an experience for the psychics on this board...

[Michael]

this may happen ` due to perception more "internally" directed
- "qi follow mind" ,/?/
you simply don`t care about surrounding entities,
so
ability's to see/feel them diminished in time
but
training increase sensitivity, so my guess is that one day it will return stronger...

IME, this is only partially true. I'll make a comparison to basic hearing, which can become attuned or sensitized to certain sounds or music through practice, training, or simple repetitive exposure, even without mindfulness. If this exposure stops, hearing doesn't stop, but the increased awareness of the sensory input of a certain type of sound will decrease from optimal, trained levels.

While it's very difficult to turn off five sense input ability with conscious desire, it's much easier to turn off awareness of psychic type senses. Usually, if you don't want it, then it will stop from conscious desire.

[chud]

My wife and I are good friends with this other couple, and we know both of their families well too. Anyway, one of the husband's sisters is married to this guy who is kinda odd; he's a short guy who wears gaudy western wear and is real quiet, and keeps to himself. He doesn't come out to many family functions or parties because he doesn't like all the family politics, but anyway he seems to have this ability to sense when someone's time is near. One time he told his wife, "he doesn't have long" (about her younger brother). Sure enough, the younger brother went on a hunting expedition and died in his sleep the night before the hunt; his buddy found him dead in his bed the next morning. It was very unexpected because he was young and in good shape.

I had one experience when I was young that shook me up (not involving death, but a dream turned reality thing), and a few things since.

[zenshiite]

I don't know what it means, but last week I woke up one morning thinking about my younger brother, his wife and when I would hear from them that my niece was born. An hour later he sent me a picture message of her.

[Darthwing Teorist]

Well, sometimes I have strong deja vu sensations (they used to freak me out when I came to Canada) but I am not sure that this is not a natural phenomenon, something like creating false memories on the spot. OTOH, I also remember vaguely that as a child I dreamt of a place that I saw later. But again, a different explanation may be in case. Like I said I am agnostic but I find it interesting to listen to these sort of experiences from people whom I consider down to earth (my own impression of Meeks too). Personally, I find uplifting the idea of not knowing everything and the possibility of some sort of continuation of consciousness after death.

[Bhassler]

I've tried to kickstart these types of discussions over the years to weed out some of the sensitives on the forum, but the threads usually de-evolve into ridicule and hassling by the deaf kids in denial. *sigh*

Whatever, dude. cdobe's jokes in particular were funny, and that has nothing to do with belief or not. If people's jokes bother you it's more a reflection of your own insecurities than it is someone else's primitive spiritual condition (and vice versa, if someone has respect issues with you because you post about this stuff, that's a reflection of their own cognitive shit, too).

[gimpster]

Kudos to Meeks for starting this thread, it's interesting to say the least. As far as the detractors go - ignore them and their buddies.

[Michael]

I think deja vu, knowledge of people's death immediately after and other examples of intuition are totally normal for humans, but we are socialized to believe by a standardized, materialistic system that since intuition isn't perfectly predictable like counting apples, then it's not true.

The bean counters want things simple and predictable to make boring jobs easy, boring jobs like standardizing human life into simplistic shapes and patterns.

Humans are amazing and unpredictable in their creativity and this power touches on the most fascinating, complex, and interconnected aspects of reality as we don't fully comprehend it, but as we should fully live it without fear of labels from a dehumanizing system of standardization.

University, universal. One verse, one voice, one thing. That sort of rubbish is peddled solely to make people more predictable and easier to manage as herd.

When I was in high school, I occasionally wrote a few sentences down on paper of *exactly* what someone would say in response to a question or comment because I wanted to show them how predictable they were. They thought I was psychic, which I'm not and had nothing to do with it. Now I live a "Groundhog Day" existence in a land that is nearly perfectly standardized and predictable. Everyone's response to a particular stimuli is the same, give or take a percentage point. It is sofa king boring!

"Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." Orwell

"All we are is just another brick in the wall." Pink Floyd

[Andy_S]

Personally, I have not had this kind of experience and tend to be pretty cynical about it, but I have heard two remarkable ghost stories from people I know and trust and which I believe (albeit, one of them was a symptom of wartime PTSD).

Interesting also that Meeks feels sorry for those who don't share his sensitivity/perception/madness/call it what thou wilt. I would guess that, yes, it would be fascinating to be able to see into a spirit world, but OTOH, there are drawbacks too: I'd guess that many of the peeps who have these abilities/disabilities end up in straitjackets.

Interesting also that a number of very traditional MA (CMA and JMA to some extent, Silat to a very large extent) include spiritual training that includes meeting the ghosts of masters long passed, carrying out exorcisms, etc. Again, this has not been part of my training: The only case I kmow of from Chen Taiji was the story of Chen Zhaokui being invited to stay at a haunted room in an inn, where previously no guest had been able to stay the night. Chen sat on the bed all night waiting for the spook to appear: It never did, and after that night, was never seen again.

That having been said: The one time (during a late night training session after a thunderstorm in Kuala Lumpur) that I witnessed a case of "possession" it was a very curious spectacle, but did not convince me that it improved the practitioner's fighting skills - very much the opposite, in fact.

