Who here has felt the "burning in the bosom" the Mormons tell you you will feel when you read the Book of Mormon? I didn't the first time I read the Book of Mormon (or tried; I only got to 2nd Nephi before I got bored) and then I've only felt it possibly twice after that, and it didn't feel any more "true" than any other thing I felt was "true" that turned out to be randomly true or false. I never took the "burning in the bosom" seriously after that.
I never felt it. Ever. And yet I just kept going and going. Mission, BYU, perfect church attendance, sought after Sacrament Meeting speaker (can you believe that?).
Looking back I just cannot believe it took me so long. BIC and brainwashing were a deadly combination for me.
So no, I never felt it, but why did that not make the alarm sound? Why did I think I had a testimony anyway? I always take responsibility for my own actions, so it really bothers me that I was willing to bury the 'lack of burning bosom' so deeply that even I could not see it.
I never felt it either. It bothered me a little bit as a teenager until sometime in my early 20's I heard a conference talk explaining that some people won't ever have a big spiritual moment confirming the truthfulness of the gospel and that some people just intuitively know the truth. I wish I could remember who said that so I could link it here. Now that I'm out it's great to not have to reconcile any great spiritual experience I may have had and know for a fact that it's all a big fraud!
I felt it, the main time that stands out to me was honestly the 1st time I had read the whole book when I read 2nd Nephi 25:26
And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a dremission of their sins. (cut and paste messed it up a little.)
it inspired me...
I am now convinced that the feeling is man made, you can create it yourself. I got the same feeling when I read Steven Kings' The Stand. I also get the same feeling when I am reading about quarks, gluons and leptons and God Particles and the ALICE program....
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2012 05:38PM by 2litl2l8.
I get a stronger burning everytime I hear a certain replay:
"Gibson swings, and a fly ball to deep right field! This is gonna be a home run! Unbelievable! A home run for Gibson! And the Dodgers have won the game, 5 to 4; I don't believe what I just saw! I don't believe what I just saw!"
Born into the cult, I had been conditioed to make myself "feel" all the associated suggested phenomena, i.e. chills and peaceful feelings. I mean, I didn't want to the be the odd guy out, so my psycho-emotional mind did what it had to do to fit in. At age 18, I remember really feeling it when I read 3 Nephi at YBU for BOM 122. When I was reading about Jesus coming down, kissing the baby's, angels, etc - I remember thinking how beautiful, and I had the chills...and bamb..there was my testimony just in time for my mission the following semester. I now how similar feelings when I watch Trek, and other magical fantasy's.
I learned how to pray and work myself up so I got "feelings" to let me "know" what was right. This works fine for picking a religion or cereal brand.
Try doing it for a physics test. So much for "knowing" what is right. Oddly the Holy Ghost sucks with Physics 201.
It didn't take long for me to realize the whole mechanism behind "feeling the spirit" or having a "bosom burning" (wear a fire proof bra!) is just working up emotions. It is an excuse you can use to justify something you already want to do.
The most dishonest thing to me is to teach the more feeble minded among us that this is actually a mechanism for obtaining "knowledge" and that it can be substituted for factual study that evaluates evidence.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2012 08:27PM by dagny.
I was worried the dudes on my soccer team switched my vitamins for estrogen pills and I was starting to grow ta-tas once, but I was just really moved by my own self-deception. When you listen to enough people you generally like, a lot of emotion is manufactured.
Never felt it once and prayed for it quite frequently. However, I did get some burning/sensational type feeling when I read Plato's "Republic". I guess the "Republic" must be true!
I had a bishop once tell me that the burning in the bosom is similar to the feeling you get when you look in the mirror and see a cop with his lights on.
The burning in the bosom thing is essentially just a physical feeling you get in your chest. How does one decipher between this being your emotions or "the spirit"? or even just heartburn... ;P
To base your beliefs and actions off this feeling is silly. I could read a book on Charles Manson and pray to God to ask if I should follow in his footsteps. I would get a burning sensation in my chest and claim to the court that "the spirit" told me to do it. They would ask "how do you know?" and I would reply, "I just do. He told me it was for the greater good." Is this going to get me off the hook for murder? A burning sensation in your chest is not a good enough reason.
I never got that feeling reading the BoM, but I know the feeling they are talking about. It's just been hijacked to cleverly convince you of the truth of a silly made-up book.
A book which contains instructions on how to believe same... Always seemed a little suspicious to me.
I felt it twice. The first as a young child of 5 or 6 laying in bed. My parents were just joining the LDS church. As I was lying in bed I said a little prayer and asked. I got a burning in the chest. It wasn't until a few years later that I heard about the burning in the bosom that I though "Ah, so thats what that was".
The second time was during a stake conference with LeGrand Richards. I was 12 or 13. Felt it again while the congregation sang The Spirit of God (this despite the fact that I wasn't a very worthy 12-13 year old as I was probably the North American record holder for whacking off).
