What is religious experience?
Religious experiences are common among human beings even though each person describes them with the language of his or her own philosophy or religion. For example, “Jesus (Mohammed, Zeus, Grandfather, etc.) spoke to me.” These experiences occur during meditations and ceremonies, listening to music, and walking in nature. In these moments people experience their vital connection with people, nature, history and future, and their ethical values. When people sense their belonging in this larger context of existence, they may transcend their customary personal and social sense of identity. A religious experience brings a new understanding of past frustrations and illuminates new possibilities. This expanded worldview inspires new options that allow people to reconsider their identity and destiny. When people align their conduct with their new insights and feelings, the religious experience can change their lives. When a person, facing a great challenge or in a dark period of despair, feels
