(08-16-2024, 08:08 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: I have looked at all of this through the eyes of different cultures. I see the scattered wisdom of the mysteries of God spread out through us all. I tried not to look at any of it from a purely western vantage point. History of the west showed me not to trust what I've been taught here. I looked beyond those borders of religion and geography. I believe God's wisdom is spread out evenly through us all. Mash it together and I think we hit the truth.
It's funny you should mention that. Recently, in a private communication (one sparked by this very thread, as a matter of fact), I mentioned that I've made a study of "Near Death Experiences" or "NDEs" in order to tease out any information they might contain. I noticed that in many of them, though not all - as well as many more "visions" folks have had without the benefit of dying to get them - a "figure" appears to them on "the other side", or wherever it is they travel to.
That figure seems to be the same person in all cases, but it never identifies itself, seemingly preferring to just let the individual assume it's identity. Christians tend to identify it as "Jesus", where Muslims tend to identify it as "Mohammed" or more usually "the Imam" or some other such like figure from Islam... Hindus tend to identify it as "Vishnu" or "Krishna", Buddhists as "the Buddha" and nonaligned "New Agers" as "a spirit guide". I don't know what Jews would identify it as, although if we take the vision at Gethsemane into account as an example of it, then perhaps they would identify it as "Elijah" or "Moses"... but in all cases it seems to be the same figure, but identified by the individual experiencing it in the way most comfortable and identifiable to themselves.
And so far, in any legitimate NDE, it has never identified itself, but rather allowed the individual to identify it in the way most comfortable to themselves.
Now, whether these NDEs and visions are real, concrete experiences or just the imaginings of a dying or troubled mind is up for grabs. I reckon it's just another of those things that has to be "taken on faith". In any event, there seems to be quite a lot of correlating and similar experiences in them reported across all faiths, of which this figure appearing is just one more commonality.
So, you may be on to something there.
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