It's funny, after all the time in the morg I was told that you would feel "the spirit" strongest in church settings. Boy, they're wrong.

My most spiritual experience was when I was in New Zealand. Looking at the spectacular surroundings truly brought me to tears. Our world is such an incredible place.

A close second was at a LGBTQ conference in Los Angeles. I felt love and compassion for strangers like I've never felt before.

What have been your most spiritual or awakening experiences?

Finding out the 'Church' and its doctrine were complete lies started opening up the 'Universe' to this truth seeker. I compare my life to a flower that is opening up right now "every day in every way".

To say one bit of 'awareness' is the most 'spiritual/awakening' is not possible for me as I consider all my 'awareness' to be "spiritual".

I would say it all begins when one mentally says 'enough is enough' and time to get off this 'merry go round' and takes some time to meditate!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2015 03:23PM by spiritist.

Probably the gradual realization that I am highly fallible. After the narcissistic fantasies of Mormonism, there comes the narcissistic blaming of Mormonism. Everything would supposedly have been perfect without the fraud, the imposture, the mystery cult of Mormonism that sucked up all my money, time, and effort.

Not so. I still need to learn and grow, which is not easy. Joseph Smith was actually correct that we are saved no faster than we gain knowledge. Not magical passwords, but actual knowledge of the world and of ourselves.

Doing ayahuasca ceremonies. I did around 5 and it's been over 5 years, but I still think about them everyday. It's a pretty phenomenal thing ( for those who don't know, ayahuasca is a brew/tea made from a vine and a leaf in the Amazon- DMT and a MAOI inhibitor. I highly suggest watching the documentary "Yhe Spirit Molecule".. )

Having babies, of course, but I assume you mean a singular spiritual experience, alone, inside yourself.

I spent several weeks, opening the jar of worms, one twist at a time, and having all the dirty secrets and lies of the Mormon cult spew out, and staying up all night, reading more and more on RFM. My heart was filled with anger. Was there even a God? My mind was a blur of confusion. I hiked up to a place in the forest, where the trees converge above me, forming a dome canopy, which I call "The Cathedral." I sat on a log, and let go of all the questions and the anger. Finally, there was inner silence. I felt like everything was going to be OK, now that I knew The Truth. I had never felt "OK", as a Mormon. Then The Answer came to me: We are all one! Carl Sagan was right, that we are all made of the same matter, the same "star-stuff" as each other, the Earth, the universe. I felt like life had opened up! There were so many possibilities, so much to learn!. I had real hope!

That was the moment I became a loving part of the human race.

I still don't know if there's a God, but I don't really have to know. "The Moment" is the most important reality. Love is what matters most.

A near-death experience opened my eyes and my life. Everything has been different since then. The church-not a place for it in my life anymore.

does not mean that I'm in the bathroom.

I was in the hospital extremely ill. I literally FELT my spirit leave my body and go up into this magnificent (sp?) , beautiful white light. There was this absolutely INCREDIBLE peace . The next thing I knew , I was being pulled back to earth. Going back into my body, waking up. 5 Doctors were standing around my bed & the head of the team of
Doctors very bluntly said ; " You are lucky to even be alive. You shouldn't have waited so long to come to the hospital". They all looked like they'd just had the shit scared out of'em". Before they left the room , another Doctor looked at me & said "You are only alive because we were here, right now".

I have almost died 2 other times ---but those experiences are for another day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2015 12:53AM by momto15kids.

Tonto :
What a beautiful , tender experience.
Thank you so much for sharing with us !!

My mother visited me after she died. It was glorious, and is a defining moment of my life.

She had died a brutal death with ovarian cancer. She had never smoked or drank in her life, and she was faithful about visits to her "lady doctor." I felt it was grossly unfair. She was the finest person I've ever known, and she begged for death at the end. She was only 61.

I call her appearance "the best possible version of her." She was beautiful, and she said, "I love you. I can only stay for a moment. It's OK now, and it's going to be OK in the future." Then she was gone.

