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 joyful Unity with all of existence.
In a previous article, I wrote about the experience of “Kenosis,” a word coined by Christian mystics to describe the state of “divine flowing,” and this closely mimics what it is like to have a mystical experience. In psychology the closest term that captures this mysterious state of being is Abraham Maslow’s description of “Peak Experiences,” and in nature-orientated cultures like the Australian Aborigines, mystical experiences have been called “Dadirri.”
Table of contents
What is a Mystical Experience?
In essence, the mystical experience is a state of being in which the personal ego (or mortal sense of self) merges with the Divine, which is limitless and infinite. Mystical experiences are temporary glimpses into our most sacred and ancient home of Consciousness. Those who undergo mystical experiences often describe feelings of bliss, ecstasy, unconditional love, interconnectedness, and Oneness with all things.
The Candle in the Dark
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.
Plato recounts that Socrates had a similar allegory regarding the mystical experience. This is a loose paraphrase of his thought-experiement:
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 worldview becomes a cave the moment it is taken for reality.
9 Characteristics of the Mystical Experience
Every person’s mystical experience varies in length and intensity. Have you had a mystical experience? Here are a few defining characteristics:
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
In fact, 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 Paradox
Our sense of self or identity creates duality in our perception of reality (“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). In truly understanding paradox, you experience mind-blowing and expansive realizations.
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 it feels insulting to the depth of the experience.
8. The Experience Is Temporary
The very nature of a mystical experience is its transience. Eventually, you end up returning back to your habitual way of life, but the experience changes something deep inside.
9. The Experience Is Life-Changing
After experiencing such a state, suddenly death isn’t as scary as it used to be, and the beliefs or ambitions that you once held to be so important immediately lose their meaning. In fact, the mystical experience often awakens a thirst to try to bring as much of that experience back into our regular day-to-day lives 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/spiritual experience with actually cultivating a spiritual life. To me, however, these experiences are brought by grace, and our appreciation of them is directly proportionate to our development of soulful 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.
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For the child, it will be a great experience that will eventually fade and become a distant memory. But for the man or woman who has dedicated his/her life to cultivating soulful maturity, to tilling the soil of the soul, this experience becomes the seed that is prepared to blossom. This 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 Self.
Inner Work
Experiencing spiritual liberation as the goal of the spiritual path is precisely why practicing inner work and committing to the journey of soulful maturity are so crucial.
Without removing the blockages that obscure the Light of our Souls, mystical experiences have no deep or long-lasting impact on us. In other words, they just become extravagant experiences with no real substance. But by learning to integrate the profound realizations that we’ve had access to, we can experience true, long-lasting transformation. Slowly and steadily, we begin to taste the essence of eternity.
Are you interested in learning how to integrate your mystical experience? See our inner work article for more guidance on how to begin this spiritual path.
Have you ever had a mystical experience? What was it like? I’d love to hear about it below!
recently while on mushrooms, I experienced what can only be accurately described as ego death. I say “ego death” because that’s definitely what happened – and because I cannot say with 100% certainty that I actually died, even though that is what I perceived to have happened. I can’t say that I died physically because here I am, alive and well. I have no proof that I actually died, aside from a clue that was left behind, which I will share a little bit later on.
so I decided, for reasons I will not share, to eat some mushrooms all by myself. but it was 5:30 am or something like that, and I was tired, and cold, and outside, and it was December. so I went inside to lay down next to my man, who was already asleep, so that I could get warm. I fell asleep before I felt any effects from the mushrooms, and forgot that I had even eaten them.
then I became aware that I wanted to wake up, but I couldn’t. my awareness was awake, so to speak, but I could not get my body to function as if it were awake. I could barely move and even breathing was difficult. I struggled for a while to move and breathe, and could only summon my body to do what would amount to slow and gradual tossing, turning, and I could only make a noise that might sound to an outside observer much like snoring. at the time I found this quite curious, because it looked practically identical to what my boyfriend was doing right beside me – only he was sleeping, and I was struggling to awaken. then it became obvious to me that I was no longer struggling to wake up, but I was struggling for my life, as it became more and more difficult to breathe and I reached a point where I couldn’t move at all.
