My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Is there a God? If so, what is She like?

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seeds
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My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by seeds »

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This thread is an offshoot from VA's thread...

"The Beauty of a Scenery is Man-Made, not God-Made"
viewtopic.php?t=41409
Lacewing wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2023 7:57 am
seeds wrote: Wed Dec 13, 2023 12:43 am ...the reason why I insist that God is "really real" is because 53 years ago, I had a direct - one-on-one - (burning bush-like) encounter with an incorporeal entity who made it quite clear to me that the universe is its mind, and that it possessed willful control over the material fabric of my body and the room where this encounter took place.
Cool. How did that experience impact/change you?
Well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be the theory-pushing nutjob you see before you today. Nor would I have written any illustrated books about it, had it not occurred.

Does that count as a change in the course of one's life? :D
Lacewing wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2023 7:57 am Have you had more follow-on experiences... or do you feel like you're channeling it?
No, I have never had any follow-up experiences similar to that one.

And, no, I do not claim to be "channeling" anything.

I'm just an ordinary slob human who feels he had an extraordinary experience that he wants to share with others.

And it's not that I assume that anyone is actually going to believe what I am about to explain in this thread (or, for that matter, even gives a crap about it).

However, seeing how I have mentioned my alleged "epiphany" so many times on this forum, I knew there would come a time when I would finally feel obliged to reveal its details.

So, at the risk of the inevitable mockery and ridicule that is sure to come my way,...

(and apologizing in advance, not only for its length, but for my use of pronouns such as "he" "his" or "him" when referring to God, for I believe that God has no gender)

...here's the story of my "burning-bush-like" encounter with God, divided up into several posts (please give me a few moments to load them all before responding)....

(Continued in next post)
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seeds
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Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 9:31 pm

Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by seeds »

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(Continued from prior post)

I live in the States, Lacewing, and a few years ago, I received an email from a chap in the UK named John. He said that he had read through almost all of my website (http://www.theultimateseeds.com/) and watched my YouTube videos and was interested in hearing how my "Ultimate Seeds" theory came about.

After a series of email exchanges, I realized that he was not only extremely insightful (like you, Lacewing), but also seemed quite sincere and open-minded, and I thus felt comfortable enough to send him a full version of my personal epiphany story.

The following is a "slightly modified" copy of the email I sent back to UK John (that you, Lacewing, can simply pretend that I have now sent to you):

-------

Email begins...

Hi John,...

I knew there would come a time when I should disclose the full details of not only the “epiphany” I experienced in 1970 (something of which I did disclose in my book), but also of the events that led up to it (which were not included in the book).

And for that, I have to start back in 1969.

I mentioned to you earlier that I was no stranger to psychoactive substances, to which I now confess that my first foray into the world of psychedelics occurred in the spring of 1969 (I think it was in May). I was 19 years old at the time and a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University.

My best friend since kindergarten - (the one who got me into this fine mess) - was attending the University of Michigan just a few miles from EMU.

I was living off-campus in an old Victorian house wherein students would rent one of the bedrooms and have communal access to the rest of the building.

To put this into context,...

...I was a diver on EMU’s swim team at that time, and as of March of that year, over the span of my freshman and sophomore diving seasons, I had won three national championships, was two times All-American, and I had set a new national record on the three-meter board.  And the point of my mentioning that is to show that I was in absolute peak physical condition during that period of my life, which, for some reason, seems important for me to include in this story.

(This was also during the time of the ever-intensifying Vietnam War and the ever-looming fear of forced conscription via the draft lottery. It was also the time of the blossoming of the so-called "Flower Generation.")

Anyway, my friend who had previously talked me into trying marijuana a few weeks earlier (of which I felt nothing), talked me into trying LSD.

He had already had a good deal of experience with it, and I trusted him.

So, at my place, on what (to the best of my recollection) was a Friday night when all of my other housemates were gone for the weekend, my friend and I, along with another good friend, all dropped acid together.

(Continued in next post)
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seeds
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by seeds »

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(Continued from prior post)
So, at my place, on what (to the best of my recollection) was a Friday night when all of my other housemates were gone for the weekend, my friend and I, along with another good friend, all dropped acid together.
Now here is where things got interesting...

