After leaving the cult last year I have spent copious amounts of time pondering what my purpose on this earth is. I'm a deep thinker. Can't get around it. Since I figure if anyone should know about the hereafter and why we're here I have studied NDE's as part of my journey. By far, the concensus is that we reincarnate until we get it right. There is a god, but not like we have been taught. More like we are the cells (or parts) of this god and it (neither male nor female) is using each of us as a sort of satellite prob to experience all there is out there in the universe as part of it's "becoming." I read that this god (or life force) knows perfectly the past present and future and is full of perfect love. Learning to love perfectly is the reason we are temporarily in these earthly bodies and we reincarnate until we get the "love" thing right.

So, if it (god) knows everything from start to finish...


1. Why does it need us (as a part of it) to come to earth to experience what we do and then reincarnate until we get it right since it knows past, present, and future???

2. Does that mean that perfect love is sadistic???? Considering the hell I've been through these past aprox 7 years and then seeing the hell others go through on this earth how can that even be considered love? Especially since most of what I read is that it's through pain and suffering that we come closer and get to know god. That's the definition of sadism IMO. I don't care if the pain is only supposed to be a "moment" in time/eternity!!! I'm calling BS on that one!

3. Based on the bible, history of other religions, and earth history does that mean women are the scum of the earth and the least thought of by god??? I've read alot of studies about midlife crisis in men (for example) and it's supposed to be a natural transition for men as they get older. The problem is, most men cheat on their wives for something younger so they can feel younger themselves. They leave good women who have stood by their side for decades. They "throw" their children, family life, and responsibilities to the curb. So how does a god with perfect love figure incorporating midlife crisis into the scheme of things is a part of anything good KNOWING that the majority of the time women, their family, and their children will get s*$%@ on in the process???

So god allows us our free agency and won't intervene unless we ask??? What about all the asking I and others have done to release the pain caused by the morg, my supposed tbm husband who cheated on me and deserted me and our family twice over this last seven years? He actually thinks he's doing the right thing hurting and breaking up our family because of his selfish choices. What about that girl (in europe?) that was held against her will for a large part of her life and repeatedly raped by her father??? She ended up having multiple children that were born with handicaps and some of them died. What about muslim women who are thrown into a padded room and ignored for the rest of their lives with nothing but food and water (absolutely no human contact) just because they did something some male in their life didn't approve of??? What about those sadistic child molestors, rapists, murderers, human trafficers, etc. etc. etc.??? What about all of those innocent women forced into polygamy by fricking idiots like joe smith and the mental and physical pain they suffered throughout their lives??? Does a god with perfect love really need to have all of these experiences??? I would really like to see this "god" come down to earth and spend the rest of its lifetime getting shut in a dark, damp cell with no human contact and raped at the whim of its captors!

Then, to be told that we don't sin but that we just make mistakes and are ignorant until we get it right. I read on one website that Hitler didn't sin. He was just severely stunted spiritually. ?????????

If I seem angry right now I am! What the hell kind of god can be so SADISTIC????!! And don't tell me it is humans that are sadistic and not god! If god made us to progress at the expense of one another how can that god have perfect love???!!

The cogdis is literally making me crazy! Someone please help! I'm tired of being so flippin angry all the time now!!!!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2012 12:34AM by baabaablacksheep.

There is NO intrinsic meaning in life, you have to make your own meaning. The 'soul' is a function of the brain,and is mortal, it dies when the brain dies, and there is not soul recycling.
There's no point in getting pissed at someone who doesn't exist. That's my opinion, and I'm betting my whole existence on it.

It is reasons like this that I think there is little evidence of God. Sometimes things get easier once we realize that we are in control of our own lives not God. I base my reality on proven quantifiable Science. Sorry you are suffering right now. I feel ya as I am dealing with my own sh*t right now too!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2012 12:30AM by turnonthelights.

