reason and the ha,ha test).

So to answer your question, my faith is backed up by reasonable assumptions about God, the universe, the existence of the soul and the afterlife.

[Shindra]

Originally Posted by ZenFender

All this talk about the "one source" and the "consciousness living on past death" and "law of attraction"- what are your reasons for believing in them, and is there any proof behind them?

Law of attraction - I don't subscribe to the 'botched quantum physics' and 'inverse magnetism' of this, but I do believe in the core concept that is also called intention-manifestation. This is because absolutely everything that's happened in my life, I could trace back to a recent thought or an operating belief or attitude. Things I've imagined have manifested partly (as far as I believed it was possible and according to how much (/firmly) I held it in my consciousness), and things I absolutely believed, 'knew' on a very deep level would happen, always happened. There have been 'strange' things such as a radio show host saying something I focused on (unrelated to the topic), a person suddenly changing their minds in accordance with something I "asked of the universe"(that's an unaccurate way to put it, but describing it accurately would make this too long-winded), or objects I thought about appearing, and many other occurences.
Secondly, whenever I've changed dominant beliefs and attitudes, I saw my whole reality transform in accordance. This I saw most convincingly and impactfully in that the people I met were different. I've also seen it clearly in other mechanisms such as money.
These patterns are unfailingly persistent, and that is why I believe in thoughts/beliefs-create reality. I also think that if I believed this was impossible, I would be blind to the patterns and connections to my thoughts, and the connections I couldn't overlook or ignore I would say was just coincidence, and then quickly forget about them.
So, I believe it because of long-lasting dedicated introspection, observation and analyzation. I take it as fact now.

I believe we live on after the death of our physical bodies because I've communicated with a 'dead' person and my experience of that event was such that I couldn't deny it - even though I really wanted to, at the time. I can't think of anything besides OOBE/astral travel and psychic communication that could back such a faith.

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by DaveTyler

Thats the most arrogant quote in the history and it contradict it self God is opposite of ego, so what ou can say is that you ahve trapped yourself the rest of your ife in ego but if it feels good for you, goodluck karma next life is a bitch

What backs my faith?

The honest belief that consciousness awareness is my life, it is everything and everyone, everything it is aware of is everything, important, true and right.

Nothing else matters for there is nothing else.

The most beautiful, annoying, stupid, dumb, amazing, incredible, awesome, hateful, pretty thing, is me, is consciousness and it only ever exists right now, for time is an illusion.

Words fail it more often than not.

Max

[Matthew Shea]

My faith gets backed up for me personally every time I sit in church and get moved nearly to tears by the beauty of what's going on around me. It happens pretty regularly, too. And I'm not just talking visual beauty, either. I'm talking the music, the prayers (especially when sung), the thoughts of all the contributions from those around me going to create the grandeur that surrounds me, hearing "My Country 'tis of Thee" played on a pipe organ, timpani, guitars and handbells with the full choir (an awesome experience I'd recommend to anyone), and everything else that represents the beauty of 2,000 years worth of faith at work through the Church. For me, God is very real and almost palpable every time I have these experiences.

Music is really what moves me the most. My pastor has a wonderful baritone voice and, on special occasions, he'll sing the eucharistic prayers with organ accompaniment. To me, it shows a depth of faith that's unmistakable and is one of the clearest demonstrations of the beauty of God's love that I could ever witness.

I know there are those who would poo-poo all this, but I would challenge them to relate just one experience where they've truly felt the depth of a love much larger than themselves and have still come to the conclusion that such belief is not real. Personally, my faith is very real. The big challenge is to convey that to others.

[Iksander]

How can you prove to me that what you are perceiving through your senses is the same as what I am perceiving?

(answer is, you cannot, we can only agree to think that we do)

What is the only true constant that is EVER really agreed upon?

(answer is, consciousness, thought, ideas, etc...)

All things unmeasurable are like all things measurable; your thoughts, personality, the 'I AM' that you identify as unmistakably you, the visceral feelings in your chest, and the power of affirmative thought are ALL unmeasurable. Yet you seem to believe in them? When you think a thought, or hear that 'you' voice when thinking about where to arrange the forks in the kitchen next, are all unmeasurable in comparison with our material world (which, past a certain point, is also unmeasurable).

