So I've been going through a serious period of spiritual exploration as of late, revisiting a lot of the values I kind of pushed away during my childhood. I've always believed in God, but I've kind of jumped around denominations, yet at the same time not really truly believing that one path was the right way for everyone. I was super baptist growing up because that was how my parents were raised, I dabbled in Universalism, Baha'i, and then got into a non-denominational christian community through out college (but it was till pretty similar to the baptist stuff in teaching, just a different style).
Only recently (And if you know my story coming back to this forum you already know why), have I really thought about my spiritual life over the last 5 years. I have to admit, a lot of that is attributed to MJ, and FINALLY processing his death (yes, after 5 years) and what his life AND death is really supposed to mean to me, and what I've exactly learned from all this (because I'm not the type to say that all - I guess about 10-11? - years of being a hardcore MJ fan was for nothing, though for the last 5 years I convinced myself that this was so). Allowing myself to believe that MJ's spirit is somewhere out there, that perhaps the 'spirit world' is not as lofty and removed as I once thought...really got me asking a lot of questions I haven't thought of in a long, long time...probably only thought of when I was a kid and somehow along the way dropped such thoughts as just silly musings, even while MJ was alive, because I got so wrapped up in doctrine.
Questions like what form does God take in my life? I stopped asking that question because I got wrapped up in the notion that the form God takes is written in the Bible and that's that. It was limited, finite.
How can I grow spiritually? I stopped asking that question because i've been taught really that prayer (and the method of prayer for me was always taught to be very removed - its not like you're getting to know God), reading the Word and good works were all that's needed to grow - and it was all about external tasks. That God would take care of the rest in my life.
Do I have a spirit guide?
How does nature intertwine with my spirit? How am I connected with nature? How is God connected with all of it? Why ask these questions when "god works in mysterious ways"?
Now of COURSE this is not to downplay traditional Christian teachings, thats not what I'm doing really, because I find merit in many of the traditional practices - but I do believe as I've kind of stepped away from being a part of a denomination that some sects are riddled with man-made 'rules' and labels on God.
Which brings me back to the now. As I kind of dealt with all of this and entertaining the thought of a spirit world - I started researching the notion of high consciousness, different spirit planes that we may go to when we die. I've found there's a lot of different versions of this and I also found it kinda frustrating that there isn't really a NAME for this kind of thought or like a central doctrine, because I'm so used to HAVING a central doctrine? LOL But I recognized it as the kind of 'enlightenment' and awareness that one strives for in certain meditations, and yogi practices - which I've also dabbled in but it was always very lofty and 'do what feels right for you' so I've always translated it to a specific doctrine when I did those meditations.
But as I've done a bit of research, I've found that people really try to achieve 'graduating' to a higher spiritual consciousness in life. And with that came a lot of things that intrigued me - such as the concept that The Source (or God) is WITHIN, not this external lofty separate thing in the sky. That through The Source we are all connected, as human beings, to the earth, to the universe. That we only have a perceived perspective of the universe and if we tap into our higher self then we'd be able to 'see' more or have more wisdom. There's some notions of reincarnation in some of the versions of this which I had a hard time really grasping/make sense of - but in essence, we are more in control of our spiritual realm and growth than we think. There's stuff like the Power of Intention (positive thoughts equal positive results which I think makes sense of course), that we are here to experience and learn and grow within the Basic Laws of Existence (which are things like unconditional love, joy, happiness, unity). I mean, its all a lot to process and I'm still learning myself. I'm just having a hard time cuz there are SO many different versions of this.
But I must admit, reading about it did take me back to my childhood where I actually did BELIEVE these things to some degree but didn't really entertain them because I was this religion or that religion. Something in my heart had been telling me to go back and read MJ's Dancing the Dream, which is what made me a fan of his in the first place and that I hadn't read in like....a decade. And again, just like when I was a kid - not really having any preconceived notions about religion, the words really touched my heart to the point of tears because it resignated so much as TRUTH to me. A truth that I really had lost somewhere along the way. This kind of - spiritual freedom. Who knows if MJ's beliefs were the ABSOLUTE truth, but did it matter? What is for sure is that love, nature, and innocence, and God and creation...all of it are fundamental building blocks of humanity. And if we lose sight of those things, we are truly lost. Anyone, not just MJ, could come to that conclusion. But I think it took MJ, for me personally, to really implant these values into my heart.
