Metaphysical / spiritual side of Aspergers / autism

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ChinaCatSunflower
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06 Jun 2011, 9:50 am

When I originally wrote "metaphysical", I meant it in a philosophical way. A few people seem to think I meant everyone with Aspergers is clairvoyant or can communicate with the dead or something. I just meant that aspies are natural meditators and can easily leave the material world much more easily than the NTs among us. Those times of enlightenment, wonder and exploration were some of the best aspie experiences I have ever had, but I have found very little written about, all of it written by aspies. I have seen other kids meditating like that and I can tell just by the look in their eyes.

Here are few definitions of "metaphysical" that apply to what I was talking about:
- concerned with abstract thought or subjects, as existence, causality, or truth.
- concerned with first principles and ultimate grounds, as being, time, or substance.
- highly abstract, subtle, or abstruse.



ChinaCatSunflower
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06 Jun 2011, 10:40 am

Okay, so my avatar is now me on my fourth birthday (many years ago). What do you see when you look at this photo?

I see a kid in a state of blissful contentment. This was a very aspie year for me. Even though my parents were taking a picture of me on my birthday, I can see from the look in my eye in this picture that I was somewhere out in the dreamy universe of wonder and discovery, a little-traveled and somewhat lonely section of imagination and fantasy where only aspies ever go. I have seen a few other kids with that same look in their eye. It is unmistakable. When I watched the following video and they showed pictures of this guy when he was a kid, I could see that same distant look in his eyes too. He spent some of his childhood in that same magical world that I am talking about. (It's a cool video too.)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc6pjVywSDY[/youtube]



Fnord
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06 Jun 2011, 9:40 pm

ChinaCatSunflower wrote:
Here are few definitions of "metaphysical" that apply to what I was talking about:
- concerned with abstract thought or subjects, as existence, causality, or truth.
- concerned with first principles and ultimate grounds, as being, time, or substance.

Are you making these up?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Definition of METAPHYSICAL

1: of or relating to metaphysics
2a: of or relating to the transcendent or to a reality beyond what is perceptible to the senses.
2b: supernatural
3: highly abstract or abstruse; also : theoretical
(At least you got this one right.)
4: of or relating to poetry especially of the early 17th century that is highly intellectual and philosophical and marked by unconventional imagery


So, let me get this straight ... not are there people in the world that consider anything they don't understand to by magical, metaphysical, or supernatural; but there are also people that will also make up their own definitions in order to justify their beliefs

I see...

:roll:


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cyberdad
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06 Jun 2011, 10:18 pm

Fnord wrote:
cyberdad wrote:
... it's unlikely we will be able to ask a ghost or spirit to show up on cue ...

Because they don't exist.


"Entities" have been caught on film, I have no reason to think they are all hoaxes.
In Norway there is a place where entities can actually observe them from a vantage point and they do appear on cue.
http://www.hessdalen.org/index_e.shtml

Although the scientists studying them are leaning toward a natural phenomena they actually appear to be under intellegent control.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSgPBOBSJrI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFWfFywMiQ4



ChinaCatSunflower
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07 Jun 2011, 5:10 am

Fnord wrote:
Are you making these up?


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/metaphysical
You certainly are being hostile about something I posted that is really cool about Aspergers Syndrome. You don't know anything about Aspergers Syndrome do you? You're just an Internet troll who found some forums where you can harass people, aren't you?



cyberdad
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07 Jun 2011, 5:22 am

ChinaCatSunflower wrote:
Fnord wrote:
Are you making these up?


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/metaphysical
You certainly are being hostile about something I posted that is really cool about Aspergers Syndrome. You don't know anything about Aspergers Syndrome do you? You're just an Internet troll who found some forums where you can harass people, aren't you?


He certainly gets his jollies from sneering at people he disagrees with.



ChinaCatSunflower
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07 Jun 2011, 5:31 am

cyberdad wrote:
He certainly gets his jollies from sneering at people he disagrees with.


I've seen this before. A guy with almost 7000 posts, most of which are of the same type, just trying to stir up trouble and get people upset. Almost all public Internet forums have trolls. They don't screen these forums, so we really have no idea how many people here really have Aspergers or autism and are sincere about discussing it and how many are here just to inflame. It's a problems with all public forums I guess.



lasirena
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07 Jun 2011, 6:01 am

ChinaCatSunflower, you said I had read very little on the subject, I have read one book at least somewhat related, it was called Autism and the God Connection [u](not kidding). Personally I found the book rather irritating- author used examples of autistic children saying "Mommy I love Jesus" as proof of their advanced 'spirituality'. But at least it was trying to explore autism from a different angle.



ChinaCatSunflower
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07 Jun 2011, 7:03 am

lasirena wrote:
ChinaCatSunflower, you said I had read very little on the subject


I did???

It sounds like an interesting book, although I probably would also have been somewhat annoyed by it if it seemed like they were just trying to use autism as way of spreading their religious message. I would like to see more books that explore autism from different angles like that though. Whenever I find the time between projects, I will probably start writing one. There are a lot of topics related to Aspergers and autism that have not been written about yet. A book came out recently about how to design multi-family residences for people with disabilities, and some of that book apparently discussed the needs of autistic people.



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07 Jun 2011, 7:44 am

ChinaCatSunflower wrote:
cyberdad wrote:
He certainly gets his jollies from sneering at people he disagrees with.


