[NF] NFs and Spirituality

[*poke*]

I heard somewhere that NFs tend to be more religious or spiritual. What place does spirituality have in your life?

 

[*poke*]

I'm personally not religious, the intuition made me all too aware at a young age, how relative "faith" is. As ENFP (Keirsey's "champion" personality), in searching for something to be passionate about I have come to trust only things that are not relative (as in, universally applicable). Although I do feel an idealistic oneness with humanity, this belief has led me to environmental work, which in instrospection, is the only thing I trust to be real and worth working to save. Consequently saving humanity lol.

 

[nolla]

I guess my spirituality is best shown in how I manage not to get cynical about everything...

 

[Apollanaut]

I am an innately religious/spiritual person. At a very young age I used to think deeply about the religious education I was given. I soon came to realise that organised religious teachings were not for me: they seemed to reflect the views of the religious leaders rather than originating from a loving creator God.

In my ongoing quest for meaning, I therefore turned to science for answers and eventually graduated from University with a degree in chemistry. Eventually, however, I found that science could not account for the "supernatural" phenomena which I have always perceived (as an introverted intutitive type). In my late thirties, I started to explore the New Age scene. Although there is a lot of fluff out there, if one is discerning it is possible to take an active approach to one's own spiritual enlightenment. This approach suits me better than the antiquated teachings of the organised religions.

I do believe in God, not as a remote deity, but as a universal archetype who dwells in the collective unconscious. This internal version of God is a far cry from the stern patriarch of the Bible! I can only speak of my own experiences, but I perceive "God" as a witty, humorous and loving being who is always available to answer our questions and provide guidance to all who seek.

 

[niki]

Apollonaut: so are you saying that there is more to life than science?
meaning: there are more to this world than the observable scientific results?

have you had any personal experience with the "supernatural" realm?
i'm curious to hear it.. (also if anybody else have ever experienced this 'weird' unexplainable phenomenom).
but please, no "feelings" or "emotional" talks B.S,
only REAL supernatural pheomenoms that's still can't be explained in scientific realm.
i'm really curious if these things does exist , and not just pure nonsense or "bullcraps" ('cuz it might really prove that there is another, and greater dimension than ours!)

 

[MrRandom]

I'm an atheist who tries to get as far from religions as possible. Okay, it's not that I'm intolerant, but it bothers me quite a lot how I'm still expected to take part in religious ceremonies and such. For example, say... someone's getting married. I'd really like to skip that church part and only take part in the celebration. However, people tend to get really pissed off for me not being there. Or baptizing a child... everyone expects me to be there, but to me it is a religious ceremony and I don't want to take part in foreign ceremonies that I don't believe in. I have to choose between expressing my own world view and being nice. How do you say to your own family that "I'm not going to be there"? It's tough.

I'm still somewhat spiritual, but in non-religious ways. I'm also interested in paranormal phenomenoms and whether they exist. My intuition plays a big part in this. I know there's got to be something more, because I experience weird things a lot like telepathy, precognitive dreams, deja vus, etc. All that makes me interested in these phenomenoms, but not someone who blindly believes that stuff. I just want to keep my mind open.

 

[Katie]

Hi I'm new...

I'm like MrRandom, I keep an open-mind when it comes to spirituality although I'm becoming more skeptical as I get older. I've never been a fan of organized religion because it seems to be more about conformity than faith.

One thing I have always took an interest in is astrology. I like the idea of splitting the world up into twelve signs, each with a different personality that has been decided by the stars. There's something cool and mystical about it whether there's any truth to it or not.

 

[Nonsensical]

It's number one in my life

 

[MrRandom]

There was a time (a long time, actually) when I found astrology fascinating. Not any daily horoscopes in magazines, but the sort of "real" and serious astrology that goes more into depth. I was very skeptical, until I read a multi-page explanation of my personality. All of the information was very specific, not the sort of general stuff that easily applies to everyone. Actually, the personality described was very INFJish. There was not a single sentence that I didn't agree with completely. It was actually more spot on than any MBTI descriptions.

