Unfortunately, another man's subjective experiences are not proofs, but assertions to be taken on faith. Yet it's undeniable that people who strongly believe in some ideology can have remarkable effects on other people. For example, Marx & Lenin preached about the coming Utopia of Communism, thereby motivating millions of people to sacrifice their lives for a political dream. But, since there are many incompatible ideologies out there, I must "work out by logic what is probable". Similarly, I am skeptical of the Make America Great Again propaganda, because it contradicts my experience, and learning, of how nations rise & fall. Of course, I could be wrong. Remarkable things do happen. :cool: — Gnomon

Well put. I like your thinking. I maintain that God remains hidden from scientific proof but will communicate with living things by influencing their thoughts. With humans those influences can on occasion be strong enough to come through as "messages". Other influences permitted are mental telepathy and seeing the future. Also quite a lot of other subtle interferences with physical laws such as Tarot cards. You do not have to believe me or take it on faith, I just thought you might get inspiration as to your hypothesis.
Do you believe in souls, spirits, ghosts, seeing the future, mental telepathy, reincarnation, miracles (big and small), and the like? Do you given any credence to the teachings of various prophets and religions? Do you have a summary somewhere I could read?

Gnomon
477

In my experience, God is part of the dream of the Ultimate Intelligence. — CliveG

Our experiences of "reality" are quite different. My world is boringly normal & natural compared to yours. I can only explain your dream-like worldview as due to deeper perception, or more theatrical imagination. Anyway, my abstract G*D model is also boring, although super-natural. :cool: — Gnomon

You seem to have worked out by logic what is probable. My experiences were what prompted me to hypothesis what was logical. I thought you may want some "proof" in the way of personal evidence from some-one who is grounded but has had infrequent but remarkable experiences. My world is anything but dreamlike. I could not achieve the corporate success I did I was not solidly in reality (this physical reality).

I did do well when working with my late wife on rehabilitating ex-combatants to abandon the life of crime (hijacking and murder included) which involved spirit. Watching 20 at time experience spirit week after week was anything but ordinary. She achieved about a 85% success rate.

Gnomon
477

Grandiose. I presume it is a reference for me to consider. — CliveG

The link to "Grandiosity" was a reference to Caesar-wannabe Presidents and Anthropomorphic Gods who require regular ego-pumps to keep their self-image inflated. It was not a reference to you. :cool: — Gnomon

I get it now. And I agree that a true God does not require adoration and ego- boosts.

My life has been "Interesting" and very different to others on an almost daily basis. I thought others had similar experiences until people started to tell me they were amazed to hear me tell them of one event after another on a daily basis.

On forums I have been told I am many things - delusional being one of them. Since I think I have been selected to inform people of how the spirit world works and to update various religions (not replace them or dispose of them) I am also accused of thinking I am "special". That was another label I got when younger - I used to joke an say "Yes. Special needs class".

For an eternal entity, it's true that anything is possible, but only that which is temporal and physical is actual. So, for our actualized world, G*D is "dreaming" of a system with fixed laws. Any different rules would produce different worlds. From our perspective, in the world that we "imagine" to be Real, G*D is also an imaginary entity --- we don't know G*D directly, but only by inference --- that we use to explain why the world exists and persists as it does. — Gnomon

In my experience, God is part of the dream of the Ultimate Intelligence. I was 24 and unknowingly ate a cannabis cookie. A four hour hallucination followed. The Universe ended but I was told I would go back to continue and would not be sure that it was "real" or imaginary. It was not life-changing. The entity was alone and bored and immoral. Not what I expected of God. Only later did I realize God was part of the dream and has the characteristics as told by prophets.

Because he and everything else exist as an illusionary dream, anything can be changed. But one rule of the game is that scientific proof of God and Spirit is not allowed. Psychic events are allowed but not when one tries to use them as proof.

Most of mine were spontaneous and unexpected. There is no reason that a human should not be able to communicate with God and with God to impart certain knowledge. I found that most of my communication happened with serendipitous events followed by some research which gave me answers

I have no personal experience of Afterlife or Reincarnation. So I can't judge the veracity of your assertions. — Gnomon

After my late wife died in 2011 I spent an hour with her in the afterlife. Quite different to what I imagined. I was not prepared for the total lack of worry about ordinary life. I take life as it comes, and do not stress about things, but to experience complete freedom from pain, death, taxes, next meal, income and so on cannot really be described, only experienced. One could say it was a dream but details tell me it was not.

I have experienced death twice in a dream when younger. And judgment in the afterlife. Very vivid and very real. The first time I was sent back and the second time my soul was terminated, thus giving me the lesson that souls are not necessarily immortal.

And most of what people call "supernatural" is merely a misinterpretation of mundane experiences that don't fit their expectations. — Gnomon

Some of my experiences were experimental. As a teenager I was very good at hypnotism. Mind reading and seeing the future and viewing at a distance worked. And I knew most of the rational explanations and so could avoid them.

