Maddie

I should add that I have had several situations in my life that are very difficult to explain rationally or scientifically though I acknowledge that the brain tends to see patterns that are not there and create false memories, but with that being said I will list a few of the best examples of inexplicable occurrences in my life that I have no logical explanation for. 1. A long time ago was involved in a church that I now consider to be a cult. They were very strict and it was considered that if you left the church that you would go to hell. I was becoming very dissatisfied with this church but still was worried that if I were to leave that I might incur the wrath of God and be doomed. My job at the time was delivering sheetrock in the Pacific Northwest where it is very often overcast and rainy. So one day when I was contemplating leaving this church while working I thought I would ask God for a sign that I was ok with him even though I was thinking of leaving the church. ( I don't currently believe in a creator god, but this was my mindset at the time). So I looked up in the sky and as usual, it was overcast and drizzling and didn't show any sign of being otherwise for some time to come. So I prayed and said "God if I am ok with you then let the clouds directly over me and nowhere else part while I am unloading this sheetrock and then go back to normal after I am finished with this job. My friend that I worked from the church was with me and since he was also having his doubts about this church I told him what I had prayed. Then the strangest thing happened. About 30 seconds to a minute later the clouds directly over us but nowhere else parted, the sun came through, and it stopped raining where we were at. We continued to unload the sheetrock while staring in amazement at the sky. Both my friend and I saw this and were looking at each other in amazement. After we had unloaded the last piece of sheetrock maybe 30 seconds to a minute later the clouds closed up and it went back to being overcast and raining again. 2. This next story is similar to the first one but about a month later I had left this church but was still worried that God might be mad at me for leaving. This time my girlfriend at the time and I were at a river with some of her family while they were fishing. This was also in the Pacific Northwest and once again it was cloudy and overcast. I had already told my girlfriend about the cloud incident while I was working and also expressing my anxiety that perhaps now that I had actually left the church now God was pissed off at me. I then decided to repeat the same prayer. I prayed that the clouds above us would open the rest of the time we were there and then close again when we left. So I prayed and sure enough the sky only directly above us opened up just as before and then as we were getting in the car to leave the clouds closed again. To me, it seems that having the same thing happen twice is too much to simply be a coincidence. (Which is why I think I wanted to do it more than once, to rule out the first time just being a coincidence). I have some more stories which I will add soon.....

It is weird and interesting at the same time. After this post I even texted her to make sure I was remembering the event correctly and she verified that that was also how she remembered it as well. At the time we were discussing what we believed was going on with this entity and what to do to counteract it and we both felt that the entity didn't like us putting our heads together to figure out what it was doing and how to deal with it and so was therefore trying to interfere with our primary means of communication at the time.

This actually makes me think of a situation several years ago where my girlfriend at the time and I both felt as though some strange paranormal events were happening to both of us simultaneously yet we were on opposite sides of town and as we were texting each other about this both of our phones though fully charged drained within minutes. Both of our phones on opposite sides of the town precisely when we were experiencing odd phenomenon.

Some good points 😌

I do both.

Yes. I would say any of the wish fulfilling mantras like zhunti mantra or Nam myoho renge Kyo and stuff like that.

I thought I'd mention that Amitofuo mantra is very helpful for "staying single" if one desires to do so. This is something I've just noticed from experience and not anything I read about.

Interesting 🤔

Well I think SGI is a fairly recent development in Nichiren Buddhism and definitely doesn't represent the whole thing or even most of the history of it. The reason I was asking about Christian and Catholic stuff is because lately I've been experimenting with praying to some of the saints and the rosary and such but I had a weird experience earlier today where I started feeling physically sick from it like clammy shaky hands nausea very pessimistic ECT... It was very strange I didn't start feeling better until I started doing some Buddhist chanting. Primarily Nam myoho renge Kyo and the zhunti mantra.

just out of curiosity if you ever experimented with prayers to any of the Christian deities or saints? I ask because I've been experimenting like me but I don't think they make me feel very good.

Interesting 🤔

I would be curious if you don't mind sharing some of your experiences so far with this?

So I had heard that Amitofu works on the crown chakra. Does anyone know a Buddhist mantra that works on the brow chakra?

I thought about that too. It makes me think about the lotus sutra and the use of expedient means to reach various people various ways.

It's interesting you say that because I never really tried to do visualisations while doing mantras but lately Catholic imagery pops in my head even though I've never been Catholic. Images like statues and cathedrals and such things.

I've noticed something lately. From what I've read different mantras affect different chakras. I had read that Amitofu was supposed to work primarily on the crown chakra. I've also noticed that if I do primarily this mantra that I eventually begin to feel more skeptical and doubting. If it acts primarily on the crown chakra that relates most to spirituality then I wonder if these thoughts and feelings which are basically the opposite of spirituality are the gunk being cleaned out of that chakra. I'd also heard that Zhunti mantra primarily affected the heart chakra. I noticed that if I spend a lot of time doing that mantra that I feel a lot of emotional issues which relate to the heart chakra.

Agreed

So I think it's taken for granted that working on your qi it's good for your health and mind but does it affect your outside world? Does it affect your success in your career and with money? Things like this? is there anything in Taoist literature that indicate any such effect?

So I've been doing this mantra again lately and I've always experienced a wide range of effects but it seems like lately after I do it I get extremely tired and fall asleep.

I really like it. I feel that it has a big effect in my heart and chest area and I feel a lot of compassion and kindness when I do it similarly to the mani mantra.

I've been doing a lot of Zhunti mantra lately. I've noticed similar experiences to what you were describing. The mantra seems to be powerful in dealing with karma and and having an effect on my mind but it's also powerful so I found it necessary to mitigate it with other practices.

Yes helpful, thank you. Interesting. I was unaware of such prayers. The one to Amitofo Buddha kind of reminds me a little bit of the Orthodox Jesus prayer. "Lord Jesus Christ son of God have mercy on me.". I have more confidence in the Buddhist stuff but have you ever experimented with the prayers of other traditions and if so was your impressions of their effectiveness?

Great synopsis. Have you found it to help you with worldly issues as well?

I would be interested to hear any further observations you have.

This is a good one.