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The author had a dream where he saw Jesus and this changed the course of his life. What, acoording to you, was the most noticeable change the author made in his life?
I liked that he decided to develop the spiritual insight he had during a vision quest.

To be honest, he made a lot of mistakes. Don't we all? And I beleive he was naive and was still trying to find himself.
The most noticeable change he made was when he decided to live instead of committing suicide. If he had succeeded in committing suicide, the revelations and dreams would no longer matter because, then, he would not have been able to complete his quest.

Wow, excellent insight. Thanks you.

While he seemed to have many turning points, the one that I remember most was when he was depressed, suicidal, and lost all trust in himself. Then he heard a voice say he was free to do what he felt was right, that his life was full of purpose, and to be himself. He was transformed in an instant. I have found my own transformations to be much more gradual.

PGreen wrote: ↑02 Mar 2019, 10:43 While he seemed to have many turning points, the one that I remember most was when he was depressed, suicidal, and lost all trust in himself. Then he heard a voice say he was free to do what he felt was right, that his life was full of purpose, and to be himself. He was transformed in an instant. I have found my own transformations to be much more gradual.

I agree that this point seemed to be the most influential in his life, at least from my understanding of the book.

PGreen wrote: ↑02 Mar 2019, 10:43 While he seemed to have many turning points, the one that I remember most was when he was depressed, suicidal, and lost all trust in himself. Then he heard a voice say he was free to do what he felt was right, that his life was full of purpose, and to be himself. He was transformed in an instant. I have found my own transformations to be much more gradual.

My thought was similar. Mystical experiences can be instantaneous but it seems are more commonly born of gradual changes in beliefs. The turning point you mention is striking. Perhaps when one is suicidal the stakes are higher, so the transformation is more abrupt, necessarily. I can only validate my own experiences, but I have had realizations, in the form of words or visuals, appear to me that have altered my life in remarkable ways.

What stood out to me was how after having that dream, he changed his mind about committing suicide. He decided to live instead. It's very powerful because even though he continued making mistakes, he chose to face them by choosing life. Maybe initially it would've been easier to not deal with anything and die instead, but the dream made him see the bigger picture.

I think that mystical experiences have the power to change anybody and affect their lives. However scientific research has shown that such experiences can be turned on at will by stimulating certain sections of the brain, so this makes one wonder at their objective reality and whether they are simply subjective experiences that appear real because of their vividness. It is also noteworthy that such experiences have occurred with many famous people in history and yet the nature of them seems to be determined by their religious faith. I think, more than anything else, this appears to confirm that these are subjective experiences and brought about by revelations from God or some higher being.

I think the most transformative decision of his was to decide to live instead of ending his life. From this point onward, he really changed his mindset for good and made a conscious decision to focus on the positives and build trust in himself.

I would say that deciding against suicide would be the most important decision. We all have that one moment when we have an AHA moment and decide to do things different.

When in a spiritual path, each decision, when made consciously, is a turning point.

nooregano wrote: ↑02 Mar 2019, 23:26 When in a spiritual path, each decision, when made consciously, is a turning point.

I think I would agree with this, rather than saying there was one defining moment that changed his life. Each decision takes a person on a tangential path to where he originally started out, and this author started taking life-altering decisions very early on in life, beginning with his own spiritual awareness.

The most noticeable change the author made was deciding not to commit suicide. That was a turning point as he decided that life was worth living. He started having faith in himself.

I know that the suicide almost occurred, and he changed after that, but he also had an experience in Japan where there was a new superintendent of the school. The Christmas party was flopping, so he went outside and decided to go outside of himself to change the atmosphere of the room. He got up and sang and danced in front of everyone. His reserved self was put on hold to bring light to the entire room. I think in that small moment he even recognized a transformation.

That voice and his visions was a boost he needed in order to create the change that exsisted inside himself. He always wanted to be happy, but its like thise experiences gave him permission to do so.