THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE: BEYOND THE 3D
My curiosity for the past few years about the inner workings of the dimensional planes and how the interaction of the various dimensions come into contact with us in the 3D along with the concept of a world I simply cannot perceive as I am a 4 dimensional being in a meat suit that perceives in the 3 dimensional plane has taken the driver's seat in figuring out my purpose for being incarnated on this -unique- planet. I have always found religious people interesting but a lot seem to live in denial about the shadow self and learn to shame it versus integrate it without judgment so that is what initially had me looking beyond it. It never felt right that there are organizations out there that use guilt and shame to keep its members in line with the doctrine that has been modified by HUMANS throughout the years for various reasons, some nefarious others mysterious. If we are to look at the Source energy of it all, it is supposed to represent unconditional love in its purest form and is what is represented across the world in various forms from belief to belief. Humans have turned it to justify violence and mistreatment in the name of something that is supposed to be all accepting. I have also found this in the doctrine for 12 step organizations such as AA, who does not adhere to religion itself, but to help their members be productive, which is pro-self discovery - so I feel like this is a worthy topic to dive in to. Today, I want to touch on the topic of how spiritual experiences have the capability to transcend the physical realm and can offer deep, transformative impacts on an individual’s life.
A spiritual experience means a lot of things to a lot of people. Oh the controversy! For the sake of this post, I am defining a spiritual experience as a profound moment that involves someone feeling a sense of connection to something that is greater than self; something that transcends an ordinary experience. While there is a wide variety of what someone can consider a spiritual experience based on cultural, religious, or personal beliefs, they all seem to contain the following elements:
Experiencing a sense of connection to the universe, a higher power, nature, others, or the depths within oneself
Transcending the ordinary limits of perceiving and understanding - some may refer to this as a different, higher state of consciousness
Experiencing awe and reverence and is typically followed by humility
A profound sense of inner calmness and well-being
The individual gains insight on the meaning and purpose of life, which typically leads to a internal transformation
The perception of time and space varies. It can speed up, slow down, stay still, along with an altered sense of space
Experiencing intense emotions which can be overwhelming sense of unconditional love or a sense of release which can manifest profound sadness
Some type of mystical experience that is of the divine or sacred origin which is described as an ineffable and beyond ordinary language.
The reception of profound insights or clarity of oneself, life, or the universe
Lastly, physical sensations are the accompaniment to the experience such as tingling, warmth, or a sense of feeling light.
Spiritual experiences can occur during religious rituals, meditation, encounters with nature, crisis, or simply spontaneously when it is not expected. Each experience is deeply personal and subjective and can be interpreted in various ways depending on personal beliefs and background of the individual.
To break this down further, the types of spiritual experiences can include mystical experiences, near-death experiences (NDE), meditative or contemplative states, or a spontaneous spiritual awakening. A mystical experience is described as a personal encounter with the divine or an ultimate reality. This leads to gaining a deep, intuitive, significant insight and a oneness with the higher power. An NDE occurs when an individual is close to death or has been clinically dead and then revived. This can include an out-of-body experience, encountering beings of light or deceased loved ones, a life review, feeling of unconditional love, and being presented with the option to return to the body post-experience. When an individual reaches an altered state of consciousness with heightened awareness through prayer, meditation, or contemplation can be another mode of enacting a spiritual awakening. This process can also include a look at life through the lens of a detached ego. At times, there are spontaneous awakenings which include the unexpected or unplanned spiritual experiences without a particular trigger or practice. This features a radical shift in perception and a newfound sense of purpose. As long as the experience opens the door to lasting changes in perspective, behavior, and open to a new approach in life it can be considered a spiritual experience.
Spiritual experiences are typically closely linked to religious context. Christianity describes these awakenings manifesting as visions and revelations. In Buddhism, it is viewed as achieving an enlightenment of self. Lastly, in indigenous beliefs take the individual through a shamanic journey. These sorts of experiences have also been logged throughout history in ancient Egypt, Greece, and India. Across ancient cultures, spiritual experiences were profound, transformative, and an integral part of religious and cultural life. It is a connection or encounter with the ‘ultimate reality’, the divine, and leaves the individual with a sense of being connected to something greater than the self. Through rituals, meditation, or philosophical contemplation, these experiences shaped the spiritual landscape of these ancient civilizations and to this day influence contemporary spirituality.
Throughout my life I have had various spiritual experiences that were embedded into the ordinary part of life - the unexplainable within the mundane. Through random oddly-profound encounters with those who have just received news that they are on their last days of living after ‘feeling a need’ to talk to me, to supernatural encounters, to synchronicities, aka when the coincidence is a bit too coincidental, to my own near death experiences which connected me more directly to the Spirit of the Universe. In a 12 step program, the 2nd step is to ‘Come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity’, which is created to release the burdens of what we cannot control and focus on what we can - which is truly only is our response to external situations. Listening to those who have been in situations I would never imagine myself getting out of based on the differing life cards being dealt, has led me to believe deeper that there is a Greater energy at play. It brings hope and faith in a sea of death and despair. Past the general pain and suffering, generational addictions become a blessing for those who are chosen to break the cycle and get out of what has held back many in their bloodline. Life is hard and even if the higher power is a room full of those who truly support your situation and can ‘see’ you, then that is enough because a group is stronger than the individual. We are pack animals. There’s magic in the concept of human connection and how it can influence the individual. I feel like the important part of the spiritual experience thing is defining it for yourself. I am a ‘recovering Catholic’ so I have had a fight with what the definition of God was because of the spiteful one I was raised on who would condemn me for living authentically as it did not align with cult values. Not calling all Catholics cult members but there’s a good chunk of them ready to send me to Hell for saying ‘oh my God’ or ‘fuck’ or wearing something they deemed too tight on my naturally curvy body - I learned to be shameful of how I looked and how God made me. I used to view God as something that agreed with the collective of these judgemental people but now I consider myself a spiritual freelancer and see God for what It is as It is viewed in various cultures as a Source of Unconditional Love. I learned God by collecting data from different religions and applying teachings that are relevant to my current situations which led me closer to achieving the inner peace I was missing. I choose to learn from other fellow humans and learn to listen to my instinct again after relearning myself. I simply try my best to not be an asshole and help where I can. It allows me to think of those outside of myself and has me living at a higher frequency which allows me to make meaningful connections. I find myself being at peace internally and I am able to experience a side of life I haven't been able to before absorbing the wisdom throughout my time on this earth. My frontal lobe developing fully also helped.