It even included a warning that I am very likely to have health issues regarding my bones such as rheumatoid conditions. It kind of spooked me out, because my mother has suffered from rheumatoid conditions all my life and I have a lot of bone problems. I have stress fractures almost constantly in my feet and usually some bone ache. While serving my time in the army, I had bone fractures the whole time. They tried to send me home but I insisted on staying. For half a year, each step was painful, but INFJs are tough... right? . Nowadays I try to go jogging, but I find that impossible after a week, because my bones can't handle the stress. I can only walk without getting hurt. Anyway, it's just spooky. Coincidence? Maybe... but the whole description was spot on, even the freaky details about my relationship with my parents...

Even though it makes very little "sense", with my experiences on astrology I probably can't ever discard it as complete crap.

 

[Apollanaut]

I didn't mention it before - but I am an amateur astrologer. I went from total skepticism to utter amazement that an esoteric system such as astrology can yield highly accurate information!

 

[nolla]

I was interested in astrology also. I think some of the stuff works because it is the closest they had to psychology back then. Jungian stuff, only before Jung.

 

[Apollanaut]

Apollonaut: so are you saying that there is more to life than science?
meaning: there are more to this world than the observable scientific results?

have you had any personal experience with the "supernatural" realm?
i'm curious to hear it.. (also if anybody else have ever experienced this 'weird' unexplainable phenomenom).
but please, no "feelings" or "emotional" talks B.S,
only REAL supernatural pheomenoms that's still can't be explained in scientific realm.
i'm really curious if these things does exist , and not just pure nonsense or "bullcraps" ('cuz it might really prove that there is another, and greater dimension than ours!)

Yeah, I've had many "supernatural" experiences, starting at school when I watched my best friend slowly levitate to the ground after he fell off a high window ledge! I have personally experienced telepathy, precognition and remote viewing. I can often "feel" energy fields around people or objects. Several years ago, I taught myself to actually see these fields (auras). I have some friends with even more amazing abilities, including several mediums. Curiously, when I am around these people I can copy their abilities to a degree and "see" what they see (eg. spirits and ghosts).

I remain a scientist at heart - so-called "supernatural" phenomena will one day be explainable by science. My own theory is that there is some interaction between the archetypes of the collective unconscious and the material world. In other words, all "psychic" phenomena occur at the boundary between the inner and outer worlds. Incidentally, Carl Jung thought so too - he was friends with the quantum physicist Pauli, with whom he like to discuss such matters.

 

[BookLady]

many, many documented miracles

There were skeptics around the time of Marian apparitions in Lourdes, France about a century ago. There were miracles there, totally unexplained by the scientists at that time. Maybe google Lourdes and miracles for more info.

Apollonaut: so are you saying that there is more to life than science?
meaning: there are more to this world than the observable scientific results?

have you had any personal experience with the "supernatural" realm?
i'm curious to hear it.. (also if anybody else have ever experienced this 'weird' unexplainable phenomenom).
but please, no "feelings" or "emotional" talks B.S,
only REAL supernatural pheomenoms that's still can't be explained in scientific realm.
i'm really curious if these things does exist , and not just pure nonsense or "bullcraps" ('cuz it might really prove that there is another, and greater dimension than ours!)

 

[prplchknz]

When i was younger believed in tarot and psychics and special powers and astrology and ghosts. Now I just hope I'm right about their being no hell. Though I do believe a bit in the supernatural, like when I had a dream of my cat visiting me days before she died. Like it was her way of telling me bye, like she knew.That dream will always stick with me, and mean something special.

 

[niki]

Yeah, I've had many "supernatural" experiences, starting at school when I watched my best friend slowly levitate to the ground after he fell off a high window ledge! I have personally experienced telepathy, precognition and remote viewing. I can often "feel" energy fields around people or objects. Several years ago, I taught myself to actually see these fields (auras). I have some friends with even more amazing abilities, including several mediums. Curiously, when I am around these people I can copy their abilities to a degree and "see" what they see (eg. spirits and ghosts).

I remain a scientist at heart - so-called "supernatural" phenomena will one day be explainable by science. My own theory is that there is some interaction between the archetypes of the collective unconscious and the material world. In other words, all "psychic" phenomena occur at the boundary between the inner and outer worlds. Incidentally, Carl Jung thought so too - he was friends with the quantum physicist Pauli, with whom he like to discuss such matters.

