Struggling With Belief

[ocpaul20]

I think you will probably find that you are drawn to something, so go and investigate it and when that becomes not-so interesting, then go onto something else. Trust that you will be guided to be interested in what is right for you at the time.

I was drawn into Spiritualism for a few years and then it seemed like everyone was arguing over petty things which put me off it. However, the phenomena were interesting but did not give a more wholistic view of what we are actually dealing with. It just showed individual people doing their thing but not in-body. Most of the folk in the Spiritualist churches were chasing their grief and wanting to know if Aunti Elda was OK and her consciousness is still out there somewhere. The rest were wanting to become mediums or healers. Nothing wrong with that except that it wasn't for me at the time.

Being a kind of analytical person at heart, I learned how to dowse which brought the question of how one 'knows' things or can effect things which are not physical and showed that time is not linear at all. Remote Viewing also shows time is not as science believes it is. Since many laws and formulae in physics rely on time t, it kind of blows the ship out of the water to realise that time is not as fixed as they think it is.

Anyway, more recently, I have been drawn into accounts of out-of-body travel and NDEs which, for me, give a better view of the way things seem to work and by comparing different accounts there seems to be a common thread. So in the last few years I have just gone the way of reading about different strange and 'occult' subjects which kind-of brings it all together.

The Monroe Institute stuff was helpful to me too and the fairly standard idea of 'you are more than your physical body' is a start to developing a relationship with your own essence/Higher Self. That leads us to realise we are multidimensional, everything is happening 'now', we are the creator of our life, and all that kind of thing. It is a huge, huge subject.

All in all, not very helpful thoughts but, if you follow your heart, I am sure you will gain experience of many weird and wonderful things and develop your own idea of how things are. No-one else can really tell you unfortunately.

[jro5139]

Originally Posted by tripthicket

I stumbled upon (was led to?) this site not too long ago, and have been reading many of the thread and posts in many different categories. As the days went by, I found that I seemed to be looking for something, and it took me a little pondering to decide what it might be. I decided to start this discussion in the hopes that I might get some perspective from 'novice' and 'expert' alike.

Having grown up Christian and having that forced on me for the first 18/19 years of my life and even beyond that, I completely agree with your assessment of religion. Only now I am starting to look at all belief systems as traps, anything that keeps you in some sort of prolonged waiting. I would say the proof is in the results as I watched members of my family "walk the walk" for decades only to see unanswered prayers and minimal results.

I have directly experienced the spirit realm so I know for a fact it's real, so it's not that I don't believe in anything. However, my view of what God is has changed dramatically from what I was taught growing up. That took a lot of various things, studying and reading about different religions, doing my own practices at times, having my own spiritual experiences, etc to come to what I believe now. And it's still evolving. Even stuff I believed in a few years ago has fallen away and I no longer believe it.

There's a lot of traps out there, scammers and those that maybe mean well but are just misled and that stuff can be disillusioning and confusing. Honestly what has kept me going is having seen what I saw which was undeniable proof that there is a spirit realm and at least I know I'm not looking for something that just doesn't exist at all.

I think the thing is to keep working on yourself and when the time is right for certain things to happen, then they will naturally. Having spiritual experiences isn't really something you can force to happen.

[tripthicket]

Since my last post, I have been considering where I'm at, belief-wise, and where I truly, genuinely want to be and what I'm willing to do to get there, to include goals I've discarded from consideration since I think I'm not really willing to do what I think it would take to get me there. I've begun meditation at a comfortable shamble. I've read some, zeroing in on accessing my Higher Self. I've consulted a past life psychic a couple times and ruminated on the answers given there.

At this point, I'm somewhat decided that many other subjects discussed here (from Affirmations to Tarot Cards and more) are, for me and for now, distractions to be considered in the future. I've stated before that my habit is to look for answers in books and from other people (to include the members of this forum) (I guess books are also information from other people). To look for answers outside of myself. I have slowly come 'round to the idea that I need to look inside, to try to connect with my Higher Self, and see where that gets me.

Thanks especially to all that have taken me seriously, and answered in the same vein. Thanks to those who offered resources that I could learn from. And thanks to all who participate here -- I have said little myself, but read much, and there is much of good to be gained here.