it occurred to me then that I had eaten mushrooms, and I could feel the effects – having taken them multiple times before – only this time was different. so I tried to convince myself that nothing was really happening at all, it was just mushrooms, and I’d be okay. but that did not do anything to help me breathe or move. I didn’t panic, my awareness remained calm and I just observed. I thought maybe I should reach out and try to wake my boyfriend so that he could talk me through it. but I couldn’t move my arms to touch him, even though he was only inches away.
I tried to call out to him but no sound came out. my breath now was beginning to fail completely. I would gasp a breath, and a long period would occur before another labored breath could be inhaled. every breath was shallow and slow and far between.
eventually I came to the conclusion that I was dying, and there was nothing I could do about it. no amount of effort or desire would help me, and even though I was right next to the person I loved, I couldn’t tell him what was happening. death was total and undeniable, and fractions of a second away. I was completely powerless to stop it. so I thought, “okay, this is it, there’s nothing I can do,” and I let go. my last weak breath seeped slowly from my lungs and didn’t return. and I lay, perfectly still and not breathing for I don’t know how long. I felt nothing. nothing at all. I had no thoughts.
I don’t know how much time passed while I laid there dead. but then a strange thing happened; breath came into me, but not through my mouth or nose into my lungs; the breath came from outside of me. I was laying on my stomach mostly, with my head to the side. the breath seemed to come from above me, and from outside my body, and went into the core of me, but not necessarily into my lungs. but that didn’t seem to matter, because the breath allowed me to move again. and I realized, i didn’t need my lungs to breathe. this gift of life which animated my body wasn’t dependent on my body at all; and it originated from somewhere else.
I sat up. I looked around the room. everything was the same as it was before, but I was perceiving differently. the heaviness that we take for granted as normal life in a meat suit wasn’t upon me anymore. the feelings that we associate with being ourselves, in our bodies, I couldn’t sense anymore. but I could sense so many things besides. I heard birds outside the window, saw the light from outside peering in from behind the curtain. I could still feel the effects of the mushrooms, but instead of coloring the entirety of my vision and sense perception, like they normally do, it’s like those effects were pushed off of me, and were hanging loosely in my peripherals. I was aware of the existence of those effects, but I had removed them, like you’d remove an item of clothing, and tossed them to the side.
I didn’t think at all. the framework of my mind as I had always known it, was non-existent. there were no words or running narrative or anything at all to ocuppy my mind. there was only a perfectly alert, calm, awareness. but even that description doesn’t quite fit. when one says, someone is alert, it’s like the person has put on the quality of alertness – as if it’s something they choose and then do or be like.
but this alertness I’m trying to
describe was more like alertness and me were one and the same thing. and it was so natural like there was no opposite of it – no ability to be otherwise. alertness was what I was, only there was no thought of it. it just was. and even the sense of me, I, myself, my body, was gone, but it didn’t feel like anything was missing. it was the most natural and free state of existence, but more so than words can describe. then I began to think, on purpose.
I thought, “this is who I am.” and I felt so – I can’t really find the word to describe the emotion – but I felt like most people don’t know who they are. we don’t know the burdens that we’re carrying around with us, day in and day out, and how heavy it is to live that way; and how unnecessary. how could we know what heaviness is, if we’ve never felt how not-heavy real life is? no one could possibly know, and what a shame that is to not know. and I felt the need to tell everyone that if they just take off, everything they aren’t, how free it is to be who they really are. and it was the most free I have ever felt.