Speaking of developing frontal lobes, the science behind spiritual experiences are fascinating. The regions of the brain that are involved in spiritual experiences are the temporal lobes, prefrontal cortex, and the parietal lobes. The temporal lobes are associated with the processing of religious and mystical experiences - hyperactivity in this region has been linked to the spiritual experience as it processes emotion, stores memory, sensory processing, and this is where the sense of self region lies. It gives the human the ability to have feelings of presence, awe, and unity when it is stimulated. The prefrontal cortex is involved in decision-making, self-reflection, as well as other higher cognitive functions - which allows the human to interpret, integrate, and find meaning in the experience. Moral and ethical insights that are gained are also consciously processed in this area of the brain. The parietal lobes are involved in the spatial orientation and self- Other distinctions. If there is a decrease in activity in this area, it is often associated with feelings of unity and oneness which is often the climax of the spiritual experience. As for the neurochemistry involved in this transcendence involves the usual suspects of feeling good: serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins. They are all released which increases the visuals during psychedelic trips (serotonin), enhances sense of pleasure and meaning (dopamine), and an experience in feelings of euphoria / transcendence (endorphins). I feel like science and the belief that there are things above our comprehension as 4-dimensional beings experiencing in the 3-dimensional world work hand in hand. Our bodies are very interesting.
With the interesting chemical aspects involved in these experiences, there are positive impacts in the realm of mental health and well-being, which involve stress reduction, a sense of purpose, and developing coping mechanisms. Spirituality is typically seen as a practice of living in the present and accepting the flow of events which are included in life. It helps us attain a greater sense of self so these side effects are typically positive. No matter what the individual experiences to attain this awakening to Self, what matters is the feeling they are left with.
There, of course, has been critiques in the scientific variety which involve reductionism and the placebo effect. Neuroscientists reduce the spiritual experience to the simplest components which are the brain activity and neurochemistry involved, which tends to overlook the subjective depth and cultural experience. This approach of believing that these experiences are simply just a result of brain activity and neurochemical processes has identified the areas of the brain that are active during mediation and prayer. However, through removing the subjective reality of the patient, there is a risk of overlooking the profound subjective depth which these experiences hold for the individual as it typically leads to feeling an emotional resilience that once did not exist. This is why I believe there are multiple realms at play as there is a complexity to the consciousness of humans which we have not had science to reach. Reaching a holistic approach along with the science behind it, brings an appreciation for said complexity. The other qualm neuroscientists ponder on the subject is the placebo effect. Some suggest that the benefits received from the spiritual experiences are akin to the placebo effect, meaning they believe that the result is from the individual believing in the efficacy of the spiritual practice versus the practice itself. This view appears to not necessarily diminish the value of the experience that reductionism brings, instead, it points to the intricate ways our minds and bodies interact. However, reducing the experience to a placebo effect can dismiss the depth of the rich, multifaceted ways in that mind-body interaction. Deep introspection, community bonding, and encounters with existential questions which come up during the spiritual experience goes beyond a belief - it engages with core aspects of the human experience itself. While both of these invite us to explore how the mind, brain, and belief interplay, there is caution of oversimplification of the experience itself. To have a comprehensive understanding of a spiritual experience, it requires having acknowledgement of the subjective depth, cultural significance, and the complicated dynamics between belief and our 3D reality.
Overall, I believe that the spiritual experience is a highly subjective experience and it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks of it because it means what it means to that individual. No matter how it is experienced, it tends to lead to a positive outcome so even if it is partially a placebo effect, it WORKS for millions. I feel like humans usually get way into the semantics of things but when something leads to more good, I don’t understand why it is so heavily criticized. Having a connection to your Higher Self allows for further connection to having a reason for existing. It doesn’t even have to be some supernatural experience, it is an experience that changes the psyche. Overall, this is a fascinating subject and I have only scratched the surface. My spiritual experience began during my search into quantum physics and the science behind mathematical patterns in nature and continues to amaze me as weirder things have begun to occur. I used what was in my 3D to grasp a better understanding of what kind of universe we live in - and I continue to understand how little I know the further I go into this subject. That is the beauty of existence - I have to be ok with not knowing everything except on how to best be in the present moment.
A fitting quote to summarize the spiritual experience might be:
"The most beautiful and profound way to change yourself is to accept yourself completely, as imperfect as you are. To truly grow as a person, you have to tap into something deeper than the superficial, something spiritual, where your inner light shines the brightest." — Thich Nhat Hanh