Now, I know some people will say that my mind made it up because I was mourning her so badly. But for ME, it was real and it was beautiful. It wasn't a dream. I remember every detail.

I felt calm afterwards, and I was able to let go of my anger and hurt.

Near death experiences and 'spirit' encounters. Fantastic!

I am told more people are becoming more 'aware' ----- now I see more evidence. Thanks for sharing!

The funny thing is that I'm not the sort of person who would have believed something like this if another person told it to me.

So, I don't expect anyone else to believe this, and I have told very few people in real life... my wife, my sister, a beloved cousin. I think I'm afraid that people I know will belittle or shrug off my experience.

It doesn't matter if anyone else believes it or not... it happened to me, and, as I said, for me it was real and beautiful and hugely comforting.

It was an instant of spirituality and clarity and certainty that I've never experienced in church or in Bible study or anything else.

I believe with all my heart that this life is not all there is. And, as Mom said, it's going to be OK.

For me it was books.

At one point I realized that control of what is written is what keeps people from free thought.

I was reading something, I think from Voltaire, and an awakening experience hit me. There have been people who have questioned for thousands of years. Wisdom is in the books. There is a private conversation you can have with the thinkers throughout time. There are cues that only doubters recognize.


Another spiritual experience for me was sitting at the microscope. It gave me a whole new appreciation for detail, beauty and order (I was a micro undergrad). It gave me a different sense of perspective.

Dagny, you reminded me of a story that impacted my thinking at an early age; it opened me up to understanding that there's always, ALWAYS, more to be discovered. We never know it all...


A student who sought to enhance his resume sought out a renowned teacher and asked for a lesson from that teacher. The teacher obliged him. He asked the student to walk with him and was asking the new student questions about himself and his goals.

A breeze stirred the branches and a big, healthy green leaf came whirling down and landed near the pair. The teacher walked over and picked it up, studied it, turned it over a couple of times and then handed it to the student. "For your first assignment, I want you to study this leaf and write an essay on what you learn about it."

The student thought it an odd, but at least easy, assignment and took the leaf home, put it on his desk, got out paper and pen and began to make notes about the leaf. After about an hour, he felt satisfied.

The next day he returned the leaf and his paper to the teacher. The teacher quickly reviewed the paper and then explained that the student had fallen into the very common error. He'd stopped as soon as he felt safe to do so, rather than trying to find out more. He asked the student if he, the student, had looked at the leaf through a magnifying glass. The student said he hadn't. The teacher then said, "So there's no point in asking about a microscope..." and sighed.

The student asked for another chance and the teacher granted it. The student took the leaf home again and this time his study of the leaf took over two months. The teacher had stopped by the student's home two days after they'd parted and told the student he was learning his lesson.

24 years later Louis Pasteur discovered the relationship between microbial organisms and disease. This was 200 years after the invention of the microscope. Why had no one made that connection before him? Because people were satisfied with learning 'enough' rather than everything they could.

It is extremely rare that a person can't ask one more question about a process, and it is equally rare that the person won't stop asking about a process.

That's a great story. A keeper!

I don't know if you can "make" someone curious and make them LOVE to seek more. The leaf exercise is a good way to open the door.

My spiritually awakening experiences are these:

Classical music, particularly the nocturnes of Chopin and the gnossiennes of Satie.

Art

Dance

Opera

Love

The Sky

The Earth

The Universe and beyond



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2015 03:33PM by wine country girl.

Reading MormonThink. It was as though the scales fell from my eyes, and it suddenly made sense why, after praying literally thousands of times, God had never answered my sincere petitions to know that the church was true. It wasn't because he hated me, it was because the church was a fraud.

Then, I realized I had planned my whole life around that fraud, and I felt like I was going to throw up.

Not believing in 'spirit', it means that I reject the notion of 'spiritual experiences.'

Which leaves experiences that rise to the level of Wow! Some are good, others are bad. A bad experience: watching/waiting for my 98 year old mom to stop breathing.

