talking WITH God

[ArmsMerchant]

You say that you talk to God--i.e., pray--most folks think you are pious. Tell them that God talks back, they may think you're nuts.

Here are some of some of my own experiences with talking with God. First, a definition is in order. To me, God is not an entity or deity per se, but rather the intelligence/energy/consciousness that underlies all of reality. In short, God is everything. (If this seems hard to grok, talk to your friendly neighborhood Sufi mystic. Or see the "seven faces of God" thread.) As Eknath Eswaran put it, "If words like 'Lord' bother you, remind yourself that you are addressing the divine spark within your own heart : not some imposing figure seated on a throne in the far reaches of the heavens, but the very core of your own self."

Sometimes, when I really need a loud and clear message, I will hear a voice in my head. Like about eight years ago, when I decided to really get serious about getting clean and sober (after many failed attempts over the preceding thirty years). Me: "God, I am really serious this time." God: "Good--it's about time!"

Another time, I was mulling over a problem while driving, and some song lyrics I heard on the radio provided the insight I needed.


Then there is bibliomancy, the favorite Christian method of doing psychic readings. Ask your question, open a book at "random" and see what you see.

Nature itself can serve as a voice of God--everything from cloud formations to the flight of birds to the behavior of your pets. I think it was Wordsworth who wrote of "sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, and good in everything."

That said, it bears mentioning that we create our own reality. Therefore, nothing is meaningful in and of itself--signs, portents, omens all mean pretty much what we decide they mean. Ideally, we will transcend fear and ego, and listen to that "small, still voice" within.

[Obbe]

You should look into the Bicameral Mind theory. It is suggested that in ancient times, the stress of decisions were accompanied by a voice (usually in verse) of authority and guidance.

[ArmsMerchant]

I was going to, but the voices in my head couldn't agree on whether or not it was a good idea.

[Dream of the iris]

I'm glad you posted this. I remember once thinking, "How does one live simultaneously in the manifest and the unmanifest?" The response I got back was, "Trust".

I think it has something to do with accessing your "higher mind".

[Rory]

Originally Posted by Obbe

You should look into the Bicameral Mind theory. It is suggested that in ancient times, the stress of decisions were accompanied by a voice (usually in verse) of authority and guidance.

Wow. While reading the OP, I had decided to share this as well.

[We Lost The Skyline]

Robert Green Ingersoll:
The hands that help are better far than lips that pray.

[Rizzo in a box]

Hah, keep yr words with yr God short, simple, and to the point.

He's kind of like the Big Editor of the Logos.

All those extraneous words...gotta go.

[Persian]

Well you claim to be talking to god, but you have no proof.

If it was in your head, it could have just been your imagination, a dream etc.


But lets say that some other being DID talk to you in your head. How could you know it was god? It could be like some mind reading alien, or Satan.

If you can't properly define or prove god, how can you give him credit for anything, such as the voices in your head? Anything could have caused them. Maybe it wasn't your god, maybe it was like Zeus or Ra or something.

[slm33d]

Greyfox that was me using telepathic connections.

What made your decision to go clean final?

[ArmsMerchant]

Originally Posted by Persian

Well you claim to be talking to god, but you have no proof.

If it was in your head, it could have just been your imagination, a dream etc.


But lets say that some other being DID talk to you in your head. How could you know it was god? It could be like some mind reading alien, or Satan.

If you can't properly define or prove god, how can you give him credit for anything, such as the voices in your head? Anything could have caused them. Maybe it wasn't your god, maybe it was like Zeus or Ra or something.

Very good question. Obviously, stuff pops into our head from many sources--sometimes we get telepathic impressions from other people; some folks may have picked up an entity (sometimes called being "possessed"); personal random access memory--to name but a few.

Here is the sure and infallible way to tell if what you are hearing is from God--God is love. If you get a message, some symbolic stuff, a voice in your head, and the message is grounded in and sponsored by love, it has to be from God.

Now I am not necessarily talking about an invisible friend in the sky gving you dictation--Jesus himself said that "the kingdom of God is within you." Deepak Chopra has said that we all have a god or goddess in embroyo within us.

When you act from your highest, most loving and least fearful of motives, you are--for all intents and purposes--being motivated by God.

[ArmsMerchant]

Originally Posted by slm33d

Greyfox that was me using telepathic connections.

What made your decision to go clean final?

Another good question, but a skosh off-topic--then again, I DID bring it up.

Thing is, most addicts have very screwed up brain chemistry. When I was detoxing, I started on a regimen of mega-doses of vitamins, minerals, herbs (not, not THAT herb), and amino acids custom-made for my own particular brainc hemistry. Thus, I had minimal withdrawals and no cravings.

Plus, I had simply had enough. I got drunk for the first time New Years Eve of 1953 fer crissakes--I got sick of the guilt, the shame, the lying, the suicidal ideation, the rippin' and runnin, the jail time--you name it.

Plus, I decided to grow a pair. In some ways, addiction is simply cowardice.

[#1 Stunna]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

When I was detoxing, I started on a regiment of mega-doses of vitamins, minerals, herbs...

