Spiritualism -- truth or not truth?

[Fairyana]

It's always important to keep an open mind. :-)

I'm afraid, though, I can't present evidence on the contrary because the authors I know are pretty good at confirming what we believe to be true and debunking those who say otherwise. :-D

[Jom]

Spirit = Silence

I believe in Spiritualism to a kinda/sorta/maybe degree, I'm a very open minded person, I believe in Astrology to the point that the characteristics of each sign define a person very well, I don't buy into horroscopes. I believe in karma to an extent, I believe in fate/destiny in the sense that certain things happen in your life that are meant to happen out of your control either to help you, or to further the life of another, or for certain events to take place. I believe in mind reading, because of my experience with it. I was a willing participant of a visual thought transfer where we tried to pass a complex scene we had in our minds to each other and I could see exactly what he was thinking, when I told him "is this what you were thinking?" He was shocked and said "Yes!" We tried this experiment three times, and I managed to get two out of three correct. I don't know how far mind reading can go but I can say that it is real to the degree that I described, which is visual thoughts. I'm not sure about most other things though, Tarot reading? Seeing into the future? Are OBEs and Astral Projections anymore than just Lucid Dreams which I know are real? Do aliens/angels/higher beings/Gods/Godesses exist? That is an act of faith, I suppose. Like I said I'm always open minded, but I don't think we'll ever really find out. But it's always interesting to talk about.

Originally Posted by adamkade

I believe in spiritualism. More than that, I am completely convinced of it. However, I still have an open mind.

If there is anyone which could present evidence contrary to this then that would be great. Thank you.

Hello. I realise you asked for the presenting of evidence to the contrary, but perhaps a viewpoint from someone who has researched Spiritualism may hopefully be helpful, and I hope not to upset anyone but this is only my personal opinion.

I have been researching spirit communication for most of my life, but seriously for the last 25 years. So you know where I am 'coming from', for the last 17 years, I have been digitising what I am convinced (personally / subjectively) are genuine messages from the Spirit World.

To put things into context regarding my involvement, in 2011, for 8 months solidly I spent 4 to 5 hours per night, and 10 hours per day on the weekend just scanning, proof-reading and digitising Spirit messages, as I was given a large amount in one go of type-written records, of which other copies seem to have been lost, so to me this was exceptionally important...

[Please look in 'Books' section at christianspiritualism.org]

What I would like to say, is that having spent so many years studying such messages, I have come to the conclusion that there is no human mind that could ever have possibly conceived of 37 years worth of such in-depth consistent spiritual teachings, especially as Miss Winfred Moyes (the deep trance medium) would not have been able to fool her mother and sister and friends if this were some charade and not the real thing of which they were all a part

Again, these people did not make any money from this and lived in relative poverty, it was their mission. I say that because I wanted to show I am a cynic myself and do not simply believe everything I hear and read.

I have the added advantage of having known personally a fluent trance medium, Mr Roy Perkins, who passed over 20 years ago, and so I was brought up (so to speak) believing spirits can communicate. It is just one of those subjective things that cannot be passed on to others.

Also, in my searching, I have studied 'Spirit Teachings' (1893)...

[Please look in 'Books' section at christianspiritualism.org]

...which has sometimes been called the "Spiritualist Bible", and I wish that everyone who wants to contact with spirits would study this first, because it would answer many questions concerning mediumship, good and bad, safe and dangerous, earthbound spirits, impersonating spirits, malicious spirits, harmless but ignorant spirits, loving spirits and highly advanced messenger spirits with particular missions (angelic messengers).

With regard to my personal beliefs through Spirit communication, I have been taught from the Spirit World about the Spiritual Christ, not from any Christian church. The spiritual teaching has made me a follower of Christ as I have seen a spiritual beauty which I cannot deny. I find that most Christians have no idea about the Spiritual World but I do not belittle anyone, especially some Christians because I have tried very hard to understand why they believe a metaphysical concept entitles them to 'salvation' and I can understand its power [they do not believe the general Spiritualist teaching of soul-progression through so-named 'works'). I just try to tell them what I have learnt, although when they hear the word 'Spiritualism', quite often they appear shocked. I call it Spirit Communion and pass on the philosophy of Christ rather than tell them about how I came by it.

My understanding is that many people who perform 'clairvoyance' and anything using material objects, are in fact merely being used by spirits not far from the earth plane, spirits who have not been spiritually awakened and just want to play games, or simply make contact with the material again, so to speak.

It might seem strange that someone who has passed over to the Spiritual World should not somehow become omniscient, but they forget that free will is never interfered with, and if a spirit does not desire to progress, then it remains in a sphere which is earthly - earthbound. The problem is, that people who go and listen to mediums often just believe the spirit message is from someone they know because the medium believes it.

This does not mean that there are not some genuine mediums with genuine messages, it just means that often they are not genuine messages - but all are accepted as genuine and people do not seem to care - which I personally find disturbing. I cannot put it any other way and I do not mean to upset anyone but when there is danger, and someone really believes there is danger, would it be right for that person not to say what they believed in order to put their friends on guard?