Thanks. Sometimes I'm so angry I just want to break down and cry :( I'm so grateful for a place to vent and still feel welcome ;)

Really taking a look at creation is the best way to understand the personality of the creator. If you believe in that and I do. Rather than listening to others theories the things around you can reveal a lot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2012 12:55AM by suckafoo.

Wow. I posted something similar to this a while back.

Is there purpose or not?

I was given great advice of "make your own personal purpose with a little "p".

That's the beauty of living in the moment/present. Don't worry about some grand design...just soak in life as it goes and define it in your own way.

Stick to what you know. Don't worry about purposes of suffering or love.

Just love deeply and ease suffering! That's purpose enough right? Make your own purpose.

It's hard to feel love when I feel so much pain and anger. I guess I'm trying to wrap my brain around a new set of thinking without the morg "rules" to guide my every step, even after being out of the morg for almost a year.

I used to be so loving and kind. I wasn't perfect by any means. But after what I've been through these past seven years I hate who I've become. I'm always angry. I don't know what to believe anymore since learning the truth about momism. Up is down. Down is up. WTH??? I think the inforamation that is now available through the web has made things worse because truths that were covered up (not just the morg) are now becoming available and it seems like the world has turned topsy turvy!

I guess I just don't know how I'm supposed to love anymore with so much pain inside of me right now. I considered myself a pretty tough cookie but events these last 7 years (and especially this last year) have caused me to almost have a mental breakdown on multiple occassions. I don't know where to go from here :(

"It's hard to feel love when I feel so much pain and anger. I guess I'm trying to wrap my brain around a new set of thinking without the morg "rules" to guide my every step, even after being out of the morg for almost a year."

"I used to be so loving and kind. I wasn't perfect by any means. But after what I've been through these past seven years I hate who I've become. I'm always angry. I don't know what to believe anymore since learning the truth about momism."

I am sure you were loving and kind - according to the rulebook you played by. But the Mormon church programs you to never learn to love (and be content with) yourself. They WANT you to ALWAYS feel unworthy, discontent, self-critical, which is how they are able to retain control over a certain population. If you no longer believe, then you have to start deconstructing the way you have been trained to believe, and reconstruct yourself the way you want to be.

You can be a more loving and kind person that you ever were in the past, genuinely so, but you need to tear down the old and start fresh. You need to begin by learning to love and respect yourself, and everything else will build on that.

I realize that this is a huge undertaking for us after we find ourselves in the vulnerable position of discovering something about our beliefs that is so awful that it forces a complete turnaround. The disorientation you feel is a result of that. For these reasons, and because I feel strongly that to do what you wish to do you will need to be focused, I recommend looking for a good non-Mormon psychologist who is results-oriented. When you find the right one, that individual can help you stay focused on your goals (self-love and respect, anger management, new personal philosophy) and help you learn to use the psychological tools that will move you on your way and keep you going through the rough parts. The Mormon church never taught us these tools: they should have, because we need them to survive life, but they preferred to try to control us, so they did not teach us the tools we needed.

Best regards, and good luck!

The love is still there. Cut yourself some slack. It's ok to be insanely angry. You have good reason. Anger is good if you can use the energy of it to fuel personal growth. Just keep a watch that the fire doesn't consume you. Be angry for awhile, work through it, rebuild your belief system based on who you are. When you are done you will reconnect with the love and kindness that is lying dormant. You will be stronger and able to love better and deeper. Everything will be ok.

Hi BlackSheep,

You've asked a lot of good (and unanswerable) questions. I'm running short on time at the moment, but if I can find some time tomorrow, I'll give you my own answers.

I believe that you're on the right track. The short answer is that we're here to have an adventure and practice loving in the face of hardship and all manner of catastrophe. Moreover, it is *false* that the mind = the brain. We are immortal spiritual beings. Our true form is not human.

Don't ever give up. We're all in this together.

Best,

Steve

Thanks. I look forward to hearing back from you :)

You want purpose?
Maybe you should read The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
Can't hurt

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
― Marcus Aurelius

I personally don't believe in any God or an afterlife because there is no evidence for either. The key word regarding NDE's is NEAR. People who have NDE's have not died so they do not know what happens AFTER death and neither does anybody else.

