Originally Posted by
Rizzo
Good questions and I am happy to answer them.
The condensed version is that when I was in my early twenties I wasn't sure what I believed.
The Catholic/Christian faith was a good foundation but I just did not "feel" my connection with God, so I strayed away.
I was listening to a talk show from San Francisco called Mind Space, with Jeff Mischlov (sp?) and he had a guest Dr. Ralph Monroe who had just wrote a book titled Journeys Out of the Body, in which he described the experiences he was having.
This fascinated me and I read the book and wanted to experience that very thing.
This led to more books on the subject, with similar fascinating stories and I was discussing them with a friend at work and the next day he brought in a book of his girlfriend's. He said, "You should check this out, it's right up your alley."
(God works in mysterious ways)
The book was Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda.
Now, I had read about the Yogis of India and some of their "abilities" from practicing deep meditation techniques. Some could levitate, go out their bodies, materialize things, healings, etc.
So, I read the book and my whole life changed.
Out of body experiences, levitating, etc....which I wanted to do, got thrown by the wayside.
It was all about one's Spirituality, so it became a spiritual quest.
I learned that one could achieve Self Realization and KNOW God by meditation.
Self Realization meaning is to know that your True Self is Spirit/Soul and NOT this physical body.
To actually experience your Spiritual Self and Oneness with God, through meditation.
It also explained Karma and Reincarnation and how they worked.
Reincarnation made sense to me.
On a side note, there are many, many documented cases of people (mostly children) having recollections of a past lives.
Some Christians would say "It's the work of the Devil!!!.
I think not. There is something going on there.
We all get back home with God....eventually. We can take the oxcart to get there, or by deep meditation, one could take the jet plane back home instead.
I was overwhelmed. I now had a better focus on God and a belief that made sense to me. I was so changed that I felt it in every atom of my body. It is a sensation that I"ll never forget and really can't describe.
I wanted to stop everyone I saw and shake them and say "You've got to hear this!!".
I did not do that though. People would probably think I was crazy.
I suspect that feeling I had was similar to what other people have described when they were "Saved" and had their coming to Jesus moment.
It's an amazing feeling.
So, since then, God has been more in my life.
I still get a feeling in my heart area that is sometimes overwhelming and puts tears to my eyes.
It is the Love of God and Him calling me back home is how I would describe it.
While there are Hinduism overtones in my beliefs because of my belief in reincarnation, that is about as far as it goes with me. The teachings of Jesus play a big role in my life today as well.
There you have it.
I hope that answered your questions.