1. Human development
  2. Induced religious experience

Induced religious experience

Description

Following an effort, which may through application or sustained pursuit of one of any number of methods or techniques of the spiritual systems of east and west, the person has an experience of bliss. This may arise as unexpectedly as the spontaneous experience or there may be hints of its approach, even minor inspirations and "borderline" ecstasy. The intention is to reach beyond the confines of "ordinary" reality to something which is worth seeking whatever the price, God-realization to the Christian, Saccidananda to the Hindu.

Methods common to many traditions are meditation and contemplation (not always easily distinguished) and chemical means of altering consciousness through drugs, although other means of inducing such an experience have included flagellation and torture. One account speaks of the brilliant light used by interrogators as having triggered an experience of peace, joy and absolute protection. Another speaks of LSD producing, beyond all opposites, a knowledge that all things were one, an experience described as certainty, unity, obviousness, satisfaction, realization of the ultimate, awareness, completeness, nothing mattering, "is-ness". Yet another speaks of God or essence "is" love. Common to these experiences is their lasting effect which stays through the years.

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Metadata

Database
Human development
Type
(M) Modes of awareness
Content quality
Yet to rate
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Language
English
Last update
Dec 3, 2024