by Qcmbr 37 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Last winter, during an almost whiteout snow condition, warmly dressed, i stood still in that snow storm. Total soft white silence. Focusing on the millions of crystals of frozen water, perhaps vibrating, each one w it's own tone. Millions of singing ice crystals falling gleefully through the air, ending up in a giggling (not giggling) pile on the ground. That was spiritual, another dimension.
S
i stood still in that snow storm. Total soft white silence
Isn't it interesting how experiencing nature is often interpreted as a spiritual thing? I remember being in the mountains around Salt Lake City. I stood on a rock that was just huge. This one single rock, an ancient giant. I was awestruck. As a dub, I prayed to Jehovah and felt so close to him. As an atheist, I look back and know that if I was there now, that same feeling would still be there. It wouldn't have the same words associated with it, but the feeling would be the same. Awe. Appreciation. Love.
Seeing the vast open spaces of that area, getting up on a mountain and being able to see hundreds of miles. Very spiritual.
I wanna go back.
Dave
Yeah............
Last winter, during an almost whiteout snow condition, warmly dressed, i stood still in that snow storm. Total soft white silence. Focusing on the millions of crystals of frozen water, perhaps vibrating, each one w it's own tone. Millions of singing ice crystals falling gleefully through the air, ending up in a giggling (not giggling) pile on the ground. That was spiritual, another dimension.
I experienced this myself.........but many winters ago. BEAUTIFUL!
Last summer at Letchworth State Park in upstate New York...........walking in the pouring rain along the Genesee River hand in hand with a beautiful lady and acting like kids again. BEAUTIFUL!
Riding with a group of 20 or more Harley Davidson's along the highway and country roads with my HOG group. Very ethereal! Then pulling into the Flight 93 Memorial Site. EMOTIONAL! Amazing to see big tough bikers with a tear in their eyes.
HappyDad
:My family and I went to the beach and we were the only ones there. I think the earth stopped at that moment.
I really like that.
When I was about 5 years old I remember staring up at a street light with snow falling all around me.. I was mesmerized by the light and all the snow, and I just knew I would never forget that moment in time. I've never felt closer to God then that.
GBL
jeanniebeanz, yeah, childbirth was way, way spiritual, but I was a jaydub and didn't recognize it
GetBusyLiving, I haven't done acid - might some day, but believe it or not, time is the limiting factor!
Grace,
Leaving the cult was the best spiritual experience of my lifeYEAH! Walking down the street looking at passers by knowing that none of them was necessarily doomed and that each was an equal and a potential friend! That was one of the most mindblowing experiences of my life. It started as soon as I decided to leave the cult and persisted for a couple of weeks at least. It still happens to me, but I'm used to it now, it's more comfortable than amazing
AlmostAtheist,
Isn't it interesting how experiencing nature is often interpreted as a spiritual thing? ... Awe. Appreciation. Love.Yes indeed - but on top of that, an intense experience of reality. Living the urban life as most of us do, dominated by intangible realities such as "money" that could show very real claws and teeth at any time, we forget that there is a tangible world out there full of life, where "the lilies toil not, neither do they spin," - though they do meet death fearlessly in their own time.
gently feral
Yes indeed - but on top of that, an intense experience of reality
Yeah, GF, maybe that's it, or a good chunk of it. Everything is so changing and maleable. Then you stand in a snow storm and know there isn't one d@mn thing in all the world you can do to it. Knock a flake or two around, but the storm won't know you're there. The huge rock, the open plain, the "big sky", the ocean. Do what you will, they won't even know you're there. Solid, unchangable reality.
Very astute observation, thanks for sharing that!
Dave
I'm not too fond of the adjective "spiritual" but I can relate to the kind of experiences described thus far. Often causing a definite shudder in my spine, or making me slow down suddenly if I am walking.
"Nature," yes. A warm sunbeam in the foliage of a tree in the evening. A sudden breeze in the forest, on the fields, on water (thinking of Tarkovsky here). Snow of course.
GF mentioned reality and it brings back one experience: the first time I saw Saturn on a telescope. I had seen dozens of far better pictures of it and "knew" it was there but at this moment I realised it was there and I was there... Hours later this impression was still on my mind.
However it is not limited to nature, culture makes it too: music, of course; paintings, sometimes; movies, often. Or just an unexpected "right" word or phrase coming up in a conversation, in a book, or in my own mind.
On the "religious" side, I remember once praying (really praying, not the JW parrotting) with a very dear friend when I was still in Bethel. I suddenly had the strange impression of a modification of space, as if the room we were sitting apart in had become immense and we were filling it and there was no distance between us. A very odd feeling.
My favourite word for such "experiences" is ecstasy. Being for an instant as if out of oneself. To me they don't prove anything, and are probably not above explanations (neurological, for instance). But this in no way reduces their subjective force.
Yes, while nature tends to be all encompassing, a good piece of music or artwork will give me that same warm, spiritual feeling.
I feel so much more spiritual now that I don't go to the KH. I NEVER ONCE felt that at the KH. I was bored and usually annoyed by the entire process. I hated going. Maybe because it felt like you HAD to go that you didn't WANT to go. Even after I was out of my parents house, it always felt like a chore to do. I had to prepare mentally for the B.S.
So when I'm out surfing like I was this morning and I see the sun low in the sky, the birds overhead, the roar of crashing waves. Everything is good with the world. I remember having a particularly awesome set on Sept. 11th and feeling kind of buzzed from the morning, walking in to my living room and seeing the tragedy that ensued. Very weird, when 15 mins earlier I was feeling so at ease and spiritual.
Did anyone here EVER feel spiritual and close to God by going to the KH???? Or field service? I never did so I'm curious to those that have / had.
See things as I never seen them before has been a regular experience of mine. I don't know if that is spiritual or not,,, according to everyones definition but it felt spiritual to me,,and altering in some way.
I think the best so far is the intuitive feelings that come over me,,that the universe and all that is is unknowable,,that feeling can really shake you to the core,,I don't call it blissful it is more like except everything and surender,,well maybe it is blissful it's hard to say.
Out in the ocean on a 38' sailboat. The conditions couldn't be more perfect. It's dusk and I'm at the helm alone on deck feeling at one with....
