beastie wrote:What's interesting about the phenomenon is that, going by my observations, not everyone is equally inclined to have such an intense experience. I've know many exmormons who never had the experience, despite, sometimes, decades of trying. It's more complex than just "willing" yourself to have it. I certainly "willed" myself to have the experience as an answer to later prayers, and couldn't. And going by my probing of members' testimonies (when I was desperately trying to get a witness of Joseph Smith as a prophet), there are quite a few members who have never experienced it, either. They still believe for other reasons, but they've never experienced one of these intense events.
So if there is an external source for this, it is a very capricious one.
Beastie, I think I'm one of those people that is predisposed to the sort of experience. I actually have to work quite hard at suppressing it at times.
Tarski sent me a link and I'll see if I can find it where some people are just more inclined to have these sort of experiences.
truth dancer wrote:I have that beautiful feeling come into my heart every time I read the beatitudes! :-) I once thought this was the HG.
For me however, I get this same feeling kneeling in a small Buddhist temple, sitting in a remote Catholic monestary, holding a yoga posture, meditating, or walking through a lovely park.
I become overwhelmed with emotion, and am deeply moved as I read various prose, listen to specific music, or, connect with loved ones.
And I am mindfully aware that the world is literally filled with billions of people having similar spiritual experiences as do the LDS... all confirming their truth is the correct one.
One of my biggest challenges as a believer was trying to explain away the reality that the LDS are not the only folks having healings, witnesses, revelations, visions, inspirations, and spiritual experiences.
~dancer~
I have a hard time thinking that God would only appear to one Church or set of people too.
beastie wrote:What's interesting about the phenomenon is that, going by my observations, not everyone is equally inclined to have such an intense experience. I've know many exmormons who never had the experience, despite, sometimes, decades of trying. It's more complex than just "willing" yourself to have it. I certainly "willed" myself to have the experience as an answer to later prayers, and couldn't. And going by my probing of members' testimonies (when I was desperately trying to get a witness of Joseph Smith as a prophet), there are quite a few members who have never experienced it, either. They still believe for other reasons, but they've never experienced one of these intense events.
So if there is an external source for this, it is a very capricious one.
Beastie, I think I'm one of those people that is predisposed to the sort of experience. I actually have to work quite hard at suppressing it at times.
Tarski sent me a link and I'll see if I can find it where some people are just more inclined to have these sort of experiences.
The theory that certain individuals are predisposed to spirituality, more so than others, throws the concept of religion in a questionable light. How fair is it to demand observance of a particular religion as the sole ticket to heaven, when an individual's ability to believe is a consequence of genes, something the individual has no control over? Did God selectively place the vmat2 gene in certain individuals over others, or is God merely an invention of the brain? These questions have dominated religious spheres since vmat2's introduction into the public sphere. The consequence of believing in vmat2's function is to reduce religion to a genetic predisposition, such as breast cancer, leaving believers to wonder how genuine their faith really is. On the other hand, Hamer disagrees with the notion that the discovery of vmat2 directly implies the death of God. In fact he states: "If God does exist, he would need a way for us to recognize his presence" (1).He seems to think that the discovery of vmat2 does not function to replace divination, but to confirm its existence.
Thanks for mentioning that Dr. I'd never heard of that before.