A
religious experience (sometimes known as a
spiritual experience,
sacred experience, or
mystical experience) is a
subjective experience in which an individual reports contact with a
transcendent reality, an encounter or union with the
divine. Such an experience often involves arriving at some knowledge or insight previously unavailable to the subject yet unaccountable or unforeseeable according to the usual conceptual or psychological framework within which the subject has been used to operating. Religious experience generally brings understanding, partial or complete, of issues of a fundamental character that may have been a cause (whether consciously acknowledged or not) of anguish or alienation to the subject for an extended period of time. This may be experienced as a form of healing, enlightenment or
conversion. The commonalities and differences between religious experiences across different cultures have enabled scholars to categorize them for academic study.
[1]
Many religious and mystical traditions see religious experiences (particularly that knowledge that comes with them) as
revelations caused by divine agency rather than ordinary natural processes. They are considered real encounters with
God or gods, or real contact with higher-order realities of which humans are not ordinarily aware.
[2] Sceptics or scientists may hold that religious experience is an evolved feature of the human brain amenable to normal scientific study. Such study may be said to have begun with the American psychologist and philosopher
William James in his 1901/02
Gifford Lectures later published as
The Varieties of Religious Experience.
[edit] Definitions
[edit] William James' definition
Psychologist and
Philosopher William James described four characteristics of religious / mystical experience in
The Varieties of Religious Experience. According to James, such an experience is:
- Transient — the experience is temporary; the individual soon returns to a "normal" frame of mind. It is outside our normal perception of space and time.
- Ineffable — the experience cannot be adequately put into words.
- Noetic — the individual feels that he or she has learned something valuable from the experience. Gives us knowledge that is normally hidden from human understanding.
- Passive — the experience happens to the individual, largely without conscious control. Although there are activities, such as meditation (see below), that can make religious experience more likely, it is not something that can be turned on and off at will.
[edit] Norman Habel's definition
Habel defines religious experiences as the structured way in which a believer enters into a relationship with, or gains an awareness of, the sacred within the context of a particular religious tradition (Habel, O'Donoghue and Maddox: 1993).Religious experiences are by their very nature
preternatural; that is, out of the ordinary or beyond the natural order of things. They may be difficult to distinguish observationally from psychopathological states such as
psychoses or other forms of altered awareness (Charlesworth: 1988). Not all preternatural experiences are considered to be religious experiences. Following Habel's definition, psychopathological states or drug-induced states of awareness are not considered to be religious experiences because they are mostly not performed within the context of a particular religious tradition.
Moore and Habel identify two classes of religious experiences: the immediate and the mediated religious experience (Moore and Habel: 1982).
- Mediated — In the mediated experience, the believer experiences the sacred through mediators such as rituals, special persons, religious groups, totemic objects or the natural world (Habel et al.: 1993).
- Immediate — The immediate experience comes to the believer without any intervening agency or mediator. The deity or divine is experienced directly
[edit] Richard Swinburne's definition
In his book
Faith and Reason, the philosopher
Richard Swinburne formulated five categories into which all religious experiences fall:
- Public — a believer 'sees God's hand at work', whereas other explanations are possible e.g. looking at a beautiful sunset
- Public — an unusual event that breaches natural law e.g. walking on water
- Private — describable using normal language e.g. Jacob's vision of a ladder
- Private — indescribable using normal language, usually a mystical experience e.g. "white did not cease to be white, nor black cease to be black, but black became white and white became black."
- Private — a non-specific, general feeling of God working in one's life.
Swinburne also suggested two principles for the assessment of religious experiences:
- Principle of Credulity — with the absence of any reason to disbelieve it, one should accept what appears to be true e.g. if one sees someone walking on water, one should believe that it is occurring.
- Principle of Testimony — with the absence of any reason to disbelieve them, one should accept that eye-witnesses or believers are telling the truth when they testify about religious experiences.
