Your most profound supernatural experience

[Loren Booda]

From the panoply of metaphysical beings, places and perceptions, what personal event has brought you to an understanding outside the world of conventional reality?

 

[fourier jr]

i partially healed my eyes with qi gong meditation. basically i just thought about my eyes & my vision now is a better than it was; i don't really need my glasses to see things far away anymore. at first i thought it was a bit crackpot but now I'm a believer. I'm not sure what the mind/body connection is. i guess that would be outside the conventional (western) reality.

 

[Kerrie]

childbirth without pain meds...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

pain meds...

 

[brewnog]

pain meds...

Seconded!

 

[kaos]

When i got hit on the head. Or that time with the cough medication.

 

[brewnog]

I saw a UFO once. There were 3 bright balls, dancing around the sky above the horizon at what appeared to be about 3 miles. After a while, one of them shot off skyward at a vast rate of knots, and the other two seemed to disappear.

I only say UFO because I have no idea what it actually was, I've thought of a few possibilities but have never really been able to explain it. I wouldn't say it brought me to a greater understanding of the outside world, but once I'd realized that I couldn't easily explain it, it opened my mind a little, and made me slightly less sceptical of other such tales.

 

[cronxeh]

heh.. Ivan ate Kerrie's meds?

umm.. let's see.. I'm having synchronicities a few times a day, sometimes I experience seriously weird de ja vus - and its like the prehistory was compacted into a fraction of a second and then unpacked into my brain. Somehow the course of at least a few hours worth of different history is seen by me - or at least remembered - for a second, and then it just disappears. All you are left to ponder is what changed from last time compared to current events

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I saw a UFO once. There were 3 bright balls, dancing around the sky above the horizon at what appeared to be about 3 miles. After a while, one of them shot off skyward at a vast rate of knots, and the other two seemed to disappear.

I only say UFO because I have no idea what it actually was, I've thought of a few possibilities but have never really been able to explain it. I wouldn't say it brought me to a greater understanding of the outside world, but once I'd realized that I couldn't easily explain it, it opened my mind a little, and made me slightly less sceptical of other such tales.

Its funny that you would mention that in the context of this thread. There are quite a few examples of people who describe a UFO sighting as a spiritual, life changing experience. In fact, some become so obsessed afterwards that it virtually or literally ruins their life [from an outsider's point of view]. A few who claim this are well known "crackpots" in the UFO field.

 

[brewnog]

Its funny that you would mention that in the context of this thread. There are quite a few examples of people who describe a UFO sighting as a spiritual, life changing experience. In fact, some become so obsessed afterwards that it virtually or literally ruins their life. A few who claim this are well known "crackpots" in the UFO field.

Well I have absolutely no idea what it was, and absolutely no way of ever finding out what it was. A few of my friends saw it too, but it seemed to be right over our city, and there was no public outcry about it, so it can't have been anything massive, - those close to where it appeared to be would surely have noticed?

I can't say it felt spiritual or life changing, but it confused the hell out of me. I've always been a really inquisitive kid, and if I ever wanted to know something, I'd make sure I found it out. Hence it was a bit weird to encounter something which I couldn't find a rational, plausible explanation for.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

For those who don't already know, Tsu and I experienced what many would consider a haunting. It is the only concrete experience that I have had where something "supernatural" seemed to be involved. I make no claims as to what it was, but I know what happened. I have had other experiences that makes me wonder, but nothing that even appoaches the lever of certainty that I have about the events mentioned above.

 

[Moonbear]

I saw a UFO once. There were 3 bright balls, dancing around the sky above the horizon at what appeared to be about 3 miles. After a while, one of them shot off skyward at a vast rate of knots, and the other two seemed to disappear.

I saw something like that once, and just sat watching for quite some time trying to figure out what I was looking at. I finally decided to point it out to a friend, who promptly informed me I was looking in the direction of an airforce base. Probably nothing more than a helicopter, or search lights.

 

[brewnog]

For those who don't already know, Tsu and I experienced what many would consider a haunting. It is the only concrete experience that I have had where something "supernatural" seemed to be involved. I make no claims as to what it was, but I know what happened. I have had other experiences that makes me wonder, but nothing that even appoaches the lever of certainty that I have about the events mentioned above.

I suppose that could have been quite disconcerting. I imagine you as having a similar kind of questioning mind as myself (and indeed, being a scientific forum, many other members here). What actually happened, I'm interested now!

Until I saw my 'UFO', I viewed pretty much all reports of any such thing as lies, hoaxes, or just regular events which were somehow misinterpreted. I was a complete sceptic of anything which didn't have a rational explanation.

