jibber

Personally, I don't believe in religious visions. The way I see it, everything can be chalked up to a basic electrical fault. The human brain is really just an extremely intricate electrical circuit, anything that the brain perceives which isn't actually there in reality is simply the result of some part of the circuit not functioning properly.

Having said that, I accept that some people believe this to be God communicating with them, and like Tea Supremacist said, if that gives them comfort then I'm in no position to judge that, it's simply a difference of opinion.

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What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do -- especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.
William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways

Your toughest competitor lives in your head. Some days his name is fear, or pain, or gravity. Stomp his ass.

HOOKED ON THE WHITE POWDER

VEGANGELICA

I had a friend who was getting ready to kill himself but then felt he saw Jesus standing in a white robe before him, saying nothing. He became a very strong believer in the Christian religion.

For me, knowing the truth as much as possible is more important than feeling comfort. I'd rather feel awful, abandoned, doomed and lost, if that is the reality, rather than live imagining some wonderful future that is pretend.

I have relatives who, whenever someone dies, say, "He's with his maker now and is at peace!" This always makes me think of the movie "Logan's Run." There's a scene where people happily let themselves be exploded, since they've been taught to believe that they are going to a wonderful afterlife. In reality, they are just being vaporized.

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Tea Supremacist

To be honest, the whole vision subject is something I take with a pinch of salt, even when one of my best friends told me that God spoke to her, I remain extremely skeptical. Part of this might be because I've been in the situation where I'm at my lowest and ended up in hospital over it and God and Co. were no where to be seen (obviously the rest of it was just cos I don't believe anyway!).

As Jibber said, the brain is a complex thing and to hear the story about your friend (just as when I heard my friend speak about it) would lead me to put it down to miswiring. Perhaps, subconsciously your friend wanted to be 'saved' and this was his brain's way of getting hm out of the situation he was in? he is obviously happier now and good for him. I sometimes feel a little sad that I am so skeptical about it, because it does bring comfort to some and it must be nice for those people to have that comfort blanket. On the other hand, I see believing in a deity to make yourself feel better is general disillusionment. If I wanted something to make the pain go away or to feel better about life, I'd go back to smoking weed and living off rum

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VEGANGELICA

I agree with everything you've said...except the part about smoking weed and living off rum, which I think would just make me feel sick!

The hard part when a friend says something about seeing ghosts/angels, etc., is that I have to weigh my concern for that person's overall mental stability with my desire to appreciate that for her or him it was a meaningful experience, even if it wasn't real. I also appreciate that they tell me about it, since doing so isn't easy when you realize people think it sounds crazy.

I'd start to worry, though, if they *didn't* think it sounded crazy. I start to worry about the person having schizophrenia or some psychosis that will harm her or his life if untreated.

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chard

hello again right i forgot to add i was in my hospital bed and a bird tapped on the window of course i was dreaming he told me to hold on tight and i flew into the heavens on his back. The hell is in fact a prison its in the clouds heaven is much higher up i saw two plains, There was a lot going on though most of it didn't interest me. I was then taken back down to earth and the bird flew away. I looked into the heavens for some kind of sign and thats when i saw the kingdom of god a huge city surrounded by glass a bubble it landed like half a mile from where i was standing it looked golden.You must realise that i must be really special to see it well i am lol.Right lets tackle another people in this time have no imagination and they are expected to believe in something or some one in the spiritual well they won't unless they gain something from it. It's sad but like i said before i pray they live to see the coming of our lord jesus so they will be blessed to. Pick a side that's all it comes down to i'm sorry it's not an ideal world or is it in the heavens not yet anyway. It's bloody and cold and you will all have to pick a side in which you pay with your lives. There's no sense in trying to escape there is none i tried it's real iv'e picked my side now i had no choice live or die.All you want it perfect, well your hoping sorry it's not death and more death that's the reality, it's war and we are all in it.If i am good i don't have to believe in jesus for i will go to paradise how can i not burst your bubble all i saw was two plains good and evil there is a plan for both and there is jesus paradise or hell sorry folks. A little tip from me if you know your seconds from death eccept jesus in your life then hope it works out for you lol. Of course this is all in my head i was almost brain dead but then when i awoke up until now my brain is working fine i think lol i see lot's though there's no way i can write about it. For all those who are left behind you will all have to die for your faith in jesus for it is written in revelation that you will all be decapitated from your shoulders to have any chance of eternal life so it's easier to believe now and you will enter heaven without dying if your around when jesus returns. I know this to be true myself hope you understand it's entirely up to you i have eccepted that most of my family will die for they don't need faith and don't ever whether it's true or not they don't care, i do my problem but i eccept and i speak about it no-more.Life is cruel but the crueler it is for me the more i realise god loves me work that one out if you can. I expect nothing no riches no glory nothing i do it because deep down i am a rebel lol. Everything i get turns to dust i have nothing in this life eccept love and that is all i will ever need and desire i suppose that's why i am blessed because i know i am here to serve.

jibber

edit: apparently I can't post youtube videos:

YouTube - Clone High - Ghandi's Raisin Adventure

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What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do -- especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.
William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways

Your toughest competitor lives in your head. Some days his name is fear, or pain, or gravity. Stomp his ass.

HOOKED ON THE WHITE POWDER

NumberNineDream

The code only:

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boo boo

And yet that's usually when people claim it happened.

I mean heck, during traumatic experiences and trauma to the head, you're gonna see sh*t, possibly religious stuff because you have it in the back of your mind.

Also people need to look up a little thing called DMT. It's a chemical in the brain that acts much like a psychedelic drug, it's believed (though not proven) to be the origin of dreams, and is also the most probable cause of near death experiences, basically in the state of dying or near death your brain releases this chemical and you start tripping balls basically.

And yeah, the whole thing about seeing the two witnesses on a train, sorry if I don't buy that. OMG there's two people on a train, SIGN OF THE APOCOLYPSE!!!

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It's only knock n' knowall, but I like it

http://www.last.fm/user/kingboobs

boo boo

Anyway, I occassionally suffer from a thing called sleep paralysis, a sensation that is felt during Hypnagogia primarly when you are still concious of things around you. It usually happens when you wake up from a nightmare. You are in a paralized state, semi awake and aware of your surroundings but you also see and hear things that aren't there because the REM part of your brain hasn't shut off completely yet.

It's happened to me several times and I've experienced all kinds a things. Creatures standing on top of me, spirits floating around the room, a dog knawing on my head, the sound of loud bluegrass music, red lights and intense humming sounds, loud explosions. And sometimes right when I wake up from a nightmare and return to conciousness some of the images from the dream are still imprinted to my vision and slowly disappear like condensation on glass after blowing cold air on it.

My grandma believes that these are things I experience because my soul is trying to leave my body. Yeah she got that from some Sylvia Browne book.

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It's only knock n' knowall, but I like it

http://www.last.fm/user/kingboobs

VEGANGELICA

Wow, boo boo, your sleep paralysis sounds like a wild and fascinating experience...probably scary, too, though maybe you get used to it?

Sometimes when I'm drifting off to sleep, but very rarely, I'll suddenly think I hear something...it's as if a dream has started when I'm not yet quite asleep. It might just be the sound of a person's voice saying a word. But it *sounds* like a real sound and startles me, so I become fully awake.

It is similar to when you are dreaming and in the dream you hear sounds as if they were real. Dreams do show the brain's/mind's capacity for concocting very odd and sometimes disturbing "experiences." I'm glad I've never dreamed/thought a dog was gnawing on my head!

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