At the very moment I started to feel the effects of the LSD kicking-in, the phone rang.

It was my dad calling to inform me that my (step) grandfather had died earlier that day.

My grandfather and grandmother (“Daddy Brown” and “Mama Stella”) lived in Tennessee in an extremely old and rustic farmhouse with no running water (just a well that you lowered a bucket into) and no sanitary plumbing (just an outhouse)...

...(we’re talking about the “Beverly Hillbillies” here - minus the discovery of oil and the move to Beverly Hills).

Their house was located in an isolated (neighborless) area amidst their chickens, and pigs, and cats, and vegetable gardens, and hills, and trees; all of which was situated in one of the greenest and most beautifully natural settings I have ever experienced.

Every summer throughout the 50’s and early 60’s, we (mom, dad, brother, sister, and I) would drive down from Michigan and spend a couple of weeks with them.

Anyway, I had never before been subjected to the death of a close family member, and after hearing the news of Daddy Brown’s passing...

(a strangely timed revelation, btw, as I was just launching-off into the nether-realms of a powerful psychedelic trip)

...I went back to my two fellow trippers and excused myself.

I then went downstairs into the dark living room/dining room area, and with a glass-enclosed candle in my hands, I began walking in a continuous circle around the inner-perimeter of the two adjoining rooms.

The LSD was now in full force.

As I gazed down at the floor, the acid was causing my now extremely vivid memories of the Tennessee farmhouse to be holographically projected outward to where it seemed as if I was literally walking on the grass of its front yard.

The powerful effect of the LSD was also causing the intensity of my grief to be severely amplified to an unbearable level to where I could no longer hold back my tears.

This went on for a lengthy period of time until I seemed to be prayerfully reaching-out to God for help in ending this ever-growing crescendo of emotional anguish.

Then suddenly, my attention was literally drawn upward toward where one of the walls meets the high ceiling; toward what seemed to be a "window” that was slowly opening between our "normal" dimension of reality that I was used to experiencing up to that point, and that of a transcendent dimension of reality...

...(and I swear it was like some kind of Hollywood fantasy where light pours down from the heavens, accompanied with an angelic chorus of “aaaahhhh”).

And right at that moment, an absolute “KNOWING” was imparted to me – a knowing that Daddy Brown was safe and not actually dead.

(And no, that is not the "epiphany" that this thread is about, so just keep reading.)

It was right around that time when my two friends came looking for me in fear that I was having a "bad trip" and had “flipped-out” in some kind of mental breakdown from the acid.

However, quite the opposite had taken place, for I was in a state of spiritual ecstasy and utter amazement.

I did not explain to them what had just happened (for I wasn't sure myself), but they nevertheless were relieved to see that I was okay.

They then joined me in my circumambulation of the dining room/living room in a hilarious kind of New Orleans style of chanting and singing in celebration of Daddy Brown’s passing.

The rest of the night and on into the next day was filled with laughter, extraordinary sensory enhancements, and a complete re-evaluation of the mundane earthly "reality" I was so accustomed to prior to that point.

Now I am fully aware of the fact that many will dismiss my "window" experience by attributing it to the effects of neural hormones flooding my brain and instigating the sense of peace and relief – all bolstered by the hallucinogenic effects of the LSD,...

...and, normally, that might be a logical assessment of what had happened to me.

However, that event was merely the beginning of a journey that in less than a year and a half later would lead to a full-blown (one-on-one) encounter with God.

(Continued in next post)
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seeds
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by seeds »

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(Continued from prior post)

The preceding experience had such a profound effect on me that I soon thereafter quit the diving team...

...(relinquishing an athletic scholarship, along with all of that temporary campus glory that a 19 year old university sophomore might enjoy by continuing on in a situation in which he, at that point (again, as mentioned earlier), was a three-time national champion/two-time All-American athlete who held a national record in his sport).

I was from then-on obsessed with exploring this new-found state of being that not only opened a door to an entirely new way of looking at reality, but also made me vividly aware of the vast potential of the human mind.

Needless to say, I continued to experiment with LSD (more times than I can recall), all with the dual intent of not only being constantly amazed by its effect on my senses,...