The most clear and extraordinary one was this. I got a shock, not a "feeling", that the biker going past me in an ordinary way on an ordinary day will die just ahead. I slowed down so as to not ride over him. He died, and not because of an accident. Just lay in the middle of the road.

My G*D has no physical human characteristics, such as emotions or egotism, because they are produced by the physical body. Human rulers, like Donald Trump, have inflated self-importance, that needs to be pumped-up on a regular basis. Many religious people assume that God requires regular reinforcement of praise & worship from his subjects. — Gnomon

The game of the Ultimate Intelligence has Good and Evil with Good (God) being superior. God thus has no form or gender but has the characteristics of love and compassion. A personal relationship of mutual respect is thus possible.

It's easy to be skeptical of other people's beliefs, but hard to be critical of your own. :smile: — Gnomon

I am my own worst and best critic. I acknowledge I could be wrong on some or all and that it may not exist. But it is hard to live as if it does not because I put it to use.

Grandiose. I presume it is a reference for me to consider. I do not like praise and although I am a strong good leader I am just as happy to follow. I get embarrassed at praise and recognition. I am both athletic and academic and was teased for being a "natural". I was somewhat autistic when younger so it did not affect me. I could learn the entire Latin textbook including the dictionary in it and come first in a bright class time after time. In my final two years the teacher told the class I had to be cheating and have the exam paper because it was not possible to get such high marks. At University, I did the same. Study the textbook the night before the exam. Party through the year will a bunch of tough guys. Street races and drinking. So am just a regular guy with an interesting life which I took as a blessing. I did invent stuff as Director of Engineering of a company and the company made serious money from them.

I am an electrical engineer but have experience in a number of disciplines. Management, programming, computer design, electronic pcb design, HR and law. My late wife was involved in community development. As an American she got involved with the National Peace Accord in preventing civil war in South Africa in the early 1990's and then she went on to rehabilitate war veterans turned criminals using Eco Therapy. I thus got involved in many modalities involving sustainable living and spirit.

Gnomon
474

Are you a "God wound up the clock and walked away kind of guy". I think that is usually called deism or is it theism. I don't feel like looking it up. — christian2017

No. I'm a "G*D-wrote-the-program, and-observes-the-on-going-computation" kind of guy. I call my worldview, which includes a hypothetical creator/programmer, Enformationism. But, if you want a conventional philosophical name for this god-model, it's PanEnDeism : all-in-god. Hence, the creation is a part of the creator. Our world is an idea in the MIND of G*D. So, what we now call "Evolution" is actually a creative mental process, that we experience as Reality. Another term for such an abstract god-model is "the god of the philosophers". Look it up. :smile:

I'm sure this sounds bizarre to those with conventional religious views. But it's just a theory to explain the role of ubiquitous Information in the world. I was raised as a back-to-the-bible fundamentalist Christian. But, I have since concluded that, while all world religions have correctly intuited the necessity of some kind of creator/sustainer to explain the existence of our world, most of their specific beliefs are based on outdated science, and priestly propaganda. So I have updated both the traditional and scientific worldviews to suit my own needs for philosophical understanding. Those needs do not include worship & prayer though, because my abstract deity should have no need for such human sycophantic servility. :nerd: — Gnomon

We have a similar hypothesis on the basics-

I believe that there is an Ultimate Intelligence which is the only entity that exists (like Brahman, not the God Brahma). The Universe, God and Satan are all a dream of this entity. We are an illusion where anything is possible, but the laws of physics rule most of the time. God is thus ALMOST onmi-all but not quite.

The afterlife is where souls go before reincarnating. Some souls are terminated. The afterlife is a continuum, like many neighborhoods. Souls have no form and are neither male for female (same as God). Souls evolve to match the evolution of life. Souls use spirit matter to interact with matter. Spirits then have the same earthly form but also decay after death. A slowly decaying spirit with some soul connection is a ghost capable of haunting for a while.

Hell is the bottom section and is unpleasant. Heaven is the upper section and is unbelievably pleasant at the top. God can go to any of these sections. In effect these sections are like computer memory for classes of objects, retaining the essence and a few memories - and God has full access.

Why do I think this? I used to be an atheist, but have had many supernatural experiences. I am now a de facto theist. Not quite a full believer but a theist by choice. For the record I am 71, male and was raised Methodist.

We differ in that God appreciates worship as a form of respect and will oblige with answers to prayers. The rules of the game are that God can give hints and even personal information to people but there cannot be a universally accepted proof of the spirit world.

My experiences seem to be designed to teach me what it is all about. I need to add that I am an engineer by profession and a high performing individual who does not do drugs or have strange beliefs. My personal proof would be absolute for most people except I have retained skepticism of everything. Reality is often not what it may seem.