by katja z wrote:reddix wrote:
I don't think anyone really desires to be deluded. But a desire in itself may be something. A desire for what?The whole concept of 'letting it happen' and not fighting the sensations is important.
I want to delve a bit more into the desire. A desire for the experience itself (and the emotions or whatever it brings), or a desire to "prove" that you too have been "blessed"? In other words, would a person desire this thing if they were alone? It seems always to happen in mass worship, no?
I would most definitely desire this experience when I was alone and it would usually happen too. The "afterglow" of the experience is marvelous, very peaceful and calming. From my point of view, it wasn't about the 'experience.' I genuinely thought I was in the presence of God, and when I prayed, it didn't matter to me if I got a 'buzz' because my worship was about me loving Him, not the other way around. The 'warm fuzzies' were a bonus.
However, I would say that communal experiences tended to be more powerful and had the potential for a much greater 'payoff.' As I mentioned previously, there is a bit of a spectrum of experiences.
Perhaps it is easier to reach 'drunkenness' due to the music, etc.(?) Also, the falling down thing generally only happens when others are praying directly for a person, but it can also happen when alone.At least for me, I had no desire to do it because everyone else was. Some of the things people would do were weird and embarrassing. I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of my friends. However, when I got serious, and blocked out any idea of what others thought, that is when I would do crazy things. It is also when I would experience the greatest (something)? (ecstasy(?)
)katja z wrote:reddix wrote:I also wouldn't use schizophrenic, because it is quite easy to snap out of it. At any moment the person could stop (Well, besides the shaking thing. That takes a few minutes to wear off).
Interesting. Have you tried? (snapping out of it I mean) From the outside, it looks like the person is completely overwhelmed, but your comment seems to imply there's always a detached bit of you that's watching the show and that could decide to stop it. Is that right?
I think that's somewhat right. There is a bit of an "out-of-body" or "dreamlike" feeling to it. In the above scenario I describe how one does not recognize words of 'tongues' yet they are obviously being spoken.
As for being able to 'snap out of it', the best I can relate it to is when a person is falling asleep. Have you ever been mostly asleep, then suddenly jarred awake by an unexpected noise? As you 'let yourself' fall asleep, you can also 'snap out of it.'
I suppose that it would mean that someone or something would be needed as a form of distraction. Although I think that may be a little too simplistic. If a person reaches a state of 'drunkenness' it is much harder to instantly come out, but they can come out at will (again minus the shakiness).Once practiced/experienced enough, tongues can be turned on and off just like any other language. In my church, it was believed that tongues was a private language between a person and God. It is different for each person and can change at any time. It was a way of expressing the inner thoughts and emotions without having to rely on the inadequacies of human language.
