Religious Experience

[Asmodean]

Or possibly stop?  :eek:

No, can't stop the pills.   Bad idea.

[pilchardo]

I am interested to know what a religious experience is.

Who on this forum has had one?
What was it like?
Did it give you any insights to your religion or to a different religion?
How detailed was the experience?
How do you know you can trust it, e.g. know what the source was, know that it wasn't deceptive, know that it came from a particular god or a particular faith?
Was it about something else other than a god?
Does anyone these days have a religious experience entailing the Greek gods? Zeus, Athena etc?
Did it make you convert?
Do you still think about it?

How common are these? Does everyone at your church have one or do only a special few?
How many religious experiences do individual people have?
Do these become more frequent the higher up the religious hierarchy you become?
Have these always been common events or have these become more popular?
Are these confined to one religion or do all religions have them?
Is there peer pressure to have one?
Do you know if people lie about having one so that they feel special within the group or so that they don't feel they are the only one missing out?

I'm not comfortable with the term "religious" experience, but when I had mine it was the most profound thing I've ever experienced. I could see things so clearly, and I could really understand myself, other people, human nature, reality, and my senses were heightened. It was frightening but not in a dangerous kind of way, it's hard to explain. I felt a sense of bliss that I've never experienced before or after. It's like every positive emotion all rolled into one.

[lsdetroit]

I am interested to know what a religious experience is.

Who on this forum has had one?
What was it like?
Did it give you any insights to your religion or to a different religion?
How detailed was the experience?
How do you know you can trust it, e.g. know what the source was, know that it wasn't deceptive, know that it came from a particular god or a particular faith?
Was it about something else other than a god?
Does anyone these days have a religious experience entailing the Greek gods? Zeus, Athena etc?
Did it make you convert?
Do you still think about it?

How common are these? Does everyone at your church have one or do only a special few?
How many religious experiences do individual people have?
Do these become more frequent the higher up the religious hierarchy you become?
Have these always been common events or have these become more popular?
Are these confined to one religion or do all religions have them?
Is there peer pressure to have one?
Do you know if people lie about having one so that they feel special within the group or so that they don't feel they are the only one missing out?

I'm not comfortable with the term "religious" experience, but when I had mine it was the most profound thing I've ever experienced. I could see things so clearly, and I could really understand myself, other people, human nature, reality, and my senses were heightened. It was frightening but not in a dangerous kind of way, it's hard to explain. I felt a sense of bliss that I've never experienced before or after. It's like every positive emotion all rolled into one.

that was the ecstasy pilchardo.

[pilchardo]

I've never taken ecstacy.

[lsdetroit]

well then how do you validate your experience as authentic religious experience?

[iSok]

Well, I have different 'situations' I guess.

Just a recent event to adress.

Two weeks ago, I failed for a test, was my own fault.
I didn't study well since it wasn't really my favourite subject, and started too late.
So when I saw my grade, I was a bit dissapointed.

And for a moment I had this thought in my mind, I know it's ridiculous

'Oh God, I could have passed, this is nothing for You, why didn't You help me?'
The thought quickly dissapeared.

So when this happened, I surfed to an Islamic website with the intention to read a debate, there was a debate
about politics. So while I was reading a new reply from an user I didn't know.
I came to the end of that reply, and then I noticed his signature at the bottom.


One day Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it and he asked the Bedouin, “Why don’t you tie down your camel?” The Bedouin answered, “I put my trust in Allah.” The Prophet then said, “Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah” (At-Tirmidhi). DO YOUR PART FIRST

It took a moment before I realised it. From the thought towards reading that reply, I think it was a matter of 10 seconds.
I started to laugh after realising it.
 Could have been coincidence, I don't know.


Some people convert after certain events that cannot be explained.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J5_VETwfew&feature=related

Watch it from 1 min 40 seconds, he tells his story then, in case you are interested of course.

[Stevil]

I'm not comfortable with the term "religious" experience, but when I had mine it was the most profound thing I've ever experienced. I could see things so clearly, and I could really understand myself, other people, human nature, reality, and my senses were heightened. It was frightening but not in a dangerous kind of way, it's hard to explain. I felt a sense of bliss that I've never experienced before or after. It's like every positive emotion all rolled into one.

Sounds very interesting. Did you get any lasting insights to anything? How long did it last for?
Did you change as a person after this incident. I presume some of the insights were regards to yourself, how you behave etc, so maybe you behave differently since???
Did you see this as affirmation of your religious beliefs or unrelated?

[Stevil]

One day Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it and he asked the Bedouin, “Why don’t you tie down your camel?” The Bedouin answered, “I put my trust in Allah.” The Prophet then said, “Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah” (At-Tirmidhi). DO YOUR PART FIRST

I think the Christians say "God helps those who help themselves"
Most Atheists would encourage this kind of thinking.

