Spirituality and SSRIs

[Speed]

I'm curious to know what other people here think about God/Higher Power, the afterlife, Meaning of Life, etc. I've had anxiety since I was a child, and depression since I was a teen, and I long ago became interested in the search for meaning - What is it all about? What is our suffering for?

Today I consider myself a spiritual humanist who belongs to no church or religion; I believe in a Higher Power, am inclined to believe in reincarnation and near-death experiences, and I want to believe that our suffering is for the benefit of our consciousness-growth. But as I battle with Paxil withdrawal/insomnia, I really struggle to keep my faith and my doubts grow sometimes.

I'd love to hear what other people think about this. I'm sure most of us have thought about these things more than your average person who doesn't have mental health problems.

[whitecatspirit]

Speed
Your post is a good one. I believe in many of the same things you mentioned. The base of everything is LOVE. That's all the higher power asks of us is love. Love for each other, love for ourselves. The last of those seems to be the hardest. Whitecat

[cammie]

Hi Speed,
This is a heavy question but I have struggled with it much over the years. I am new to this site and am still tapering down after many years of difficulty and trying to make sense of my experiences now. In my opinion, God allows the world to continue on its course and for people to go through horrific things in life, but promises to redeem our experience and restore your life (to a new normal) if you trust Him and seek truth. In full disclosure, I do come from a Christian perspective(became a Christian late in life), but I believe that God is HUGE and is trying to communicate with all people all the time - especially spiritual seekers. I agree with whitecat that nothing is more precious, or in shorter supply today, than love.

[Speed]

It is hard to love yourself. I can have great compassion for other people, but often not for myself. I tend to be very self-critical and expect more out of myself than I do out of anyone else.

[whitecatspirit]

Speed,
That could be our greatest lesson to learn here in life. To simply love ourselves. It's like withdrawals, babysteps are needed to get there. Our world is an instant place that wants PERFECT. The higher power only asks us to love. Perfect isn't mentioned, simply love. Enjoy every minute, we are all working on the same project.

[cammie]

Speed,
I am similar in that respect, however over the years I realize that I am not only very critical of myself, but of others too, truthfully(that's just me, not necessarily you). I believe that is the root of mental illness - when a person turns against him/herself. Also, can be called perfectionism. The brain-washing I recieved from childhood was that I was not acceptable, didn't measure up. It's an absolute lie and one must retrain oneself I think to accept and love oneself. I know that God loves you, even if you don't love yourself - and He's ALOT smarter than me or you!

[Homerbcool]

welcome to PaxilProgress cammie..perhaps an introduction thread for you..otherwise people may not get to see your beuatifully worded posts ...

[kalo]

Wow, I am the same as all of you! The meaining of life and spirtuality, and life and death.

I hope this doesn't sound to brutal, but I do have a problem with reincarnation. Meaning I don't know if I want to comeback and live another life with a different family, etc.

When I die, I want to spend eternity with God and my love ones.

I have researched reincarnation it makes no sense to me why God would allow us to have to be reborn and live life over again so that we can learn from our past lives. Then once we truly become enlightened human beings on earth we can then stop reincarnation and be with God.

Kalo!

[Homerbcool]

okay..but what if there is no god...what if we are evolution....I am not saying this is my belief...just bringing it up for a different perspective on things...

[Speed]

Kalo - It just seems to me that we have too many things to learn, from too many different perspectives, to get them all done in one lifetime. I don't want to come back to this planet again, either! Also, I had a vivid interest in WWII when I was just 5-6 years old; I would go to the library and read books about Midway and Pearl Harbor at that age and it was bizarre. Later I found that this is common among some young children and they may still have some memories of their last life.

Homer - I flirted with being an agnostic in my 20s (I'm now 39), but in my 30s I realized that all this pain and suffering and delusional thinking on earth (and there is so much of it) is a horrific nightmare if there is no larger purpose to it. The human race is clearly not making much progress from an evolutionary/scientific viewpoint; we're just inventing better ways to destroy our environment, ourselves and our fellow man.

[Homerbcool]

so this is more in tune to gods plan then..destroying our enviroment, ourselves and our fellow man...

Please understand I am not trying to stir trouble, just curious...I am only recently taking the time to understand religion..perhaps embracing it in the future..but for now I need more knowledge...which, as i found out by opening my muoth in another enviroment, does not mean I want to be saved.....I am in the learning stage..and not just the 'westerners' point of view either, i want to learn about all religion and why it has been embroiled in such hate and anger since the beginning....

