A religious experience (sometimes known as
a spiritual experience, sacred experience,
or mystical experience) is a subjective experience
which is interpreted within a religious framework.
The concept originated in the 19th century,
as a defense against the growing rationalism
of Western society. William James popularised
the concept.Many religious and mystical traditions
see religious experiences (particularly that
knowledge which 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.Skeptics may hold
that religious experience is an evolved feature
of the human brain amenable to normal scientific
study. The commonalities and differences between
religious experiences across different cultures
have enabled scholars to categorize them for
academic study.
== Definitions ==
=== William James ===
Psychologist and philosopher William James
described four characteristics of 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. Feels outside 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. Feels to have gained 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.
=== Norman Habel ===
Norman 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.
=== Richard Swinburne ===
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 eyewitnesses or believers are
telling the truth when they testify about
religious experiences.
=== Rudolf Otto ===
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;
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'.
== Related terms ==
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 experience – 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.
== History ==
=== Origins ===
The notion of "religious experience" can be
traced back to William James, who used the
term "religious experience" in his book, The
Varieties of Religious Experience. It 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.
The origins of the use of this term can be
dated further back. 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.Wayne Proudfoot traces the
roots of the notion of "religious experience"
to the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher
(1768–1834), who argued that religion is
based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion
of "religious experience" was used by Schleiermacher
and Albert Ritschl to defend religion against
the growing scientific and secular critique,
and defend the view that human (moral and
religious) experience justifies religious
beliefs.The notion of "religious experience"
was adopted by many scholars of religion,
of which William James was the most influential.A
broad range of western and eastern movements
have incorporated and influenced the emergence
of the modern notion of "mystical experience",
such as the Perennial philosophy, Transcendentalism,
Universalism, the Theosophical Society, New
Thought, Neo-Vedanta and Buddhist modernism.
==== Perennial philosophy ====
According to the Perennial philosophy, the
mystical experiences in all religions are
essentially the same. It supposes that many,
if not all of the world's great religions,
have arisen around the teachings of mystics,
including Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tze, and Krishna.
It also sees most religious traditions describing
fundamental mystical experience, at least
esoterically. A major proponent in the 20th
century was Aldous Huxley, who "was heavily
influenced in his description by Vivekananda's
neo-Vedanta and the idiosyncratic version
of Zen exported to the west by D.T. Suzuki.
Both of these thinkers expounded their versions
of the perennialist thesis", which they originally
received from western thinkers and theologians.
==== Transcendentalism and Unitarian Universalism
====
Transcendentalism was an early 19th-century
liberal Protestant movement, which was rooted
in English and German Romanticism, the Biblical
criticism of Herder and Schleiermacher, and
the skepticism of Hume. The Transcendentalists
emphasised an intuitive, experiential approach
of religion. Following Schleiermacher, an
individual's intuition of truth was taken
as the criterion for truth. In the late 18th
and early 19th century, the first translations
of Hindu texts appeared, which were also read
by the Transcendentalists, and influenced
their thinking. They also endorsed universalist
and Unitarianist ideas, leading to Unitarian
Universalism, the idea that there must be
truth in other religions as well, since a
loving God would redeem all living beings,
not just Christians.
==== New Thought ====
New Thought promotes the ideas that Infinite
Intelligence, or God, is everywhere, spirit
is the totality of real things, true human
selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force
for good, sickness originates in the mind,
and "right thinking" has a healing effect.
New Thought was propelled along by a number
of spiritual thinkers and philosophers and
emerged through a variety of religious denominations
and churches, particularly the Unity Church,
Religious Science, and Church of Divine Science.
The Home of Truth, which belongs to the New
Thought movement has, from its inception as
the Pacific Coast Metaphysical Bureau in the
1880s, disseminated the teachings of the Hindu
teacher Swami Vivekananda.
==== Theosophical Society ====
The Theosophical Society was formed in 1875
by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William
Quan Judge and others to advance the spiritual
principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy.