It's a bit different when it actually happens to you though, isn't it?

 

[brewnog]

I saw something like that once, and just sat watching for quite some time trying to figure out what I was looking at. I finally decided to point it out to a friend, who promptly informed me I was looking in the direction of an airforce base. Probably nothing more than a helicopter, or search lights.

Yeah, I went over and over what I'd seen for hours, over weeks. I got maps out, I went to the library to look for reports of similar occurances. I managed to rule out everything. It took me a long time to accept that I'd probably never be able to explain it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Oh, I was going to dig up the thread, but basically it comes down to this. In addition to the occasional, sudden onset of the strong smell of flowers in an isolated environment, Tsu and I, on two separate occasions, while each was alone, felt something sit on the bed. In my case, it was felt between my feet in such a way that there could be no mistake; something was there. We were still both wide awake and each had the experience only once while the other was gone. I had the experience before Tsu, so I also enjoy the luxury of certainty since I never told Tsu about my experience before she had hers. Even though the event had little effect on me psychologically, that is, it wasn't something that left me feeling changed, I will never dismiss the claims of others as I once did.

 

[Evo]

Not spritual or anything, but an odd type of "deja vu" today. But it wasn't the typical feeling of deja vu.

I was sitting in training today and the instructor was talking when suddenly I realized I had already sat through this moment on three previous occasions. I sat there for a moment saying everything she was about to say to myself and was just amazed that I also clearly remembered the 2 other times I sat through it. I even remembered how surprised I felt the last time it happened. I thought to myself "wow, this is happening again, just like last time".

So, it wasn't just a feeling of familiarity with a place or situation, I have prior memories of having the prior memories.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I saw something like that once, and just sat watching for quite some time trying to figure out what I was looking at. I finally decided to point it out to a friend, who promptly informed me I was looking in the direction of an airforce base. Probably nothing more than a helicopter, or search lights.

Unless it somehow defied the known flight characterstics of conventional aircraft, then it was probably nothing. Unless you have a close range observation of something unusual, this is considered a key test.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Not spritual or anything, but an odd type of "deja vu" today. But it wasn't the typical feeling of deja vu.

I was sitting in training today and the instructor was talking when suddenly I realized I had already sat through this moment on three previous occasions. I sat there for a moment saying everything she was about to say to myself and was just amazed that I also clearly remembered the 2 other times I sat through it. I even remembered how surprised I felt the last time it happened. I thought to myself "wow, this is happening again, just like last time".

So, it wasn't just a feeling of familiarity with a place or situation, I have prior memories of having the prior memories.

I think Evo slips in and out of Hilbert space.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Even though the event had little effect on me psychologically,

...that is unless you consider me falling out of the bed on a dead run...I slept on the couch for the next few nights. Yes, I was terrified. The next morning my mind wanted to dismiss as a dream the events that kept me up all night. But frankly, I knew better.

 

[Moonbear]

Unless it somehow defied known the known flight characterstics of conventional aircraft, then it was probably nothing. Unless you have a close range observation of something unusual, this is considered a key test.

It was night and all I could see was "dancing" lights, so it could have been anything. While I don't know exactly what it was, knowing an airforce base was in that direction suggested it was something explainable had I known who to ask. What it reinforced is that it's easy to think something is unusual when you can't clearly see what it is.

 

[cronxeh]

Not spritual or anything, but an odd type of "deja vu" today. But it wasn't the typical feeling of deja vu.

I was sitting in training today and the instructor was talking when suddenly I realized I had already sat through this moment on three previous occasions. I sat there for a moment saying everything she was about to say to myself and was just amazed that I also clearly remembered the 2 other times I sat through it. I even remembered how surprised I felt the last time it happened. I thought to myself "wow, this is happening again, just like last time".

So, it wasn't just a feeling of familiarity with a place or situation, I have prior memories of having the prior memories.

I know exactly what you mean. The funny thing is that there is so much information that flows into your consciousness and in a form that I don't quite understand yet - its like you acquire a memory of things that didnt really happen but you start believing they did because they contain past, present, and a bit of future

its crawling into the domain of supernatural, but hey - you've never learned in class that this stuff is impossible. You don't learn about consciousness in thermodynamics, e&m, modern, or quantum physics class, so before one discredits it based on 'science' one ought to present real science with experimental data to back it up

which in turns implies one's knowledge of the brain and consciousness, our ability to transform 2D information into 3D, brain's ability to learn and understand, to be self aware and to analyse, and then one understands that its beyond the scope of physics

 

[brewnog]

It was night and all I could see was "dancing" lights, so it could have been anything. While I don't know exactly what it was, knowing an airforce base was in that direction suggested it was something explainable had I known who to ask. What it reinforced is that it's easy to think something is unusual when you can't clearly see what it is.