[edit] Classical definitions
Numinous — The German thinker
Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) argues that there is one common factor to all religious experience, independent of the cultural background. In his book
The Idea of the Holy (1923) he identifies this factor as the
numinous. The “numinous” experience has two aspects:
mysterium tremendum, which is the tendency to invoke fear and trembling; and
mysterium fascinans, the tendency to attract, fascinate and compel. The numinous experience also has a personal quality to it, in that the person feels to be in communion with a holy other. Otto sees the numinous as the only possible religious experience. He states: "There is no religion in which it [the numinous] does not live as the real innermost core and without it no religion would be worthy of the name" (Otto: 1972). Otto does not take any other kind of religious experience such as ecstasy and enthusiasm seriously and is of the opinion that they belong to the 'vestibule of religion'.
Ecstasy — In ecstasy the believer is understood to have a
soul or
spirit which can leave the body. In ecstasy the focus is on the soul leaving the body and to experience transcendental realities. This type of religious experience is characteristic for the
shaman.
Enthusiasm — In enthusiasm — or possession — God is understood to be outside, other than or beyond the believer. A sacred power, being or will enters the body or mind of an individual and possesses it. A person capable of being possessed is sometimes called a medium. The
deity, spirit or power uses such a person to communicate to the
immanent world. Lewis argues that ecstasy and possession are basically one and the same experience, ecstasy being merely one form which possession may take. The outward manifestation of the phenomenon is the same in that shamans appear to be possessed by spirits, act as their mediums, and even though they claim to have mastery over them, can lose that mastery (Lewis: 1986).
Mystical — Mystical experiences are in many ways the opposite of numinous experiences. In the mystical experience, all 'otherness' disappear and the believer becomes one with the transcendent. The believer discovers that he or she is not distinct from the cosmos, the deity or the other reality, but one with it. Zaehner has identified two distinctively different mystical experiences: natural and religious mystical experiences (Charlesworth: 1988). Natural mystical experiences are, for example, experiences of the 'deeper self' or experiences of oneness with nature. Zaehner argues that the experiences typical of 'natural mysticism' are quite different from the experiences typical of religious mysticism (Charlesworth: 1988). Natural mystical experiences are not considered to be religious experiences because they are not linked to a particular tradition, but natural mystical experiences are spiritual experiences that can have a profound effect on the individual.
Spiritual awakening — A spiritual awakening usually involves a realization or opening to a sacred dimension of reality and may or may not be a
religious experience. Often a spiritual awakening has lasting effects upon one's life. The term "spiritual awakening" may be used to refer to any of a wide range of experiences including being
born again,
near-death experiences, and
mystical experiences such as
liberation and
enlightenment.
[edit] Explanations of religious experience
[edit] Religious and mystical points of view
[edit] Sufism
While all Muslims believe that they are on the pathway to God and will become close to God in Paradise — after death and after the "Final Judgment" —
Sufis believe that it is possible to become close to God and to experience this closeness while one is alive.
[3] Sufis believe in a tripartite way to God as explained by a tradition attributed to the Prophet,"The
Shariah are my words (aqwal), the
tariqa are my actions (amal), and the
haqiqa is my interior states (ahwal)". Shariah, tariqa and haqiqa are mutually interdependent.
The tariqa, the ‘path’ on which the mystics walk, has been defined as ‘the path which comes out of the Shariah, for the main road is called shar, the path, tariq.’ No mystical experience can be realized if the binding injunctions of the Shariah are not followed faithfully first. The path, tariqa, however, is narrower and more difficult to walk. It leads the adept, called salik (wayfarer), in his suluk (wandering), through different stations (maqam) until he reaches his goal, the perfect tauhid, the existential confession that God is One.
[4]
[edit] Christian mysticism
Christian doctrine generally maintains that God dwells in all Christians and that they can experience God directly through belief in Jesus,
[5] Christian mysticism aspires to apprehend spiritual truths inaccessible through intellectual means, typically by emulation of Christ.
William Inge divides this
scala perfectionis into three stages: the "
purgative" or
ascetic stage, the "
illuminative" or contemplative stage, and the third, "
unitive" stage, in which God may be beheld "face to face."