I personally have never been convinced by a clairvoyant in the flesh although there are some carefully filmed video examples that are convincing. I am not a fan of clairvoyance, I find it is so open to interpretation by both medium and sitter, but at least it demonstrates that the medium genuinely believes [in most cases] that he or she is communicating with a non-human intelligence, but as I have said, this does not mean the spirit is a spirit who is spiritual emancipated.

Well, I apologise if this is a little wordy, but I am merely trying to show why I believe that there is a whole world of spiritual content that is so spiritually elevated that any sane and open-minded person would have to keep that mind open after studying it for as many years as I have. In fact, if the truth be known, I am only happy when my thoughts are in the sphere of spiritual instruction from certain messengers of the Spiritual World because the thoughts from There elevate and put things (for me anyway) into perspective, and make sense of, well, just about everything I need to know.

Everyone is different, and clearly not all characters are going to accept the same thing, and so it is found that there are differing teachings from the World of Spirit, some of which might even appear to contradict in places, but this is only due to the messenger and where they are coming from and to the mindset of people the message is meant for.

All of this has become my life. I cannot wake up one day and find I no longer accept any of this, because the picture of life painted for me is so clear and beautiful, wise and wonderful, intelligent and sensitive, that anything else does not make any sense - to me that is, and for me this is it.

I say this is right for me, and each person has to find what is right for them. It took me many years of searching, whether living in meditation centres or temples of Eastern religion, in order that I was ready to ask and desire answers to questions of a deep enough nature to spend the last 25 years investigating the Spiritual World and communications, both good and bad, that come from it.

I hope that this has been of some help to anyone who has been kind enough to read this far.

Kind Regards,
Tony Bisson.

I believe Spirit exists in all of us and that yes, some people can communicate with the dead. But I also think it's a rare thing and not nearly as common or benign as Spiritualism would have it be. The people of Spiritualism I am fine with but some of their practices I have to question. I just don't think opening spiritual doors like that all the time is safe.

I don't believe that most of what is brought forth through mediums and channelers and such is "enlightened" info from dead people or spirit guides. I think it's negative possibly parasitic entities messing with people, using them and telling them what they want to hear. Yeah, some of it will be correct. They're incorporeal beings after all and not trapped into living in a certain timeline like we are, but I think they mix just enough truth into their lies to get us to believe and become dependent upon them so they can feed on us and get what they need.

For the record I've been told that I am a medium and I believe it because I have seen various entities and dead people all my life but I absolutely refuse to develop that capacity. In terms of the dead people I've had that info and their identities verified in ways I never could have expected. But seances and that? No way. My gut tells me to stay FAR away from that kind of thing, always has. Humans are too easily fooled, and I think I might be too if I allowed myself to go there. The few times I've come close to anything like that kind of contact I just got the worst feeling. Messing around with entities, trying to communicate with the dead, opening yourself up for possession like it's a parlor game I think it can be very dangerous.

Precisely, people get what they are looking for, and most people are looking for entertainment or something curious - and lo and behold, they open themselves up to tricksters, jokers and imposters.

We do not do that in our little sanctuary, we have received what we were open for and it is preserved for centuries to come.

Here's something which may be of interest. After categorising the different classes of spirits in "Spirit Teachings (1893)", the guided amanuensis finishes off with the following...

"It remains to speak of the agency of a class of spirits who, from mischievous design, or from pure sportive fun, or from love of mystification, frequent circles, counterfeit manifestations, assume names, and give erroneous or misleading information. Such are not evil, but unbalanced spirits who lack even balance, and who delight in plaguing mediums and circles: in giving exaggerated tone to communications, in introducing false elements, or in personating friends, and reading in the thought the answer which they give to a query. The work of such is that which causes you to say that spiritual manifestations are frequently foolish or silly. This is due to the efforts of these spirits, who, from fun or mischief, counterfeit our work, and play on the feelings of those who trust them. These are they who personate relatives whose presence is desired, and answer to their names. These are they who make true identification of friends in mixed circles impossible. Most of the stories current of such return of friends are due to the work of these spirits. These are they who infuse the comic or foolish element into communications. They have no true moral consciousness, and will pray readily, if asked, or will do anything for frolic or mischief. They have no aspiration beyond the present: no desire to injure, but only to amuse themselves.

These are they who allure to wrong paths, and suggest wrong desires and thoughts. They secretly influence mediums much, and prevent noble aspirations. They view with impatience noble and elevated aims, and suggest the material. They act as bars and clogs. They are greatly concerned with physical manifestations. They are usually shrewd and clever at such work, and they delight in presenting bewildering phenomena for the purpose of disturbing the mind. They victimise mediums in divers ways, and find a pleasure in the bewilderment of mind which they cause. Obsession and possession, and the various forms of spiritual annoyance, proceed very frequently from such. They are able to psychologise a mind over which they have gained influence....These, again, are spirits who befool inquirers who have asked for personal information. They return plausible answers, and bewilder the deluded inquirers, or if a personal friend have once appeared, and given a good test, his or her place on the next occasion may be filled by one of these spirits, who takes the name and replies to queries, giving vague and unsatisfactory replies, or telling false stories. It is always well to put the personal element as far from you as possible, lest you open the way to deceit.

