The whole idea of spirituality and spiritual experiences is not an
objective one. Since there is no hard evidence that spiritual
experiences, or phenomena are actually caused by "unseen forces", a
deity, or the "human spirit" ect, hard core skeptics and those who are
"science minded" tend to use incontrovertible reasons as to why such
things happen.
Having said that, I will attempt to answer your question
A spiritual person, is someone who generally believes in some unseen
order. Their beliefs can be quite specific, such as following
religious doctrine, or believing in a specific deity. A spiritual
person might also be someone who has a general appreciation or
acknowledgment of a higher power, cosmic force, or the divinity of
nature. What both of these types of "spiritual people" have in common
is the acceptance of and belief in their own human spirit. All
differences over specifics aside, all spiritual persons hold to the
idea/belief that there is more to themselves than their body and their
mind. They may call this essence different things, such as the soul,
the higher self, energy and so on, but their meanings are all
basically the same.
But it isn't just "spiritual people" or the religious that spiritual
experiences affect. Quite often, those who are the most spiritual, can
tell you stories of how they were once non believers in such things,
until they experienced spirituality at a low point in their lives. One
would probably assume, that for the very spiritual, it's not unusual
to experience "spiritual phenomena" at least every once in a while, if
not on a regular basis even. However, for those who are skeptics, or
all out disbelievers, it usually takes a pretty major life event or
trauma before they experience an acute case of spirituality. It is
during times of stress, depressions, hopelessness, despair or fear
that we often will put aside our "logical" side, and reach out to the
unseen for help. Spirituality and the experiences that come with it,
are emotionally based. And sometimes it takes strong and intense
emotions to bring a normally unspiritual person to the point to where
they might experience a spiritual event.
Every religion, or belief group usually has a general consensus of
things they consider to be spiritual experiences. And if we go even
deeper, individual people often have their own idea of what they
consider a "spiritual experience",which is independent of religious
doctrine. When one speaks of "spiritual" things, we usually picture
the lighter side of spirituality, the good things. However, all things
pertaining to spirit, immaterial energies, and other unexplained
forces are considered a part of this as well. The problem with
defining what "qualifies as a genuine spiritual experience", is who's
criteria do you follow to make such a observation? What qualifies as a
spiritual experience to me, may not qualify as one to the person
sitting next to me, and vice versa. So instead of dealing with
specific differences, I will deal with similarities, the things
normally seen universally as spiritual experiences by those who are
"spirit minded", regardless of doctrine.
1. The sense of presence-
A feeling of another being, be it a ghost, a deity, or another human
spirit. The person might just sense the presence without the actual
feeling of physical contact, or they may literally "feel something"
touching them. Often they will experience as strong emotion as a
result of the experience such as awe, fear, joy, or even sadness
depending on the type of presence. During more pleasant experiences,
people often say they had a sense of "oneness with God" or a "strong
and sudden spiritual connection" to something they couldn't see, or
that wasn't explainable physically.
Can occur under times of extreme stress. People often describe
themselves as being "at an all time low", or feeling as though they
have no where to turn. Also occurs during deep meditation or prayer.
However, it has also happened to people who are just performing
everyday mundane activities.
2. A sense of unreality-
Some call it an epiphany, seeing outside themselves, or seeing the
bigger picture. A moment, where for no apparent reason, everything
makes sense. With most, it ends with that, a brief flash of universal
clarity, or "seeing the light". Although only momentary, people often
report of how that moment changed their lives forever.
Usually occurs during mundane tasks, which is why it often suppress
people, claiming they were struck with enlightenment from "out of the
blue". May also happen during times of stress, or other emotionally
intense times, but more often than not it's during the quite of the
storm, when their mind is calm or in a dissociate like state, like
that of prayer or meditation or daydreaming.
3. Unexplainable physical manifestations-
Could be anything from levitation, stigmata, "miraculous" healing,
spiritual possession, brief periods of uncharacteristic physical
abilities, movement of material things by unseen forces, or the
materialization of objects. Simpler put, any manifestation of the
physical which does not have a verifiable explanation otherwise.
A) Spiritual possession is one manifestation that is shared by most
religions across the board. These possessions are usually by a
"divine" spirit, such as The Christian's Holy Spirit or other deities,
or a malevolent spirit or entity such as a demon. Even the act of a
medium channeling the spirit of a deceased loved one could be
considered a form of possession. The behavior of such people who are
said to be possessed, taken over, or "filled with", is often noted as
being uncharacteristic of the persons usual behavior. They may act
unusually aggressive, and animal like, or they might posses skills of
which they normally would not have. There have been cases reported of
people speaking languages fluently, although they had never even heard
it spoken before, and cases where people could play the piano, or
paint or draw, even though they had never received training or been
able to do it before the experience.
Such experiences have been reported occurring at times of physical
deterioration, such as one being very sick, or when the body has been
weakened by disease or drug use.
