The Varieties of Religious Experience

1. Religion's Essence: Personal Experience of the Divine

Religion, therefore, as I now ask you arbitrarily to take it, shall mean for us THE FEELINGS, ACTS, AND EXPERIENCES OF INDIVIDUAL MEN IN THEIR SOLITUDE, SO FAR AS THEY APPREHEND THEMSELVES TO STAND IN RELATION TO WHATEVER THEY MAY CONSIDER THE DIVINE.

Defining religion. Religion, at its core, is about the individual's feelings, actions, and experiences in solitude, relating to what they consider divine. This definition intentionally excludes institutional aspects like churches, rituals, and theologies, focusing instead on the direct, personal connection between the individual and the divine. This perspective allows for a broader understanding of religion, encompassing experiences that might not fit neatly into traditional religious frameworks.

The divine is subjective. The term "divine" is broadly defined to include anything that an individual considers godlike, whether it's a concrete deity or an abstract principle. This allows for the inclusion of systems of thought like Buddhism or Emersonianism, which may not explicitly posit a God but still offer a framework for understanding and relating to the ultimate nature of reality. The key is the individual's solemn and grave response to what they perceive as primal and enveloping.

Solemnity is key. Religion is always a serious state of mind, marked by solemnity, gravity, and tenderness. It's not about light irony or heavy grumbling, but about a profound engagement with the universe and one's place within it. This solemnity distinguishes religious experiences from other types of experiences, such as philosophical inquiry or aesthetic appreciation.

2. Two Paths: Healthy-Mindedness vs. The Sick Soul

At bottom the whole concern of both morality and religion is with the manner of our acceptance of the universe.

Acceptance of the universe. Morality and religion both grapple with how we accept the universe, but they differ in their approach. Morality accepts the law of the whole with a heavy heart, while religion embraces it with enthusiasm. This difference in emotional mood is crucial.

Two distinct universes. The healthy-minded approach accepts the universe with cheerful serenity, while the sick-soul approach acknowledges the presence of evil and suffering. These two approaches represent discontinuous psychological universes, each with its own distinct characteristics.

• Healthy-mindedness: Focuses on the positive, minimizes the negative, and emphasizes happiness.
• Sick-soul: Acknowledges the tragic aspects of life, seeks meaning in suffering, and emphasizes the need for redemption.

The need for both. While healthy-mindedness offers a path to happiness and well-being, it can be inadequate in the face of life's inevitable challenges. The sick-soul approach, though more difficult, can provide a deeper understanding of life's significance and a more resilient form of happiness.

3. The Reality of the Unseen: Beyond Sensory Perception

It is as if there were in the human consciousness a sense of reality, a feeling of objective presence, a perception of what we may call "something there," more deep and more general than any of the special and particular "senses" by which the current psychology supposes existent realities to be originally revealed.

Beyond the five senses. Humans possess a sense of reality that goes beyond the five senses, allowing them to perceive and believe in unseen objects and abstract ideas. This sense of reality is fundamental to religious belief, as it allows individuals to feel the presence of the divine even without sensory evidence. This sense of reality is not limited to religious experiences but can also be found in other areas of life, such as art, science, and morality.

Hallucinations and presence. Hallucinations, even imperfect ones, can provide evidence of this underlying sense of reality. People may feel a "presence" in a room without seeing, hearing, or touching anything, demonstrating a sense of something being there that is not tied to the senses. This sense of presence can also be filled with joy, leading to a feeling of ineffable good and the sure knowledge of a mighty person's presence.

The power of abstractions. Abstract ideas, like goodness, beauty, and justice, can also evoke a sense of reality and influence our behavior. These ideas form the background for all our facts, giving meaning and significance to our experiences. We react to these abstractions as if they were concrete beings, seeking them, holding them, hating them, and blessing them.

4. Healthy-Mindedness: The Power of Optimism

The deliberate adoption of an optimistic turn of mind thus makes its entrance into philosophy.

Congenital happiness. Some individuals possess an innate capacity for happiness, refusing to dwell on negative emotions or experiences. This inherent optimism forms the basis of a religion of union with the divine, where God is seen as a giver of freedom and the sting of evil is overcome. These individuals often have a childlike quality, seeing God as the impersonation of kindness and beauty.

Systematic optimism. Healthy-mindedness can also be cultivated through a deliberate and systematic effort to focus on the positive aspects of life. This involves consciously ignoring or minimizing negative experiences and actively seeking out sources of joy and inspiration. This approach is not about denying the existence of evil but about choosing to focus on the good.

Walt Whitman's example. Walt Whitman exemplifies systematic optimism, expelling all contractile elements from his writings and focusing solely on expansive sentiments. He saw all things as divinely good, infecting others with his love of comrades and his gladness for existence. This approach, however, can be seen as voluntary and defiant, lacking the integrity and balance of ancient pagan feeling.

5. The Sick Soul: Embracing Life's Tragic Realities

There must be something solemn, serious, and tender about any attitude which we denominate religious.

