Sharing experiences in meditation thread...?

[Faith33]

That's a remarkable experience....

I get "feelings" as confirmation, not words...not yet anyway, but this only makes me want to strive for it even more.
Thank you for sharing, Ms.H...I know many are hesitant about sharing their personal experiences and I fully understand and respect their choice...

I for one, feel benefitted by this...

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Hope33

That's a remarkable experience....

I get "feelings" as confirmation, not words...not yet anyway, but
this only makes me want to strive for it even more.
Thank you for sharing, Ms.H...I know many are hesitant about
sharing their personal experiences and I fully understand
and respect their choice...

I for one, feel benefited by this...

I think loving messages of any kind ring true to us.
One reason why I love NDEs...there is a Universal Truth that
our souls/hearts recognize...and it is inspiring to be reminded
of things we already know...and need to remember.

I know 'words' are a huge deal!!!
Don't know why they have happened to me, and of course,
know how it sounds to those that still think it is impossible
for God to actually speak to us...as if it was just for Jacob or Abraham...
concepts we were taught probably.

This is where the 'being like a child' helps doors to open.
(Inside doors!)

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

I was taught not to talk about my experiences in meditation....
the thought was it could cause jealousy or
disappointment, even, discouragement in another.

On the contrary....it could also inspire someone incredibly and send them deeper!

Miss Hepburn,

The issue of talking about one's experiences is a tricky one indeed. I have no hard and fast rule on this, except that I try to do so EXTREMELY sparingly (for every one time I discuss experiences, there are probably 50-100 times that I could have, but chose not to).

Although jealousy of others could be a reason not to discuss, I think that the more harmful consequence is that people may be encouraged to try and achieve the same experiences as you (which may be the WRONG experiences for them)!

Also, for those who have not truly had a real experience, describing your experiences could lead them to dreaming about such an experience in the same way and then "imagining" that they had an experience that is uncannily similar to the one you described to them (just look at the visions of all of the different religious traditions... those who subscribe to one or another tend to have similar visions... and I think this is more due to their cultural context than any difference in spiritual beings)! If people stop at imagining before they have a true experience, not only are we doing them more harm than good, we are really stunting their spiritual development.

In short, I'm extremely careful so that I don't lead people off the spiritual path and into the depths of their own imaginings. In some cases, discussing experiences is unavoidable, but in many cases, what needs to be conveyed can be done without describing one's personal spiritual experiences. Besides, when we try to describe them, we are probably failing to do them justice in the first place!

-TaoSandwich

[Gem]

Originally Posted by TaoSandwich

Miss Hepburn,

The issue of talking about one's experiences is a tricky one indeed. I have no hard and fast rule on this, except that I try to do so EXTREMELY sparingly (for every one time I discuss experiences, there are probably 50-100 times that I could have, but chose not to).

Although jealousy of others could be a reason not to discuss, I think that the more harmful consequence is that people may be encouraged to try and achieve the same experiences as you (which may be the WRONG experiences for them)!

Also, for those who have not truly had a real experience, describing your experiences could lead them to dreaming about such an experience in the same way and then "imagining" that they had an experience that is uncannily similar to the one you described to them (just look at the visions of all of the different religious traditions... those who subscribe to one or another tend to have similar visions... and I think this is more due to their cultural context than any difference in spiritual beings)! If people stop at imagining before they have a true experience, not only are we doing them more harm than good, we are really stunting their spiritual development.

In short, I'm extremely careful so that I don't lead people off the spiritual path and into the depths of their own imaginings. In some cases, discussing experiences is unavoidable, but in many cases, what needs to be conveyed can be done without describing one's personal spiritual experiences. Besides, when we try to describe them, we are probably failing to do them justice in the first place!

-TaoSandwich

I'm with this ^

[Miss Hepburn]

Speaking about a truth that one has experienced in meditation is not so tricky.

Say, someone shares..."Wow, in my 4 th hour...I saw a Light inside me.
It was just like what I read about...brighter than 10,000 Suns."

Was that so hard? No.
Was that tricky? No.