I wish you the best. Your purpose is what YOU make it. My purpose is to try to find happiness for myself, promote happiness for others and to try to decrease suffering where I can. I appreciate my amazing LUCK, winning a ticket in the Lottery of Existence and Consciousness. I get to learn about the Universe I'm 'literally' a part of (we are all made of Star Dust). I get to Love and be Loved, how awesome is that!

:)

Doc,

Whether Stoicism or existentialism or religion helps someone to live meaningfully, it's useful. The relation of a particular belief system to truth is another matter.

It's impossible to know what--if anything--happens after death. I posed the question to my smartest friend, a genius chemist who developed a cancer recurrence prevention drug (and whose intellect encompasses encyclopedic knowledge of the classics, history, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, and philosophy [I'm not kidding: he is a literal genius who excels in everything he endeavors to do, and has profound insight into human behavior and philosophical questions]). He said that he didn't know, and added that it wasn't possible to know, which is my position as well, as a philosopher.

It's important to note that he has a doctorate in chemistry, has published books, taught, and is today renown and at the top of his game. In his field, he is exactly like an elite athlete who dominates his sport--a Michael Jordan. I feel like a mental amoeba in his presence. It is an awesome experience to pose a question to him and just listen. It's like "God" speaking, giving you a definitive and circumspect answer.

He is a scientist, but acknowledges that the aim of science is to describe, predict, and control phenomena, not necessarily to get to the "truth," which is a very problematic idea, philosophically. It's impossible to overstate the power of his intellect, and he isn't just a quiet researcher, but the leader of over 600 people. I've never met anyone in any field more knowledgeable, intelligent, accomplished, lauded, and *kind* than him, and it stuns me that we somehow became really good friends.

Never mind what I have to say or think. If our lives depended on the results of any person's thinking, all of my money is riding on my friend! And here, this greatest thinker that I've ever known or read the writings of--either living or historical--with his VAST knowledge and unprecedented intellect, declares not that we're annihilated--as we'd expect a preeminent scientist to do. He says that we have no way of knowing. For someone on an entirely different level of accomplishment, ability, insight, and wisdom from the rest of us to say that is both incredibly humbling, and hopeful.

I smile when I compare people such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Dan Dennett, or Chris Hitchens to my friend. Combined, they couldn't hold a candle to him. Yes, my friend is a hero to me, but I'm just one of many people to feel that way. And he's the most humble and respectful person I know. Never have I seen the fullness of human potential so powerfully and completely realized in the form of a single person. I wish that everyone could meet him. He cares deeply about others and always leaves others better off after a conversation than before.

And if you ignore the survival question for a moment, personally, this friend has changed my life unrecognizably for the better. I can never repay him other than by trying to help others, as he does me. His message--by example, not mere words--is that we, also, can be excellent. I find enormous hope in his example.

He's human--just like us. But he thrives. He shines like an angel from heaven--if you don't mind the metaphor. His work has done inestimable good in the world, and saved countless cancer patients.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there really is good in the world. And we can all rest assured that there are people like my friend who care deeply and stay up at night looking out for the rest of us. Even if they're not public figures--very few are--they've been given enormous gifts, and feel a powerful moral obligation to use them to make our world better.

I stand in awe that I know one of them, and that he's deeply kind and humble.

When such an amazing person can't figure out the greatest question, how can anyone else? But we have tantalizing evidence from Pin Van Lommel, MD and neurosurgeon Eben Alexander III, MD that powerfully suggests that the "near" part of NDE is irrelevant, given accurate, remote out-of-body perceptions that are later independently verified, and the acquisition of knowledge that the experiencer couldn't possibly have known, e.g. pertaining to a dead relative tChey had never met, that is independently verified.