You meant "regimen" there.

[Persian]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

Very good question. Obviously, stuff pops into our head from many sources--sometimes we get telepathic impressions from other people; some folks may have picked up an entity (sometimes called being "possessed"); personal random access memory--to name but a few.

Here is the sure and infallible way to tell if what you are hearing is from God--God is love. If you get a message, some symbolic stuff, a voice in your head, and the message is grounded in and sponsored by love, it has to be from God.

Now I am not necessarily talking about an invisible friend in the sky gving you dictation--Jesus himself said that "the kingdom of God is within you." Deepak Chopra has said that we all have a god or goddess in embroyo within us.

When you act from your highest, most loving and least fearful of motives, you are--for all intents and purposes--being motivated by God.

I disagree with you.

How do you know that? You do you know which god. How do you define god. God can be good, god can be bad - depending on the religion and god.

You can't just say 'if you get a message of love, its god.' That's an assumption based on your opinions of a god that you don't really know much about.

Even assuming it IS god talking to you...how do you know which god. After all, it could be Yahweh, could be Ra, could be some random greek or aztec god. You have no way of knowing.

And message of love - are you saying the human mind is incapable of love?

[Persian]

Could you answer the questions in my previous post please =).

[ArmsMerchant]

"And message of love - are you saying the human mind is incapable of love? "

Nope--I am saying that God is love, and the kingdom of God is within you.

I think all your other questions have been addressed--and more than once--in other threads.

[threat]

I don't know why you would refer to those incidents as talking with God, even with your definition of your own. You refer to people picking up telepathic impressions, and even entities. I hope your not referring to both in the literal sense.

[ArmsMerchant]

Originally Posted by #1 Stunna

You meant "regimen" there.

Oops--it seemed like a regiment, but yeah, I did mean regimen.

Thank you for pointing that out.

[dirty thong puller]

Seems to me like whenever the shit hits the fan in my life, and I decide to open myself up to whatever it is that underlies reality, I seem to experience some strange synchronicities.

I don't hear voices in my head or anything like that. But whenever things get really bad in my life or I have to make a tough decision, some weird little event will happen out of the blue that can be correlated to whatever it is that I am facing. These things don't really seem to happen at any other time in my life, unless things are getting crazy.

Could it be that I am looking more for these signs, possibly. I won't deny that. However; these synchronicities and symbolic events do not ever seem to occur when everything is rolling along smoothly in my life and I don't open myself up to the underlying reality.

[L33tz]

We all had life blown into us.

[TheSexyBeast821]

During a spiritual experience with extreme synchronicity I asked myself, God, the universe, the collective unconscious, whatever it was I was tapped in to a specific question about a person, and got a simple response back in their voice. It damn well could have been an auditory hallucination, but I got an answer that seemed to not be coming from myself so I'm going with it.

Also during this experience, which lasted about 2-3 weeks, every time I would listen "My Cosmic Autumn Rebelling (The Inner Life as a Blazing Shield of Defiance and Optimism as Celestial Spear of Action)" by The Flaming Lips which features the lyrics:
...
But this one bird didn't leave you
It stayed through the wintertime
You can't hear it sing
But you can hear it as it flies
...
Birds would come land in my immediate vicinity. In the city in winter this is a rare enough occurrence as it is, but it happened to me four or five different times while listening to this song.

Another example that I had happen to me was asking myself a question then having a rather specific answer appear in newspaper headlines, signs, and posters as I would walk by. Or overhearing a conversation as you pass that applies exactly to your thoughts. It was like a dialogue with my higher-self manifested in physical reality for days on end, pretty profound stuff.

Synchronicity is everywhere, it's just hard to recognize it most of the time. My whole experience was set off by a simple 'spell' or experiment (don't know if this actually had anything to do with it, but it is quite a coincidence in my opinion), then meditating and unlocking the complete depths of the love that is trapped inside all of us. I would equate it to breaking a dam that was regulating the flow of my love (or maybe stifling it altogether) and then having it flood me till it resumed a normal, natural, tranquil flow.

[M. Samuel Chevalier]

In the past its only been through other mediums:

songs
things others would say
one time, at a confused time in my life, I was playing apples to apples with my friends. Everyone wanted to go home but I was like "nah! nah! don't be lame, one more round!" I draw the card, and it says "meek". I was shellshocked.

recently he's started putting actual audio voices in my head. I like it

[Fanglekai]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

Original post edited and expanded.

You can make yourself believe whatever you want. It doesn't make it true. Hearing some random stuff on the radio and thinking it's some divine act is ludicrous.

I can open any book, newspaper or magazine at random and think it's providing me advice. That doesn't make it true. Opening Maxim to page 14 and seeing a joke about vomit can provide direction if you feel like interpreting it a certain way.

