Hello all and I hope everyone is having a great week. I felt guided to post on several subs today so here I am.

Some background info, my story is long but I'll try to summarize. I'm Unitarian Universalist, but I do identify as a Christian under that umbrella.

I've always been a very spiritual person and it has been a decades long journey to better understand God, the cosmos and my role in it all.

There have been a lot of changes in my life recently (I moved halfway across the world for one thing) and because I've had to make so many decisions, I've been

turning more and more to prayer. I find the practice of Ignatian discernment to be useful - what I do is that I surrender completely in prayer and if I experience

peace, essentially God approves and if I experience desolation (unease, worry, my body will shake in distress) I know that that is the wrong way to go.

A wise aunt of mine once told me that we also need our human wisdom, so I don't expect God to tell me what to wear, nor do I ask every little question. I tend to

trust my instincts and what guidance I have received in the past. I won't deny that it's been a long journey and it's been difficult to sort through all the

information I've read (hundreds of books, blogs, websites etc) to discern what is truth and what works. The short version is that yes I do believe and have

experienced matters of the spirit, but I'm also a scientist, so I seek to verify everything that I encounter and find.

Which explains why I am writing this post :) I've been using the method described above for a while now, and it seems to work, but some answers seem incongruent.

God works in mysterious ways, but yet He also works within the framework of creation - in that we still operate in a casual and physical world, and that free will

must be respected.

I would be the first to admit I don't know everything, so I am throwing this out here for discussion. How does one know you are guided? How do I ask questions that

will lead me in the right direction, to make the world a better place and live in harmony with spirit?

(My prayers are generally in this vein "Is it in the highest good to do such and such.")

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Before I begin I'd just like to wish everyone a great everything and hope you're all well. I am actually going through a not so great period in my life now

but I've never let that stop me from praying or believing. Also warning it may be rambly.

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So this post is about the synthesis of varying belief systems and religious beliefs and how they all integrate. I'm a practicing UU, and have believed in

God/Higher Power/Whatever for about 36 years (probably my lifetime) But I also draw insight and strength from all religions. Until I discovered UU in my

twenties I thought I was the only person who did this!

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This sometimes puts me in conflict with views centred in only one religion or doctrine. For instance my two closest therapists are Christian and Buddhist - I'm

open to discussing religion in session as it's a powerful healing force, but I sometimes have to challenge them or interpret their statements in view of

my own beliefs.

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In dark times I admit that I wonder and question my faith (which is not necessarily a bad thing, since faith SHOULD be questioned!) Maybe I have it all wrong.

Maybe I should just be one religion, a good Buddhist/Christian or whatever, and that would solve everything. But I believe that to just be the blandishment of

the ego.

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But then I remember WHY I believe this - and it is not just because of UU. Because I have had direct spiritual experiences that resemble each of the major religions

(and then some) I have experienced the cessation of samsara in meditation. I have met and spoken with God (as we know Him) I have experienced the sensation of

flames lightning and burning away depression, similar to certain Shinto texts.

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As a scientist, therefore, I must believe that they are all true (and William James' books seem to corroborate this) We all experience God differently, but it's

there. (or not there, if you are atheist) I don't think I would believe so ardently if I hadn't actually seen prayers being answered.

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At the same time, we live in a modern and digital age, and so a lot of the sacred texts must be interpreted (one of my favorite questions is "If Buddha/Jesus

could use Instagram what would they post?") I experience God most directly through video games/anime, which raises a lot of eyebrows but it true to my experience.

I still have bills to pay. I'm very sex positive, so I don't agree with a lot of the more traditional views of society (for instance, I don't believe in marriage

as an institution) and believe spirtuality and sexuality are interlinked, which some conservatives aren't on board with.

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It's sometimes (often!) a lonely path to walk as I seek the intersection of all paths, constantly refining and interpreting information (the Net has too much!)

striving to be true to my authentic self and what God wants of me. It's not easy, which is why I am posting here I guess - wondering if others have similar

struggles or ways of believing and viewing the world.

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This is just me being UU in the way I know best, I'm not prescribing anything or saying my way is best. Be well and I am happy to discuss!

I'm using the G word in this post, substitute as you will!