[chud]

I also remember vaguely that as a child I dreamt of a place that I saw later.

That happened to me too, that's what I was alluding to in my previous post.

[meeks]

I've tried to kickstart these types of discussions over the years to weed out some of the sensitives on the forum, but the threads usually de-evolve into ridicule and hassling by the deaf kids in denial. *sigh*

Whatever, dude. cdobe's jokes in particular were funny, and that has nothing to do with belief or not. If people's jokes bother you it's more a reflection of your own insecurities than it is someone else's primitive spiritual condition (and vice versa, if someone has respect issues with you because you post about this stuff, that's a reflection of their own cognitive shit, too).

you couldn't be further from the truth. I have no insecurity about working on developing my sensitivity to that which cannot be seen. In fact, my only drawback is I want to be more sensitive. My issue was the fact that my friend's dad had died and I felt the jokes were highly insensitive to the situation I was in. I'm usually the first guy to post a joke on this forum... but the loss of a friend, the loss of a friend's parent who I held in high regard is not one of those situations.

[Michael]

From second hand stories and general knowledge, I doubt that anyone's inborn psychic ability landed them in a straitjacket. More along the lines of the fellow that Chud described who was a bit unsociable compared to norms of immediate family.

[TrainingDummy]

From second hand stories and general knowledge, I doubt that anyone's inborn psychic ability landed them in a straitjacket. More along the lines of the fellow that Chud described who was a bit unsociable compared to norms of immediate family.

Apples and oranges.

Someone with mental illness may, or may not, have genuine spiritual experiences. Someone who has experiences may, or may not, have mental illness.

I'd also put the nature of such experiences into a different category for those who are born with such "talent", and those who trained for it. People who train for it can turn it on or off at will, and are much less prone to losing self-reference in the experience. It still can happen though, particularly in those experiences where the physical world has less tangibility than the spiritual one, giving rise to ideas such as "the world as illusion".

[Bhassler]

I've tried to kickstart these types of discussions over the years to weed out some of the sensitives on the forum, but the threads usually de-evolve into ridicule and hassling by the deaf kids in denial. *sigh*

Whatever, dude. cdobe's jokes in particular were funny, and that has nothing to do with belief or not. If people's jokes bother you it's more a reflection of your own insecurities than it is someone else's primitive spiritual condition (and vice versa, if someone has respect issues with you because you post about this stuff, that's a reflection of their own cognitive shit, too).

you couldn't be further from the truth. I have no insecurity about working on developing my sensitivity to that which cannot be seen. In fact, my only drawback is I want to be more sensitive. My issue was the fact that my friend's dad had died and I felt the jokes were highly insensitive to the situation I was in. I'm usually the first guy to post a joke on this forum... but the loss of a friend, the loss of a friend's parent who I held in high regard is not one of those situations.

Ah, I missed that aspect of it entirely. My apologies.

[Bhassler]

I think deja vu, knowledge of people's death immediately after and other examples of intuition are totally normal for humans, but we are socialized to believe by a standardized, materialistic system that since intuition isn't perfectly predictable like counting apples, then it's not true.

The bean counters want things simple and predictable to make boring jobs easy, boring jobs like standardizing human life into simplistic shapes and patterns.

Humans are amazing and unpredictable in their creativity and this power touches on the most fascinating, complex, and interconnected aspects of reality as we don't fully comprehend it, but as we should fully live it without fear of labels from a dehumanizing system of standardization.

University, universal. One verse, one voice, one thing. That sort of rubbish is peddled solely to make people more predictable and easier to manage as herd.

When I was in high school, I occasionally wrote a few sentences down on paper of *exactly* what someone would say in response to a question or comment because I wanted to show them how predictable they were. They thought I was psychic, which I'm not and had nothing to do with it. Now I live a "Groundhog Day" existence in a land that is nearly perfectly standardized and predictable. Everyone's response to a particular stimuli is the same, give or take a percentage point. It is sofa king boring!

"Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." Orwell

"All we are is just another brick in the wall." Pink Floyd

During gestation our brains generate trillions of neurons and neural connections, and almost as soon as we are born begins pruning away all the neurons that are not actively being used. This is why, for instance, after a certain age young children lose the ability to hear sounds (phonemes) that are particular to other languages but not included in their own. The ears can hear the sounds, but the brain can't process it. One of the most powerful influencers of what gets used (and therefore what gets pruned) is the culture a person develops in. It's not that people are being controlled externally, it's that those parts of their creativity, consciousness, etc. that are not used literally disappear from their brains. They can't think very far outside the cognitive box because outside the box there is literally nothing there. Fortunately, our brains are far more flexible and dynamic than many have been led to believe. It is possible to expand oneself creatively, but to do so is not a matter of denying external influence-- rather it is an active process of embracing ever greater and more diverse influences, both external and internal. It is a process of seeking, questioning, and relating one thing to another, and always it must be done with awareness.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
-Billy Wigglesticks

[Michael]

Makes sense.