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| P.C. Institute for Mystical Experience Research and Education, www.imere.org |
What is said here is very counter-intuitive, a mystical experience that is not very mystical, but shared by many. It may not resonate with all mystics, but this understanding of faith in the public square is the norm in many religious departments or divinity schools such as Harvard, or Hunter College where I majored in Religious Studies.
The institute (IMERE) has a very encompassing understanding, "mystical experience is often referred to by different names, including, but not limited to, cosmic consciousness, ecstatic experience, enlightenment... experience of god, experience of oneness... self-realization, spiritual awakening, spiritual experience, transcendent experience... unity experience, and unitive experience."
(If you believe that you have had any of these experiences, then we warmly encourage you to complete our Mystical Experience Questionnaire.)
The followings are quotes from the website,
"During a mystical experience, there exists a simple unity, a pure consciousness, or non-duality of observer and observed. In addition to oneness, the defining features of mystical experience include feelings of sacredness, peace, and bliss; a sense of transcending time and space; and an intuitive conviction that the experience is a source of objective truth about reality.1
The effects of mystical experiences are of enormous value to both experiencers and humanity. On a personal level, mystical experience leads to sudden and lasting positive changes in an experiencer’s character and values.2 And on a global scale, mystical experiences lie at or near the foundation of religions generally and thus even of civilization itself. Indeed, the mystical roots of conscious experience reveal a deep human identity, transcending all national, racial, personal, and theological differences.3 It is therefore vital to further our understanding of these important, transformative experiences."