[6]
The third stage, usually called contemplation in the Western tradition, refers to the experience of oneself as united with God in some way. The experience of union varies, but it is first and foremost always associated with a reuniting with Divine
love. The underlying theme here is that God, the perfect goodness,
[7] is known or experienced at least as much by the heart as by the intellect since, in the words of
1 John 4:16: "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him." Some approaches to classical mysticism would consider the first two phases as preparatory to the third, explicitly mystical experience; but others state that these three phases overlap and intertwine.
[edit] Hesychasm
Based on Christ's injunction in the
Gospel of Matthew to "go into your closet to pray",
[8] hesychasm in tradition has been the process of retiring inward by ceasing to register the senses, in order to achieve an experiential knowledge of God (see
theoria).
The highest goal of the hesychast is the experiential knowledge of God. In the 14th Century, the possibility of this experiential knowledge of God was challenged by a
Calabrian monk,
Barlaam, who, although he was formally a member of the Orthodox Church, had been trained in Western Scholastic theology. Barlaam asserted that our knowledge of God can only be propositional. The practice of the hesychasts was defended by
St. Gregory Palamas.
In solitude and retirement the hesychast repeats the
Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." He considers bare repetition of the Jesus Prayer as a mere string of syllables, perhaps with a 'mystical' inner meaning beyond the overt verbal meaning, to be worthless or even dangerous.
[edit] Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical
philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, founded by
Plotinus and based on the teachings of
Plato and earlier
Platonists.
Neoplatonism teaches that along the same road by which it descended the soul must retrace its steps back to the supreme Good. It must first of all return to itself. This is accomplished by the practice of
virtue, which aims at likeness to God, and leads up to God. By means of
ascetic observances the human becomes once more a spiritual and enduring being, free from all sin. But there is still a higher attainment; it is not enough to be sinless, one must become "God", (
henosis). This is reached through contemplation of the primeval Being, the One — in other words, through an ecstatic approach to it. It is only in a state of perfect passivity and repose that the soul can recognize and touch the primeval Being. Hence the soul must first pass through a spiritual curriculum. Beginning with the contemplation of corporeal things in their multiplicity and harmony, it then retires upon itself and withdraws into the depths of its own being, rising thence to the
nous, the world of ideas. But even there it does not find the Highest, the One; it still hears a voice saying, "not we have made ourselves." The last stage is reached when, in the highest tension and concentration, beholding in silence and utter forgetfulness of all things, it is able as it were to lose itself. Then it may see God, the foundation of life, the source of being, the origin of all good, the root of the soul. In that moment it enjoys the highest indescribable bliss; it is as it were swallowed up of divinity, bathed in the light of eternity. Porphyry tells us that on four occasions during the six years of their intercourse Plotinus attained to this ecstatic union with God.
[edit] Buddhism
Buddhism is a 2500-year-old Asian religion. The religious experience is described in the earliest of Buddhist literature, which is found in the
Pali Canon. In the Pali Canon the religious experience is described in eight stages of
samadhi. The first four stages are known as
jhana, the remaining four stages are known as
ayatana.
[9]
[edit] Hinduism
Hinduism is arguably the oldest religious system in the world and gave birth to Buddhism. The religious experience is described in the
vedas and the
yoga sutras as two stages of
samadhi, they are
Savikalpa samadhi and
nirvikalpa samadhi.
[10]
[edit] Meher Baba
According to the
syncretistic Indian spiritual teacher
Meher Baba, "Spiritual experience involves more than can be grasped by mere intellect. This is often emphasised by calling it a mystical experience. Mysticism is often regarded as something anti-intellectual, obscure and confused, or impractical and unconnected with experience. In fact, true mysticism is none of these. There is nothing irrational in true mysticism when it is, as it should be, a vision of Reality. It is a form of perception which is absolutely unclouded, and so practical that it can be lived every moment of life and expressed in every-day duties. Its connection with experience is so deep that, in one sense, it is the final understanding of all experience."