[pilchardo]

I'm not comfortable with the term "religious" experience, but when I had mine it was the most profound thing I've ever experienced. I could see things so clearly, and I could really understand myself, other people, human nature, reality, and my senses were heightened. It was frightening but not in a dangerous kind of way, it's hard to explain. I felt a sense of bliss that I've never experienced before or after. It's like every positive emotion all rolled into one.

Sounds very interesting. Did you get any lasting insights to anything? How long did it last for?
Did you change as a person after this incident. I presume some of the insights were regards to yourself, how you behave etc, so maybe you behave differently since???
Did you see this as affirmation of your religious beliefs or unrelated?

Yes it did, it changed the way I view everything. It's hard to say how long it lasted but I think it may have lasted about 4 days or so, on and off. I now find that I view myself differently and I'm more in touch with my emotions and thoughts, much more than before. When I feel any emotion I feel it more vividly, and intensely, and I feel like I can harness it better. I feel more in control and more at peace with life. One thing I do now that I didn't do before is that I try to avoid clutter. Cluttered thoughts, cluttered actions, I'm more streamlined if you like. And a lot more but if I tried to cover it I'd probably need pages and pages to describe it.

Have you had something similar yourself?

[Stevil]

Yes it did, it changed the way I view everything. It's hard to say how long it lasted but I think it may have lasted about 4 days or so, on and off. I now find that I view myself differently and I'm more in touch with my emotions and thoughts, much more than before. When I feel any emotion I feel it more vividly, and intensely, and I feel like I can harness it better. I feel more in control and more at peace with life. One thing I do now that I didn't do before is that I try to avoid clutter. Cluttered thoughts, cluttered actions, I'm more streamlined if you like. And a lot more but if I tried to cover it I'd probably need pages and pages to describe it.

Have you had something similar yourself?

No I haven't had a profound unexplainable experience. I have a friend who I was talking to one day, she was a Christian and although I do not generally talk about religion, the topic came up. I asked her how she came to pick Christianity above other religions, she said that she had had an experience. I didn't delve into it any further as I thought it would have been difficult for her to explain and I may come across too sarcastic in my responses. On this site people have also mentioned religious experiences so I just wanted to get an understanding of what they are.

BTW All the rest of her family are Christians too, and they all belong to the same church. So you can see why it might have been difficult for me to see how objective her experience was

[iSok]

I'm not comfortable with the term "religious" experience, but when I had mine it was the most profound thing I've ever experienced. I could see things so clearly, and I could really understand myself, other people, human nature, reality, and my senses were heightened. It was frightening but not in a dangerous kind of way, it's hard to explain. I felt a sense of bliss that I've never experienced before or after. It's like every positive emotion all rolled into one.

Sounds very interesting. Did you get any lasting insights to anything? How long did it last for?
Did you change as a person after this incident. I presume some of the insights were regards to yourself, how you behave etc, so maybe you behave differently since???
Did you see this as affirmation of your religious beliefs or unrelated?

Yes it did, it changed the way I view everything. It's hard to say how long it lasted but I think it may have lasted about 4 days or so, on and off. I now find that I view myself differently and I'm more in touch with my emotions and thoughts, much more than before. When I feel any emotion I feel it more vividly, and intensely, and I feel like I can harness it better. I feel more in control and more at peace with life. One thing I do now that I didn't do before is that I try to avoid clutter. Cluttered thoughts, cluttered actions, I'm more streamlined if you like. And a lot more but if I tried to cover it I'd probably need pages and pages to describe it.

Have you had something similar yourself?

May I ask whether you follow a religion or not?

[pilchardo]

Stevil, you don't know what you're missing. If it ever happens to you, count yourself lucky. Of course, some people might call you crazy, stupid, a liar or mentally ill or deluded but that's not how it is. Words can't describe it, it has to be experienced to be understood.

Isok, no but I do believe in something, I don't usually refer to it as god although I don't object to the term. So no, I don't actually follow any religions as such. How about yourself?

[iSok]

I'm going for the 72 virgins in heaven
I never understood why Muslims even pray in the streets sometimes, and don't mind getting funny looks.
When you get that feeling, nothing else matters.

[LegendarySandwich]

I'm going for the 72 virgins in heaven

Unless you're gay, I hope for your sake they're women.

@Pilchardo: What exactly happened? Can you be more specific?

[iSok]

I'm going for the 72 virgins in heaven

Unless you're gay, I hope for your sake they're women.

@Pilchardo: What exactly happened? Can you be more specific?

I'm sorry Ls, I don't intend to derail this topic.

While we are on the subject. The myth about suicide and you get 72 virgins is a fabricated lie...
The Qur'an condems suicide, so does the Hadith.
The only source of this myth is the following 'saying'.

Which is considered by Islamic scholars as fabricated (something the Prophet never said, since there are no witnesses).

The Prophet Muhammad was heard saying: “The smallest reward for the people of Paradise is an abode where there are 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine, and ruby, as wide as the distance from Al-Jabiyyah [a Damascus suburb] to Sana’a [Yemen]“