the way I remember it now, I like to use an analogy to describe it and even that isn’t fitting because no words can describe it. that was a huge “aha” moment for me in this experience too, because later it became quite apparent that no words can describe anything really. anyway, the analogy I like to use is of a cat. or, what I imagine its like to be a cat. perfectly at rest, but also perfectly capable of pouncing at any moment. senses keen, tuned in, aware of the slightest change in the environment but perfectly attuned to it. no sense of worry or thoughts about the past or future. just a knowingness that you could leap right up at any moment with a precision, an accuracy, and with a coordination between your will and your body like you’ve never known before – except without the concept of “before.” and there was a sense of playful curiosity about everything, only that sense wasn’t a sense, it is you. it felt amazing, and weightless. nothing could bother you or trouble you at all.at some point I reached up and touched my face, and was surprised to find that it was wet. not just my face but my hair too all along the side of my head. and I was puzzled for a second then remembered, that I died. and the remnants of those tears were the only clue that remained of that. if I hadn’t felt my tears on my face I might’ve forgotten about dying altogether. but when I touched them, it all came back to mind. I remembered struggling for breath, and wanting to reach out and say something – anything – to my lover, but I couldn’t. and I remembered the powerlessness, of being so close but so far removed from him. and the tremendous grief I felt, knowing I couldn’t say goodbye to those I loved. and I remembered the feelings of loss and sadness that overcame me as I lay there dying. that’s why I had been crying.
so I looked over and saw my man still there sleeping and was trying to decide if I should wake him. I thought, “how could he sleep when being awake is so much more than anything he could ever imagine?” and then it occurred to me, that he has experienced this before – exactly what I was experiencing. I know because he’s told me. and I was almost angry at this realization, thinking, “how could he pretend that he hasn’t known this?! how could he go back to the way things were after knowing this!!? why is he pretending that this – who we really are – isn’t the most beautiful and amazing way to be? did he forget? how could anyone ever forget?! and who would knowingly choose to live like that, when they could live like this instead?” because I knew, no one would.
so I shook him awake and said, “darling, I died.” and half asleep, he said to me, “no, you didn’t.” and shocked at his lack of concern for his woman just having died, I became a little upset. I said, “no really, I did!” and he said, “well it must have been a dream, because you’re fine now.” and that really upset me because I was sure that of all the people I knew, he would be able to understand, and he would be the most interested in hearing about everything I wanted to share, and I also knew he would believe me. so I was quite surprised that it didn’t seem to be going that way. so I became more insisting.
but because there really isn’t any everyday words or language I could use to describe my truly transcendant experience, and because I was still perceiving things from an altered state of existence, and because he was still half alseep, I just sounded like a mad woman speaking nonsense and becoming angry for no apparent reason. and he had no idea what was happening. I said, “you know what I’m talking about, quit pretending! quit sleeping! how dare you walk around like you don’t know what this is! you know who you are and you keep acting like you’re asleep” – or something to that effect – and he just thought I had lost my damn mind.
it wasn’t ’til later on that I could find a way to really explain what had
happened, and of course he understood and knew exactly what had happened to me. he’s the one who told me that it was ego death that I had experienced and that I probably didn’t really die. but before we had had that conversation, my ego slowly returned and I found that I could not remain in that perfect and natural state of being.
I’m still convinced however, that that is what we really are, and if we can just take this meat suit off, everything will be right again. and I’m not completely convinced that I didn’t actually die, but I may never know for sure. and maybe I had to experience a sort of physical death, or at least the illusion of it, to experience ego death because I was so identified – so convinced – that my body and my ego was me. or maybe my experience was simply the result of the things I read and ponder daily. perhaps that is what ultimately led to my ego’s demise – however temporary – like this quote from Eckhart Tolle:
“The secret to life is to die before you die and find that there is no death.”
Exactly as you described, a bit challenging to integrate. The thing that wowed me the most was the paradox!!! It also gave me a hint towards what my soul actually wants versus what I think it wants which is more of an experience than a particular circumstance. It was completely magical colors were different everything felt absolutely divine sublime blissful.
