It often takes centuries to change beliefs. People often believe they will be condemned if they do not believe a certain way. Enlightenment is a state of intellectual or spiritual awareness, the process of this spiritual awareness is translated by the mind. An aural experience is the mind's interpretation of either a spiritual or intellectual interaction with the subconscious which can also be considered the spirit. Any translation is subject to the mind's conditioning, hence, when the interceder, the mind is enlightened, it translates the reception accordingly; if the person believes in a spiritual existence or God the resulting translation is adapted thereto.
This is Peace Seeker's story.
His parents diligently prayed to God and read stories from the Bible to him. Several nights later, it felt as if his spirit left his body and it experienced being in a place with a gathering of souls or spirits. He sensed great peace, tranquility and ecstasy; a rapture that was beyond a person's imagination. He felt as if he was a part of ALL, a part of God. He was mentally communicating and in sync with everyone. There were some of his deceased relatives and acquaintances. Many of the prophets of the Bible and historical people he had read about were also there. There was no dominant force, no forceful leader. Somehow he knew who everyone was. Every thought interacted with the whole community. He had no questions; it seemed as if everything was revealed and crystal clear. He saw the universe stretched out with spirits engaged in mental interactions like master craftsmen contemplating the creation of a new frontier.
His father was a preacher of the Lutheran Faith and when he told him about his experience, his father dismissed it abruptly and told him that this God that his spirit witnessed was not the God of the Bible. He told him to pray for my salvation. They never talked about it afterwards.
Since that time he never really gave it much thought until the New York World Trade Center tragedy on 9-11-01. He went into deep meditation. He wanted to find answer as to how some misguided individuals could believe that their actions of killing other people would be rewarded with their soul's eternal life with God.
He then had a couple of similar spiritual experiences as the one at age fifteen where his spirit communicating with God, Allah or whatever one desires to call it. These spiritual experiences seemed to last throughout the entire night. His spirit observed the entire history and the evolution of the universe and man's varying perceptions of God, as if in a fast-forward film.
My experiences have led me to believe that God is a spiritual unity, a oneness, a structured government-like spiritual collective. God is the progressive, accumulative spiritual intellect existing in a spiritual dimension; a collective of the righteous souls who have passed into the spiritual realm; a spiritual continuity.
In this Age of Technology, our 21st Century, we are still plagued by religious beliefs that are a contributing cause toward terrorism, killings and wars between nations. Open-minded people must now use common sense to determine whether the God of our fathers was incorrectly perceived, misinterpreted or misunderstood by the masses of a bygone era.
Some will say that my personal experience of a oneness with a supreme spirit is nothing but a dream or a vivid imagination. It really doesn't matter whether anyone accepts or totally rejects my story. What does matter is that we evolve to a point whereby we can encourage open-minded people to offer feedback on how our religious beliefs can logically be brought into this 21st Century.
Thank you for listening. May God bless you.
Congrats Peacemaker, for a lovely experience even as a teenager.