Wordsworth was a Romantic. They exalted the self, I, individual experience and emotion as a reaction to and rejection of Neoclassical thought, writing, and philosophy. It really had very little to do with religion or God, despite what people think. Romanticism was projecting your own experience on nature, so you could imbue nature with whatever qualities you want, religious or not. It was not religious in nature, but things could take on religious tones or messages if the person wanted. It's basically the same thing you're doing with thinking radio songs are directed to you: projecting your own mental state on the outside world.

[Headspin]

Radio synchronicity is where I find God's voice. Also, in my dreams I find him.

[The Creator of Life]

This is your subconscious speaking to you. Your "higher self."

[Headspin]

Originally Posted by The Creator of Life

This is your subconscious speaking to you. Your "higher self."

So there are two parts to our consciousness which I don't know who wouldn't agree upon. The subconscious is the higher self? Is this because it holds all the dark secrets and is usually the deciding or enforcing part of you that makes you tick?

[The Creator of Life]

I think it's because we are conscious of so little. There are miraculous things happening within our bodies yet we only recently began to see this. Do we consciously decide to make our hearts beat? Our neurons fire? Of course not. These things communicate in ways our conscious can't understand.

Maybe our subconscious is like this as well? I've heard that the subconscious mind speaks to us with feeling, sometimes so vague that we shrug it's message off as something insignificant. One night I was driving home to change clothes, planning to go party that night with some girls and a friend of mine. When I turned to close the door to my room something spoke to me, somehow I had the feeling I might never return to my room again without my life being significantly altered. I believe this was my subconscious warning me to change plans. Of course, I didn't listen to my inner voice and went to go party instead. Later that night my entire life changed when I was busted by the police for smoking pot. I had to call my parents and tell them I was in jail. Now everything is fine but this was a difficult period in my life and I truly believe it would have been avoided had I listened to my inner voice.

[ArmsMerchant]

Subconscious is one thing; higher self is something else.

[Lord hang man]

God is the energy of speaking as God, the whole population can embody the Lord to create heaven on earth, or ignore the Lord to create hell.

[Nachismo]

In my experience, I percieve God causing positive synchros with dreams, and in waking life too, though usually less frequently.I have noticed that they usually sync up with direct requests (in the form of prayers) for signs or answers.It pays to practice paying attention to timing, with regards to awareness.

[ArmsMerchant]

Original post edited and enlarged--ergo, bumpus.

[iMagiNation]

I like to text god. It's much faster than calling him.

[Bin "Fuck Towers" Laden]

Originally Posted by Nachismo

In my experience, I percieve God causing positive synchros with dreams, and in waking life too, though usually less frequently.I have noticed that they usually sync up with direct requests (in the form of prayers) for signs or answers.It pays to practice paying attention to timing, with regards to awareness.

recently synchronicities are getting more intense. although if i remember correctly it was around this time last year when I got these insane ones. I would see these certain numbers everywhere. at least 10 or more likely 13 times a day.

[Hydroponichronic]

Well, I normally would ignore a thread like this, but I just thought of something. A long time ago I was meditating and asked my subconscious how I could control reality, and I heard back "control the senses". I thought that was some pretty cosmic shit.

[Yurpen]

You know you have to talk through Jesus to get to God. You where most likely talking to Satan Himself, hence the 13.

[idontsmokeblunt]

Originally Posted by ArmsMerchant

When you act from your highest, most loving and least fearful of motives, you are--for all intents and purposes--being motivated by God.

This isn't necessarily true. For instance, I'm a science kinda guy. And so I basically believe that the purpose of every organism's existence is to ensure it's own survival.

So, these 'messages' or whatever, could simply be biology at work. You're brain is extremely powerful and without a doubt could predict that at the rate you were at at a certain time, predicted premature death. Then it simply acted accordingly to attempt to halt the impending death or maim, and sent you 'messages' or 'communicated' with you in a sense that you would understand and act upon.

I mean, your brain IS your brain. It has all your memories, emotions, fears, etc.. It could easily devise a situation that would cause you to act.

[Headspin]

Originally Posted by Hydroponichronic

Well, I normally would ignore a thread like this, but I just thought of something. A long time ago I was meditating and asked my subconscious how I could control reality, and I heard back "control the senses". I thought that was some pretty cosmic shit.

Pretty cool response for someone I would classify under partial skeptic. We all work with the same data... I think.

[iMagiNation]

I mean, your brain IS your brain. It has all your memories, emotions, fears, etc.. It could easily devise a situation that would cause you to act.

What you're really saying is your brain "is your mind", not your brain is your brain. That means nothing. Either way, it's not entirely true that memory & emotion and all that are only to be found in the brain, many things contribute. Brain != mind

[Hydroponichronic]

Originally Posted by w1zard

Pretty cool response for someone I would classify under partial skeptic. We all work with the same data... I think.

To be fair, I'd say I'm more than a partial skeptic. That said, I don't believe that the existence of a universal consciousness beyond the realm of possibility.

[TheSexyBeast821]

Originally Posted by w1zard

Pretty cool response for someone I would classify under partial skeptic. We all work with the same data... I think.

We may all work with the same external data, but internal data varies greatly from person to person. Sometimes the internal data also changes the interpretation of external data and gives it new meaning.