So what makes the spiritual/metaphysic/esoteric topics any DIFFERENT then the above topics that seem very familiar?

I like to look at my life, as a spiritual being, as a kind of symbiosis - rather than a, "Me is this, thing is that" viewpoint. As a unit of consciousness I am constantly perceiving impressions sent to my consciousness by virtue of my senses - through this 'perceiving' I do in truth give life to what is my environment. If I did not have the feeling senses of my skin, my inner-ear balancing mechanism, my ears, my nose, or my eyes; my environment would literally NOT exist! At the same time, my environment also defines me, without something to sense impressions from it would seem as though I had no reference point for my own existence.

Once I die, my environment also dies and a harmonizing occurs between two dualistic entities; one being 'broad', or 'non-local' (the environment, world, whatever) and the other being 'specific', 'local' (the I, or I AM that is me).

There are so many symbols, allegories, archetypes, and motif's to draw upon I could easily turn this post in to a book (not a bad idea, might write a blog post about it).

So, to get around and answer your question - what is my 'basis' or 'back up argument' for my system of belief?

Answer is (drum roll): you

The King and the Land are one. 10=8 and what is the Universe? A Unit Sphere. Zero to Infinity and Infinity to Zero (Masculine/Feminine dichotomy, Space/Time dichotomy, Local/Non-Local dichotomy, Inside-me/Outside-me dichotomy...). Some ideas to mull over...

Your consciousness defines the reality you realize.

[AndreaHess]

My faith is backed by the miracle of the work I'm privileged to do. How on Earth should it be possible for me to sit in my little living room in Arizona, and tell a client I've never talked to, never met before in Paris, France, all about her life ... and be completely accurate? It "shouldn't" be possible, right? It certainly cannot be explained "rationally."

I witness this every day, and am still amazed at it. We are truly all connected - the analogy of waves that are part of one ocean comes to mind. We are all woven into the same energetic fabric of space and time, unique and beautiful threads that each travel a distinct path.

I also use the Law of Attraction and techniques to manifest, and get incredibly consistent results - again, to the point that I just shake my head in awe and wonder at how powerful we can allow ourselves to be.

Life is amazing. We are so incredibly blessed when we open ourselves to Spirit.

Blessings,
Andrea
Intuitive Consulting with Andrea Hess: Soul Profile and Spirit Guide Readings, Intuitive Development, Unlock Your Intuition

[Cantando]

Originally Posted by ZenFender

Heya there guys, just dropped in to ask a few questions.

I read around this forum and I always wonder "where are these people getting their ideas from?"

All this talk about the "one source" and the "consciousness living on past death" and "law of attraction"- what are your reasons for believing in them, and is there any proof behind them?

Personally, I do not believe in the law of attraction, or an afterlife for our consciousness, but I wouldn't be surprised either if they were true/real. But do we really have the knowledge or insight to be able to make a good solid decision on whether these things exist?

Basically, I'm agnostic- I don't believe we can make a good decision about these things now with our limited knowledge and perspective.

But what are your reasons for choosing to believe in them? I'm not trying to attack anyone, I'm just seeking to gain more understanding.

I go by the testimony of the great mystics and saints who have been there and brought the news back (plus a bit of limited, personal experience). It's a bit like believing Columbus when he returned from the New World and said the world wasn't flat and there was something else out there - you consider it a possibility, then go out there and find out for yourself.
Here is the never-ending story that has been told for countless millennia:
Once we all lived in a house together having a great party. The king was in the centre bathing us in light and love, peace and joy. We all had free will and one of us decided to leave the house and convinced a few others to go with him. The rest of us continued with the party. The ones that left tried to create their own party but they kept having problems and couldn't quite recapture the happiness they originally had. They soon turned on each other, fighting and arguing, blaming each other, or blaming the king for the decisions they made. The king was sorry that they had left the house, so he sent out messengers to try and bring them back. Some listened to the messengers and realized what they were doing was a waste of time and came back to the house. Some just went and killed the messengers. Some just hung around the doorway, trying to entice others to leave, "Pssst!, Hey, come over here, I want to show you something!"
We are outside the house - in the world of mind and consciousness, creation and manifestation, illusion and deception.
We don't even know there is a house, let alone anyone in it!
Just a little story!