(for example, the hearing of Led Zeppelin or Joni Mitchell between two large (4-ft-tall) stereo speakers while tripping on acid, produces spectacular cinematic visuals that only a tripper can see)

...but also as sort of a "shamanistic tool" for exploring the nature of mind and reality itself.

For the sake of not turning this email into a novella, suffice it to say that my interior explorations during that following year led me to many new insights regarding the mind and its relationship with the body.

I'm talking about insights that also included the initial formulation of the Ultimate Seed concept (which was triggered by what seemed to be several divinely inspired visions, one of which involved an avocado, of all things),...

...all of which I was determined to chronicle one summer night in 1970 (I was 20 years old at the time).

Note: in the spirit of full disclosure*,...

...earlier that morning I had taken a mild, non-hallucinogenic substance (probably some kind of horse tranquilizer) that I already had several prior experiences with, so I was quite familiar with its effects. I then went for a long drive on some old country roads in order to mentally prepare an outline in my head of what I was going to write about later that evening.

*(The point of that disclosure is not only meant to demonstrate that I am not trying to hide anything, but also to assure everyone that the effects of that substance had completely worn-off by the time of the occurrence of the event that I am about to describe.)

Again, John, I had written about this experience in my book, and the following is a slightly paraphrased version of that writing:

-------

From my book...

I was seated alone in the living room of my parents’ home; it was late in the evening, and they had long since gone to bed...

...(and, again, I stress, I was not under the influence of any hallucinogenic substance at that time).

I had been busily writing-away into the night trying to find the elusive words that would convey my discoveries to others. And even though the basic ideas were the same back then as they are now, it simply wasn’t the right time for any sort of formal disclosure. Nevertheless, I presented the ideas as best I could.

What followed the conclusion of that first writing has affected my life from that moment on.

For you see, the instant I finished the last word on the last page, I put my pencil down and looked up, and at that very moment, God entered the room.

(Continued in the next post)
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seeds
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by seeds »

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(Continued from prior post)
...the instant I finished the last word on the last page, I put my pencil down and looked up, and at that very moment, God entered the room.
To be clear, it wasn’t a visual manifestation.

In other words, other than a slight optical distortion at the point of entry on the far wall near the ceiling, I could not literally see God with my eyes.

Nevertheless, I was made vividly aware of his presence in what can only be described as a modern-day version of the alleged "burning bush" event presented in the Bible.

Somehow, from that specific and stationary point of entry, I could sense a tangible (dynamic/living) force reaching out and enveloping (saturating) the room and everything in it.

(Note: the only thing I can think of to describe what was happening is that it felt as if the eye of God’s mind was “focusing-in” and grasping the very substance of the room and my body.

I'm talking about something similar to how our own mind's eye can focus-in and grasp the mental image of an apple, for example, in order to examine or manipulate its features in some way.)


The extending essence of what appeared to be God's central consciousness (God's "I Am-ness") seemed to surround me and the chair I was seated in and gently cradle me in a manner that can only be described in the purely metaphorical terms of being "held in the palms of invisible hands."

It was a very "warm" and "magnetic" (gently undulating) sensation.

Furthermore, the enveloping force, without making any audible sound, seemed to radiate with the power of THUNDER, which made it feel as if God’s extensive presence stretched out into the clouds and beyond.

As you might well guess, I was somewhat taken aback (gobsmacked) by this experience.

My eyes were transfixed on the focal point of the power and I began mentally asking:

“...What do you want?...”

It was all so overwhelming, and the energetic presence of this living Entity seemed to be so disruptive of the very fabric of the house, that I felt certain my parents would surely be awakened by this.

However, I quickly sensed that this was not meant for them to perceive.

Then suddenly, I noticed that God was releasing his mental grip on my body and his presence was slowly withdrawing from the room. But before he had withdrawn completely, a word with the glowing brilliance of neon was “implanted” before the eye of my mind, and that word was...

“APOCALYPSE”

I was immediately compelled to reach for the Bible that was sitting on the case next to me and turn to the book of Revelation, because, at that time, that is what the word "apocalypse" meant to me.

And after a few minutes of reading chapters that made no particular sense to me, I finally focused on the ninth and tenth chapters - chapters whose clarity of meaning seemed to be openly revealed to me and somehow pertinent to my state of mind.

