A standard question to particularly atheists and agnostics, is what would happen in your life if you met/heard /etc. God. The usual response is that they would seek mental health assistance. I would like your response to the following situation, including from religious folk as well as atheists/agnostics:
A supernatural being come to you, lets say a angel (easier to understand then God), at the time of the experience your mind has no other way of interpreting this being. He tells you that, like the Buddha, you will receive enlightenment, it will happen in a moment, and your eyes will be opened as if for the first time, you will see as things really are, as if you were seeing into another dimension that was always there but hidden in plain sight and hidden to most people. Things you highly regarded as human wisdom will appear as foolishness to you. You will know your purpose in life and your calling and be able to use this to great benefit to humanity if you chose. But you will also appear very foolish to many people who are unable to see what you see.
Then the angel leaves you, but the words “your eyes will be opened” resonates in your head, but everything else seems ‘normal’
How would you handle the above? In particular the message of what is to come? Would you dread it, try to ignore it and live your life as if it never happened, try to drink/drug it away, or look forward to the possibility, research Buddha? Seeking mental health assistance would probably partly explore the message itself, would you want to explore the message if you did chose to seek mental health help? How would you feel about the supernatural visit shortly after?
I continue living my life respecting myself, other people, and my environment. I’m maybe slightly less judgmental of people who feel they are following the path of divinity except for when they deviate from respectfulness of other people’s own individual paths.
I’m relatively certain that if there were any deity I’d be inclined to follow, it would not tell me to judge anyone else for what they are doing. If it did and I believed it, it would be too depressing to handle without the assistance of mental health counseling… or drugs.
I’ll assume that God, if he exists, has the means of convincing me that a revelation from him is valid and not an illusion. So if I received such a revelation, I would accept it as proof of God’s existence. And if God gave me instructions I would almost certainly follow them. Even if I didn’t believe God was right, I’d have no doubt that God was more powerful than me so it would be in my self-interest to obey him.
And I’m like, “hey Lama, how bout something, you know, for the effort.”
And he says “There won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.”
So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.
But as to the OP, seems kinda silly to do anything different, since if the vision was fake, there isn’t any reason to change, and if the vision was real, then I’ll have super-duper-wisdom in the future, and so it makes since to just wait till then to figure out what to do rather then make a bunch of dumb mistakes with my unenlightened brain.
I think we should nip things in the bud and just give the OP the answer he’s looking for: I would fall down on my knees and praise Jesus, giving my life over to Him, and spend the rest of my life walking the earth to spread the good news to others.
Of course, I would do the same thing with any other hypothetical … you know, what if C-A-T really spelled ‘dog’, what if Mork and Mindy happened in real life, what if you had a third arm growing out of your testicals … things like that.
If I had the experience described, I would start to doubt the existence of any supreme being worthy of the title. I find I am easily able to believe in a ineffable deity who has created and now maintains reality, who also wants me to behave nicely towards my fellow beings, without all the razzamatazz and shiney parlour tricks.
I already appear foolish to many people, so no skin off my nose on that count.
I’d look forward to the visit, but I don’t think it would affect my life much if I had any say in it.
FWIW the experience you describe sounds like something that can be initiated by drugs. So I’d question the legitimacy of it.
I’m probably more of an apatheist and secular humanist than an atheist, so the same would still hold after an event like this. Dieties do not grow my food, purify my water, manufacture my medicines, ensure my freedoms, etc. Humans do that, so I would owe my allegiance to them first. I can’t see anything that would make spirituality more important than the pragmatic goals of humanism, even if you could prove dieties existed.
If I met God, I’d say, “Mr. Diety, I have a bone to pick with you. Got a couple of days to spare? You’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do about all this shit goin’ down on Earth!”
I’d think “that was a fun experience”, and think nothing more of it.
If then:
a) I’m visited again – I’d seek professional help
b) I receive “enlightenment” – I’d re-evaluate the situation based on the nature of the enlightenment.
note: I have had spiritual experiences in my life, and I’ve disregarded them; as in each case there was no proof, not even any novel information imparted.
Imagine this for a minute. You’re in Pyongyang. You’ve just been brought into the presense of Kim Jong Il. His armed bodyguards surround you. He’s untouchable and if he says the word, his bodyguards will kill you.
Honestly, would you decide the best course of action at that moment would be yelling out, “Hey, you’re even funnier looking in person than you were in Team America!”?
Now multiple this by a million. Imagine you’re in the presense of a being that can not only kill you but can also kill everyone you’ve ever known plus make you continue suffering after you die for the rest of eternity.
I’m thinking this is the point where most people are going to have an epiphany on the true meaning of “god fearing” and there’ll be a lot of “Yes, Mr God, Sir” and “I completely agree, Mr God, Sir” and “Whatever you say, Mr God, Sir”.
Ah, but he wants faith and worship. Doing what he says just out of fear without really feeling devoted to him won’t work. Grovelling in front of him and spitting in his face are likely to have the same result since its your thoughts he will be looking at.