But when you go through every possible explanation you can think of, and still arrive at no plausible answer, you start to wonder things.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It was night and all I could see was "dancing" lights, so it could have been anything. While I don't know exactly what it was, knowing an airforce base was in that direction suggested it was something explainable had I known who to ask. What it reinforced is that it's easy to think something is unusual when you can't clearly see what it is.

Well, that depends on the details, but I don't want to derail the thread with UFO discussions. Suffice it to say that even the most devout Ufologists claim that 90-95% of all UFO sightings can be explained as anything from conventional to secret [military] aircraft, ball lightning, lights reflecting from clouds, etc.

 

[Evo]

I know exactly what you mean. The funny thing is that there is so much information that flows into your consciousness and in a form that I don't quite understand yet - its like you acquire a memory of things that didnt really happen but you start believing they did because they contain past, present, and a bit of future

its crawling into the domain of supernatural, but hey - you've never learned in class that this stuff is impossible. You don't learn about consciousness in thermodynamics, e&m, modern, or quantum physics class, so before one discredits it based on 'science' one ought to present real science with experimental data to back it up

which in turns implies one's knowledge of the brain and consciousness, our ability to transform 2D information into 3D, brain's ability to learn and understand, to be self aware and to analyse, and then one understands that its beyond the scope of physics

I wonder if it is some type of glitch in memory where the event you've just seen is somehow "replayed", so that you do really have the memory, but it just happened a fraction of a second ago, and it is replaying in what you think is "real time". We really have no idea what the brain is capable of.

I think Evo slips in and out of Hilbert space.

Or that. :tongue2:

 

[Evo]

...that is unless you consider me falling out of the bed on a dead run...I slept on the couch for the next few nights. Yes, I was terrified. The next morning my mind wanted to dismiss as a dream the events that kept me up all night. But frankly, I knew better.

There really are things that happen that have no sufficient (current) explanation. How can anyone say "oh, it didn't happen" when they weren't there? I think it's one of those things that until you witness it first hand, you can't understand.

Yes, I had a close encounter of the cat kind, but I'm watering my plants that are dying from the heat right now.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Or that. :tongue2:

There is a school of thought amoung Cosmologists that states: When we make a measurement, it is not the wave function of that measured that collapses [into a unique eigenstate], rather, the observer's wave function is collapsed. Now think about that!

 

[Kerrie]

For those who don't already know, Tsu and I experienced what many would consider a haunting. It is the only concrete experience that I have had where something "supernatural" seemed to be involved. I make no claims as to what it was, but I know what happened. I have had other experiences that makes me wonder, but nothing that even appoaches the lever of certainty that I have about the events mentioned above.

i remember you telling me this story and actually feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up...this would be quite the supernatural feeling...

 

[Loren Booda]

Having had a (medicated) psychotic disorder for over 27 years, the supernatural becomes conventional, daily routine for me. For instance, the president talking personally to me on TV; my meeting the Devil in a lucid dream; being harassed by strangers' criticism while having them read intimate details from my mind; thinking nonlinearly and translating into linear terms for others; hearing music softly playing early in the morning with lack of sleep; believing that I am singled out by God; etc.

 

[hypatia]

I stayed in a small village in Nepal for 10 days. I had use of a land rover so I offered to take the children to school, a 8 mile walk for them.
Everyday I would drive by this field, and out of the corner of my eye, see a person standing there. But when I would turn my head to look, no one was there. I never said a word to the children about it.
One day I actually stoped, and one of the girls said to me,"Shes always there, she watches us go to school"
It took my breath away, the children saw her too.
I was scared to death, and when I went back to the village and told them what I saw, they just kind of nodded. Later it was explained to me, that its part of everyday life there, so calm and casual they were.
But my insides shook for days after. I even had to ask my team mate to take them to shcool. He told me he saw nothing. I sometimes wish I haden't.
I no longer have a choice in believing what reasonable people tell me they saw or felt.

 

[hitssquad]

Having had a (medicated) psychotic disorder for over 27 years

Are you taking Geodon now?