+IMPERATOR. "

[wmsm]

I learnt about Spirituality and Spiritualists through my own personal research, after my brother died.

Like many human beings I wondered if his spirit still existed and wanted proof.

I attended "flower readings" which gave me a review of the Spiritualist teachings, in which circumstance my own personal psychic awareness began to develop.

This was only after I had applied the spiritual method of meditating as a self practice.

I existed in a mind state of questions and also in a mind state of fear of spirit from religious instruction.

Therefore I applied a self method of review, that involved spiritual healing, for I considered this spiritual application worthy of understanding. Only because the spiritual healing had personally affected me, and caused me to question how the healing worked, which it had.

I knew that spiritual information which I read and studied discussed both forms of spiritual bodies...the positive and the negative, and spiritual self experiences given in other authors books allowed me to contemplate their own advice.

I began to understand spiritual concepts only through the condition of living as positive and loving life as possible whilst also using my meditative mind to psychically review humans who wanted to experience spiritual healing.

Through spiritual healing I came to understand the precepts of the Spiritualist and their teachings.

My own personal experience, which included personal studying allowed my psyche to gain information that I could historically study as personal proof, along with other information that did not belong to my own personal life condition....such as medical information and scientific information. Both of which I gained in my own experience and personal research.

I also had several spiritual experiences which proved to my own person that I was in fact in contact with spirit as an identity and that spirit altered my life condition....as a personal experience....fear.

I know that fear is one human experience that is very difficult to control as a psyche gained activated reaction.

In my first spiritual experience the fear was so intense that I had a panic attack, where I could not breathe properly. This incident and asking for spiritual assistance gave me assistance....and I witnessed first hand the spiritual contact and also the outcome of the fear being removed and replaced with warmth, love, caring and comfort. This also involved spirit speaking to my own consciousness inside of my head.

I therefore gained my own evidence.

The highest evidence of spirit contact that I gained was in an androgynous communication.

I have always known that when spirit contacts you, an advice of their own presence as a spiritual communication belongs to the actual communication. Therefore you gain the presence of the spiritual contact as a personal review in the communication. This situation was how I knew the difference between an entity that can be human caused by occultism and the real spirit presence of the higher communications.

The higher communication that I received was considered by my own person to belong to a much larger spiritual presence than my own......it caused my own spiritual awareness to enlarge into a higher positive self and the communication androgynous as a self expression was simply a condition that I considered was a loving feeling, an incredible feeling of great peace and a spiritual warmth that was comforting beyond any sort of expression.

I know that this form of spirit contact when it leaves forces me to feel such great loss that all I can do is cry. And I knew that it was very easy for a human being to crave this contact, simply in the way that it comforted me.

This situation made me aware that human beings have craved the return of our higher contacts that once gave us all great peace and spiritual love.

Therefore I became aware that we had all lost this condition and was very concerned for humanity and also aware that I was very lucky myself to have gained this interaction to describe to my family.

I have always wanted my family to be spiritually healed from our spiritual loss, for it has been apparent to my own person how much of our own selves that we have lost.

I then understood why it is that human beings forgot who they were and also now argued over the spiritual condition.

I came to understand how difficult it has been for our family to be taught what spirituality is actually about.

[Uma]

I'm all for it with precautions:

• Center yourself in the divine light first to discourage negative entities; pray for that and walk your talk in your life!
  
• Only make connections while conscious, not in the unconscious state such as Edgar Cacey, that way it deepens your connection and expands your aura
  
• Be grounded, not living only in the mind
  
• Recognize that guides and companions are also spiritually evolving - they have their own guides too - take what they say with a grain of salt, trusting your own intuition
  
• Guides offer us the path of least resistance - but if you want to evolve you need to go outside of your comfort zone in life!
  
• We all filter psychic information with the ego - so a lot ends up being fantasy, or a mixture of fantasy and genuine connection - learning to silence the judging ego is a great practice

When it works it's wonderful, especially when you are participating in a mediumship circle and several people pick up on the same thing!

[Baile]

An odd question IMO: asking if Spiritualism is real on a Spiritual forum. If Spiritualism isn't real, then which spiritual topics ARE real? It really doesn't make much sense you see.

The answer is understanding one thing and truth: spirit phenomena manifests according to the mindset and beliefs of the particular individual. This is how our relationship to spirit works. We in essence create our spirit reality. If you have an affinity to ghosts and spirits, that is how spirit will manifest. If you are Christian, spirit will manifest as visions of Mary or Jesus. If you are a UFO aficionado, spirit will manifest as alien-UFO phenomena.

People tend to see spirit as something apart from us, that functions and operates of its own accord. Not at all. We are of spirit and surrounded by spirit. Think of it as swimming in water. When we move, when we swim, our movement displaces the water we are immersed in, causing a response to the the body of water we occupy. In the same way, we are the ones who initiate spirit activity, via our interests and beliefs. Spirit then reacts to that human input accordingly.

[Native spirit]

Well I know spiritualism is real as I was born seeing and hearing spirit.so to me its second nature.i have also had three NDE so in my opinion yes its real but I'm not here to make you believe,that is up to you.

Namaste