[11]
[edit] History of modern science and religion view
In the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, several historical figures put forth very influential views that religion and its beliefs can be grounded in experience itself. While
Kant held that
moral experience justified
religious beliefs,
John Wesley in addition to stressing individual moral exertion thought that the religious experiences in the
Methodist movement (paralleling the
Romantic Movement) were foundational to religious commitment as a way of life.
[12] In the 19th century,
Friedrich Schleiermacher and
Albert Ritschl continued and extended this view that human (moral and religious) experience justifies
religious beliefs.
Such religious empiricism would be later seen as highly problematic and was — during the period in-between world wars — famously rejected by
Karl Barth.
[13] In the 20th century, religious as well as moral experience as justification for religious beliefs still holds sway. Some influential modern scholars holding this
liberal theological view are
Charles Raven and the Oxford physicist/theologian
Charles Coulson.
[14]
[edit] Scientific studies on religious experience
There are many areas of science that explore the religious experience like
Neurotheology,
Transpersonal psychology,
Psychology of religion, and
Parapsychology
[edit] Psychology
[edit] Transpersonal psychology
Transpersonal psychology is a school of
psychology that studies the
transpersonal, self-
transcendent or
spiritual aspects of the human experience. The
Journal of Transpersonal Psychology describes transpersonal psychology as "the study of humanity’s highest potential, and with the recognition, understanding, and realization of unitive, spiritual, and transcendent states of consciousness" (Lajoie and Shapiro, 1992:91). Issues considered in transpersonal psychology include spiritual
self-development,
peak experiences,
mystical experiences,
systemic trance and other
metaphysical experiences of living.
U.S. psychologist and philosopher
William James (1842–1910) is regarded by most psychologists of religion as the founder of the field. His
Varieties of Religious Experience is considered to be the classic work in the field, and references to James' ideas are common at professional conferences.
James distinguished between
institutional religion and
personal religion. Institutional religion refers to the religious group or organization, and plays an important part in a society's culture. Personal religion, in which the individual has
mystical experience, can be experienced regardless of the culture.
[edit] Psychology of religion
Psychology of religion is the psychological study of religious experiences, beliefs, and activities.
[edit] Carl Jung
Carl Jung's work on himself and his patients convinced him that life has a spiritual purpose beyond material goals. Our main task, he believed, is to discover and fulfil our deep innate potential, much as the acorn contains the potential to become the oak, or the caterpillar to become the butterfly. Based on his study of
Christianity,
Hinduism,
Buddhism,
Gnosticism,
Taoism, and other traditions, Jung perceived that this journey of transformation is at the mystical heart of all religions. It is a journey to meet the self and at the same time to meet the Divine. Unlike Sigmund Freud, Jung thought spiritual experience was essential to our well-being.
[15]
The notion of the
numinous was an important concept in the writings of Carl Jung. Jung regarded numinous experiences as fundamental to an understanding of the individuation process because of their association with experiences of
synchronicity in which the presence of archetypes is felt.
[16][17]
[edit] Neuroscience
[edit] Neurotheology
Neurotheology, also known as
biotheology or
spiritual neuroscience,
[18] is the study of correlations of
neural phenomena with subjective experiences of
spirituality and hypotheses to explain these phenomena. Proponents of neurotheology claim that there is a
neurological and
evolutionary basis for
subjective experiences traditionally categorized as spiritual or religious.
[19]
According to the neurotheologist
Andrew B. Newberg, neurological processes which are driven by the repetitive, rhythmic stimulation which is typical of human ritual, and which contribute to the delivery of transcendental feelings of connection to a universal unity.
[clarification needed] They posit, however, that physical stimulation alone is not sufficient to generate transcendental unitive experiences. For this to occur they say there must be a blending of the rhythmic stimulation with ideas. Once this occurs "…ritual turns a meaningful idea into a visceral experience."
[20] Moreover they say that humans are compelled to act out myths by the biological operations of the brain due to what they call the "inbuilt tendency of the brain to turn thoughts into actions".
