In the Faith vs Skepticism thread, RAZD and I discussed whether "religious experiences" could be studied from a skeptical point of view, in order to get a better understanding of what causes them. Some questions of interest are:
1. Are there commonalities to religious experiences across various faiths?
2. Are they usually specific to the beliefs of the person who has the experience, or are they more general?
3. Do non-religious people experience similar phenomena?
I looked up the wiki article on "religious experience" and it offered the following categories of religious experience: (paraphrased)
1. Numinous: Experiencing the presence of a supernatural being, or experiencing communion with him/her/it. The experience usually invokes either fear and trembling, or fascination.
2. Ecstasy: An out of body experience.
3. Enthusiasm: The possession or influence of the supernatural over ones actions.
4. Mystical: The sense of becoming one with the Universe.
5. Spiritual awakening:
Wikipedia writes:
A spiritual awakening is a Religious experience involving a realization or opening to a sacred dimension of reality. 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.
My question is to all members of this thread (including those who do not adhere to any faith), have you ever experienced anything akin to the above categories of subjective experiences? (Feel free to add your own)
If so, be as specific or general as you want in describing the experience. Also state your faith and what you believe the experience meant.
Rules: Absolutely no ridicule of other's experiences. No arguing over whether any particular experience involved the supernatural or not. This thread is for discussing commonalities, and the cause of religious experiences in general.
I'll leave it up to the wisdom of the admins where to put this thread.
-Meldinoor
Edited by Meldinoor, : Eased down on the word "being"
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