Throughout history there have been people who have had the profound experience of being part of something greater. They may lose themselves. They may find that they and all things are united in ways that go beyond words. These experiences may occur as part of a religious practice or they may simply happen spontaneously in quiet and unexpected moments.
Most religions have a place for such mystical experiences. Some actively cultivate these experiences as part of a path to greater sanctity or salvation. Yoga, meditation, ecstatic dance, and contemplative prayer are just some of the methods various traditions have developed to bring about mystical experiences.
The monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) interpret these experiences as glimpses of the glory of God, while religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism interpret these experiences as part of a path to enlightenment.
The “Perennial Philosophy”
One of the earliest scholars who examined mystical experiences as religious phenomena was William James. He described mystical experiences as having these four general characteristics:
- Transient: They did not last long;
- Passive: They could not be produced on demand, but happened when one did not expect them;
- Noetic: Whatever revelations one had in such an experience carried authority, whether that be a feeling of purpose in the world, or the sense of some Supreme Being, and;
- Ineffable: They could not be described in ordinary language. One had to experience one to understand them in general.
The so-called “perennial philosophy” holds that mysticism represents a common core to all religions. In this view, mystical experiences are pretty much the same across religions. The mystics of the various traditions seek out these transcendent experiences and then describe them in accord with their own language and culture. The experience is the same; the way it is interpreted varies from religion to religion.
Robert Forman has written of the “Pure Consciousness Event” (PCE) as a core mystical experience. The PCE is a moment of still awareness, without thought or self-reflection. It is a moment of forgetting oneself. This experience of losing one’s identity in a state akin to a trance is common to the mysticism of all religions.
Other Scholarly Approaches to Mysticism
On the other hand, some argue that mystical experiences can only be understood in the tradition they are found. There is no common or core religious experience. The sense of annihilation (fana) the Sufi experiences is not the same as the emptiness (shunyata) of the Buddhist.
The path one takes determines the experience one will have. Since the Buddhist expects to experience nirvana from Buddhist meditation, he or she will certainly not experience the stillness of samadhi as a result of Hindu yoga.
Modern medical technology allows scientists to study mysticism in a new way. Using fMRI and PET scans, one can study the changes the brain undergoes during periods of intense meditation. What these studies suggest is that there are processes in the brain that are responsible for certain types of religious and mystical experiences. These suggest that all religious experience is ultimately generated by the brain.
The Meaning of Mystical Experiences
Evelyn Underhill described such experiences as a flight from the ordinary to the ultimate that is beyond what can be described. The mystic is one who not only cultivates these flights but allows them to infuse their daily lives with a greater sense of purpose and unity. Whatever the cause of mystical experiences, their values lies not in what they are, but in how they change a person’s life for the better.
Sources:
- James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. (Penguin Classics, 1982).
- Underhill, Evelyn. Practical Mysticism. (Vintage Books: reprint, 2003).
- Newberg, Andrew. The Mystical Mind. (Augsburg Fortress Press, 1999).
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