[edit] Studies of the brain and religious experience
Early studies in the 1950s and 1960s attempted to use
EEGs to study brain wave patterns correlated with "spiritual" states. During the 1980s Dr.
Michael Persinger stimulated the
temporal lobes of human subjects
[21] with a weak
magnetic field. His subjects claimed to have a sensation of "an ethereal presence in the room."
[22] Some current studies use
neuroimaging to localize brain regions active, or differentially active, during religious experiences.
[23][24][25] These neuroimaging studies have implicated a number of brain regions, including the
limbic system, dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex, superior
parietal lobe, and
caudate nucleus.
[26][27][28] Based on the complex nature of religious experience, it is likely that they are mediated by an interaction of neural mechanisms that all add a small piece to the overall experience.
[27]
[edit] Causes of religious experiences
Various religious texts prescribe meditative practices in order to achieve the state of consciousness which is typical of religious experience. Texts of
Yoga and
Tantra mention specific physical, nutritive, ethical, and meditative methods in order to achieve specific kinds of experiences. The traditions of Mantra Marga (literally, "the way of formulae") in particular stress the importance of saying, either aloud or to oneself internally, particular
Mantras (phrases to be repeated) given by their teacher.
[29] Combined with this is the set of practices related to
Yantras (symbols to be meditated on). Various other ways not specific of any religion include:
[edit] See also
- ^ Batson, C. D., Schoenrade, P., & Ventis, W. L. (1993). Religion and the individual: A social psychological perspective.. Oxford University Press.
- ^ The Argument from Religious Experience http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/?page_id=41
- ^ Sufism, Sufis, and Sufi Orders: Sufism's Many Paths
- ^ Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (1975) pg.99
- ^ John 7:16–39
- ^ Christian Mysticism (1899 Bampton Lectures)
- ^ Theologia Germanica, public domain
- ^ Matthew 6:5–6 (King James Version)
- ^ [http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/tipitaka/sutta/majjhima/mn026-tb0.htmlAriyapariyesana Sutta, Majjhimá Nikà ya-26
- ^ [1] Patanjali, Yoga Sutras
- ^ Baba, Meher: Discourses, Sufism Reoriented, 1967, p. 20
- ^ Issues in Science and Religion, Ian Barbour, Prentice-Hall, 1966, page 68, 79
- ^ Issues in Science and Religion, Ian Barbour, Prentice-Hall, 1966, page 114, 116-119
- ^ Issues in Science and Religion, Ian Barbour, Prentice-Hall, 1966, p. 126-127
- ^ Crowley, Vivianne (2000). Jung: A Journey of Transformation:Exploring His Life and Experiencing His Ideas. Wheaton Illinois: Quest Books. ISBN 978-0-8356-0782-7.
- ^ Jung, C. G. (1980). C. G. Jung speaking: Interviews and encounters(W. McGuire & R. F. C. Hull Eds.). London: Pan Books.
- ^ Main, R. (2004). The rupture of time: Synchronicity and Jung’s critique of modern western culture. Hove and New York: Brunner-Routledge.
- ^ Biello, David (2007-10-03). "Searching for God in the Brain". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20071011195305/http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=434D7C62-E7F2-99DF-37CC9814533B90D7. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ Gajilan, A. Chris (2007-04-05). "Are humans hard-wired for faith?". Cable News Network. http://cnn.health.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Are+humans+hard-wired+for+faith%3F+-+CNN.com&expire=&urlID=21822630&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2007%2FHEALTH%2F04%2F04%2Fneurotheology%2Findex.html&partnerID=2012. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- ^ Newberg, Andrew B.; D'Aquili, Eugene G.; Rause, Vince (2002). Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 90. ISBN 0-345-44034-X. http://www.andrewnewberg.com/why.asp.