I've seen this before. A guy with almost 7000 posts, most of which are of the same type, just trying to stir up trouble and get people upset. Almost all public Internet forums have trolls. They don't screen these forums, so we really have no idea how many people here really have Aspergers or autism and are sincere about discussing it and how many are here just to inflame. It's a problems with all public forums I guess.


I think he suffers a slight dose of Narcissism.



ChinaCatSunflower
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07 Jun 2011, 8:29 am

cyberdad wrote:
I think he suffers a slight dose of Narcissism.


I wonder if there is an NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) forum somewhere. Imagine the kinds of conversations they would have. It would be horrible. The next release of the DSM will no longer include NPD as a distinct disorder. Narcissistic people, by their nature, don't seek help for their narcissistic behavior. But I bet they get diagnosed with depression or bipolar, things like that quite often.



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07 Jun 2011, 9:36 am

I just want to add that I completely relate to everything you said though maybe I would not have used those words.

My friends say I am the most spiritual person they know. I am completely NOT religious but I am in tune with energies that exist around me in a unique way. I feel like I sense the world in a much different/deeper way. I often go to meditative trans-like states when I am stressed out or when I see something that moves me. Shiny, moving water will completely take me out of this world. :)

Just saying that I "get" (I think) exactly what you are saying.



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07 Jun 2011, 9:49 am

I don't have a need for a connection to that world - it doesn't come naturally to me anyways. But I don't deny that it exists - the human being (currently the most advanced known being in the universe) and its connection to it is my proof.


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cyberdad
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07 Jun 2011, 9:25 pm

kfisherx wrote:
but I am in tune with energies that exist around me in a unique way. I feel like I sense the world in a much different/deeper way. I often go to meditative trans-like states when I am stressed out or when I see something that moves me. Shiny, moving water will completely take me out of this world. :)


I strongly recommend moving water therapy - standing on a old wooden bridge overlooking a babbling brook flowing over river stones with overhanging trees down a mountain slope. Just the mental representation is enough to be therapeutic.

Once upon a time my dream relaxation spot would be on a tropical island lying under a coconut tree with a gentle warm breeze overlooking an azure blue sea. Today I know I don't need to be physically there to get the same experience.



MPSmum
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12 Oct 2012, 3:17 am

ChrisVulcan wrote:
I've noticed a definite connection between neurodiversity and the metaphysical (or spiritual, or supernatural, or if you like, preternatural, or paranormal).


My son is under assessment for autism. I read an Aspergers book last night and tho it had no connection with my son, it explained me and my mum completely.

Ive been psychic for as long as I remember, worked as a spiritual teacher, tarot reader numerologist etc etc.

There is no proof except for the reader and the participant.

Tho.... when i was 19 I astral travelled nearly every night, and for the next 4 years continually, I saw 'little green men' once as i call them. They werent green but wore green overalls. As i travelled back over the rainbow bridge back to consciousness and waking up i was accused of bringing a baby with me. I didnt understand why as i would never take their children. (i was told on the astral to sit and watch and i must not talk to them or they will get upset).

when i was 24, my mum told me when i was a baby I had a nanny. She claimed oneday that me and my twin sister were playing with little men (little dwarfs). She had to quit the job because her son put her in a loony bin. I know now that she saw these creatures and i must have a connection to them.

In 2007 i began seeing 1111 everyday for a year. It dissapeared when i found out i was pregnant. Then i had twins... and now they have a very rare syndrome which makes them dwarfs.

Theres other synchronicities, but the proof is the meaning between the cards, the participant and the reader....or the images, feelings etc of a medium which convey that someone is very ill etc. I am very rational.... and i have done my research. Theres no doubt in my mind that it exists and anyone has access to the metaphysical, but it really depends on your needs at the time and your belief system, if willing spirit can talk to you if it can fit into your belief system.

I dont astral travel anymore thankgoodness...but its because my twins have grounded me because i have had to fight the system to get them better care. If i do have aspergers, its been a valuable asset no matter how different ive been from what's 'normal'.



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12 Oct 2012, 4:42 am

This is an interesting thread. I completely understand what the OP means by the "trance-like state". I spent a great deal of my childhood apparently staring into space and every one of my childhood school reports complain about my "daydreaming". In my case this isn't an ability that ever left me - the outside world was always so confusing and distressing for me that I would always retreat into my own head and stay there. I find it difficult to engage with the outside world because it is such an overwhelming place for me.

Over the last few years I have become very interested in meditation and related practices. From this practice and study I understand that most people's brain activity is in "beta" (high frequency brainwaves) the majority of the time, a mind-state of busy alertness. When we begin to fall asleep or meditate deeply our brainwaves slow down and enter the "alpha" state and then right before sleep, become even slower and enter "delta". These brain states are linked with metaphysical experiences, dreams and visions, creative ideas, and so on (many people will tell you they have suddenly come upon great insights or ideas when they were just falling asleep or waking up).

I seem to spend most of my time in a sort of "meditative" state and meditating deeply has never required much effort for me, whereas most people seem to find it very difficult. I have often thought it would be interesting to somehow discover what state my brain operates in, because I have a suspicion that my brain activity is in alpha for the vast majority of the time. My brain seems to work slowly and sleepily compared to most people (slow reaction times, needing longer to process things, etc) which is certainly disadvantageous, but at the same time it is very in tune with the imaginative and spiritual, to an extent which sometimes startles people. To others I certainly seem to be in a dream world most of the time.

I'd certainly be interested to read more of people's experiences with this sort of thing.