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Have you had a life experience which seemed to be mystic or so inexplicable in some way that only a paranormal, supernatural or religious explanation would be possible? Tell it here for us.

rsabbatini 7 July 22
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When I was a child my bedroom was on the third floor in the large attic of an enormous house. The light switch was at the top of the first flight of stairs so it was dark and I always insisted on someone taking me up the four flights to bed - My mother was a spiritualist and used to frighten me half to death with stories of meeting spirit etc. she said that if I was frightened I should just say "I don't want to see you right now thank you !" I was so scared though that I was saying it constantly and without any space in between the words that this 'spirit' might be able to slip in to. So Nothing ever did happen and now I am a grown I doubt that it ever would have and I rather think that there are no supernatural events - I think there is a difference between being scared and how your mind reacts to that fear and what your later memories become in response to the fear response if that makes ant=y sense I think its all in us in our perceptions/misperceptions.

jacpod Level 8 July 22, 2018
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There is nothing in life that requires the paranormal or supernatural to explain it, largely because neither of those explain anything. The supernatural in particular is a useless and illogical concept, because anything above or outside of nature is inherently something you can have zero information about. And conversely -- anything you have actual information about is natural, not supernatural. As for paranormal ... that simply means "not currently explained by science", not "impossible for science to ever explain". Given the tracks record of paranormal "investigators" vs scientists, you can guess where my money is.

Now ... have I had experiences I can't explain with any certainty? Yes. Once or twice. So what I do with those is ... I don't attempt to explain them. I don't speculate concerning them (other than for sport). I don't make up things to try to explain them. I just sit with that uncertainty until better data is available.

It seems like your second paragraph more or less rephrases the original question, in different terms.

@CallMeDave I don't see a question in my last paragraph, I see an answer. Supernatural / paranormal explanations are speculative and imaginative responses to the unexplained.

@mordant maybe I meant to say you have answered it affirmatively:
"Now ... have I had experiences I can't explain with any certainty? Yes. "

@CallMeDave I think almost everyone has. The important thing is how we respond to it.

@mordant Here is what science says about creation. They say they don't know. They call it bedtimes stories. Sound familiar?

"We just flat-out don't have an understanding of strong gravity at small scales.

We. Just. Don't.

Earlier than 10^-36 seconds, we simply don't understand the nature of the universe. The Big Bang theory is fantastic at describing everything after that, but before it, we're a bit lost. Get this: At small enough scales, we don't even know if the word "before" even makes sense! At incredibly tiny scales (and I'm talking tinier than the tiniest thing you could possible imagine), the quantum nature of reality rears its ugly head at full strength, rendering our neat, orderly, friendly spacetime into a broken jungle gym of loops and tangles and rusty spikes. Notions of intervals in time or space don't really apply at those scales. Who knows what's going on?

There are, of course, some ideas out there — models that attempt to describe what "ignited" or "seeded" the Big Bang, but at this stage, they're pure speculation. If these ideas can provide observational clues — for example, a special imprint on the CMB, then hooray — we can do science!

If not, they're just bedtime stories."

[space.com]

Twiddling one's thumbs in anticipation of more such intricate tales is no more logical than anything else.

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When I was young, I grew up among people who believed in and shared stories of the paranormal. I had many such experiences myself, including an NDE. Then, I read Carl Sagan's "Demon Haunted World" and I felt so relieved! I wasn't losing my mind, I wasn't at the mercy of supernatural forces - everything was normal, natural and explainable as per what @Paul4747 says below.

P.S. I still love a good ghost story, though.

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I've had numerous cases of confirmation bias, coincidence, and random chance. None of these are supernatural or supernormal.

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"Only a paranormal, supernatural or religious explanation would be possible."

That these could be the only explanations, is not possible.

Athena Level 8 July 22, 2018
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Have you had a life experience which seemed to be mystic or so inexplicable in some way that only a paranormal, supernatural or religious explanation would be possible? Yes.

Tell it here for us. No.

@sweetcharlotte Ma'am, this is the internet. Surely you'll agree that some things do not belong here?

@CallMeDave I don’t understand your concern

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While practicing kundalini yoga, seated on a cushion on the floor, I felt as though I levitated and was seeing the room from about 4-6” higher. Lasted about a minute. A few months later I asked my teacher what the goal was, i.e., how would things be different if I maintained the practice over the years? We went back into the breathing pattern and meditative state, and I saw/envisioned/felt like a trap door overhead opened and I could look around. There was nothing to see except moving, lumpy shades of white, and it felt like there were infinite human energies present. Then the imaginary door closed and I was back in the meditation room. I asked what the hell had happened and was told, “As a beginner in this work, you are at Level 1. I am a master at Level 7, having practiced for 15 years. I let you peek into the realm I work in.” He was a corporate litigator IRL, and he said his ability to read people’s energy helped him in negotiations.

UUNJ Level 8 July 22, 2018

@sweetcharlotte It only happened those two times and I quit the practice once I achieved the big change I needed help to make. I don’t believe a camera would have recorded anything because I suspect the sensations were shifts in energy, not in my physical body. I am a Reiki (energy work) Master and was at that time as well.

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As a child of about 10 or 11 I seemed to be having out of body experiences at night when I slept. Either that or really vivid dreams. I remember floating around the house and looking down on my parents sleeping and my sister and myself. It seemed to get easier and easier to do as I started to make a conscious effort to do so when I went to bed. I would go to sleep thinking about it but also night after night it seemed to be getting harder to return to my body. Until one night I had real difficulty returning. That's scared the hell out of me and I haven't had an experience or dream (if it was) like that since. Also as I grew up I quit dreaming almost all together. As an adult I have very few dreams and when I do have one it's very hard to remember. I often think back on that experience and it's been so many years now I don't know what to think of it.

@sweetcharlotte Cool, I hope he does.

Sleep paralysis/ hypnagogic state. I experienced the same at about that age. It's quite common. Look it up. In earlier times it was suspected as a sign of being a witch.

@Paul4747 Wow! Cool, I'll check it out. Nobody has ever told me this obviously but I have shared this story very little because people either don't understand at all or think I'm crazy when I do.

@Paul4747 Wow. Thank you so much for the info. It's crazy to get answers to a 37 year old question. I read about it and you're exactly right. So awesome.

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Yes. I had premonition dreams before my first husband died in an accident. I had two dreams. I would tell you the details but to this day it makes my heart pound to think about it and it was 38 years ago.

@sweetcharlotte I do that with email. A lot of the time when I hear my phone chime for email, I know who it is.

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