Non-Believers: Have you ever had a mystical experience? (atheist, agnostic)

[gnostic]

Does great sex count?



Oh.

You mean mystical experience. I thought you mean sexual experience.

[UltraViolet]

Originally Posted by spiritually inclined

Yes, I have. It was totally unexpected and happened in my room while I quietly pondered my homosexuality. I was confused about whether to believe in a god or gods because I had only recently left an abusive, border-line cult. I addressed my thoughts to whoever was out there listening to me, and I received a response.

My experience has similarities to near-death experiences. I think of it nearly every day, and it often brings me to tears, the way it did when it occurred. I am less concerned with the source or sources of the experience than I am with the truth of it and the powerful, profound effects it has had on me. I accept myself for who I am now, and I know without a doubt that all love is beautiful.

James

That's wonderfull James!
Thank you for sharing.

Both these attributes...
self acceptance/self love
and all love/universal love
have also been very significant
in my own "mystical" experiences also.

~Violet~

[Mr Spinkles]

I have had experiences that I found very fulfilling and worthwhile, but nothing that I would call 'mystical'.

[Inky]

I've had experiences where I believed a higher being was putting ideas and phrases into my head. I've also had a rather scary mystical experience where I felt that the black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy was a sort of god of nothingness that was trying to pull me into itself.

[spiritually inclined]

That's wonderfull James!
Thank you for sharing.

Both these attributes...
self acceptance/self love
and all love/universal love
have also been very significant
in my own "mystical" experiences also.

~Violet~

You are welcome. I enjoy sharing my experience with people who are open and understanding. Obviously I don't go into the details on a public forum. Out of interest -- did your mystical experiences occur naturally or did you induce them with substances? If you don't want to go into that, it's fine. I'm just curious because mine occurred naturally, but I've noticed that certain substances do allow me to have profound thoughts and insights that I carry with me after the experience. Yet I don't know if I could have had those thoughts unless I was in an altered state.

If you would like to continue this privately, please send a message.

James

[TurkeyOnRye]

Indeed I have. It happens when every fiber of my being is focused on the present moment. When the present moment occupies my senses to the point that it is all that matters. That is a pretty profound experience, though I believe it to be purely psychological. The Buddhists call this moment "kensho." To dwell in this moment permanently is "satori," or enlightenment.

[spiritually inclined]

Indeed I have. It happens when every fiber of my being is focused on the present moment. When the present moment occupies my senses to the point that it is all that matters. That is a pretty profound experience, though I believe it to be purely psychological. The Buddhists call this moment "kensho." To dwell in this moment permanently is "satori," or enlightenment.

That sounds very interesting. I can relate to what you are saying.

James

[Jaiket]

No. I don't really know what one is.

[Willamena]

Originally Posted by Jaiket

No. I don't really know what one is.

I know it as a particular understanding. It need be nothing more complicated than that.