Vivid spiritual experiences as a gateway to deeper levels of understanding

A sense of oneness with all that exists. A sense of holiness. A sense of being in touch with an indisputable source of knowledge. Deeply felt positive emotions. A sense of loss of space and time. Difficulty to describe the experience in words. These are the characteristics reported by people who have had a vivid spiritual experience. Some of them get there spontaneously, others by deliberately triggering it (mostly through meditation or the use of psychoactive substances).

This state of consciousness, which has become a bit of a trend in certain human circles in recent years, involves a strong sense of communion with all that exists, sometimes achieving a sense of oneness with the divine, other humans and other life forms, objects, the environment and the universe. This experience is often accompanied by ecstasy and a sense of transcendence of the individual self and identity (Braud, 2010). 

While in it, it seems to a person that "a truth is revealed to him which was not visible before" (Castro, 2017, 34). Through it, understanding of the nature of existence is deepened and it can change people's emotional reactions to life and death (Castro, 2017). People who have experienced some of the above in their lifetime often cite it as one of the most significant moments of their life (Yaden et al., 2017).

That's what this article is about - what is a vivid spiritual experience? What does it show or can it show? What are its signs? And what do we in Western culture know about all this? I should warn you in advance that the article is very condensed and mostly in scientific language, because it is made up of excerpts from my psychology coursework.

A topic that is increasingly gaining currency

Since the 1960s and 1970s, when the transpersonal branch of psychology began to develop, research on altered states of consciousness has been growing. In particular, researchers in various scientific fields (psychology, psychiatry, neurobiology, etc.) are interested in vivid spiritual experiences, which are currently referred to in the literature under various names: spiritual experiences (spiritual experience), mystical experience (mystical experience), the experience of awakening (awakening experience), quantum changes (quantum change), spiritual awakening (spiritual awakening) (Castro, 2017), the experience of self-transcendence (self-transcendent experiences), religious experience (religious experience), transpersonal experience (transpersonal experience) u.c. (Yaden, 2017).

And it seems that not only scientists are interested in the situation, but also the Sabbatarians - Google Trends search results show that the number of searches for the keywords "spiritual awakening", one of the most common terms in the English language today for a vivid altered state of consciousness.

The existence and experience of altered states of consciousness is reported in different parts of the world and throughout recorded history. However, it is only in the last 120 years that the science of psychology (James, 1902; Hood, 1975; Barrett, Johnson, & Griffiths, 2015). 

The dual nature of a vivid spiritual experience

What is spelled out at the beginning of this article may sound exciting and tempting, and indeed it is. However, let me stress a little that there are always two sides to every coin - including this one.

In the scientific literature, there are two approaches to describing vivid spiritual experiences. It is described as an experience that can provoke both significantly positive and negative reactions and even clinical consequences (Yaden et al., 2017). On the one hand, the literature on psychopathology highlights the similarity between the mental experience of the state of consciousness that occurs during the administration of hallucinogenic drugs and the acute changes in state of consciousness that are characteristic of schizophrenia patients. On the other hand (in the literature on transcendence, mysticism), the distinction between spiritual experience and the states of consciousness that characterise pathology is emphasised (Parnas & Henriksen, 2016).

Distinguishing psychiatric disorders from spiritual experiences is difficult because of their similar symptoms. In addition, research has shown that similar brain areas are activated during both mental experiences and psychiatric disorders (Cristofori et al., 2016). There is also a theory that pathological and positive forms of spiritual experience may overlap (Lukoff, Lu, & Turner, 1992, as mentioned in Yaden et al., 2017). 

How to tell the difference?

There are currently no clear guidelines to distinguish between spiritual and pathological experiences, but research shows that spiritual experiences stimulate a person's ability to see the unity of all things in the world and to find a sense of meaning, while pathological states create confusion and a lack of logic. Similarly, spiritual experiences provide a sense of clarity, peace and harmony, whereas pathology results in a lack of joy and meaning, can be frightening, and can involve reduced levels of self-care. 

During a spiritual experience, a person is not a danger to himself and society, whereas in a pathological state he may become one (Schapiro, 2018). This dual nature of spiritual experience can be described using the following metaphor: "The schizophrenic patient is drowning in the same waters in which the person with mystical experience is swimming with pleasure (Lee, 1985, 40, as cited in Evans et al., 2018)."