The Theosophical Society has been highly influential
in promoting interest, both in west and east,
in a great variety of religious teachings:
"No single organization or movement has contributed
so many components to the New Age Movement
as the Theosophical Society [...] It has been
the major force in the dissemination of occult
literature in the West in the twentieth century.
The Theosophical Society searched for 'secret
teachings' in Asian religions. It has been
influential on modernist streams in several
Asian religions, notably Hindu reform movements,
the revival of Theravada Buddhism, and D.T.
Suzuki, who popularized the idea of enlightenment
as insight into a timeless, transcendent reality.
Another example can be seen in Paul Brunton's
A Search in Secret India, which introduced
Ramana Maharshi to a western audience.
==== Orientalism and the "pizza effect" ====
The interplay between western and eastern
notions of religion is an important factor
in the development of modern mysticism. In
the 19th century, when Asian countries were
colonialised by western states, a process
of cultural mimesis began. In this process,
Western ideas about religion, especially the
notion of "religious experience" were introduced
to Asian countries by missionaries, scholars
and the Theosophical Society, and amalgamated
in a new understanding of the Indian and Buddhist
traditions. This amalgam was exported back
to the West as 'authentic Asian traditions',
and acquired a great popularity in the west.
Due to this western popularity, it also gained
authority back in India, Sri Lanka and Japan.The
best-known representatives of this amalgamated
tradition are Annie Besant (Theosophical Society),
Swami Vivekenanda and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
(Neo-Vedanta), Anagarika Dharmapala, a 19th-century
Sri Lankan Buddhist activist who founded the
Maha Bodhi Society, and D.T. Suzuki, a Japanese
scholar and Zen-Buddhist. A synonymous term
for this broad understanding is nondualism.
This mutual influence is also known as the
pizza effect.
=== Criticism ===
The notion of "experience" has been criticised."Religious
empiricism" is seen as highly problematic
and was – during the period in-between world
wars – famously rejected by Karl Barth.
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.Robert Sharf points out that
"experience" is a typical Western term, which
has found its way into Asian religiosity via
western influences. The notion of "experience"
introduces a false notion of duality between
"experiencer" and "experienced", whereas the
essence of kensho is the realisation of the
"non-duality" of observer and observed. "Pure
experience" does not exist; all experience
is mediated by intellectual and cognitive
activity. The specific teachings and practices
of a specific tradition may even determine
what "experience" someone has, which means
that this "experience" is not the proof of
the teaching, but a result of the teaching.
A pure consciousness without concepts, reached
by "cleansing the doors of perception", would
be an overwhelming chaos of sensory input
without coherence.
== Causes of religious experiences ==
Religious practices: traditions offer a wide
variety of religious practices to induce religious
experiences:
Extended exercise, often running in a large
communal circle, which is used in various
tribal and neo-pagan religions.
Praying
Music
Dance, such as Sufi whirling
Extreme pain, such as mortification of the
flesh
Meditation: Meditative practices are used
to calm the mind, and attain states of consciousness
such as nirvikalpa samadhi. Meditation can
be focused on the breath, concepts, mantras,
symbols.
Questioning or investigating (self)representations/cognitive
schemata, such as Self-enquiry, Hua Tou practice,
and Douglas Harding's on having no head.Drugs:
religious experiences may also be caused by
the use of entheogens, such as:
Ayahuasca (DMT)
Salvia divinorum (salvinorin A)
Peyote (mescaline)
Psilocybin mushrooms (psilocybin)
Amanita muscaria (muscimol)
Cannabis
LSD
SomaNeurophysiological origins: Religious
experiences may have neurophysiological origins.
These are studied in the field of neurotheology,
and the cognitive science of religion, and
include near-death experience and the "Koren
helmet" Causes may be:
Temporal lobe epilepsy, as described in the
Geschwind syndrome;
Stroke
Profound depression or schizophrenia
== 
Religious practices ==
=== 
Western ===
==== 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.