Apollonaut: do you also believe in the existence of outer-dimensions, that's unseen from our world & universe ?
does some supernatural phenomenoms like ghosts, "aura", feeling 'energy', can perhaps be associated with these yet-unseen dimensions? (that can't be explored by our five-senses).
is it possible?
has there been some scientific attempts in this field? what's the result? are they (scientists) still remain skeptical at large? and still view our world & Universe as being "the only ONE out there" ? or not anymore?
just wondering

 

[SillySapienne]

I'm an atheist and most certainly am NOT religious whatsoever.

I hate the word spiritual and I don't think that I am spiritual but I am something a bit more than just a cold hard skeptic.

I am very attracted to anomalous occurrences and possible alternate "truths" behind things.

But I cannot state this enough, I SOOOOOO DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE EXISTENCE OF A "GOD" creature/entity.

But I do view life as being mysterious and intricately multi-dimensional.

Fact is stranger than fiction and I am fascinated by the crazy shit that actually is/exists.

 

[Kyrielle]

Apollonaut: do you also believe in the existence of outer-dimensions, that's unseen from our world & universe ?
does some supernatural phenomenoms like ghosts, "aura", feeling 'energy', can perhaps be associated with these yet-unseen dimensions? (that can't be explored by our five-senses).
is it possible?
has there been some scientific attempts in this field? what's the result? are they (scientists) still remain skeptical at large? and still view our world & Universe as being "the only ONE out there" ? or not anymore?
just wondering

I have no idea if anyone's actually tried to collect data on extra dimensions. It seems like it would be rather hard to do in the first place. However, I have thought the same things you've described. I imagine reality (as in dimensions 1-4 which we experience) like a room bordered by a many-feet-thick-wall where some spots have shoddy craftsmanship and are thin (these spots can be places or people or things, I've realised). Sometimes, I think they're so thin that you can "overhear" (read: experience) what's on the other side.

And there are many theories regarding multiverses, but none of them are substantial enough to be explored yet. I'm not sure if it's that we don't have the technology for it or that we haven't figured out enough of the things related to it to even begin to test the theories. For exmaple, we're still just starting to figure out things related to: quantum physics, what dark matter even is, what is dark energy and is that real, how the Big Bang started, the result of the continuing expansion of the universe...and on and on and on.

 

[placebo]

I didn't mention it before - but I am an amateur astrologer. I went from total skepticism to utter amazement that an esoteric system such as astrology can yield highly accurate information!

what things in astrology have yielded highly accurate information that you know of? I'm curious

 

[Apollanaut]

Apollonaut: do you also believe in the existence of outer-dimensions, that's unseen from our world & universe ?
does some supernatural phenomenoms like ghosts, "aura", feeling 'energy', can perhaps be associated with these yet-unseen dimensions? (that can't be explored by our five-senses).
is it possible?
has there been some scientific attempts in this field? what's the result? are they (scientists) still remain skeptical at large? and still view our world & Universe as being "the only ONE out there" ? or not anymore?
just wondering

String theory is an attempt by physicists to unify the four fundamental forces in nature (gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces). It postulates the existence of up to six or seven extra dimensions, though possibly at a microscopically small scale:

String theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Other physicists speculate on the possibility of infinite parallel universes (the multiverse):

Multiverse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My own intuition is there are indeed extra dimensions hidden from our usual perceptions, and it is highly possible that they are involved in psychic or supernatural phenomena. I'd even go further and speculate that the archetypes of the collective unconscious are not confined to the minds of sentient beings alone, but have part of their existence in these hidden dimensions.

All very mystical, I know, but many scientists have suggested that there are universal patterns or templates in nature, which guide the formation of just about everything material (matter and energy). What are these patterns if not "Archetypes"?

 

[Apollanaut]

what things in astrology have yielded highly accurate information that you know of? I'm curious

My own birthchart predicts that I will fall in love with someone from another country, then later in life possibly move to that country. I read this prediction after I had met my Kiwi partner and emigrated to New Zealand!

If a draw up a chart for another person, I like to follow it up with a face-to-face consultation. During these discussions, facts relating to that person often pop into my head - things that I couldn't otherwise know. For example, I "saw" that a work collegue was actively looking at job vacancies, and that a more technical job would suit her better than her current admin role. Not only was this true, but she subsequently did get a technical post in another company.