 

[Kerrie]

I stayed in a small village in Nepal for 10 days. I had use of a land rover so I offered to take the children to school, a 8 mile walk for them.
Everyday I would drive by this field, and out of the corner of my eye, see a person standing there. But when I would turn my head to look, no one was there. I never said a word to the children about it.
One day I actually stoped, and one of the girls said to me,"Shes always there, she watches us go to school"
It took my breath away, the children saw her too.
I was scared to death, and when I went back to the village and told them what I saw, they just kind of nodded. Later it was explained to me, that its part of everyday life there, so calm and casual they were.
But my insides shook for days after. I even had to ask my team mate to take them to shcool. He told me he saw nothing. I sometimes wish I haden't.
I no longer have a choice in believing what reasonable people tell me they saw or felt.

that is very interesting! here in the "western" cultures we think of it as such an odd experience, but other cultures accept it without a big to-do


i just thought of an experience i had about 5 years ago, i was living in this tiny apartment and usually stayed up late at night surfing the web and such...in the middle of summer, the forced air heater would turn itself on although the thermostat was set to "off"...i thought it was probably some electronic thing that needed to be fixed, but the real spooky thing that happened was laying in bed one night and my living room lamp turning on by itself (no one else was awake or in the living room)...turns out, my neighbor had some weird things happen to her as well.

 

[loseyourname]

I've never considered it out of the ordinary, but I've always had a strong sense that no harm will ever come my way. Consequently, I remain incredibly calm in almost any circumstances. Even if I'm having great money troubles or it seems that events are leading to an almost certain doom, I always know that things will work themselves out. Somehow, enough money will come my way, or I'll find a way to get somewhere I need to be - whatever it may be, and I don't even need to try. At times I've even intentionally pushed it, purposely ignored growing problems while feeling completely assured that they would take care of themselves, and every time they have. I'm not the least bit religious, but I have wondered why I seem to be so lucky. Just a quick accounting:

- I became homeless once about three years back, and the next day, I met a girl that had been in a similar situation who took me in and let me live with her until I could find my own lodging. There wasn't even any romance involved - she was just being nice.

- I drove my ATV off a cliff once when I was ten, but landed in a bush jutting out from the cliffside. I was covered in scratches, but I should have been smashed against the rocky ground.

- I fell asleep at the wheel driving home late at night from a friend's house in high school. My car started to drift underneath a big rig, but it bounced off the tire. One more foot in the wrong direction, and I'm crushed beneath an 18-wheeler.

- On vacation when I was 12, I was playing on the rails at the edge of the Grand Canyon and slipped. My mother just happened to turn around at exactly the same time and caught me.

- Last month my roommate and I were short $20 on rent. Neither of us was going to receive any additional money for another two weeks. Just when she started to get all frantic, I found $20 in a pair of pants that I hadn't worn in a while.

- Four years ago, I was supposed to fly to Boston with a girl I knew. We had the dates planned, but she canceled because something came up right before we bought the tickets. Consequently, I don't know what flight number we would have had and whether our plane would have been flown into the World Trade Center, but we would have been flying from Logan to LAX on September 11.

- Lightning once struck the car my mother was picking me up in, about five seconds after I got in. While there's no guarantee it would have hit me had I not gotten in, it was still pretty thought-provoking.

- I drove with a friend from West Virginia to Los Angeles and his car blew a head gasket twenty feet from my driveway. Not so lucky for him, as he had to spend a lot of money to fix it, but I was damn glad it didn't happen in Oklahoma.

- Coincidentally, we were pulled over and harassed by cops in North Carolina for reckless driving and endangerment, but they let us go. Presumably both because we were on our way to California and because they hadn't witnessed the crime personally (it was called in from a cellphone with a description of our car) and didn't want to set a trial date and call witnesses.

- Not quite as dramatic, but I was something like the hundred-millionth person ever to walk into Disneyland. They gave me a radio/cassette player.

- Not even as dramatic as that, but as reckless as I was a kid, playing all manner of sports, taking camping/hiking vacations, white-water rafting and dirt-biking, and taking more than my fair share of very nasty playground spills, I've never had an injury worse than a minor sprained ankle. I often frustrated my family by never seeming to get sick, even when an infection went through everyone else in the house.

- I was also born way premature at just over 4 lbs, but had no problems whatsoever. I don't consider that one to be such a biggie, but figured I'd throw in anyway.

- A bit different, but a really odd thing always seemed to happen when I was a teenager. Whenever I developed any kind of attraction to a girl I randomly saw around school, even I didn't know her, it always seemed like we'd meet shortly thereafter and she'd become attracted to me and be quite flirtatious. I swear I made no special effort to 'run into her' or anything, but it almost seemed like I could make a girl develop an interest in me just by thinking about her. I never even asked a girl out in high school because they always asked me out, and it was almost always the girl I wanted to ask me out.