- ^ "'God on the Brain?" BBC
- ^ "'This Is Your Brain on God" Wired
- ^ "'Neural correlates of religious experience." NCBI
- ^ "' From Brain Imaging Religious Experience to Explaining Religion: A Critique." Ingenta Connect
- ^ "' The new science of neurotheology." Wordpress
- ^ Newberg, A., Alavi, A., Baime, M., Pourdehnad, M., Santanna, J. & d’Aquili, E. (2001). The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during the complex cognitive task of meditation: A preliminary SPECT study. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 106, 113-122.
- ^ a b Azari, N.P., Missimer, J. & Seitz, R.J. (2005). Religious experience and emotion: Evidence for distinctive cognitive neural patterns. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15, 263-281.
- ^ Beauregard, M. & Paquette, V. (2006). Neural correlates of a mystical experience in Carmelite nuns. Neuroscience Letters, 405, 186-190.
- ^ Daniélou, Alain: Yoga, methods of re-integration
- ^ "'Divining the brain" Salon.com (URL accessed on September 20, 2006)
- ^ "'Exploring the biology of religious experience" NRC online
- ^ "'The Emotional Effects of Music on Religious Experience: A Study of the Pentecostal-Charismatic Style of Music and Worship " Sage Journals
- ^ "'ufis seek ultimate religious experience through mystic trances or altered states of consciousness, often induced through twirling dances " Sufism: New Age Spirituality Dictionary
- ^ "'Self-inflicted Pain in Religious Experience " www.faithfaq.com (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
- ^ *Deida, David. Finding God Through Sex ISBN 1-59179-273-8
- ^ "'Psychedelics and Religious Experience " Alan Watts http://deoxy.org/ (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
- ^ "'Those who think of the salvia experience in religious, spiritual, or mystical terms may speak of such things as enlightenment, satori, and "cleansing the doors of perception." " sagewisdom.org (URL accessed on August 26, 2007)
- ^ "'A Note on the Safety of Peyote when Used Religiously. " www.csp.org Council on Spiritual Practices (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
- ^ "'Drug's Mystical Properties Confirmed " www.washingtonpost.com (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
- ^ "'The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach. " Conuncil on Spiritual Practices (URL accessed on July 11, 2006)
- ^ Katie, Byron. Loving What Is page xi ISBN 1-4000-4537-1
- ^ "'God on the Brain " http://news.bbc.co.uk (URL accessed on March 20, 2003)
- ^ "My Stroke of Insight" http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html (URL accessed on July 2, 2008)
- ^ Moody, Raymond. Life After Life ISBN 0-06-251739-2
[edit] References
- Charlesworth, Max (1988). Religious experience. Unit A. Study guide 2 (Deakin University).
- Habel, Norman, O'Donoghue, Michael and Maddox, Marion (1993). 'Religious experience'. In: Myth, ritual and the sacred. Introducing the phenomena of religion (Underdale: University of South Australia).
- Lewis, Ioan M (1986). Religion in context: cults and charisma (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
- Moore, B and Habel N (1982). Appendix 1. In: When religion goes to school (Adelaide: SACAE), pages 184-218.
- Otto, Rudolf (1972). Chapters 2-5. In: The idea of the holy (London: Oxford University Press), pages 5–30. [Originally published in 1923].
- Prevos, Peter (1998). Omgaan met het transcendente (Dealing with the transcendent). Open University of the Netherlands.
- Moody, Raymond. Life After Life ISBN 0-06-251739-2
- Vardy, Peter (1990). The Puzzle of God. Collins Sons and Co.. pp. 99–106.
- Deida, David. Finding God Through Sex ISBN 1-59179-273-8
- Katie, Byron. Loving What Is page xi ISBN 1-4000-4537-1
- Roberts, T. B. (editor) (2001). Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion. San Francosco: Council on Spiritual Practices.
- Roberts, T. B., and Hruby, P. J. (1995–2002). Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments An Entheogen Chrestomathy. Online archive. [2]
- Roberts, T. B. "Chemical Input — Religious Output: Entheogens." Chapter 10 in Where God and Science Meet: Vol. 3: The Psychology of Religious Experience Robert McNamara (editor)(2006). Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
[edit] Further reading
[edit] External links