There is substantial evidence to indicate that human bodies are not our true form. This human experience is temporary (and often quite terrible). But on the other side of it is an existence of indescribable joy, adventure, fun, and bliss. You don't have to believe me. You'll experience it for yourself when you return home, and you'll rightly consider your latest human incarnation to be hell, by comparison.

It not only gets better. It gets unimaginably better. And we're all going to return home. The human life cycle is just one temporary life cycle in our immortal journey.

Everything will be all right.

Steve

but I've been there--after my ex left (after cheating extensively) and I felt very much alone. I was always the one everyone in the family dumped their problems on--and it didn't let up after my ex left. My finances were the biggest mess. I used to grind my teeth in my sleep all the time. I'd wake up sobbing in the middle of the night. My dog--who I thought was a tiny miracle who kept me going--got killed. I would drive around my car saying, "I'm so angry. I hate everyone." I also didn't like what it was doing to me. I chose that day to quit arguing with my ex FOR MYSELF and for my kids.

I have also been in therapy with an exmo on and off for 14 years. I have to give almost full credit to him for helping me get there--having someone to talk to who listened--who didn't say just get over it or others have it worse.

I took a lot of joy in my children. I had a friend who didn't marry until age 42 and she would have loved to have kids, but didn't. I'd take my kids ANY DAY over a man. My dogs and my kids--I found joy in them. Or doing yard work or painting. Or WALKING.

I don't know what there is and I hvae some of the same questions as you--about if there is a God, why all this suffering? My parents died 3 years ago and they were far from perfect. For me--I've had everything I need in life as I see it now--2 kids, 2 parents, my dogs. I lost my 14-year-old dog a year ago and I put off getting another one. I adopted a tiny part poodle, part chihuahua, who has a birth defect--and I wanted to give a better life to--who could care less if he is a dog or whatever, who pounces across the backyard and is so happy. He has given me back some of the joy after losing my other dog. Look for the little things. It is what saved me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2012 09:59AM by cl2.

But you can eliminate propagating, since it involves hard work & concentrate making your life the best one ever.
Life is not a GOAL, it is a Journey. We never know when it might end.

Then I didn't have to find meaning in senseless suffering.

There is no god causing trouble, or testing us, or punishing us, and there is no god fixing problems. Sh*t happens, and hopefully people can step up and help each other.

People can be inhumane to each other, but by and large, we have survived and thrived through cooperation and innovation. I think the sooner people stop praying for GOD to fix things, the sooner things will get done.

I'm so sorry for what you have gone through. Please hang in there. You may need some counseling to help you work through some of your experiences and move on. And maybe you can find something therapeutic to do that you really enjoy. Music, art, yoga, running, anything rewarding that you can focus on and lose yourself in for a while.

See http://packham.n4m.org/purpose.htm "FAQ: What is the purpose of life?":

The question is a very good one. However, it implies - by the very fact that it is asked - that there is a purpose for our existence, and that we need to find out what that purpose is. But why should we assume that there is a purpose? It seems to be a common assumption, especially among believers in God or the "supernatural", that everything happens or exists for a purpose. But there is no demonstrable basis for such an assumption.

Richard Dawkins put it well:

The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference (in "God's Utility Function," published in Scientific American (November, 1995), p. 85).

Many things obviously exist without any inherent purpose. For example, if I find a hundred-dollar bill in the street, I don't ask "What is the purpose of this money?" It is the purest accident that it is there. I may (assuming there is no way to find its owner) create a "purpose" for it, by spending it, but that purpose is merely one that I have assigned to it myself, not any purpose that was inherent in it, or that had anything to do with its lying there on the street.

(continued at link)

Your getting upset over something that may or may not exist. You know, Im a deep thinker myself. I have always been the girl to run off to a peaceful area so I can hear myself think. I found that sometimes my mind would wander so far that I would start responding emotionally to things that may or may not happen, exist, or will never occur. At some point, my stress levels went insane and I started obsessing over these things. I see the same pattern by what you posted. Take a step back. Breathe. I had to think about the emotional damages these were causing me and realize how unhealthy these thinking patterns are. Right now, Im still a bit mad just like you, but Im starting to come out of it and move onto re-creating myself.