It’s what caused my spiritual awakening. My daughter broke both elbows and I made eye contact with the doctor that was treating her. It felt like there was a flash or a light and that I had left my body. Time stopped. When I came back to my body, I was filled with ecstasy. Filled with a joy and a happiness that I had never felt before. I knew then. I knew that everything that I thought that I knew about life was a lie. I knew that there is no death. I don’t know what it was about the doctor that triggered it, but I’m so grateful to be where I am today. I’m not asleep anymore.
Thank you for sharing Julie. Sometimes it takes a crisis like this to really ‘breakthrough’ beyond the defenses of the mind. These glimpses are a wonderful invitation to lifelong work of embodying them. :)
I wasn’t spiritual even tho I grew up in church I was bothered by the hypocrisy of the institution and it pushed me to believe only what was “real” and I removed myself from any talk of anything related to the subject and adopted the family view of your value is your work ethic whole heartedly. 80 hours a week had kids, a home and car. Then it happened I had my first mystical experience, everything was in union even the things I didn’t understand before honestly I only remember the feeling now but my wife said I scared her with my talk of “I see it now, everything is one thing!” Honestly it worried me too at the time. I shook it off like a bad trip or something but the feeling stuck I had a few more similar experiences. Where these heavy revaluations tore at my old life. I lost the ability to live my old life. My very identity that I chosen over a lifetime was not the rock I thought it to be. I’m glad I had kids young and they don’t depend on me because I am different now. My wife and I split not out of anger but because I wasn’t who she married. Don’t feel sad, I wasn’t that man. No furrowed brow of a man with worldly worry. I wasn’t invested in political party’s or views that were so important before. I gave my wife everything. I am what most would call a hobo or a tramp now. I travel the Ohio and Mississippi river on my kayak and tent enjoying the gift of experience. Sometimes people I talk to have the look on saying “crazy bum” but honestly I feel better than I ever did. God(for lack of a better word because I fear religious study will cloud my eye) speaks in silence My hate and fear gone in understanding. I still have rough times but its OK because without the “bad” “good” has no meaning. Honestly what was undesirable was mostly taught to me and I accepted it as truth. Truth is subjective and as fluid as everything is. Maybe I am crazy maybe I’ll drown or starve but nothing is inherently wrong with those fates. I’m only one nerve ending of the universe that is finding its way as I am. Even as I feel separated from the ideals of my peers I love them more than ever and even love those in disagreement because without their view mine would be gone too. Sorry if I rambled thank you for letting me share here. I still miss the mutual connection felt when united in a common earthly goal with another person even tho Im a vagrant to them I have the feeling they are as much me as I am them somehow.
Around October of last year something unexplainable happened to me one night. Months prior I was in a real deep depression that I haven’t felt since the experiance. I was so deep into this depression that I felt I couldn’t take it anymore. I no longer wanted to live. I knew I was in deep shit because you see I have two beautiful daughters that for a while they were the only motivation for not ending my life, but that motivation was vanishing from within me. I knew and felt in my heart that I had to do something. The night of the experiance I remember I was sitting on the edge of my bed and I was staring at myself in the mirror. I remember looking at myself and feeling disgusted at what I was looking at, my reflexion. I remember feeling overwhelmed with anger, saddness, and most of all hopeless. So I started to pray as I was crying uncontrollably. I honestly think I’ve never ever asked for something with my whole heart in prayer. I prayed to God to take away the feeling of no longer wanting to live. I felt like I had hit rock bottom and that if He didn’t help then nothing else could help me. so I prayed and I prayed, then I started to hear a voice in my head. It was a man’s voice. The voice told me that I was going to be ok. He told me not to give up otherwise I would leave behind the two most beautiful gifts I’ve recieved, my daughters. He told me to hug myself and as I did I felt is unexplicable feeling of warmth and joy that I’ve never felt before. I felt that sense of oneness that I have heard of before, but didn’t really understand until that day. He also told me he was going to cure me which at that time I thought He meant something else because I was sick with the flu, and I thought He was talking about that, but now I know that it was my depression and suicidal thoughts I was having. Sometimes I do question whether if it was God, or if it was my soul or spirit talking to me, but I do know that it was changed my life for the better.