The limits of healthy-mindedness. Healthy-mindedness, while valuable, can be inadequate in the face of life's inevitable challenges and tragedies. It may offer a temporary escape from suffering, but it fails to address the deeper questions about the nature of evil and the meaning of existence. This is where the "sick soul" approach comes in, embracing the tragic aspects of life and seeking meaning in suffering.

The tragic view. The sick soul acknowledges the insecurity of natural goods, the failure of every life, and the inevitability of death. This perspective leads to a sense of pessimism and a questioning of the value of earthly pursuits. However, it also opens the door to a deeper understanding of life's significance and the need for a supernatural religion for relief.

Religious melancholy. Religious melancholy is a complex emotion that combines sadness with a sense of purpose and meaning. It's not simply peevishness or complaint but a purging and transformative experience. This type of melancholy can lead to a profound sense of connection to the divine and a willingness to embrace suffering as a path to spiritual growth.

6. Conversion: Unifying the Divided Self

In this state of mind, what we most dreaded has become the habitation of our safety, and the hour of our moral death has turned into our spiritual birthday.

The divided self. The "twice-born" character is marked by inner discord and heterogeneity, a struggle between conflicting impulses and desires. This internal conflict can lead to unhappiness and a sense of being lost or incomplete. The process of conversion involves unifying this divided self, bringing order and harmony to the inner life.

The process of unification. Unification can occur gradually or suddenly, through altered feelings, new powers of action, intellectual insights, or mystical experiences. It brings a sense of relief and freedom, as the individual finds a new centre of personal energy and a more stable sense of self. This process is not limited to religious experiences but can also occur in other areas of life, such as career changes or personal transformations.

Self-surrender. A key element in the unification process is self-surrender, a willingness to let go of control and trust in a higher power. This involves relinquishing the will to assert oneself and embracing a state of passivity and receptivity. In this state, what was once dreaded becomes a source of safety, and the hour of moral death turns into a spiritual birthday.

7. Saintliness: The Fruits of a Transformed Life

When the outward battle is lost, and the outer world disowns him, it redeems and vivifies an interior world which otherwise would be an empty waste.

Characteristics of saintliness. Saintliness is marked by a sense of connection to a higher power, self-surrender, elation, and a shift towards loving and harmonious affections. These inner conditions lead to practical consequences, such as asceticism, strength of soul, purity of life, and charity. Saintly individuals are often seen as eccentric or extreme, but their lives serve as a testament to the transformative power of religious experience.

Testing saintliness. The value of saintliness must be tested by the human value of its fruits, as well as the reality of the God it serves. "Unfit" religions are eliminated by "experience," and corruption often follows success. Extravagances, such as fanaticism, theopathic absorption, excessive purity, and excessive charity, can also undermine the value of saintliness.

The saint's role. Saints are leavens, and excesses of asceticism symbolically stand for the heroic life. They serve a social function, and their character must be considered in relation to their environment. While the saint is abstractly the highest type, they may fail in the present environment, so we make ourselves saints at our peril.

8. Mysticism: Experiencing Union with the Absolute

In the religious consciousness, that is just the position in which the fiend, the negative or tragic principle, is found; and for that very reason the religious consciousness is so rich from the emotional point of view.

Defining mysticism. Mysticism is defined by four key marks: ineffability, noetic quality, transiency, and passivity. Mystical states defy expression, offer insights into truth, are fleeting, and involve a sense of being grasped by a higher power. These states form a distinct region of consciousness, separate from ordinary rational thought.

Examples of mystical states. Mystical experiences can range from simple feelings of significance to profound states of union with the Absolute. They can be triggered by various stimuli, including nature, music, and even intoxicants. These experiences often involve a sense of timelessness, spacelessness, and the dissolution of the self.

The value of mysticism. Mystical states carry authority for those who experience them, but not for others. They break down the exclusive authority of rationalistic states and strengthen monistic and optimistic hypotheses. Mysticism offers a unique perspective on reality, challenging the limitations of ordinary consciousness.

9. Philosophy's Role: Interpreting Religious Experience

Immediate luminousness, in short, philosophical reasonableness, and moral helpfulness are the only available criteria.

Primacy of feeling. Feeling plays a primary role in religion, while philosophy serves as a secondary function. Intellectualism seeks objective standards in theological constructions, but "pragmatism" tests the value of conceptions. God's metaphysical attributes have no practical significance, and his moral attributes are proved by bad arguments, leading to the collapse of systematic theology.

Transcendental idealism. Transcendental idealism restates religious experience but is uncoercive as reasoned proof. Philosophy can transform itself into a "science of religions," offering a new perspective on religious phenomena. This approach emphasizes the importance of understanding the aesthetic elements in religion, such as sacrifice, confession, and prayer.

Religion and the subconscious. Religion holds that spiritual work is really effected in prayer, with varying degrees of opinion as to what is effected. Automatisms are frequent among religious leaders, and religion is closely connected to the subconscious region in general. Ultimately, religion is a biological reaction, with its simplest terms being an uneasiness and a deliverance.

Last updated: March 14, 2025