Listen, people are going to tell you their theories on the "purpose of life" but you can drive yourself nuts pondering on what lies ahead. Why should you search for things that are so unpredicatable? You need to focus on the next step in front of you. What do you KNOW? You know reality, right? Do you know the kind of person you want to be? If you dont, think about that.

You cant go out saving the world. I have said this multiple times on this board, and I will continue to say it: When everything around you crumbles, you need to be able to stand on your own two feet.

My advice to you, since I can relate, is focus on being the best person you can be with what you have! The world will go one like it is, slowly and inevitibly destroying itself, but you can change yourself and impact other people's live in a positive way.

It's ok to sit alone and ponder, but if you start obsessing like I did over things that may or may not happen, exist, or will never occur then you need to get up and go live in the now. Go be with your family or friends, go watch a movie, go do sports, etc. while you still can.

We live in a physical world. We know it exists. We experience the physical world with our five senses. You need to learn to live in the physical world. Here is how to do that:

Step #1. Focus your attention and thinking on the physical world.

Step #2. Don't think about magical stuff that you cannot experience in the physical world. Block out all magical stuff.

Step #3. The idea of god is pure magic. You can't see god, you can't hear god, so for all practical purposes god does not exist. So stop thinking about god. Throw the "god concept" into the trash can, and let it be gone forever.

Step #4. Live in the present moment, the here and now. The past is gone, it cannot be recalled or changed, so don't think about the past. The future is somewhere ahead, but you can't live there, so stop worrying about the future.

Step #5. Using the above, your new way of life is to live in the physical world in the present moment.

Step #6. Learn to put your brain in "neutral" and stop thinking. Just let your senses take in the physical world of the here and now, and let your brain sit idle. This is a good way to spend a lot of your time. When you have mastered this way of spending time then move on to step #7.

Step #7. Find some new interests to absorb your time and energy, or revive some old interests. This could be a new sport or hobby. It could be something like buying two puppies. Dogs are called "man's best friend" for a good reason. They will rescue you from the mental trauma that caused you to start this thread.

Step #8. If you buy puppies, then spend a lot of time playing with them and training them. Take them for long walks, preferably in wild country if that is available to you. You will not have any time for destructive thinking if you are putting all your time and attention into your puppies.

Well you are going to have to figure out what your worldview is before we can help you too much.

A lot of the lines of your thinking is what landing me in the atheist/agnostic category.

I certainly can't believe in the God of the Old Testament. The guy is an absolute jerk - the Greek gods are pretty bad, but they look pretty great compared to the guy running the show in the Old Testament.

When you look at human nature, human history, and human evolution it's just so easy to see that religion is something invented by man that has evolved with man and is always tailored to the existing set of beliefs and culture.

So there is nothing to be mad at. You can't be mad at mankind for believing in and inventing something that is consistent with what evolution has found aids survival.

You can't ge angry with a god that doesn't exist.

You can only find meaning in the life you live now.

I recommend checking out Jung Myers/Brigg personality profiles - they model personality into 16 profiles. The reason this is important is that it illustrates that depending on your personality what makes life meaningful to you varies very widely. For my wife fulfilling duty, holding up the institution, being productive provides meaning. For me feeling like I am a making a difference to the world, experiencing beauty, and helping others provides meaning. Understanding what your personality profile is and what that means to where you draw meaning from may be very helpful. You have to do a lot more reading that just taking a quick quiz and reading the results to learn enough about the models to be helpful - but the information is all available online for free.

If there is a god or some kind of progression beyond this life, which I highly doubt then living a life that is meaningful for you is highly unlikely to put you off that path.