Never felt it again. Despite certain weaknesses of the flesh I was still a pretty good Mobot boy. I tried to get that feeling again as a seminary student, missionary and throughout my young adulthood. Never again.
What a mind screw it all was.
BTW, the burning in the bosom is not indigenous to Mormonism. John Wesley wrote that during his coversion to Christianity that "I Felt My Heart Strangely Warmed".
I felt it while reading the BofM when I truly believed in it. After I started questioning the religion, I no longer felt it.
The burning in the bosom is just a feeling you get. Feelings are natural human reactions to perceptions of reality. I feel it during non-church activities too.
One time I walked into a high end audio shop, and they were playing Beethoven's Ninth. Just after I stepped in the choral movement began, and my bosom was on fire! The voices crashed around me like breaker waves on beach rock.
I never felt it. But I was never particularly good at faking it either, which I associate with having good social skills and a degree of extroversion which I have never possessed. For me, not having a "testimony" of any kind was a serious barrier to my progression in Mormonism, which I did genuinely *believe* to be true. I see the "burning in the bosom" and more generally the "testimony" to be a key psychological device essential to protect mere *belief* from the truth - that it is all BS. Without it, sooner or later, simply believing is not enough.
The first person I spoke to about this was my mission president. Rather than expressing surprise or shock that a young man would sign up for missionary service without a testimony, as I expected, he shrugged and told me that not everybody gets that straight away (I was BIC) and that it will come later; work harder, pray, etc.
A few weeks after that conversation I was home, and have never read the BoM since.
I felt it often when I prayed and also when I heard inspiring/uplifting things. But then again, I also felt it on the toilet and during john denver songs. I know the poo is true.
1) I never felt the real spirit. Therefore the feeling I felt was just an emotion. Therefore the Mormon church is false.
2) Mormon doctrine clearly states that I can no longer feel the spirit now that I am an apostate. But I'm still feeling it. Therefore the Mormon church if false.
Ironically their greatest supposed proof that "it is true" is my greatest proof that it is false.
Is this "burning in the bosom" phenomena not the same as intuition? Even if it is, just how reliable is it as a source of truth? The danger of self-deception is always lurking in the back of your mind?
Sorry, but part of me could never really fully "feel the spirit" when someone said "burning in the bosom" because all I could think of was "Fire Boobs".
I never used that expression on my mission, witnessing almost all of my companions being laughed at by investigators.
But, when asked what it's like to feel the spirit, I always told people, "It's like helping an elderly lady walk across the streets, or help a pregnant woman carry her groceries." Usually, it would resonate with people who asked that question.
But the cognitive dissonance eventually caused me to think, "If what I've been telling people is true, then the 'constant companionship of H.G.' isn't unique to Mormons. And, those who risk their own lives saving and helping children in hospitals in war zones and impoverished areas of the world every day should definitely feel the spirit much more frequently and strongly than the fifteen men who sit in Salt Lake Temple every Thursday night."
It was at that moment that I realized, when a person acts upon love - pure, simple, without hidden agenda, not based on religious indoctrination - they naturally feel happy and are in touch of "the divine." One does not need anything - ritual, divine authority, etc. - to feel it.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2013 06:22AM by jl.
I felt it...at twenty one years old I was at a non alcohol serving strip club in las Vegas on a slow afternoon. I was young and had never seen a real woman naked in the flesh. I was at the end of the bar alone as this most beautiful young woman in nothing but high heels and a smile walked down toward me on top the bar. Right there I knew there had to be a God to create such beauty. This beautiful thing walked down to where I sat and bent down and put her soft hand on my cheek and asked me something of which I don't remember. She owned me at that moment,I was in a stupor of thought. She smelled wonderful and sat down crossed legged in front of me and looked me straight in the eye and asked if I wanted personal dance. I thought at that very moment my bosom would explode out of my chest. I was a newly seasoned RM and never had I felt or seen anything so strong in all my life.(trying to remain tactful here) ...before I could answer she sat down on top the bar she put one ankle on each of my shoulders and leaned back gyrating her long brown hair to a Tom Petty song and pulled my head toward 'heaven'. So yes I definitely felt a burning in my bosom as I stared at her bosoms and flawless body. I went home to SL UT with barely enough gas money but convinced I had a spiritual experience and seen an angel.To this day it is something I cherish and will never forget. I knew that Club was true. This is a true story BTW. Hope I didn't offend anyone..
...then you never had one. You could say it's like an orgasm of the heart chakra/center, not the sacral chakra. From reports of experiencers in various spiritual traditions, it's a developmental awakening and utterly unlike anything previously known--you (ego) don't do it to yourself, and some food or bodily condition doesn't produce it mechanically.
Really, can you imagine kindergarteners trying authoritatively to discuss--and then dismissing--the sensation of falling in love or having an intense, dopamine-rush orgasm?
It's a nice feeling from enjoying an ocean view or a lovely mountain stream.
My advice is don't trust it for anything financial or scientifically concrete. It isn't a valid way to choose a lifelong religious lifestyle that drains dry your personal esteem and finances.