==== Alcoholics Anonymous Twelfth Step ====
The twelfth step of the Alcoholics Anonymous
program states that "Having had a spiritual
awakening as the result of these steps, we
tried to carry this message to alcoholics
and to practice these principles in all our
affairs". The terms “spiritual experience”
and “spiritual awaken-ing” are used many
times in "The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous"
which argues that a spiritual experience is
needed to bring about recovery from alcoholism.
==== Christianity ====
===== Christian mysticism =====
Christian doctrine generally maintains that
God dwells in all Christians and that they
can experience God directly through belief
in Jesus, 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."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, 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.
===== Hesychasm =====
Based on Christ's injunction in the Gospel
of Matthew to "go into your closet to pray",
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.
=== Islam ===
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.
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.
=== Asia ===
==== Buddhism ====
In Theravada Buddhism practice is described
in the threefold training of discipline (śīla),
meditative concentration (samādhi), and transcendent
wisdom (prajñā). Zen-Buddhism emphaises
the sole practice of meditation, while Vajrayana
Buddhism utilizes a wide variety of practices.
While the main aim of meditation and prajna
is to let go of attachments, it may also result
in a comprehension of the Buddha-nature and
the inherent lucidness of the mind.
Different varieties of religious experience
are described in detail in the Śūraṅgama
Sūtra. In its section on the fifty skandha-maras,
each of the five skandhas has ten skandha-maras
associated with it, and each skandha-mara
is described in detail as a deviation from
correct samādhi. These skandha-maras are
also known as the "fifty skandha demons" in
some English-language publications.It is also
believed that supernormal abilities are developed
from meditation, which are termed "higher
knowledge" (abhijñā), or "spiritual power"
(ṛddhi). One early description found in
the Samyutta Nikaya, which mentions abilities
such as:
... he goes unhindered through a wall, through
a rampart, through a mountain as though through
space; he dives in and out of the earth as
though it were water; he walks on water without
sinking as though it were earth; seated cross-legged,
he travels in space like a bird; with his
hands he touches and strokes the moon and
sun so powerful and mighty; he exercises mastery
with the body as far as the brahmā world.
==== Hinduism ====
Building on European philosophers, Radhakrishnan
reduced religion "to the core experience of
reality in its fundamental unity".
According to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, "Hinduism
is not just a faith. It is the union of reason
and intuition that cannot be defined, but
is only to be experienced." This emphasis
on experience as validation of a religious
worldview is a modern development, which started
in the 19th century, and was introduced to
Indian thought by western Unitarian missionaries.
It has been popularized in Neo-Vedanta, which
has dominated the popular understanding of
Hinduism since the 19th century. It emphasizes
mysticism. Swami Vivekanada presented the
teachings of Neo-Vedanta as radical nondualism,
unity between all religions and all persons.
==== 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."
== Psychedelic drugs ==
Dr. R.R. Griffiths and colleagues at Johns
Hopkins University had done a double blind
study evaluating the psychological effects
of psilocybin comparing with methylphenidate(Ritalin).
36 hallucinogen-naive adults were recruited.
22 of the 36 reported mystical experience.
The effect persisted even at 2 and 14 months
follow-up. The group continued to do studies
in evaluating the effect with different dosing
and the resulting mystical effect on personality.
== Neurophysiology ==
=== Psychiatry ===
A 2012 paper suggested that psychiatric conditions
associated with psychotic spectrum symptoms
may be possible explanations for revelatory
driven experiences and activities such as
those of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Saint Paul.
=== Neuroscience ===
==== Neuroscience of religion ====
Neuroscience of religion, also known as neurotheology,
biotheology or spiritual neuroscience, 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.The neuroscience
of religion takes neural correlates as the
basis of cognitive functions and religious
experiences. These religious experience are
thereby emergent properties of neural correlates.
This approach does not necessitate exclusion
of the Self, but interprets the Self as influenced
or otherwise acted upon by underlying neural
mechanisms. Proponents argue that religious
experience can be evoked through stimulus
of specific brain regions and/or can be observed
through measuring increase in activity of
specific brain regions.An alternate approach
is influenced by personalism, and exists contra-parallel
to the reductionist approach. It focuses on
the Self as the object of interest, the same
object of interest as in religion. According
to Patrick McNamara, a proponent of personalism,
the Self is a neural entity that controls
rather than consists of the cognitive functions
being processed in brain regions.
