A knowing

[Unveiled artist]

A knowing and understanding to me is after having a said maybe spiritual experience you get this "I Know this is true" feeling. This i believe is present in all religions where experiences lead to a kind of knowing something is true without needing a beaker to demonstrate it.

Faith is good as well as belief but have you ever had a Knowing that you Know is true insofar if anyone asked you can say yes, I know rather than belief or faith?

 

[muhammad_isa]

A knowing and understanding to me is after having a said maybe spiritual experience you get this "I Know this is true" feeling. This i believe is present in all religions where experiences lead to a kind of knowing something is true without needing a beaker to demonstrate it.

I agree with you that intuition plays a part in religious faith.

However, satan is very crafty. He is able to mislead us if we have little knowledge.
eg. satan can make us believe that we are Jesus or something

 

[wil]

After my strokes I had many hallucinations which appeared quite real....writing on the walls, bugs crawling up my arms, swarming in the air, a gnome crawling out a crack in the wall and flying away...

40 years ago I wrote a college paper on LSD and comparing hallucinogenic visions to religious experiences touted for centuries...

Entheogens is one of the names now for substances that make you think you have seen G!d or communicated with the allness. Of course this also happens with tumors, chemical imbalances, fevers, fasting, stress, etc.

One time I saw a young man tripping like crazy and my friends tried to comfort him with words like everything is okay, you'll be fine, you're doing all right, breathing know everything's alright. I later heard stories that he was telling people that God spoke to him and said...everything is okay, you'll be fine, you're doing all right, breathing know everything's alright...

Years later I ran into him at a party and overheard him telling somebody about his religious experience he was completely floored when I told him the very words his friends were using, where the very words he was using. Now the funny thing to me, since I see the Divine in everything as far as I'm concerned that was the G!d in them talking to him.

Now I ain't saying for a fact that all religious experiences are associated with some synapses firing misinformation. But when I read Thomas Aquinas or Paul on the road to Damascus I have to wonder how do we know the difference?

 

[wil]

However, satan is very crafty. He is able to mislead us if we have little knowledge.
eg. satan can make us believe that we are Jesus or something

I think the best thing about not believing in God in a conventional way is the bonus of not believing in Satan. Personal responsibility rocks! Knowing those two voices on your shoulders whispering in your ears to do it or not do it are both just the voices in your head arguing about ethics

 

[Unveiled artist]

I agree with you that intuition plays a part in religious faith.

However, satan is very crafty. He is able to mislead us if we have little knowledge.
eg. satan can make us believe that we are Jesus or something

How can you tell what's from Satan and what not?

The idea it comes from Satan,God, whomever is okay theology but wouldn't this be based on an experience in order for it to be true?

 

[Cino]

have you ever had a Knowing that you Know is true insofar if anyone asked you can say yes, I know rather than belief or faith?

Yes, I had this experience, very normal and quiet, no "lights and faces", but very memorable nonetheless, which revealed to me that I have no God or gods, and which satisfied me thoroughly.

 

[muhammad_isa]

How can you tell what's from Satan and what not?

Well, that is where religious knowledge comes in.
For example, how does a policeman know who has committed a crime?
He studies criminology, right?

He also uses his intelligence and asks people questions etc.
The policeman then builds up experience, in which he is able to make valued judgments,
which are more often than not, correct.

What do we know about satan?
We know that he is proud and envious of mankind. We know he has knowledge and experience in religion/faith.
We know he wants to mislead us.
he wants to pervert the authority of G-d i.e. G-d's guidance. [ or law ]
he wants us to sink to his level.
he influences people, who become like him,which means that we can also be "satan", perhaps unknowingly.

It is silly to think we are Jesus, or a prophet and what not. satan loves all that.
I'm not saying that we can't get close to G-d, but it needs sincerity, and preferably a doctorate in theology as well.

 

[Unveiled artist]

Well, that is where religious knowledge comes in.
For example, how does a policeman know who has committed a crime?
He studies criminology, right?

He also uses his intelligence and asks people questions etc.
The policeman then builds up experience, in which he is able to make valued judgments,
which are more often than not, correct.

What do we know about satan?
We know that he is proud and envious of mankind. We know he has knowledge and experience in religion/faith.
We know he wants to mislead us.
he wants to pervert the authority of G-d i.e. G-d's guidance. [ or law ]
he wants us to sink to his level.
he influences people, who become like him,which means that we can also be "satan", perhaps unknowingly.

It is silly to think we are Jesus, or a prophet and what not. satan loves all that.
I'm not saying that we can't get close to G-d, but it needs sincerity, and preferably a doctorate in theology as well.

I'm not sure how you know Satan's motives etc like a police would evidence to solve a crime. For example, how do you know "he wants us to sink to his level?"

What's the defining factor experience to "know" what's from Satan specifically?

 

[rocala]

In 2011, after an increasing feeling of emptiness, Buddhism filled the gap. A little later Modern Druidry covered a remaining problem. I had become, and remain 'eclectic'. I termed it Buddhism for the mind, Druidry for the heart. It is a formula that still works pretty well.

Eleven years on, I have done a lot of reading and thinking and feeling, and I am not quite as sure anymore. I would have thought that my eclectic belief covered everything, yet sometimes I listen to and read Richard Rohr and Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee and get a distinct feeling that I have missed something.

I have had three mystical experiences in my life. The result is that I "know" there is something else, another layer, to this existence. Beyond that, the more I learn, it seems the less I know.