It is important to note that whether or not a spiritual experience is perceived as a pathological condition depends largely on the cultural context in which a person lives. Knowledge of the beliefs prevalent in a culture is essential for the interpretation of spiritual experiences (Maraldi & Krippner, 2019). Misdiagnosing a spiritual experience as a pathological condition can lead to a person losing the benefits of its influence. Moreover, given the fact that Western societies have difficulty understanding spiritual experiences as non-pathological, there is a risk that spontaneous spiritual experiences may have traumatic consequences for some people (Schapiro, 2018).

Signs of being in a vivid spiritual experience

Every spiritual experience is unique, and everyone experiences or "sees" something different - something that only their subconscious and conscious mind can understand. I like to say about the images that are "seen" during a spiritual experience - the subconscious translates information to the conscious mind through symbols that it can understand. However, its essence, despite wide variations in its interpretation, is identical for all (Stace, 1960). The following are common features recognised and reported by all who have ever been in a vivid spiritual experience. However, it should be borne in mind that not everyone experiences all the signs described below during a single experience, but some certainly do.

1. Altered self-perception, loss of sense of self while maintaining a clear consciousness. A sense of merging with an all-embracing force, with something greater than the individual self (Ego quality).
2. A sense of all that exists as a whole (the quality of a sense of unity).
3. The sense that all objects have consciousness - even those that are experienced only in material form (the quality of inner subjectivism).
4. Altered perception of time and space, sense of the absence of time and space. A sense that both time and space change during the experience, up to an extreme modality (quality of time and space).
5. A sense of experience as an unquestionable source of knowledge, as a contact with absolute truth; an irrational, intuitive, revelatory sense that is not, however, perceived as simply subjective (noetic quality).
6. Inability to describe the experience in words, due to the nature of the experience, not due to a lack of linguistic competence (not describable in words).
7. Deeply felt positive emotions, most often a feeling of happiness or genuine joy (positive affect). 
8. A sense of the experience as something sacred. Including a sense of mystery, wonder, awe and reverence. May be expressed in a departure from terminology commonly used in religion (religious quality) (Hood, 1975).

From a neurobiological point of view, or from the knowledge gained from brain function studies, the signs are fourSenses of time and space (timelessness); loss of sense of self (selflessness) the whole sense of predetermination (effortlessness), a deep sense of perfection (richness).

A brief look at research in the field of psychology

Currently, research on vivid spiritual experiences is carried out with the aim of clarifying their process, causes, consequences, and the differences between individuals who have had them and those who have not. Due to its dual nature, the study of spiritual experiences is concerned both with positive effects and with pathology. 

Existing research shows that people who have had vivid spiritual experiences are significantly more open to the new and the unexpected, have greater emotional stability, the ability to regulate their attitudes and behaviour, and a greater ability to listen to their bodies. They are more attentive and sensitive to minor environmental stimuli. Similarly, people with spiritual experiences in their personal biography are able to successfully distance themselves from events and thoughts (Hanley et al., 2018). 

Another study shows that people experience positive changes in their interpersonal relationships as a result of spiritual experiences: they feel more intimacy with their peers, more gratitude, more forgiveness and more meaning in life (Griffiths et al., 2018).

These are just a few studies out of a number carried out in recent years. I am convinced that this topic will become more and more important in society, and I hope that it will be spoken about more and more confidently and loudly. This is important because, in my opinion (and only in my opinion), every new a spiritual experience both enriches a person and opens his mind to new possibilitiesthat this world has never seen before. And it is one of the most beautiful paths a person can take in a lifetime.

This free content is produced in my spare time without pay. If you see value in what I do, I'd be happy to make you a coffee! It's like a spur to create new content! 🙂

Sources:

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Braud, W. (2012). Health and well-being benefits of exceptional human experiences. In C. Murray (Ed.), Psychology research in progress. Mental health and anomalous experience (p. 107-124). Hauppauge, NY, USA: Nova Science Publishers.

Castro, J. M. (2017). A Model of Enlightened/Mystical/Awakened Experience. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Volume 9(1), p. 34-45. 

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