Morphane said:
I suspect the reason God created our space/time continuum was so that living beings such as ourselves might develop and grow in ignorance of God. Like children growing up and leaving home - a cutting of the apron strings so to speak.
God created the universe and remains invisible so we might have freedom from God. So when we mature, we might return to God having forged our own way.
The Biblical tyrant that eternally tortures souls for disbelief is a product of superstition.
I've felt the presence of God without ever using psycedelics.
Very well said, this too is what I believe the nautre of All That Is to be. If one is to have free will, that free will must have the ability to express doubt in a creator, and that doubt/dibelief is just as valid and rich an experience of life as that of one who believes.
I too can feel the presense of creation without the use of psychedelics. I can feel it if I sit and contemplate on love. I can feel it by watching a sunset, witnessing an act of kindness, seeing an expression of joy in others, in the pure innocence of a child, closing my eyes and listening to the wind blow though the trees, in the scent of a flower, in a program about the cosmos, in the story of a good book or trip report! :d I can truly feel It everywhere if I choose to be aware of It.
I have never "seen" All That Is, but I have been made aware of Its presence while on pharma. The power{presence) was immense, unlimited, unfathomable but benevolent. Was quite an amazing experience. I know that I am loved beyond any human measure you can conceptualize, so is each and every one of us.
I have had a near death experience, or at least one that resembles it, though as far as I know I was in no danger. Something strange happened afterwards as well which I still cannot rationally understand...
I was sitting out on my deck in a comfortable lounge chair, snuggled under one of the comforters they had provided. It was a bit windy, but nothing could get though the thick down. I had been out there for about an hour, when it happened...The wind suddenly stopped, my breathing became shallow, and it seemed as if time had stopped. I closed my eyes, and felt a presence over my right shoulder. As I closed my eyes, I was seemingly transported into a lodge waiting room where the pillars, roof, and seats were composed of brilliant multi-colored light. The "resort" was attended by the blackest and most beautiful Africans I could ever imagine. They were so beautiful that I could hardly look at them so great was their radiance. Time seemed to stop, I don't know if I was breathing any more. They led me in and showed me around the foyer, and the realization came to me that I was being given the opportunity to pass on, to end this incarnation and return home to my true existence. The choice was up to me. I thought about it for a bit, and was sorely tempted. It would have been so easy, I was already partly there, no pain, no suffering, just a transition. But then I thought about what a pain it would be for the rest of the people in the group, to find me dead on the balcony with a smile on my face. HOw much of a hassle it would be to deal with all the stuff that would accompany that, and though it wouldn't matter to me, it would totally ruin the rest of their trip. So I decided that the time was not right at that moment to end this life. Once I made that decision, the door back into my chalet slammed shut jolting me out of the etheric realm I was in (which suprised me as I had bolted the door closed from the outside specifically so it wouldn't do that). That door closed at that moment to that choice, though I had the impression that if I changed my mind the opportunity would present itself again.
That in and of itself was a very unique and strange experience, it is hard to relate in language what it was like, but there was no fear, no regret, just complete and utter peace. I certainly hope that opportunity presents itself again in the future, as I cannot imagine a better way to go than what I was offered.
But that was not the only strange thing that happened that night. As I was contemplating that experience, I noticed a bright light on the horizion, about 20 miles away. It was bright and intense, like a spotlight being directed at me. I thought it might be a car, but it was coming from the crest of a hill, miles and miles away. It was like the reflected light from Jupiter if you look up in the night sky, you cannot miss it, but 1000 time brighter. A pure white light that neither wavered nor dimmed as I looked at it. It stayed there, mesmerizing my attention for 5 minutes before fading behind the hillside and remaing a glow on the horizion for the next 30 minutes. Now I was a little flabbergasted. I was thinking UFO, but it didn't move, it had not flown, just created a bright light that could not have been created at that distance in that intensity from anything I've known. In addition to coming from the desert where there are no roads, no towns, nothing but sand and wind. I was mulling over what I had seen and what it could possibly be, when the light returned, but much closer this time. There was a dirt road (only one in the area) leading to the lodge where we were staying and I saw this same bright light, same size, same intensity, same bringtness move along that road. The road runs horizontally to where the chalets are, so there is no possible way for a cars headlights to be directed in the direction of where I was sitting unless the were driving directly toward my particular chalet, which they were not. I watched this instense white light move 120-160 degrees across the landscape, from the far left of my perspective to the far right about 1/4 a mile from where I sat, and the whole time this bright white light was shining in my direction. As if Jupiter had come to earth and was riding in a vehile. I thought I could hear tires along the road, but hard to tell due to the wind howling, but in whatever case, I saw a light that nothing in all my years I could account for. I thought of all possibilities, but there is nothing rational I can point to that would explain what I saw. The light eventually disappeard behind a small hillside, and I didn't see it again.
I was awake. I was sober. I cannot explain what I saw, but I can only assume that it had something to do with my earlier experience of the night.