For me assuming that this life is what there is has helped me find a clarity of meaning. Enjoying life. Making this life enough. Helping others. Hopefully making some kind of contribution. Having deep relationships of the relationships I care about. Enjoying positive enjoyable activities - riding a bike, enjoying the beauty of nature. Letting going of trying to be good enough and become perfect - just accepting me as me and decided what I want to do with it.

Those are some areas where I have drawn meaning.

Religion in general programs us to think all value is outside of ourselves. It isn't.

All pleasure, pain, knowledge and love come from within. Without self there is nothing.

Here's something Joseph Smith got right, you are that you might have joy. Do whatever gives you pleasure. You owe no one no thing.

Thank you, to everyone, for your comments. I live on a small farm and I surround myself with animals because that is what makes me the most happy. That and being outside with nature. This last year I have taken a lot of long walks with my dogs and have kept myself busy with outside projects to keep my mind occupied with other things. I think there is value in all of the comments each one of you have posted. So, thank you, again.

It's foreign to me to focus on me because every time I do I either feel guilt or those close to me waste no time in telling me how lazy I am for taking time for myself (even though I've just spent 10-11 months non-stop working outside). If it's not their idea of a constructive use of time the negative feedback I get is insane. I wish that I could just ignore their comments but when it's close family (i.e. a certain negative teenager with whom counseling doesn't seem to help and my soon to be ex) it's hard to escape.

I would love to move on. I love helping others. I am smart and kind. But because of all the crap my selfish soon to be ex has put me and our family through these last years he has literally destroyed a large portion of my perception about the goodness that can be found in life.

I will try to take a step back and reevaluate what I really want out of life. Right now I feel trapped with no options but that may just be my perception of life given what has happened to me over the last year(s).

Thank you for being willing to put your opinions and suggestions out there for me. It gives me a direction to pursue and hope for the future. :)

Lot's of good advice here. This is just a song to listen to while contemplating it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yxbXsQ5yCc

I Choose Lyrics
Performed by Offspring

Look at me I'm fallin'
Off of a cliff now
I can still hear my mama yelling No No No
But the words mean nothing
Can't catch up to me now
And the view is so beautiful
All the way down
When I was a little boy
Suckin' juice from a bottle
Believing my perceptions were oh so real
But I don't know nothing
Still knowing nothing
Was just enough for me to know the way I feel
This is life
What a fucked up thing we do
What a nightmare come true
Or a playground if we choose
And I choose

Look at me I'm swollen
Like a banana fish now
I'm never gonna make it out of my hole
But I keep on laughing
Doesn't really matter
There's dozens of reasons for explaining my soul
When I was a teenager
Suckin' booze with the Vatos
Discussing who was gonna live to be 21
They said they wouldn't make it
They didn't make it
We're all naked when the day is said and done
This is life
What a fucked up thing we do
What a nightmare come true
Or a playground if we choose
And I choose

Don't know who made this all come true
But now while you're here
You just gotta do what you gotta do
Now if I wasn't such a weenie
Do you think you'd still love me
Pretending I'm an airplane on the living
Room floor
But like a lovely generator
You stand right by me
And if words were wisdom I'd be talking
Even more
So I keep on falling
As I'm looking back above me
Watching as my mama just becomes a little dot
Now I'm like DeNiro
I'm amarillo
And I'll never know when I hit the ground

I know I've already commented too much on this, but I have one more thought I really want to share.

Don't confuse what forgiveness is.

Forgiveness is giving up the anger and resentment.

Forgiveness is not putting yourself in a situation where you can continue to be in danger and hurt.

Also the more I've thought about it the more I agree with other posters' advice that you should file a police report on your brother in law. Seriously for him to threaten bodily harm for you and your dad having a disagreement is to the point that the police should be involved.

Sorry wrong thread...

But while I am here I noticed your comment about feeling guilt for doing things for yourself and others around you reinforcing that.

1) Check out Steven Covey's 7 habits of highly effective people - sharpening the saw. This is even a TBM who plainly states you need to sometimes take time for yourself.

2) I can relate because my parents and wife are exactly that way. They believe constant productivity is the only way to be a good person. Even their leisure time is doing something "productive". It drives me nuts.