And that was especially true of the tenth chapter, and more specifically, the seventh verse:
“...in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished...”
At this point, the room had returned back to its normal state, for the dynamic, matter-grasping "presence" of what appeared to be God's central consciousness (again, God's "I Am-ness") was gone.

So just get a sense of this now...

...At the very moment I lay the pencil down from writing a detailed thesis of what I believed shed a clarifying light on the mystery of God and creation, I am literally visited by an incorporeal Entity who,...

...after making it quite clear to me that the universe is its mind, and that it was the owner and willful controller of the material fabric from which my body was constructed,...

...then leads me to read a verse of prophecy from Revelation that refers to a point in time on earth when "...the mystery of God should be finished..."

(Continued in next post)
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seeds
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by seeds »

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(Continued from prior post)

Now I am vividly aware of how crazy all of this must sound.

Nevertheless, I honestly believe that that amazing ("Burning Bush-like") encounter with God was meant to be a "confirmation" of the fledgling (Ultimate Seed) theory I had been developing over the last year (69-70)...

...(or, more accurately; a confirmation of the veracity of what I had been "allowed [guided] to see and understand" over the last year).

And as one last point of interest, the chapter ends with the following declaration,...
“...thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings...”
...which, to me, implies that the time has now arrived for the release and dissemination of the information that finally finishes (resolves) the "mystery" of what God actually is.

---End of paraphrased excerpt from my book.

-------

And that, to me, John, was the climactic point in a chain of revelatory events that were set in motion a little over a year earlier with what - (in hind-sight) - seems to have been a “purposely (providentially) timed” phone call informing me of the death of a loved one.

So that’s pretty much it, John. And everything I have been trying to convey in my writings, and illustrations, and video lectures in the years that followed that event is basically my ever-sharpening interpretation of what I believe God imparted to me during that brief period of my life.

---End of email.

(Continued in next post)
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seeds
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by seeds »

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(Continued from prior post)

So, there you have it, Lacewing, my personal testimony regarding what I believe was a direct encounter with the living Creative Source of this universe.

Or, at the very least, it was an encounter with an incorporeal Entity who clearly demonstrated to me that it not only possessed direct and willful control over the material fabric of this universe,...

...but also wanted to compel me to associate all of my revelatory discoveries at that time (i.e., the "Ultimate Seed" concept) with Revelation chapter 10.

Now of course - OF COURSE - I don't expect that my little story will convince you (or anyone else) of anything other than the possibility that you are reading the babblings of an extremely delusional person. Moreover, I would be demonstrating a lack of logic and a lack of self-awareness if I were to deny that possibility.

However, hopefully (if nothing else), people can at least now understand why I not only adamantly insist that there truly does exist a living (incorporeal) Creator of this universe,...

...but also why I use that "eye of the mind" icon ("eye-con") in all of my illustrations,...

Image

...for it is a metaphorical representation of what I experienced in my alleged ("Burning Bush-like") encounter with God, 53 years ago.

http://www.theultimateseeds.com/

https://youtu.be/bVbpHy4nncA
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by Age »

seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:29 am _______

This thread is an offshoot from VA's thread...

"The Beauty of a Scenery is Man-Made, not God-Made"
viewtopic.php?t=41409
Lacewing wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2023 7:57 am
seeds wrote: Wed Dec 13, 2023 12:43 am ...the reason why I insist that God is "really real" is because 53 years ago, I had a direct - one-on-one - (burning bush-like) encounter with an incorporeal entity who made it quite clear to me that the universe is its mind, and that it possessed willful control over the material fabric of my body and the room where this encounter took place.
Cool. How did that experience impact/change you?
Well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be the theory-pushing nutjob you see before you today. Nor would I have written any illustrated books about it, had it not occurred.

Does that count as a change in the course of one's life? :D
'you' ALSO would NOT appear as a so-called 'nut job' if what 'you' ARE 'pushing' 'you' could and would back up and support WITH just SOME ACTUAL PROOF.