[babs]

I think about these issues all the time too. Was raised protestant but stopped truly believing in that stuff a long time ago, if I ever did. But I do believe there is something larger than us. My beliefs have been greatly influenced by the Conversations with God books and by Sylvia Browne's books (both of which say reincarnation is real). I'm pretty damn sure that my lesson to learn in this particular life is to love myself, and it has been a huge struggle and still is.

[whitecatspirit]

Homer
From all your posts I found you to be very intellectual. Like all of us here you have overcome a lot in life making you stronger and wiser. Our real purpose here on earth is to learn. Some of us catch on to it sooner than others. My beliefs tell me that we need to learn is how to love. Ourselves and others. It's not an easy task, some may say it takes many life times. Only death will tell for sure.
I'm an advid reader, and love the books of Neal Donald Walsch. I'm sure you will be interested in what he has to say. "Communion with God" is a wonderful book of his. I also reccomend the "Conversations with God" series he wrote. There's 1-2 & 3 and in conclusion "The New Revelations - A Conversation with God" The books have been on the New York Times Bestseller list. I'm not steering you wrong, they will help you understand some of the things you are questioning. Whitecat

[whitecatspirit]

Hey Babs -- my post kinda matchs yours Whitecat.
Those books are always in my bookcase. Great info that took a lifetime to find.

[babs]

Originally Posted by whitecatspirit

Hey Babs -- my post kinda matchs yours Whitecat.
Those books are always in my bookcase. Great info that took a lifetime to find.

Yep, it's great, eye-opening information. Doing something with it, though, is another matter ... I am so resistant to change. I haven't made a lot of progress with my spirituality because a huge part of me just wants to stay rooted in the ego, and not move forward.

[LCrawford67]

Originally Posted by Speed

I'm curious to know what other people here think about God/Higher Power, the afterlife, Meaning of Life, etc. I've had anxiety since I was a child, and depression since I was a teen, and I long ago became interested in the search for meaning - What is it all about? What is our suffering for?

Today I consider myself a spiritual humanist who belongs to no church or religion; I believe in a Higher Power, am inclined to believe in reincarnation and near-death experiences, and I want to believe that our suffering is for the benefit of our consciousness-growth. But as I battle with Paxil withdrawal/insomnia, I really struggle to keep my faith and my doubts grow sometimes.

I'd love to hear what other people think about this. I'm sure most of us have thought about these things more than your average person who doesn't have mental health problems.

I fully believe in God and an afterlife. We've all been through some rough spots in our lives, some worse than others. But, it's what we do with those experiences, how we handle it, that matters.

God will not give you any more than you can endure. Even though, at times, you wish your shoulders weren't so broad. We're suppose to learn from our experiences and teach others.

Let me say this though, having anxiety or depression isn't a "mental problem." First thing is to quit labeling yourself.

[kalo]

I am just trying to learn about reincarnation. Silva Brown says it's true then why does she say she can communicate with the dead and all the people's loved ones who have passed on to the otherside?

John Edwards says the same...Oh, you have an aunt...so, and so and she wants you to know that she is fine.

I DON'T want to come back....And truthfully, I hope reincarnation is not true.

It simple doesn't make sense to believe that Jesus died on the cross for us and resurected only for us to be reincarniated and suffer again.

What does this say about God?

Please note that I am not condeming those who believe in Reincarnation. I just pray I don't have to come back...

[Sugarpeeps]

Originally Posted by Speed

Kalo - It just seems to me that we have too many things to learn, from too many different perspectives, to get them all done in one lifetime. I don't want to come back to this planet again, either! Also, I had a vivid interest in WWII when I was just 5-6 years old; I would go to the library and read books about Midway and Pearl Harbor at that age and it was bizarre. Later I found that this is common among some young children and they may still have some memories of their last life.

Homer - I flirted with being an agnostic in my 20s (I'm now 39), but in my 30s I realized that all this pain and suffering and delusional thinking on earth (and there is so much of it) is a horrific nightmare if there is no larger purpose to it. The human race is clearly not making much progress from an evolutionary/scientific viewpoint; we're just inventing better ways to destroy our environment, ourselves and our fellow man.

I had vivid, horrific nightmares about a German concentration camp when I was a very, very small child, too small to know about them through normal avenues. My son, from the time he could talk, talked about being a grown man before, dying of a blood disease, then of "coming back down to the land". He has also come to me upon seeing my uncle in our previous home - did I mention that my uncle died suddenly 16 years prior to my son's birth?