Great experience: being loved by an Ex-mo. On purpose. Repeatedly...

I like that explanation very much. I don't believe in the spirit either so how can I explain a beautiful feeling as a spiritual feeling? I can't. End of story.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2015 04:22PM by Susan I/S.

Attaining the first Jhana.

Well, that too!

Seeing the Eiffel tower for the first time. Seeing rainbow bridge. Watching a huge snow storm with a cup of hot beverage. My grandchildren. Vivaldi's four seasons. Hanging out with you all.

Standing in the courtyard of Djoser's Step Pyramid in Egypt, looking at a mountain built by human hands, was the single greatest spiritual experience of my life.

Still. All these years later: At 23. That glorious moment I realized the church was a lie. I felt whole for the first time ever. I allowed myself to like myself for the fist time ever. That moment opened the gate for every other spiritual experience to follow.

If that isn't the very essence of spirituality I don't know what is.

Shambhala Buddhism - every day.

My greatest awakening was when I realized that the emperor has no clothes. I realized that people who talk about spiritual experiences are either lying with intent to deceive, or else misinterpreting the normal physical responses their bodies have to emotions.

Discovering that all religion is probably mythic, and that the natural world is all that exists, and that we understand only a tiny fraction of it. An endless field of discovery! And it's glorious.

Saying no to abuse, bullying, lying, deception, manipulations, and con games which happened in the morg for years and since leaving with other people in general, even though it has been brutal and painful, was for me spiritual moments. Why you ask? Saying no to evil is saying yes to freedom. I have learned that telling the truth is the flip side of freedom. And that is what I want in my life.

I also concur with other posters here like elderolddog and Elijah unabel, etc. There are spiritual moments to be had each day and I find them in forgiveness and seeking beauty in the earth.

Floating in crystal clear 90 degree water with white sand beneath me. In the water there were thousands of tropical fish swimming around. They followed my movements through the water.

It was heaven. I knew it wasn't a common experience, and I reveled in every second. The huge coral reefs and giant clams that were sitting on the ocean floor were surreal.

White sand, turquoise water, tropical flowers, and the kindest people I've ever met. Life was incredible, a miracle, and beautiful. I knew I'd never be the same after that experience in the South Pacific.

It wasn't long after that I left Mormonism forever.

i just read 'wicca: a guide for the solitary practitioner' and it was really good :) didn't realize how much wicca resonated with me until i read this particular book. did a lil protection spell on my kitty and it was totes spiritual :)

The joy I felt when I realized the church was bull shit was the best feeling I had ever felt.

Watching each of our two kids being born. Messy way to make new people, but it works. After one, dunno why any woman would be willing to do that again.

I had twins who were born in 1986. They were 10 weeks early. The eldest died at 11 days old, the other twin, Emily, died at 1 year old, having been in the hospital, on a ventilator the whole year.

Eventually, the doctors determined that she was not going to survive and asked us to consider removing her from life support. The decision to do so was not hard, but very very painful. We chose to let her go.

Since Emily had become as much the hospital's child as our own, we wanted to give everyone the chance to say goodbye, so we actually scheduled a time for removing her from the ventilator.

When the time came, the nurse laid her in my lap, and, surrounded by everyone who knew and loved her best, the doctor pulled her tubing and shut off the machines.

As I held my daughter and told her to go with her sister, I felt my body tighten, becoming very uncomfortable. It felt like shoes that were too tight. I didn't understand why I would feel that way, but I just kept talking to her, telling her we loved her.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt free. I took a huge breath and the most indescribable joy spread through me. I wanted to sing and laugh and dance! I couldn't believe how wonderful I felt.

In that moment, my daughter shared her death with me. I'll never again fear the transition. I know what a joyful experience it is.

I didn;t feel "god", just joy. That's the feeling I try to cultivate in my life. I chose to thrive after the twins deaths. It was the best way I knew to honor them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2015 01:44AM by glassrose.

That was beautiful :)

The things that I once would have considered to be spiritual experiences are just cool things that happened to me now.