Mystical Experiences

[CJ_theodora]

I just heard episode 429 with Leo Flowers again today, and this time NOT in the car, and was struck once again by the S&S survey by Tragic Daze in which he expressed that he felt alone in his mystical experience and was concerned that he could never really talk about it without people misunderstanding it as psychosis. If you've had a mystical experience yourself and want to join me in letting TD know he's not alone or just want to get into the topic, please feel free to jump into the convo. I'd love to hear your story! And in hopes that the original Tragic Daze is out there on the forum, this begins for you, my friend!

You're not alone! In case you have not already realized this since you first submitted in your survey back in the spring, your experience is valid, and you are so not alone. I myself, just another generally muddled human, have not only had mystical experiences, but I do a lot of reading in mysticism and altered states and they are so normal, especially for people who've had NDEs. Abraham Maslow would call these peak experiences, and you can read Maslow one moment and a 20th c. British mystic the next and realize that they are describing the same thing.

Furthermore, I know plenty of other people even in my very rural home state who have also had mystical experiences of one kind or another. Given my interests in theology and psychology, I blab about this stuff all the damn time, and even people who aren't familiar don't seem remotely judgmental or concerned about my mental health. If you haven't already found someone to open up to about your experience, I just want to reassure you that any one of the masses of people who have been there would probably immediately recognize and embrace your experience as legit and as profoundly gorgeous as you experienced it.

I know it can be terribly lonely when you feel like you have this bizarre take on the nature of reality from this bizarre thing that happened that words can't even touch and that most people would not understand or even misread completely. But you are not bizarre, nor is having this kind of experience, unique though each is. I bet you may even already know people who would have a sense of where you're coming from...but it's not a normal topic of conversation, so it can be hard to spot. As you well know, living in such a mechanistic, materialist culture can make talking about spiritual experience sound floofy and awkward even when it is gritty and real AF. If it helps, I've found more often than not that people tend to be grateful for the chance to spill their own stories that materialism really can't cover when the topic comes up.

Oh, and one last thing, in case it's reassuring—I had to get a complete psychological evaluation last year to apply to begin studying for the ministry. While I was there, I asked the psychologist about mystical experience in case it was a cause for concern. He said that given my personality, it was unsurprising. He was so unconcerned, in fact, that it didn't even get a mention in the eighteen-page, single-spaced evaluation. I'm certified sane and now, and it sounds like you would be, too.

[snoringdog]

Hello CJ,

Hey, welcome aboard!

Just want to toss in that the French mathematician Blaise Pascal came to mind when I saw your entry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal

I read his Pensees while in high school, and understood that he'd had some kind of mystical experience in his life that affected him so, that he sewed notes about it into his coat that were found after he died.

I'm not sure that I can say I've had a truly "mystical" experience, but I *have* felt a sense of disorientation when pondering things like space, history, deep time, and mortality....

Regards

SD