You had some of it right but we are not part of God like you explained it. We are individuals- spirits that God made a long time ago that have free will.. I guess long ago we fell in some sense in the universe and have chosen to come to earth to some how redeem ourselves and pay karmic debts. Genesis is a metaphor for all that happened beforehand. We came to earth to learn-- we all chose to come because this dimension I guess is the best place to truly learn and test ourselves. it's the third dimension...I learned that we live in three different dimensions at once...most of us just aren't aware of it. body...soul..and spirit..all different dimensions...I don't completely get it either...I am just learning all this and boggles me somewhat.

Each incarnation is like a river, Edgar Cayce described it- There are tributaries that we see before coming to this distinct personality and the larger river that is the goal. The harder incarnations may imply more learning and growth- so souls decide to do it. We are given free choice and the awakened soul will hopefully find that purpose and go down the river they were set out to accomplish.... After we reach a certain level of enlightenment and love.. I guess we thankfully stop reincarnating because our desires and thoughts are one with God... there will be hardly any suffering on earth when people awaken more(every thought and action creates positive or negative energy).. a lot of atheists are more awakened than they care to realize...and that's cool too. I too got this knowledge from studying NDE's... Edgar Cayce would have them by going into deep meditations that he realized he could do as a young child and later on in life perfected the art and would go into The Hall of Records and could see the lay out from the beginning and wouldn't remember things he had said and then years later when the dead sea scrolls were found- the scrolls confirmed what Edgar cayce was telling about the REAL Jesus(the most enlightened man to probably ever live...my guess)... the innocent man that was crucified...and us being saved has nothing to do with that...we save ourselves by following in his footsteps... not the pagan Jesus from the Bible... but there are still a lot of clues left in there that emulate his original message.

We are learning to be like the so called God which is having pure unconditional love and not having bad thoughts or selfish thoughts. It is loving our neighbor and helping others. Getting out your front door and doing good things.

Growing up Mormon- I feel I was spiritually awakened and I will never stop believing in a higher power- I just feel too much... and when I go to sleep that proves to me that I left the third dimension. I have much room for growth too and improvement and I am on a quest for truth. The universe calls for karma..sir isaac newton said it best with his third law...(I am going out on a limb comparing it like this but I think it relates plus is he is a fav. scientist of mine) Third law: The mutual forces of action and reaction between two bodies are equal, opposite and collinear.
but God is also very forgiving I think and he doesn't want us to dwell on past mistakes...just learn from them.

When people die and then come back to life--some say that they watch a life review and say that the feeling is very loving and non-judgmental and that God understands us and sees we are human... that's why we go down and try it again... like when people commit suicide and are given a second chance to come back... the person/spirit that is with them says... you can come into the light but you will have to reincarnate again and work these same issues out. That's when they live to tell the tale and choose to go back. I find it quite fascinating and am very grateful that people step forward and talk about it. It's a very bold thing to do because people are quick to dismiss it as a dream or an illusion. The similarities are uncanny with the NDE's and I am ready for change and the age of AQUARIUS- world peace I hope!... that means that we need to educate the world and do away with dogma religion. And not pay heed to our carnal/selfish desires. Take care everyone! I hope this helped some and made sense. In the end it's about practicing what we preach I think.

Hang in there!

I really identify with the anger you are feeling.

Ethically, this existence doesn't work.

Really really bad @#$%& happens to us all. Some experience things that are worse than others.

I love Ghandi's statement "Be the change you wish to see in the world"

I was driving myself mad with existential questions. MIB gave me the best advice I ever received in my life...

Something like "all of that would totally get to me so I just went and ate a sandwhich".

I love exercising my critical thinking skills when things are presented to me, but I also strive to live in the present moment and not dwell on the negative or look for existential answers. I struggle with it, but I'm doing better.

Soak up the things we all take for granted.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2012 08:37PM by Lost Mystic.

I am the god of my world.