There is one particular state of consciousness that can change your life forever.
This holy moment can only be described as “ecstatic” in that your connection to life expands significantly.
In this profound state of being, you feel that life is full of beauty and sacredness – yet this feeling is not subjective, but is instead an objective phenomenon that is outside your personal self.
Theologian Rudolf Otto called this experience “numinosum.” But in this article, we’ll refer to it as the mystical experience.
All throughout history, the mystical experience has been referred to as a “religious” or spiritual experience, where the few mystics that recorded their experiences reported it as a rapturous and undifferentiated sense of profound Unity with all of existence.
There have been many descriptions of the mystical experience throughout the ages. A few of my favorites are firstly the ancient Greek word and mystical Christian concept of Kenosis, or divine emptying. Such an intriguing word has been used for centuries to describe the state of divine receptivity that closely mimics what it’s like to have a mystical experience.
In psychology, the closest terms that capture this mysterious state of being are Abraham Maslow’s description of “Peak Experiences,” and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of “flow.”
And in nature-orientated cultures like the Australian Aborigines, mystical experiences have been referred to as “Dadirri” – or the deep listening emerging from silent and still awareness.
But in layman’s terms, what is the mystical experience? And of what relevance does it have to the spiritual awakening journey that so many of us are undergoing?
Table of contents
What is a Mystical Experience?
What is a mystical experience? In essence, the mystical experience is a state of being in which the personal ego (or separate sense of self) merges back into the Divine Self, also known as Source, Consciousness, God, Nondual Awareness, Brahman, or Nirvana.
A few other synonyms of the mystical experience are the Buddhist concept of Satori, the Kundalini awakening, as well as the Western notion of Self-Transcendence and the transpersonal experience.
Mystical experiences are temporary glimpses into our most sacred True Nature.
Those who undergo mystical experiences often describe feelings of bliss, ecstasy, unconditional love, interconnectedness, and Oneness with all things.
The Candle in the Dark (What a Mystical Experience Feels Like)
Perhaps the best way to elaborate the mystical experience might be with an allegory. The ancient Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedanta has an interesting one:
Imagine that you are in a completely dark room. You’ve been told that in this room lives a very large snake. As you sit in the room, you can see its silhouette and you feel great fear as you contemplate the potential for it to bite you at any moment. But one day there is a flash of light which illuminates the room and you see that what looked like a snake was, in reality, a rope. Although the flash of light was momentary, it gave you a glimpse of the truth. All of a sudden your long-held fear vanished entirely, and your experience of the room was never the same ever again.
This is what a mystical experience feels like: it is like a flash of truth that releases you from your limited sense of self and gives you a taste of a reality that somehow feels more real.
Ancient Greek philosopher Plato once recounted a similar allegory from his teacher Socrates, which described what the mystical experience feels like and how it impacts one’s life. Below, I’ve loosely paraphrased his intriguing thought-experiment:
Suppose that you’ve been kept chained in a cave all your life. Behind you blazes a fire, and next to you sit a row of other prisoners. All that you and the prisoners know of life is the experience of watching the shadows dancing on the opposite wall to you, and the shared interpretations of what you see. However, by chance one day, one of the prisoner’s chains breaks, and he escapes into the outside world. At first, he is confused, overwhelmed, scared, but he also feels an immense sense of expansion, awe, and bliss. He is aware that he is experiencing a larger, more complete and absorbing reality than what he could see within the cave. His natural instinct is to return to liberate his fellow men, but after struggling back into the world of darkness and shadows, his attempt to enlighten his companions is met with ridicule and incredulity as they accuse him of being crazy.
To some degree, we are all prisoners in the cave of our past experiences. Any mental worldview becomes a cave the moment it is taken for “absolute reality.”
9 Characteristics of the Mystical Experience
There are moments of oneness with the Beloved, absolutely ecstasy and bliss. That is nothingness. And this nothingness loves you, responds to you, fulfils you utterly and yet there is nothing there. You flow out like a river without diminishing. This is the great mystical experience, the great ecstasy.
– Irina Tweedie, Sufi & teacher
Every person’s mystical experience varies in length and intensity. However, there are a series of characteristics that almost all people who glimpse the Divine share.
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If you’re curious to know whether or not you’ve had a mystical experience, you can read the nine characteristics that I’ve defined below:
1. Conscious Unity
The boundaries of where you perceive your individual identity to begin and end completely vanish (otherwise known as ego death). Instead, you’re left with a boundless and infinite union with all that is around you.
2. There is No Time or Space
With a lack of a definable identity or spatial recognition, your sense of time feels infinite. You go from perceiving time from moment-to-moment as a static individual, to perceiving it as a stream of eternal present moments.
Without time, space is endless.
Because your sense of identity is gone, your ability to separate “your” (now non-existent) surroundings into individual “spatial” elements also disappears.
3. Objective Reality
Without a discernible identity comes a sense of greater “objectivity” as though you’re experiencing a much more intricate and profound reality. Everything doesn’t just feel perfect, everything is innately perfect.