Can also happen after physical trauma such as head injuries. Mental
vuneralbilities, such as psychosis and depression have also been known
to coincide with such occurrences, although the more scientific minded
would probably attribute these experiences as a mere symptom of their
mental disorder, rather than consider it to be a contributing factor
to something unexplainable. All of these types of cases are usually
considered to be involuntary, meaning the person did not openly
request such a spiritual experience. There are, of course, occurrences
where the person requests it, or is open to it. Such is the case with
mediums channeling what is considered spirits of the dead, or, by
those who, as a part of their religious beliefs, request a possession.
This is often done during intense prayer or deep meditation. They may
also fast for a period of time, as well as enlist the aid of psycho
tropic substances
B) Unexplained physical abilities are usually reported during
emergency situations. The classic example is the old story of a petite
mother, who is able to lift a heavy object in order to save her child
when it would not normally seem physical possible.
C) Stigmata, or other physical manifestations that take the form of
religious significance-
The Catholic Encyclopedia
(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14294b.htm), offers this as a part
of their explanation of the phenomena of stigmata,
" the wounds might be produced in a purely natural manner by the sole
action of the imagination coupled with lively emotions. The person
being keenly impressed by the sufferings of the Saviour and penetrated
by a great love, this preoccupation acts on her or him physically,
reproducing the wounds of Christ."
To some, the very idea that one could be so moved by religious
symbolism and it's importance to their beliefs that they would
spontaniously bleed without actually having a physical cause would be,
without a doubt, a very real spiritual experience. However, the
Catholics must not be so easily convinced, because in their
explanation, they go on to state, " This would in no wise diminish his
or her merit in accepting the trial, but the immediate cause of the
phenomena would not be supernatural. "
Stigmatics sometimes report other physical symptoms prior to their
wounds bleeding, such sadness, depression, or physical pain such as
body aches.
It only occurs amongst the very religious and devout. Sometimes during
a period of praying and fasting, or religious exctasy.
4. The gift of prophesy, ESP, or premonitions-
Known throughout the ages as prophets, seers, oracles, witches,
and clairvoyants. If a person possesses the ability to foretell future
events, then surely we must consider this a type of spiritual
experience. There tend to be two main types of those who posses this
gift, the ones who for a brief but yet extraordinary moment are able
to foretell a future event with clarity, and those who report being
able to predict the future with varying degrees of success on a fairly
consistent basis. Although the later of the two groups has a more
ongoing experience with their predictions, sometimes they tend to be
obscure, or downright cryptic with their apparent meanings. You often
hear people like this reporting to having had a premonition of the
event before it happened, but the vision did not make sense until the
event actually took place. Whether one chooses to believe such people
are truly spiritually gifted, or are just good at pointing out
predictable outcomes is a matter of personal choice. But taking a look
at those who claim to experience transient or single episodes of this
phenomena makes us take a closer look. These people usually tell
stories like how they were awoken from a very vivid dream in which a
loved one dies, only to wake up to find out that their relative did
indeed just pass. Or they will state they had a clear vision of an
accident or causing them to change their routine, which in turn saved
them from the very catastrophe they foresaw. It's a bit harder to
debunk with those who do not claim to regularly be able to predict the
future, especially when their prediction was quite precise. These
types of experiences usually happen when the person least expects it.
They often take the form of vivid dreams, or during normal everyday
activities. Those who state they experience multiple occurrences ESP
or the gift of prophesy usually tend to do so through the use of aids
in order to bring about the experience. These aids include religious
ones such as prayer, mediation, and fasting, as well as physical aids
like divination, scaring, psycho tropic substances, self inflicted
pain, and automatic writing. The religious with the gift of prophecy
tend to look down on those who foretell the future for reasons other
than those dictated by religious doctrine. The physical symptoms of
one foretelling the future could be as normal as them retelling to you
what they see as they see it, or they may go into a disassociated
trance like state. Others have appeared to go quite mad during their
vision, and later will tell of how they actually heard voices, telling
them what will be.
5. Near Death Experience-
When discussing spiritual experiences, you can't help but think
of the reports of Near Death experiences. Granted the science world
has explained this away as being caused by physical means, however
amongst the spiritual, or those who have experienced it first hand,
they will surely disagree.
People tell of dying, or being on the edge of dying, and seeing a
bright light, feeling warmth and sometimes seeing loved ones already
passed. They will report feeling detached from their body, and often
speak of passing through tunnels.
This is usually occurs under such circumstances as, hypoxia or
drowning, head trauma, and other physical factors where the person
might loose consciousness.
Having looked at some of the things that are generally viewed as
authentic spiritual experiences, we still must realize that although
these things might accepted overall, this by no means says that
everyone will accept them as genuine spiritual experiences. The matter
of defining what is and is not a true spiritual experience is a
subjective one. While it may be the general consensus to believe these
phenomena as mystical things, that are beyond the realm of ordinary
explanation, one must take into consideration that this thinking is
not absolute.
The bottom line is that when it really comes down to it, a spiritual
experience can mean anything we choose it to. From horseback riding,
to surfing in the ocean, prayer, the birth of a child, or your wedding
day. It's whatever moves your spirit, and it can occur at just about
any time and any place.
Some links you might find helpful
The book The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious
Experience, by Eugene G. D'Aquili & Andrew B. Newberg
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0800631633/scottbidstrupshoA/002-3276481-1115
http://www.victorzammit.com/book/chapter18.html |
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