I have been having huge issues with my faith. I don't know what I believe anymore, but I do know that there are some very strange and unexplained happenings in this world that science cannot explain (ie. past life rememberings, after death communication, EVP, near death experiences, etc). I do know that I don't particularly believe in theory of evolution (the key word being theory and not fact of evolution) and from the reading I have done, a lot of scientists don't either. If you want to go through a religious avenue, man was given free will and unfortunately, that can sway to the direction of evil and destruction, but it can also sway to the direction of great kindness and beauty. Some days I see the horrors of this world and wonder how could there be a God, but on other days, oh the wonders of this life, how could there be no creator (Creator being what people call God or you can give another name), no plan, no design?!

From the book "Why I Believe" by Dr. James Kennedy (and it is a good, interesting read):

"...Sir James Jeans, one of the greatest of modern astronomers, said that the more he examined the vast expanses of space and the tremendous complexity of these things, the more the universe seemed to be one gigantic thought of a great mathematician...The cosmological argument comes from the term cosmos, which means the universe and from which we get the word cosmetic. It means ordered and beautiful, and there is within the universe so much evidence of order that it would be impossible to list it all. Quantum physics has demonstrated that at the level of subatomic particules, there is an irrestible urge of electrons toward symmetry and that there is an amzing cosmetic aspect to the universe..."

[imokay]

Well I think that if you read alot of the posts around here alot of us have been either brought TO God or back to God during our weans and withdrawal. I can tell you I didnt listen to God for a long time and since starting my wean I lean on Him alot. He is the only thing that has kept me going when all I wanted to do was die.
I have a huge belief in the after life and of reincarnating but we have the choice to come back again after this life and I for one will NOT be making that choice. I have been through enough in this life and in past lives to ever want to do it again

[LCrawford67]

Originally Posted by kalo

I am just trying to learn about reincarnation. Silva Brown says it's true then why does she say she can communicate with the dead and all the people's loved ones who have passed on to the otherside?

John Edwards says the same...Oh, you have an aunt...so, and so and she wants you to know that she is fine.

I DON'T want to come back....And truthfully, I hope reincarnation is not true.

It simple doesn't make sense to believe that Jesus died on the cross for us and resurected only for us to be reincarniated and suffer again.

What does this say about God?

Please note that I am not condeming those who believe in Reincarnation. I just pray I don't have to come back...

First of all, Sylvia Brown and John Edwards are crack pots. They've been proven wrong, far more than right. Do A LOT of research on these two before ever believing.

Jesus didn't suffer anything when he came back. He came back, got His disciples prepared to spread the Word and ascended back to Heaven.

I, personally, don't believe in reincarnation, but everyone is entitled to their own beliefs.

[whitecatspirit]

LC - Yes labeling ourselves is horrid. We're always watching that we don't label people, but we forget that we are people too. Once you love yourself you can love others.

Babs, Baby steps, keep a journal and write down the smallest things, see how they grow. The mighty oak starts out as an acorn. Whitecat

[imokay]

Originally Posted by kalo

I am just trying to learn about reincarnation. Silva Brown says it's true then why does she say she can communicate with the dead and all the people's loved ones who have passed on to the otherside?

John Edwards says the same...Oh, you have an aunt...so, and so and she wants you to know that she is fine.

I DON'T want to come back....And truthfully, I hope reincarnation is not true.

It simple doesn't make sense to believe that Jesus died on the cross for us and resurected only for us to be reincarniated and suffer again.

What does this say about God?

Please note that I am not condeming those who believe in Reincarnation. I just pray I don't have to come back...

Kalo when people die they do not reincarnate for a long long time (in our years) so the chances of someone that you know reincarnating while you are still alive is very slim...it does happen though. God gives us free will so we can choose not to come back.

[LCrawford67]

Free will....there's the key words.

[mstimc]

Speed--
I'm coming in on this one kind of late, but I'm a firm believer in God and the Trinity. I think we are allowed to suffer so we learn we must rely on God for relief rather than ourselves, and any suffering we do here on earth brings us closer to Him. I also think God wants us to be happy, if only we will let ourselves be. Anything we've gone through here will be mean nothing compared to the joy of Heaven.

[pax80]

I usually participate in "orixas and umbanda" sessions... energy exists, ghosts exist. We are not alone, I wasnt alone. We suffer because we're good people, maybe we're all medium... I have the gift to preview things, still dont know how to work well with this "gift", it's scary though.... Hey, stop laughing