Hi fellow members,

This post may sound a little strange to some but please bear with me for a while because I just like to find out a good explanation for this.

Not long ago I listened to an audio by this person who claims to see devils and demons during prayers, and he has been using this as evidence that there's a spirit world, and he has been exorcising people with his "abilities". Now this guy sounds completely honest and sincere, and I have no doubt he's telling it exactly as he experienced it. This guy is a philosophy professor, a check of his background shows that he was a buddhist and practiced meditation at a very young age(i.e. 15), later on he became a fundamentalist christian and has been telling people what he saw and exorcising people(though I don't know why he's the only one who could do this).

What I like to know is, is it possible for this guy to program himself to see things, as in some cults? Is there any good sites or books anyone can refer me to so I can find out more about this?

Any reply will be very much appreciated, thank you all in advance!

Regards,

PM

I'm not sure if it is possible or not, but it is possible to lie about what you are seeing to such an extent that you begin to convince yourself that you are telling the truth which would make you sound very sincere and honest.

Remember one of the characteristics of a dangerous leader is that they can be very charismatic. I believe these leaders know how to make themselves sound very sincere and honest and that is one of the things that attracts others, but sounding sincere and BEING sincere are two different things.


I would be very VERY skeptical if I were you.

Yes daytripper1964, you're talking about DECEPTION, meaning the person who lies does so knowingly for whatever gains he/she wants. What I'm talking about here is the person who lies actually convinced himself he's telling the truth, meaning he deceived himself first. Many cult leaders are like that.

What I actually want was a scientific explanation of what this guy had experienced, and since I started this thread I've learned a bit of new information, I found that neuroscientific research has shown that when a certain area of the brain is stimulated, the person can actually be made to see flashes of light and images. So, this guy somehow can make connection to this part of his brain, and by doing so, he made himself see images that he wanted himself to see.

Though I've known a bit more I still like to know if other forum members can provide me with more info. on this, such as it's mechanism, what brain area this is, and more so, whether a person is borne with this or can be trained/conditioned to do so.

Again, any info. will be very much appreciated! Thank you.


PM

I have read articles in the past about the induction of trance/hypnosis states, and seeing/hearing/feeling things.

e.g. the "burning in the bosom"; Mormon's affirmation technique
e.g. Scientology training techniques; eye staring for long periods

Oh I see what you mean.
I have never heard that about the certain parts of the brain being stimulated before, but it does explain a lot. I would love to learn more about this myself as my background involves many people saying they had visions, speaking in tongues, being "slain in the spirit", the casting out of demons etc. I would enjoy learning the science behind such phenomena because I was taught to believe it was the holy spirit and I don't believe that anymore.

I think I will do some research of my own

daytripper

There are four possibilities.

Firstly he can see demons and spirits. Whether that fits in to your belief structure or not. Many believe that this is possible across many religions.

Secondly he is claiming to see demons and spirits as a straight deception.

Thirdly, He is ill. Hallucinations are a charecteristic of many organic and non-organic psychosis. (Schizophrenia for example)

Fourthly he has self hypnotised himeself to see these things.

Yes of course this is possible. If you go and see a good hypnotherapist and achieve a medium to deep thrance state then you can see almost anything the hypnotist tells you.

This of course could then occur in your normal waking state as the operation of a post hypnotic suggestion

Daytripper,

Improper meditation techniques are and can be used to put people in elevated mood states in addition to helping them develop cognitive distortions. In these hypomanic states, one can become delusional and even halucinate. When one halucinates there are several common things one sees and they are as follows; spiders, snakes, little green men, angels, demons and devils. Even everyday individuals can halucinate and see the shadows climbing off of the walls if they miss a night of sleep. I work the graveyard shift and have had to turn my entire life around to be able to operate at night. I have done it successfully for many years, but it takes hard core work, but in the begining, I did see shadows climb off the walls and when I was very sleep deprived, I began hearing voices.

I am working in a graduate program to get a PsyD (Doctorate in Psychology) and from what little knowledge I have gained from both working with people who have halucianted and seen the spiders, snakes, devils and angels. I have the following theory; we see these things because they are the easiest for our brains to create. I say this because visualization is extremely difficult to do and requires a tremendous amount of energy. Our minds and brains cannot maintain such a complex image as a woman dressed in a three piece suit very easily, but it can maintain and sustain simple images. The one thing which the demons, devils angels, spiders and snakes all have in common are the fact that they are basically monotone in color and very simple shapes. The basic human figure is easy imagine and sustain, yet I think that getting much more detail is not possible.

I think that this man is definitely halucinating and should not be trusted, he should be refered over to the proper authorities for psych evaluation.

Meditation is a type of Self-Hypnosis, and you can easily program yourself to see and hear things, some people more than others. Think of it like a waking dream.

Also, some people have mental-illness, where they "hear demonic voices" etc.
Hopefully they will seek help to try to deal with that.