4. Gratitude
Most of your ecstatic feelings stem from an immense sense of gratitude. This gratitude is an overwhelming sense of awe at “your” (now non-existent) insignificance in comparison to the vastness of existence.
5. Life is Seen as Sacred
Your sense of gratitude is so vast that you feel almost undeserving of having the opportunity to experience such a miracle. You develop a new sense of respect for the sacredness of life that allows you to be here.
6. You Understand the Nature of Paradox
Normally, our sense of egoic self creates a duality in our perception of reality (i.e., “I” am separate from “That”). However, the moment this separation disappears, you’re left with a non-dual reality in which your intellect finds paradox after paradox (e.g., something is both light/dark, here/absent, human/divine, limited/eternal, beautiful/ugly, etc.). In truly understanding the nature of paradox and how it permeates all of reality, you experience mind-blowing realizations and expansive breakthroughs.
7. The Experience is Indescribable
The overwhelming magnitude of emotions and intuitive understanding that you embody makes the attempt to even describe the mystical experience feel limited by language. To try and put words to such a reality feels insulting to the depth of the experience.
8. The Experience is Temporary
The very nature of the mystical experience (experience being the keyword here), is its transience. Eventually, you end up returning back to your habitual way of life, but the experience changes something deep inside of you.
9. The Experience is Life-Changing
After experiencing such a state of ineffable Divine Truth, suddenly death isn’t as scary as it used to be, and the beliefs or ambitions that you once held to be so important often tend to lose their meaning. In fact, the mystical experience often awakens a deep thirst to try to integrate as much of that experience back into one’s regular day-to-day life as possible. And so begins (or deepens) the spiritual awakening process.
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The Mystical Experience is Only a Taste
There’s a useful term in the Christian doctrine known as “Grace.” This word basically means that we receive mercy and love from the Divine because it wants us to have it, not because we have done anything to deserve it.
Many people confuse having a mystical or spiritual experience with cultivating a spiritual life. It’s common to think that we can somehow “earn” or “manifest” such profound glimpses into the Divine, when in reality, such experiences are brought about by grace.
Furthermore, our appreciation of such profound experiences is directly proportionate to our development of spiritual maturity.
If the grace of a mystical experience is given to a 10-year-old child, they will no doubt enjoy the experience. But the degree in which they absorb it will be much less compared to someone who has undergone maturation – or the deep exploration of their psyche and the ability to live life from the seat of their Soul.
For the child, the mystical experience will be a great experience that will eventually fade and become a distant memory. But for an adult who has dedicated their life to cultivating spiritual maturity, to “tilling the soil of the Soul,” this experience becomes the seed that is prepared to blossom.
Indeed, such an experience might be the very tipping point that leads to the ultimate spiritual awakening – also known as Enlightenment or Illumination – or the permanent shift in consciousness from the individual ego to the Infinite Higher Self.
Inner Work & Soul Work
Experiencing spiritual liberation as the goal of the spiritual path is precisely why practicing inner work (i.e., self-love, inner child, and shadow work) and soul work (i.e., surrender, disidentification with the ego, stillness) are so essential to committing to the journey of spiritual awakening.
Without removing the blockages that obscure our Inner Light, mystical experiences have no deep or long-lasting impact on us.
In other words, such experiences just become extravagant rendezvous with no real substance.
But by learning to integrate the profound realizations that we’ve been given access to, we can experience true and long-lasting transformation. Slowly and steadily, we begin to taste the essence of Eternity.
Have you ever had a mystical experience? What was it like? I’d love to hear about it below!
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I have been drawn to the moon since I was a child. It gives me comfort. As I sat on the steps of the porch, under the full moon, I become one with the moon, or so it felt. It was a if the moonlight wrapped its arms around me and held me. I’ve never felt so much love and compassion. I felt so different for quite awhile, but have since, lost the feeling. I know I have several blockages. I would love to feel it once again. I want to be a light to everyone. I feel I’m surrounded by negative forces as I strive for positivity. I have been following you guys for at least 9yrs. I wish I could sit down with you both!
After a long period of living through the dark night of the soul I was given a spiritual awakening. I have been a seeker since I was 17 years old. But this experience was directly preceeded by atheism, angry atheism, to be precise. I had began to feel a tug at my heart and the universe began to hold a speck of meaning to me again. I was still far from open to anything to do with God. I went out early to walk the dogs and the experience came on instantly and lasted for the day. There is a verse in the Bible, “whom the son sets free is free indeed” this is a good way to sum it up. I was free of everything that I believed about myself and the universe. I was free from all judgements, criticisms, and negativity. Suddenly I had perfect faith, peace, and love. I loved all and everything. I understood that I am others and others are me. The feeling of love and complete, unrelenting, all consuming acceptance gave me a new understanding of reality. I am changed. I left my contracting business and began working at a job that helps homeless… Read more »
I have been drinking alcohol on the quiet, by myself for about 5 years. I was so desperate to stop but couldn’t and managed to live two lives. My life with my family and my sneaky drinking. I was so distraught by my addiction and desperate to stop but felt trapped by the voice in my head telling me, encouraging me to sneak a drink. One night I found myself in such mental torture and desperation that I asked infinite spirit to help me, I heard this voice tell me to surrender (I supposed to it). It was like lancing a boil. The most wonderful feeling came over me. I have no desire to drink, the voice is gone, rather than just silenced, hopefully. I am so grateful. Honestly, the lingering feeling of relief and thankfulness is a wonder. Please don’t let it come back ever.
