What to believe......

Depends on the sect. Bhuddism is not atheistic... on the other hand, ti is not neccesary thesistic either. It is "non-theistic". Some sects beleive in a god, some don't.

Actually it's rather hard to know what Buddhism is. It's so vague.

but man if you could control it, it'd sure make doing the dishes more fun

non-theistic would be what i was referring to. it's not a religion really. but then where does that line occurr?

Nope. I don't even believe in my in-laws.I was just riffing off of iano's subtly indirect warning in the message above mine. Many Christians believe fallen angels have created spiritual traps that we refer to as pantheism, paganism, etc. I believe all those hocus-pocus entities are baroque encrustations of the human imagination.

Fair enough, Faith, since I did know what you meant. But you and I and Miss Purdy, my fifth grade teacher, all know there is only one way to parse and diagram that original sentence.It reminded me of an episode from Leave It To Beaver. Struggling mightily to follow Wally's advice at the dance school graduation soiree, the Beav suavely remarks to his partner, "Gee, you don't sweat much for a fat girl."Freeze frame. Fade to black.

Maybe a means to an end, maybe to prove to myself that there is something to it; the point is, why wouldn't I want to do this if it were possible? True, it may have nothing to do with becoming spiritual, but if I could move something with my mind.....I would love to learn how! I will practice this, I will concentrate on moving objects for, say every day for a solid month. As to 'why', it would be pretty cool if nothing else.Faith, do you think that demons were responsible for you being able to move things? If so, then it really wasn't your mind so much as it was malicious spirits, right?

What scientist would not want to see this demonstrated? The Amazing Randy and Micheal Shermer (sp) would love to see anyone do this! I'd do it for the $1,000,000.00 'reward'; think of the great things I could do with the money! Pay off my debts, my family and friends debts, then use the rest to fix up the schools in my area, open up education centers to help people become more employable...The opportunities would be endless if I could demonstrate such an ability!

This reminds me of a good Ouija Board story that I heard once.My sister used to fool around with those things..I personally attributed the movement to involuntary muscle movement plus confirmation bias but I certainly never wanted to test the hypthosis about demons. Never give publicity hounds any ammo! (Demons included)

The only thing that prevented me from acknowledging that I was atheist when I saw the flaw in Christinaity (IMO) was the fear of burning forever. After I laid that fear to rest, then I was able to say that I did not believe in the biblical God. If these demons exist, as per the bible, then do some Christians believe that the demons can actually grant powers to certain people?
Why then do we not see people that subscribe to demon/devil worship performing these amazing feats?
I studied Thelema for a time and I can see how it can be empowering; but I have never really believed that Crowley could transcend planes of existance through astral projection. If one could do that, certianly there must be tests that could be performed to verify its authenticity...
I'd be more than happy to sign up for that, to learn how to astral project, move things with my mind, etc.
It is possible that I am a pagan who is also an atheist?Makes one wonder what is the point of idenifying himself with the word 'pagan' then.Phat, I have never used an Ouija board, but talked with people that have. Supposedly, everyone that I have talked to experienced 'something', but then could not reproduce it. Sounds like my attempts at automatic writing; I usually could not even read what I wroite, but when I could, I was very concious of my hand and the pencil moving, and could not help but focus on that. Nothing I ever wrote that I could read amounted to anything.Still, I am trying to move things with my mind now and will do it until something happens or it looks like it never will. I'll give myself a month.

Well, then, the trick is to concentrate your mind ferociously on the object. Hate it or fear it if you can work that up. Wishing it to move isn't going to do it. We're talking about focused energy. No I don't think it was demons. They do things like give you visions and insinuate ideas and "messages" into receptive heads. Such as the idea that God doesn't exist for instance.No, this was definitely my mind. I was agonizing over a moral decision I had to make by the next day, a moral decision that had come about because of my belief in the supernatural, and was fiercely concentrating on all the aspects of the problem.This message has been edited by Faith, 01-22-2006 11:32 AM

Randi $1,000,000 paranormal challenge - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com

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Randi paranormal challenge

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James Randi, a.k.a. The Amazing Randi, magician and author of numerous works skeptical of paranormal claims, offers "a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power." His rules are little more than what any reasonable scientist would require. If you are a mental spoon bender, you can't use your own spoons. If you are going to see auras, you will have to do so under controlled conditions. If you are going to do some remote viewing, you will not be given credit for coming close in some vague way. If you are going to demonstrate your dowsing powers, be prepared to be tested under controlled conditions. If you are going to do psychic surgery or experience the stigmata, expect to have cameras watching your every move.

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And Faith is not a millionare for, what reason, exactly? Psychokinesis would, I believe, fall under the heading of "paranormal."

Then you must have a reason. What is it? What made you so certain?

Do I keep my eyes open or closed? Does it matter? Do I need to be in a state of anger to move the item? Should I start small (say, a pen) and move up from there?I have tried this twice today, operating in silence, concentrating on moving the pen on my desk.Now, what happens if I succeed and the results are reproducible? I think, using my current mindset, I'd have to conclude that no particular faith is relevant. Since I am between beliefs, I do not really have one, and that means that anyone could do this.I'll keep the results posted; should I start a new topic?

I was concentrating on a problem I had so solve, a moral decision I had to make in one case. In the other case I was in a very fearful state of mind because of some supernatural experiences, and trying to hold it all together. Agonizing over the first problem concentrated my mind enough to break an object in the room. I was not focusing on the object. It happened twice within a couple of hours. The fearful state focused my mind in a way that caused pain to someone who passed nearby when my eyes fell on her. She let out a cry of pain, and bent over holding her head. As soon as I moved to help her she stood up and walked away, I think because in my concern for her the effect of the concentrated fear was broken. This is how I came to the conclusion that negative emotions, worry, fear, etc., have particular power. I also experienced intensely focused positive emotions during that period, but love doesn't harm, and probably won't move objects, just embrace them in the warm fuzzies, which isn't what you have in mind. Of course, if you make the pen feel loved ENOUGH, maybe it will sidle over and kiss you on the nose. You never know. My eyes were VERY open in both cases. In the first case I've probably never thought so hard about a problem in my life. Concentrated mental effort.That's all I know. It has nothing to do with faith or religion at all. I think it is a power of the soul, mostly a trick at best if cultivated, and since we are fallen, if developed it would most often be used for harm. In fact I can't think of any good that could come of it.