So I guess the point of this is - I'm really entertaining the idea of this spiritual higher consciousness. For instance in DTD, MJ talked about meeting his personal angel - which I now interpreted to mean his spirit guide, which I hear a lot about in this research of higher consciousness. Does any one else here believe in this or something similar? What are your experiences/story coming to this belief system? I really wish there were like a central community somewhere to discuss this kinda thing but I couldn't really find one lol
Only recently (And if you know my story coming back to this forum you already know why), have I really thought about my spiritual life over the last 5 years. I have to admit, a lot of that is attributed to MJ, and FINALLY processing his death (yes, after 5 years) and what his life AND death is really supposed to mean to me, and what I've exactly learned from all this (because I'm not the type to say that all - I guess about 10-11? - years of being a hardcore MJ fan was for nothing, though for the last 5 years I convinced myself that this was so). Allowing myself to believe that MJ's spirit is somewhere out there, that perhaps the 'spirit world' is not as lofty and removed as I once thought...really got me asking a lot of questions I haven't thought of in a long, long time...probably only thought of when I was a kid and somehow along the way dropped such thoughts as just silly musings, even while MJ was alive, because I got so wrapped up in doctrine.
Questions like what form does God take in my life? I stopped asking that question because I got wrapped up in the notion that the form God takes is written in the Bible and that's that. It was limited, finite.
How can I grow spiritually? I stopped asking that question because i've been taught really that prayer (and the method of prayer for me was always taught to be very removed - its not like you're getting to know God), reading the Word and good works were all that's needed to grow - and it was all about external tasks. That God would take care of the rest in my life.
Do I have a spirit guide?
How does nature intertwine with my spirit? How am I connected with nature? How is God connected with all of it? Why ask these questions when "god works in mysterious ways"?
Now of COURSE this is not to downplay traditional Christian teachings, thats not what I'm doing really, because I find merit in many of the traditional practices - but I do believe as I've kind of stepped away from being a part of a denomination that some sects are riddled with man-made 'rules' and labels on God.
Which brings me back to the now. As I kind of dealt with all of this and entertaining the thought of a spirit world - I started researching the notion of high consciousness, different spirit planes that we may go to when we die. I've found there's a lot of different versions of this and I also found it kinda frustrating that there isn't really a NAME for this kind of thought or like a central doctrine, because I'm so used to HAVING a central doctrine? LOL But I recognized it as the kind of 'enlightenment' and awareness that one strives for in certain meditations, and yogi practices - which I've also dabbled in but it was always very lofty and 'do what feels right for you' so I've always translated it to a specific doctrine when I did those meditations.
But as I've done a bit of research, I've found that people really try to achieve 'graduating' to a higher spiritual consciousness in life. And with that came a lot of things that intrigued me - such as the concept that The Source (or God) is WITHIN, not this external lofty separate thing in the sky. That through The Source we are all connected, as human beings, to the earth, to the universe. That we only have a perceived perspective of the universe and if we tap into our higher self then we'd be able to 'see' more or have more wisdom. There's some notions of reincarnation in some of the versions of this which I had a hard time really grasping/make sense of - but in essence, we are more in control of our spiritual realm and growth than we think. There's stuff like the Power of Intention (positive thoughts equal positive results which I think makes sense of course), that we are here to experience and learn and grow within the Basic Laws of Existence (which are things like unconditional love, joy, happiness, unity). I mean, its all a lot to process and I'm still learning myself. I'm just having a hard time cuz there are SO many different versions of this.
But I must admit, reading about it did take me back to my childhood where I actually did BELIEVE these things to some degree but didn't really entertain them because I was this religion or that religion. Something in my heart had been telling me to go back and read MJ's Dancing the Dream, which is what made me a fan of his in the first place and that I hadn't read in like....a decade. And again, just like when I was a kid - not really having any preconceived notions about religion, the words really touched my heart to the point of tears because it resignated so much as TRUTH to me. A truth that I really had lost somewhere along the way. This kind of - spiritual freedom. Who knows if MJ's beliefs were the ABSOLUTE truth, but did it matter? What is for sure is that love, nature, and innocence, and God and creation...all of it are fundamental building blocks of humanity. And if we lose sight of those things, we are truly lost. Anyone, not just MJ, could come to that conclusion. But I think it took MJ, for me personally, to really implant these values into my heart.
So I guess the point of this is - I'm really entertaining the idea of this spiritual higher consciousness. For instance in DTD, MJ talked about meeting his personal angel - which I now interpreted to mean his spirit guide, which I hear a lot about in this research of higher consciousness. Does any one else here believe in this or something similar? What are your experiences/story coming to this belief system? I really wish there were like a central community somewhere to discuss this kinda thing but I couldn't really find one lol