Discussions

Don, there was another recent experience I wanted to relate because it was "good chills" and pretty wonderful. About 3 weeks ago, just as I was leaving work, I noticed a robin fiercely attacking a yellow swallowtail butterfly, pursuing it, and tearing patches out of the butterfly's wings. They were crossing the parking lot in my direction. The butterfly hopped from the ground right at me and grabbed hold of my ankle. The robin stopped its pursuit and sputtered insults at me.

I reached down my hand, and the butterfly climbed onto my hand. I walked over to put it in some bushes, but there were four robins foraging beneath them, so that did not look like a good place for it to seek refuge. I laid my briefcase down, flat, in my car, and sat the butterfly on top of it. It had a rather large chunk of a wing missing, including the tail. The other wing was whole and undamaged. I did not know if the butterfly could fly. It sat calmly on the briefcase, so I decided it probably could not fly.

I drove the 16 miles home while the swallowtail sat calmly on the briefcase.

At home, I put my hand out and the butterfly climbed onto it. I put it near the branches of a great linden tree we have in our yard that is often visited by these butterflies. Suddenly, the butterfly flapped its wings a few times and lifted off, flying as gracefully as ever, up and as high as the tall maple across the street. I was in complete awe because I really did not know if it could fly, and I was ecstatic it was fine.

It was a good chills moment.

Don't assign emotionalism/pathos to psychological states.

The flaw in the argument there is that it is still a physiological condition. What the causation is can be tested, scientifically.

Google Don's statement or "good chills energy" to find his other sites on the web

In deep meditation, there is no fear or emotion. So, in these cases, it's not visceral.

The medical term is "cutis anserina" which may involuntarily develop when a person is cold or experiences strong emotions such as fear, nostalgia, pleasure, awe, admiration and sexual arousal.

Oooops. In the second sentence, I meant to say that I was intrigued that your understanding of "good chills" is that it is the connectivity with Spirit. I had not made leap in understanding, on my own.

Hello Don, I had to really think on what experiences induce "good chills." Your understanding that it is the energy from opening and connecting with the Great Spirit/Nameless/Whatever it is.

Sometimes, when I have been in a conscious, but deeply calm, meditative state, I will have what feels like the beginning of an Out of Body Experience. This will sometimes bring on the "good chills" to such a degree that is snaps me out of that deep state. If it doesn't, I can meld into a different state of consciousness where I feel directly nourished by our Source Energy, without barrier.