Experience help: What is a mystical experience? - Help.com

Just Max wrote:
never ask why trust me it just hurts your head in the end

I think “why” is a great question to ask, just as long as one keeps in mind that it presupposes a causal relationship that may or may not exist.

heh. this is getting off-topic, but since on-topic is going nowhere… I’ll bite.

Just Max wrote:
but u have to ask yourself are u happier now not knowing or do u really want to know because u can never go back

this is kind of silly. if you’re ignorant of something, then how can you know whether or not you’ll be better or worse off from knowing about it? for example, how can you know whether or not that film or roller coaster is good fun, unless you go ahead and try it for yourself? how would you know?

Personally, I’m a curious type and even though knowing certain things has brought me pain, temporarily, I’d never choose to go back. Even knowing pain has made me better off in the long run. I really can’t think of any situation in which ignorance is a good choice to make.

if we are talking about “know thyself” type knowledge, then “why” will only get you so far. “Why” also has the subtle implication that it is something “out there” which is the reason, again its a presumption that may or may not be correct. a question that I have found particularly interesting for the pursuit of self-knowledge (and as a substitute for why) is “how do I know?”

more often than not, the things we think we know are really things (true or not) that are based on assumptions, ie belief. therefore, I find that getting at the truth is really a process of examining one’s assumptions.

Just_Max, you are conflating the act of understanding with the act of justifying. psychologists, socioligist and religious leaders (not to mention everyday people) attempt to understand the minds of those who commit violence, but that doesn’t mean that these people are going to justify committing violence or that they will become like those who commit violence.

I can understand why terrorists crashed into the twin towers, but I still don’t think that it was right. these are two different things.

understanding how violence occurs is a very important exercise for peace workers. unless you understand pain and what it does to you, you will likely become it’s victim AND it’s perpetrator. knowing pain, knowing suffering is the key to ending the cycle of suffering.