For just like 'you' AND "others" here, what 'it' IS that 'you', and 'they', ARE SO DESPERATELY WANTING TO EXPRESS and SHARE here IS ULTIMATELY True and IRREFUTABLY Right, it IS 'the way' 'you', and "others", GO ABOUT EXPRESSING and SHARING 'your VIEWS', which IS what IS STOPPING and PREVENTING the ACTUAL and IRREFUTABLE Truth FROM being REVEALED, and thus COMING-TO-LIGHT here.

That Entity, by the way, IS the EXACT SAME one "others" here GO ON ABOUT, but which 'you' ALL FIGHT and ARGUE OVER (and) ABOUT, and FIGHT AGAINST "each other" ABOUT.
Lacewing wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2023 7:57 am Have you had more follow-on experiences... or do you feel like you're channeling it?
No, I have never had any follow-up experiences similar to that one.

And, no, I do not claim to be "channeling" anything.

I'm just an ordinary slob human who feels he had an extraordinary experience that he wants to share with others.[/quote]

Well WHY NOT just SHARE 'the experience', INSTEAD of making ABSURD CLAIMS like; 'you' WILL FIND OUT AFTER 'you' DIE.

'you' sound just like "immanuel can" here in this regards when QUESTIONED and/or CHALLENGED OVER 'your' BELIEFS or CLAIMS here.
seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:29 am And it's not that I assume that anyone is actually going to believe what I am about to explain in this thread (or, for that matter, even gives a crap about it).
If, and WHEN, 'you' just GET DOWN TO SHARING and EXPRESSING ONLY the ACTUAL Truth, ALONE, then NO one COULD, LOGICALLY, DISBELIEVE 'you'.
seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:29 am However, seeing how I have mentioned my alleged "epiphany" so many times on this forum, I knew there would come a time when I would finally feel obliged to reveal its details.

So, at the risk of the inevitable mockery and ridicule that is sure to come my way,...
JUST MAYBE IF 'you' STOPPED 'TRYING TO' MOCK and/or RIDICULE 'me', or "others", for just having DIFFERENT VIEWS/PERSPECTIVES, then 'you' MIGHT STOP IMAGINING that 'I', or "others", WILL DO what 'you' DO here.
seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:29 am (and apologizing in advance, not only for its length, but for my use of pronouns such as "he" "his" or "him" when referring to God, for I believe that God has no gender)
So, WHY NOT JUST SAY, 'It' and/or 'God', INSTEAD, INSTEAD OF A BELIEVED UNTRUTH?
seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:29 am ...here's the story of my "burning-bush-like" encounter with God, divided up into several posts (please give me a few moments to load them all before responding)....

(Continued in next post)
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by Lacewing »

seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:38 am So, there you have it, Lacewing, my personal testimony regarding what I believe was a direct encounter with the living Creative Source of this universe.
Thank you very much! I have enjoyed reading your account. Your description makes sense to me. I want to reply thoughtfully after I'm better rested than I am feeling right now. Good evening... and I'll respond asap.
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

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seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:30 am _______

(Continued from prior post)

I live in the States, Lacewing, and a few years ago, I received an email from a chap in the UK named John. He said that he had read through almost all of my website (http://www.theultimateseeds.com/) and watched my YouTube videos and was interested in hearing how my "Ultimate Seeds" theory came about.

After a series of email exchanges, I realized that he was not only extremely insightful (like you, Lacewing), but also seemed quite sincere and open-minded, and I thus felt comfortable enough to send him a full version of my personal epiphany story.

The following is a "slightly modified" copy of the email I sent back to UK John (that you, Lacewing, can simply pretend that I have now sent to you):

-------

Email begins...

Hi John,...

I knew there would come a time when I should disclose the full details of not only the “epiphany” I experienced in 1970 (something of which I did disclose in my book), but also of the events that led up to it (which were not included in the book).

And for that, I have to start back in 1969.

I mentioned to you earlier that I was no stranger to psychoactive substances, to which I now confess that my first foray into the world of psychedelics occurred in the spring of 1969 (I think it was in May). I was 19 years old at the time and a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University.

My best friend since kindergarten - (the one who got me into this fine mess) (1.)- was attending the University of Michigan just a few miles from EMU.

I was living off-campus in an old Victorian house wherein students would rent one of the bedrooms and have communal access to the rest of the building.

To put this into context,...