In short, it has always seemed like 'someone' up there is looking out for me. Lord knows why, as I've done nothing to deserve it, but still. I even wonder sometimes if my sheer optimism and lack of worry actually molds my future in some way. You can't make this stuff up. I feel like I should write a book about the power of positive thinking or something. If I was more negative and believed bad things could happen to me, would they?

 

[Loren Booda]

hitssquad

Are you taking Geodon now?

I'm taking Zyprexa, despite all of its pros and cons. Geodon had too many side effects for me, and although a good antipsychotic, it tends to make folks a little manic. My girlfriend takes a combination of them both.

Thanks for your concern.

 

[cronxeh]

I've never considered it out of the ordinary, but I've always had a strong sense that no harm will ever come my way. Consequently, I remain incredibly calm in almost any circumstances. Even if I'm having great money troubles or it seems that events are leading to an almost certain doom, I always know that things will work themselves out. Somehow, enough money will come my way, or I'll find a way to get somewhere I need to be - whatever it may be, and I don't even need to try. At times I've even intentionally pushed it, purposely ignored growing problems while feeling completely assured that they would take care of themselves, and every time they have. I'm not the least bit religious, but I have wondered why I seem to be so lucky. Just a quick accounting:

- I became homeless once about three years back, and the next day, I met a girl that had been in a similar situation who took me in and let me live with her until I could find my own lodging. There wasn't even any romance involved - she was just being nice.

- I drove my ATV off a cliff once when I was ten, but landed in a bush jutting out from the cliffside. I was covered in scratches, but I should have been smashed against the rocky ground.

- I fell asleep at the wheel driving home late at night from a friend's house in high school. My car started to drift underneath a big rig, but it bounced off the tire. One more foot in the wrong direction, and I'm crushed beneath an 18-wheeler.

- On vacation when I was 12, I was playing on the rails at the edge of the Grand Canyon and slipped. My mother just happened to turn around at exactly the same time and caught me.

- Last month my roommate and I were short $20 on rent. Neither of us was going to receive any additional money for another two weeks. Just when she started to get all frantic, I found $20 in a pair of pants that I hadn't worn in a while.

- Four years ago, I was supposed to fly to Boston with a girl I knew. We had the dates planned, but she canceled because something came up right before we bought the tickets. Consequently, I don't know what flight number we would have had and whether our plane would have been flown into the World Trade Center, but we would have been flying from Logan to LAX on September 11.

- Lightning once struck the car my mother was picking me up in, about five seconds after I got in. While there's no guarantee it would have hit me had I not gotten in, it was still pretty thought-provoking.

- I drove with a friend from West Virginia to Los Angeles and his car blew a head gasket twenty feet from my driveway. Not so lucky for him, as he had to spend a lot of money to fix it, but I was damn glad it didn't happen in Oklahoma.

- Coincidentally, we were pulled over and harassed by cops in North Carolina for reckless driving and endangerment, but they let us go. Presumably both because we were on our way to California and because they hadn't witnessed the crime personally (it was called in from a cellphone with a description of our car) and didn't want to set a trial date and call witnesses.

- Not quite as dramatic, but I was something like the hundred-millionth person ever to walk into Disneyland. They gave me a radio/cassette player.

- Not even as dramatic as that, but as reckless as I was a kid, playing all manner of sports, taking camping/hiking vacations, white-water rafting and dirt-biking, and taking more than my fair share of very nasty playground spills, I've never had an injury worse than a minor sprained ankle. I often frustrated my family by never seeming to get sick, even when an infection went through everyone else in the house.

- I was also born way premature at just over 4 lbs, but had no problems whatsoever. I don't consider that one to be such a biggie, but figured I'd throw in anyway.

- A bit different, but a really odd thing always seemed to happen when I was a teenager. Whenever I developed any kind of attraction to a girl I randomly saw around school, even I didn't know her, it always seemed like we'd meet shortly thereafter and she'd become attracted to me and be quite flirtatious. I swear I made no special effort to 'run into her' or anything, but it almost seemed like I could make a girl develop an interest in me just by thinking about her. I never even asked a girl out in high school because they always asked me out, and it was almost always the girl I wanted to ask me out.

In short, it has always seemed like 'someone' up there is looking out for me. Lord knows why, as I've done nothing to deserve it, but still. I even wonder sometimes if my sheer optimism and lack of worry actually molds my future in some way. You can't make this stuff up. I feel like I should write a book about the power of positive thinking or something. If I was more negative and believed bad things could happen to me, would they?

geez don't you think god has tried about everything to kill you :rofl:

 

[Loren Booda]

Forgot to mention the times when I could not prove that I was not Jesus Christ.