I was introduced to this concept by a minister and have since read up on it. The way God speaks to me is that when I come to Him with a decision that I need guidance with (and these are typically big ones like deciding which major) when I feel a sense of peace from it, I know it is His will.

If not, I will feel agitated and antsy. I also incorporate things like TRE into this process, as well as talking to other humans. I use head and heart, and take all major decisions to God.

I recently tried to use muscle testing to speak to Him and it doesn't work, but prayer and meditation seem to have.

I thought I would post here to gain more knowledge and insight about this. It's mysterious and profound.

I have recently been getting re-interested (I'm always interested!) in esoteric Buddhism and Christianity, but when I try to talk about these concepts with members of their respective religions, I sometimes am confronted with more conservative concepts (on in the worst case, outright dogma)

Like "no, that's not the way, do THIS" which is not very open...I'm more than willing to be wrong, but I want to explore faith! Which I guess why I love UU so much.

I'll admit that some of my viewpoints are far from conventional - such as how I experience God while playing video games, how I also believe that video games can be "Upaya" (skilful means, in Buddhism) but I'm also interested in how different religious and spiritual concepts work together, like "be in the world, yet not of it" and the Buddhist/Hindu views of emptiness and non-attachment. The core of all religions has always seemed to me to be the same, not different, and there is so much to learn from all the faiths.

However members of these faiths tend to only speak from their faith, which is understandable but a bit constricting. How do you all reconcile this?

I got great replies the last time I made a post like this, so I am asking again.

Crossposted from /energywork to get more insights.

I'm going through a difficult time now and I'm praying as one of my ways of coping. My therapist once said in a landmark session that the body is connected to the Spirit, and I have experienced that.

In doing energy work and LoA stuff, I've also noticed that my body heats up whenever this happens. It's not extreme heat and I don't sweat, but I definitely feel hotter. Seems to happen when I'm doing any of the above.

I've had many spiritual experiences across varied traditions (Jhanna, experiences of Christ etc) but heat is constant.

Any wisdom on this would be appreciated!

Hello all! I have been greatly heartened by the last time I posted here regarding spiritual issues. When I post on Christian subs, it is kind of...conservative most of the time. God is big!

To clarify, I identify as UU and believe all Gods are one. However, my therapist is Christian and so when I speak to her, I use God for the ease of communication. I learned about the Christian idea of discernment from a Christian minister with UU experience - essentially if you feel calm and at peace, that would be discernment. Unease = not.

(I understand that all these are big ideas, I am simplifying so I don't write an entire novel here. I have been UU for about 15 years now.)

I am at an in-between space in my life where I need to make clear choices about certain things, including careers and choice of residence. Understandably these are not easy to make! I have done some good work with a UU spiritual director - in our conversations, a certain career choice felt "right" and gave me great peace of mind.

While working on this with my therapist before (this was before the UU director) she once asked me "what does God want you to do?" While God has occasionally answered with thunder and trumpets before (most of my many spiritual experiences have been numinous in nature) I felt peace in contemplation.

Putting the two and two together, I was wondering if God was answering because discernment = peace with a certain decision?

I am well aware that the spirit cannot be fully comprehended with the mind, yet we all have minds, which is how I am writing this. Since I am not part of any congregation at the moment, I thought I would ask here. I am continuing to pray on it.

It's a very rare occurrence, but I have seen it both in my life and others. I initially made posts regarding this in the Christian subs, but the replies were overly monotheistic in nature (if you worship more than one God you're going to have a bad time, etc)

I discuss God a lot with people in general and my therapist in particular (who is Christian, but knows I am UU) God/Higher Power/Divinity etc has made His/Her/Their presence made known in my life in many ways, but NGL this has been a really bad year for me so far, so I am praying for myself and loved ones a lot. (I pray everyday and have for about 2 decades now)

I have had questions directly answered before, and also...not. I feel I have a generally good relationship with The Great Big Thing, and obviously He/She/They are not some kind of cosmic slot machine you put prayer coins into and expect a big payoff...that would be very disrespectful. But yet I continue to pray and have faith because...we're all on this Big Blue Boat together, and bound by something greater than all of us.