...I was a diver on EMU’s swim team at that time, and as of March of that year, over the span of my freshman and sophomore diving seasons, I had won three national championships, was two times All-American, and I had set a new national record on the three-meter board.  And the point of my mentioning that is to show that I was in absolute peak physical condition during that period of my life,(2.) which, for some reason, seems important for me to include in this story.

(This was also during the time of the ever-intensifying Vietnam War and the ever-looming fear of forced conscription via the draft lottery. It was also the time of the blossoming of the so-called "Flower Generation.")

Anyway, my friend who had previously talked me into trying marijuana a few weeks earlier (of which I felt nothing), talked me into trying LSD.(3.)

He had already had a good deal of experience with it, and I trusted him.(4.)

So, at my place, on what (to the best of my recollection) was a Friday night when all of my other housemates were gone for the weekend, my friend and I, along with another good friend, all dropped acid together.

(Continued in next post)
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1. BLAMING "others" for 'who' 'you' ARE or for 'what' you' DO, as an adult WILL NEVER HELP 'you' LEARN and/nor CHANGE, FOR THE BETTER.

2. CLAIMING that 'you' were IN so-called 'ABSOLUTE peak physical condition' IMPLIES that 'you' could NOT HAVE CHANGED ANYMORE, FOR THE BETTER. Which WILL NEVER HELP 'you' IN CHANGING, FOR THE BETTER.

3. This here is ANOTHER example of HOW OFTEN and HOW MUCH adult human beings, BACK in the days when this was being written, would 'TRY TO' BLAME "others" FOR their OWN Wrong DOINGS.

4. Here 'we' can SEE HOW 'they' would PUT TRUST IN "others" INSTEAD OF IN thy (OWN True and REAL) Self.
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by Age »

seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:32 am _______

(Continued from prior post)
So, at my place, on what (to the best of my recollection) was a Friday night when all of my other housemates were gone for the weekend, my friend and I, along with another good friend, all dropped acid together.
Now here is where things got interesting...

At the very moment I started to feel the effects of the LSD kicking-in, the phone rang.

It was my dad calling to inform me that my (step) grandfather had died earlier that day.

My grandfather and grandmother (“Daddy Brown” and “Mama Stella”) lived in Tennessee in an extremely old and rustic farmhouse with no running water (just a well that you lowered a bucket into) and no sanitary plumbing (just an outhouse)...

...(we’re talking about the “Beverly Hillbillies” here - minus the discovery of oil and the move to Beverly Hills).

Their house was located in an isolated (neighborless) area amidst their chickens, and pigs, and cats, and vegetable gardens, and hills, and trees; all of which was situated in one of the greenest and most beautifully natural settings I have ever experienced.

Every summer throughout the 50’s and early 60’s, we (mom, dad, brother, sister, and I) would drive down from Michigan and spend a couple of weeks with them.

Anyway, I had never before been subjected to the death of a close family member, and after hearing the news of Daddy Brown’s passing...

(a strangely timed revelation, btw, as I was just launching-off into the nether-realms of a powerful psychedelic trip)

...I went back to my two fellow trippers and excused myself.

I then went downstairs into the dark living room/dining room area, and with a glass-enclosed candle in my hands, I began walking in a continuous circle around the inner-perimeter of the two adjoining rooms.

The LSD was now in full force.

As I gazed down at the floor, the acid was causing my now extremely vivid memories of the Tennessee farmhouse to be holographically projected outward to where it seemed as if I was literally walking on the grass of its front yard.

The powerful effect of the LSD was also causing the intensity of my grief to be severely amplified to an unbearable level to where I could no longer hold back my tears.

This went on for a lengthy period of time until I seemed to be prayerfully reaching-out to God for help in ending this ever-growing crescendo of emotional anguish.(1.)

Then suddenly, my attention was literally drawn upward toward where one of the walls meets the high ceiling; toward what seemed to be a "window” that was slowly opening between our "normal" dimension of reality that I was used to experiencing up to that point, and that of a transcendent dimension of reality...

...(and I swear it was like some kind of Hollywood fantasy where light pours down from the heavens, accompanied with an angelic chorus of “aaaahhhh”).

And right at that moment, an absolute “KNOWING” was imparted to me – a knowing that Daddy Brown was safe and not actually dead.(2.)

