Christian Intelligence

[Dexter Sinister]

Sounds like an interesting book, Dex. What is "the ecstatic religious experience"?

Paul reportedly had one on the road to Damascus, though that one really sounds more like an epileptic fit, and at least one current poster here claims to have had one. It's that moment of epiphany when you feel you've been granted a revelation or some deep insight into the truth of things.

 

[Count_Lothian]

Paul reportedly had one on the road to Damascus, though that one really sounds more like an epileptic fit, and at least one current poster here claims to have had one. It's that moment of epiphany when you feel you've been granted a revelation or some deep insight into the truth of things.

Mass Hysteria is an epiphany best served with the local constabulary near by.

 

[Motar]

Paul reportedly had one on the road to Damascus, though that one really sounds more like an epileptic fit, and at least one current poster here claims to have had one. It's that moment of epiphany when you feel you've been granted a revelation or some deep insight into the truth of things.

I've heard of nonreligious personal epiphanies, Dex. Would such an event qualify as an "ecstatic secular experience"?

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Depends on the intensity of the emotions it generates. My own moment of apostasy when it suddenly occurred to me, "Hey, this has gotta be BS" was certainly a personal epiphany, but I wouldn't describe it as ecstatic.

 

[Twila]

Depends on the intensity of the emotions it generates. My own moment of apostasy when it suddenly occurred to me, "Hey, this has gotta be BS" was certainly a personal epiphany, but I wouldn't describe it as ecstatic.

But could you describe it as a "kick yourself in the ar$s" moment?

 

[Dexter Sinister]

No, it was more just a moment of great satisfaction when a whole lot of things that had been incomprehensible suddenly fell into place.

 

[Sal]

epiphanies whether spiritual or involving every day events have to be one of the most satisfying feelings ever

 

[Motar]

Depends on the intensity of the emotions it generates. My own moment of apostasy when it suddenly occurred to me, "Hey, this has gotta be BS" was certainly a personal epiphany, but I wouldn't describe it as ecstatic.

I see your point, Dex. Etymology describes ecstasy as:

"in a frenzy or stupor, fearful, excited," from Old French estaise "ecstasy, rapture," from Late Latin extasis, from Greek ekstasis "entrancement, astonishment; any displacement," in New Testament "a trance," from existanai "displace, put out of place," also "drive out of one's mind" (existanai phrenon), from ek "out" (see ex-) + histanai "to place, cause to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Used by 17c. mystical writers for "a state of rapture that stupefied the body while the soul contemplated divine things," which probably helped the meaning shift to "exalted state of good feeling" (1610s). Online Etymology Dictionary

For your reported event to qualify etymologically as ecstatic, there would have to be "entrancement and displacement" taking place. Even the later definition of "a state of rapture that stupefied the body while the soul contemplated divine things" would not fit your particular moment of epiphany. The meaning shift to "exalted state of good feeling" might fit your experience though.

So perhaps there is such a thing as "an ecstatic secular experience".

 

[JLM]

"Christian Intelligence" - Is that an oxymoron?

 

[Motar]

"Christian Intelligence" - Is that an oxymoron?

Post #2 in this discussion thread, JLM.

 

[JLM]

Post #2 in this discussion thread, JLM.

Oooooooooooooh great minds think alike! If Nick and I agree on something then it's a fact. -

 

[Motar]

Oooooooooooooh great minds think alike! If Nick and I agree on something then it's a fact. -

You may have just had an ecstatic secular experience, JLM : )

 

[Cliffy]

Epiphany and ecstasy do not necessarily have anything to do with religion or spirituality. Sometimes, in a heightened state of awareness the ego steps aside and we can experience pure consciousness, we experience the connection between all living thing, the interconnectedness, the oneness of all life. I have witnessed a tree cease to be just bark, leaves and wood and become pure flowing energy. I have seen an entire forest, with all its bio diversity disolve into pure flowing energy. While staring at a bumble bee, I sundenly had microscopic vision and traveled down to the atomic, then sub atomic level and I've traveled out through our solar system (and that one I shared with two companions). Guess what? No gods, no angels, no fairies or unicorns.

 

[JLM]

You may have just had an ecstatic secular experience, JLM : )

Is that like an orgasm?

 

[Dexter Sinister]

...in a heightened state of awareness the ego steps aside and we can experience pure consciousness, we experience the connection between all living thing, the interconnectedness, the oneness of all life.

That's pretty close to the way Jill Bolte Taylor describes what her stroke did to her by shutting down her left brain hemisphere. She quite explicitly describes it as the boundaries between self and non-self disappearing, and one of her major points is that this stuff has always been inside of all of us, all the time. I wouldn't describe it as a heightened state of awareness though, it's a lessened state of awareness that results from suppressing certain brain functions. Lots of ways to do that, like drugs, injury, sensory deprivation, and the auto-hypnotic effects of chanting, meditating, or even just reciting the rosary, but it's not reality, it's a failure to perceive reality correctly.

 

[Motar]

Is that like an orgasm?

Review page 7 of this discussion thread for details, JLM.

 

[taxslave]

"Christian Intelligence" - Is that an oxymoron?

Does appear that way.

 

[Motar]

That's pretty close to the way Jill Bolte Taylor describes what her stroke did to her by shutting down her left brain hemisphere. She quite explicitly describes it as the boundaries between self and non-self disappearing, and one of her major points is that this stuff has always been inside of all of us, all the time. I wouldn't describe it as a heightened state of awareness though, it's a lessened state of awareness that results from suppressing certain brain functions. Lots of ways to do that, like drugs, injury, sensory deprivation, and the auto-hypnotic effects of chanting, meditating, or even just reciting the rosary, but it's not reality, it's a failure to perceive reality correctly.

Having considered Karl Albrecht's theory of social intelligence, do you think there might be something more to human intelligence than just synapses and neurotransmitters, Dex?

 

[Sal]

Epiphany and ecstasy do not necessarily have anything to do with religion or spirituality. Sometimes, in a heightened state of awareness the ego steps aside and we can experience pure consciousness, we experience the connection between all living thing, the interconnectedness, the oneness of all life. I have witnessed a tree cease to be just bark, leaves and wood and become pure flowing energy. I have seen an entire forest, with all its bio diversity disolve into pure flowing energy. While staring at a bumble bee, I sundenly had microscopic vision and traveled down to the atomic, then sub atomic level and I've traveled out through our solar system (and that one I shared with two companions). Guess what? No gods, no angels, no fairies or unicorns.

question Cliffy about that experience:
did you find you were all and everything was you...like there are no boundaries it all flows but there is still a distinct feeling of me (ness)?

 

[DaSleeper]

Musta been quite some shyte he was smoking...lol