I think one thing to warn people about a mystical experience is that it can be dangerous sometimes, not because there’s any paranormal dangers involved, but often having your first mystical experience leaves people overly confident about how spiritually aware you are. It’s almost like you’re high or drunk, but better and without the side effects, but that feeling of ecstasy is not necessarily a sign of wisdom or the wise judgment that comes along with it in making decisions. Often one mystical experience is not enough to make you enlightened, though some seem to say it happens in rare circumstances. Even then, being enlightened doesn’t make you all knowing, all loving, and all powerful, necessarily. Perhaps you know more, love more, and are even more powerful than others. Regardless, you are never going to be omniscient (all knowing), omnibenevolent (all loving), and omnipotent (all powerful) as God will ever be. Keep this in mind, because usually the darkest, most violent, and the worst cults come from someone who became too overconfident with their first mystical experience. It’s nice to experience, but know it doesn’t make you any more special than anyone else. If that insults you, then obviously one… Read more »
I had asked a question about having more than one awakening and here I find this. It answers so many of my questions. Thank you so much for this article.
I had a mystic experience when I was around 8-10 years old. I was playing/wandering in the backyard of my childhood home, which faces a large meadow and beyond the meadow, a fairly short treeline that begins a small plot of forest. It was kind of breezy that day, and out of nowhere, it felt as though the wind itself was calling to me. It seemed like there was just a very long gust of wind as I stared out into the trees/meadow, entranced. I walked almost to the end of our yard and stood there for a minute or two but it felt like an eternity. The wind wasn’t speaking to me, but it communicated a feeling that was both terrifying and comforting, a sense of unity and separation: I am me, an incredible and miraculous creation, and also not unique at all, one with the universe and everything in it. I felt a strong connection to the natural world around me, and a magnetic-like pull toward the life around me. It was like I could have been absorbed into my surroundings, like I could have just melted into the ground and the plants and animals and air around… Read more »
I experienced something which I really can’t explain. I was going through a grieving process, having lost a very special friend, when I woke up one morning. I felt full of joy, and the world around me appeared to be be clearer than 3D. I also knew that there had been a fundamental change within me. I realised that all the pain, guilt and bitterness that I’d borne regarding my Father’s treatment of me as a child had gone. I had been granted forgiveness. I hadn’t knowingly forgiven my Dad, it had simply happened to me. Synchronicity and ‘knowing’ were also part of my experience for nearly three months, then the feeling of joy slowly faded, and life became more ‘ordinary’, but I was fundamentally changed. I feel a deep gratitude for the simplest things in life, and have come to realise that much of the ‘stuff’ that I have surrounded myself with is unnecessary. I truly believe that nothing happens by chance, and even experience which we consider negative have a purpose. This is a fascinating journey, and despite the ‘downs’, I am eager to learn where it will lead.
I have had more than one mystical experience, and they have have had different characteristics. Which I understand today. It feels as if I have had tastes or bites of an infinite world in which all sorts of different experiences is included. As if the mystical experience, is not one thing and not one specific experience, but all experience att once. And as if at the same time, it is possible to focus on one specific experience if that is necessary. I dont understand how this can be. I dont know even how to properly explain it. However I can say that love, boundless infinite love like being in a womb, is inside of the infinite dream. And that at the same time, being outside being in a experience of layer upon layer. And pockets inside of a wider more encompassing sphere, is Also possible. Further more Mystical experience also include some kind of stillness and empty flowing of time that is hard to put into words. However, how does ordinary life and meaning to live fit into this I dont know. I havent had a mystical experience that I would say is ordinary. Somehow I feel ordinary life has… Read more »
I didn’t realize that some of my experiences could be considered mystical. I started having real conversations with GOD for the first time in my life. It was the first time in my life that I was able to spend a lot of time being still and in spiritual meditation. I asked Him to help me understand what does it mean that He is love. Just couldn’t grasp what it truly meant. Some time later. I had the most amazing spiritual experience of my life. I was standing in church singing and all of a sudden I felt an overwhelming sense of love surround me. It was like a glimmer into what it’s like to be in heaven. I wanted the experience to last forever. I had never experienced supernatural love, joy, and peace. I was in complete awe. My husband was standing next to me and asked if he could feel it. He had no clue. It was a miraculous experience. I wish I could talk to someone who has had similar experiences but so far haven’t met anyone. I have only shared this experience with my closest friends.