==== Neurological evolutionary basis ====
A biological basis for religious experience
may exist. References to the supernatural
or mythical beings first appeared approximately
40,000 years ago. A popular theory posits
that dopaminergic brain systems are the evolutionary
basis for human intellect and more specifically
abstract reasoning. The capacity for religious
thought arises from the capability to employ
abstract reasoning. There is no evidence to
support the theory that abstract reasoning,
generally or with regard to religious thought,
evolved independent of the dopaminergic axis.Religious
behavior has been linked to "extrapersonal
brain systems that predominate the ventromedial
cortex and rely heavily on dopaminergic transmission."
A biphasic effect exists with regard to activation
of the dopaminergic axis and/or ventromedial
cortex. While mild activation can evoke a
perceived understanding of the supernatural,
extreme activation can lead to delusions characteristic
of psychosis. Stress can cause the depletion
of 5-hydroxytryptamine, also referred to as
serotonin. The ventromedial 5-HT axis is involved
in peripersonal activities such as emotional
arousal, social skills, and visual feedback.
When 5-HT is decreased or depleted, one may
become subject to "incorrect attributions
of self-initiated or internally generated
activity (e.g. hallucinations)."
==== Studies of the brain ====
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 with a weak magnetic
field. His subjects claimed to have a sensation
of "an ethereal presence in the room." Some
current studies use neuroimaging to localize
brain regions active, or differentially active,
during religious experiences. These neuroimaging
studies have implicated a number of brain
regions, including the limbic system, dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex, superior parietal lobe,
and caudate nucleus. 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.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. 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."
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."
==== Temporal lobe epilepsy ====
Temporal lobe epilepsy has become a popular
field of study due to its correlation to religious
experience. Religious experiences and hyperreligiosity
are often used to characterize those with
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Visionary religious
experiences, and momentary lapses of consciousness,
may point toward a diagnosis of Geschwind
syndrome. More generally, the symptoms are
consistent with features of Temporal Lobe
Epilepsy, not an uncommon feature in religious
icons and mystics. It seems that this phenomenon
is not exclusive to TLE, but can manifest
in the presence of other epileptic variates
as well as mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder,
and schizophrenia, conditions characterized
by ventromedial dopaminergic dysfunction.
== Integrating religious experience ==
Several psychologists have proposed models
in which religious experiences are part of
a process of transformation of the self.
Carl Jung's work on himself and his patients
convinced him that life has a spiritual purpose
beyond material goals. One's main task, he
believed, is to discover and fulfil 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 well-being.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.McNamara proposes
that religious experiences may help in "decentering"
the self, and transform it into an integral
self which is closer to an ideal self.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.
== See also ==
== Notes ==
== References ==
== Sources ==
=== Printed sources ===
=== Web-sources ===
== Further reading ==
William James, The Varieties of religious
Experience
Batson, C. D., & Ventis, W. L. (1982). The
religious experience: A social-psychological
perspective. New York: Oxford University Press,
ISBN 0-19-503030-3
Giussani, Luigi (1997). The Religious Sense.
Mcgill Queens Univ Press, ISBN 978-0773516267
Simon Dein (2011), Religious experience: perspectives
and research paradigms, WCPRR June 2011: 3-9
Ann Taves (1999), Fits, Trances, and Visions:
Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience
from Wesley to James, Oxford University Press
McNamara (2006), Where God and Science Meet:
How Brain and Evolutionary Studies Alter Our
Understanding of Religion
McNamara (2009/2014): The neuroscience of
religious experience
== External links ==
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Religious
Experience
"Self-transcendence enhanced by removal of
portions of the parietal-occipital cortex"
Article from the Institute for the Biocultural
Study of Religion
Peru: Hell and Back National Geographic explores
the uses of Ayahuasca in Shamanic healing
Is This Your Brain On God? (May 2009 week
long NPR series)