(And no, that is not the "epiphany" that this thread is about, so just keep reading.)

It was right around that time when my two friends came looking for me in fear that I was having a "bad trip" and had “flipped-out” in some kind of mental breakdown from the acid.

However, quite the opposite had taken place, for I was in a state of spiritual ecstasy and utter amazement.

I did not explain to them what had just happened (for I wasn't sure myself), but they nevertheless were relieved to see that I was okay.

They then joined me in my circumambulation of the dining room/living room in a hilarious kind of New Orleans style of chanting and singing in celebration of Daddy Brown’s passing.

The rest of the night and on into the next day was filled with laughter, extraordinary sensory enhancements, and a complete re-evaluation of the mundane earthly "reality" I was so accustomed to prior to that point.

Now I am fully aware of the fact that many will dismiss my "window" experience by attributing it to the effects of neural hormones flooding my brain and instigating the sense of peace and relief – all bolstered by the hallucinogenic effects of the LSD,...

...and, normally, that might be a logical assessment of what had happened to me.

However, that event was merely the beginning of a journey that in less than a year and a half later would lead to a full-blown (one-on-one) encounter with God.

(Continued in next post)
_______
1. Did you BELIEVE God existed before or BELIEVE IN God previously?

2. When you say, 'not actually dead', what does the word 'dead' even MEAN, or REFER TO, TO you, EXACTLY?
Atla
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by Atla »

seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:32 am Now here is where things got interesting...

At the very moment I started to feel the effects of the LSD kicking-in, the phone rang.

It was my dad calling to inform me that my (step) grandfather had died earlier that day.
And right at that moment, an absolute “KNOWING” was imparted to me – a knowing that Daddy Brown was safe and not actually dead.
So what actually happened to him? Which of the above was (more) real in hindsight?
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attofishpi
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by attofishpi »

seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:38 am However, hopefully (if nothing else), people can at least now understand why I not only adamantly insist that there truly does exist a living (incorporeal) Creator of this universe,...

...but also why I use that "eye of the mind" icon ("eye-con") in all of my illustrations,...

Image

...for it is a metaphorical representation of what I experienced in my alleged ("Burning Bush-like") encounter with God, 53 years ago.

http://www.theultimateseeds.com/

https://youtu.be/bVbpHy4nncA
_______
Seeds, I know you have a well appropriated angst with me over the more recent years, but thanks and well explained of your epiphanies.

As you know I have always loved your art and am glad you have expressed yourself all these years with such a talent.

Psychedelics are being looked into from more than just an internal - "brain fart" of experience. I've never experienced God on LSD or mushrooms (indeed never 'hallucinated' on them) but partook in testing my conscious awareness with such in the early nineties.

Seems, your main epiphany though was AFTER you were enlightened by these 'drugs', it seems God becomes apparent to those that have eaten from the Tree of Know_Ledge. (the fruit IMO being psychedelics)

I came across this site recently re such a concept: https://www.drjamescooke.com/read/bible

Anyway, thanks again since I have been wondering for a while what triggered such art and POV. (I apologise, but usually when I have been extremely obnoxious and using foul language is where I have been using alcohol to deal with the fact that I pressed God's buttons so hard, I was in IT'S hell)
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attofishpi
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Re: My "Burning Bush-like" encounter with God.

Post by attofishpi »

Atla wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 8:13 am
seeds wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:32 am Now here is where things got interesting...

At the very moment I started to feel the effects of the LSD kicking-in, the phone rang.

It was my dad calling to inform me that my (step) grandfather had died earlier that day.
And right at that moment, an absolute “KNOWING” was imparted to me – a knowing that Daddy Brown was safe and not actually dead.
So what actually happened to him? Which of the above was (more) real in hindsight?
.. pretty certain, dead in this realm Atla! (but safe in another)


Atla, I am still amazed out how you discount my account of a few days in hell, working in tech support with usernames:
"mad_if_you_dont"
"hows_eli"
"coins_nah"
(in context of the timing, and the mere fact that they are very very very unusual usernames) - NB: others, Atla is aware of the full story.


...as if it was all some sort of scizo dream. FFS.

REAL_IT_Y is a convoluted apparition of the Truth. :D
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