I feel that the soul you speak of and god are one in the same. Take it for what its worth to you I don’t have anything to go on but my deep reflection on the subject. We all are the center of the universe and we all feel we are “me” or “I” but when really examined who we think we are is a collection of things we were taught wasn’t us. Don’t take gods hobby serious, you are a song from god sad parts and all so write the lyrics with your heart.
I had, as now I understand, a mystical experience during an osteopathic session. For a brief moment of time I felt overwhelming powerful joy, happiness, nothing I’ve ever experienced before! These emotions took over me! I felt completely submerged in light and joyful vibrations. It lasted for a couple of moments. After this session I felt an overpowering desire to stand on the ground. Once grounded I went into shaking, crying, trembling for about an hour. I felt light years lighter afterwards. Can’t stop thinking about this JOY I felt! I am so driven to feel this again! Anyone? How do I do this on my own? Or is this my ego that wants it to happen again?
Thanks T for sharing that powerful experience. Sometimes we’re fortunate to receive a ‘calling’ toward the mystery in such a visual and intense way. As you point out, the ego craves the intensity of joy that comes with this, but ultimately even joy is a passing quality. Nobody resides in joy all the time.
The key is to see this as an invitation, toward this journey. There’s an underlying element within joy, which is the freedom and liberation of our constricted ‘ego selves’. That is something we can work towards freeing ourselves from, slowly, and gently.
I hope that helps :)
Look inward not out. The more you give it the more you will have. The more you hang on or compare the experience the further it gets. I don’t mean to sound cryptic but that’s the nature of everything. Can’t see the forest for the trees deal.
I experienced this for the 3 days following the beginning of my dark nights. It was the most exhilarating experience I have ever gone through. I was like I was walking on water and I felt higher than any drug had ever made me feel. My body was actually vibrating. I Know that I was sad when it went away but if that’s what being fully enlightened feels like I can not wait to get there.
I felt it for 3 or 4 days too back in December. I am currently going through Dark Night I think. I am trying to figure it all out. I keep praying and going to the Bible.
Thank you for this information. This is exactly what I’ve been feeling and what I’ve felt directly since my reiki attunements. I’ve always senced oneness but reiki gave me the opportunity to actually experience it first hand.
That’s wonderful, I’ve heard of great experiences with Reiki so it’s definitely another approach.
Ni8
I loved your article, I think it help me find clarity in a recent experience. I think I’ve been going through a spirtual awakening for the past year or so. Well a couple nights ago I was at a friends home or has been experiencing a lot of the same things as I have. Well we were sitting in the dark trying to make since of some shadows and flashes of light we were both seeing , and all of a sudden it was like I went to the this other place. It was beautiful, I could feel the warmth of the sunshine (it’s Feb ) , smell wonderful floral scents and I had this overwhelming feeling of absolute freedom and pure joy. I was standing when I had this experience, and when I came back into reality I was still standing in the same spot but had dropped the items I was holding in my hands, and suddenly felt this electrical sensation race down my arm to my hand… J have no one else to talk to about these things, my family only sees the world in black and white, they don’t see nor understand the grey areas like I do. I’m the black sheep., I’m almost 43 yrs old and I’m still the loner that I’ve always been. I don’t have anyone to talk to about this stuff. Can someone please give me some advice?
Dear Jessica,
Thank you for sharing your experience, it sounds like a beautiful journey.
My advice is to use the experience as an initiation. I think too many people have these types of mystical experiences and either ignore them as just some random event, or become thirsty for pursuing more of them. I treat mystical experiences like an ‘initiation’, it’s an invitation to pursue further the deeper questions behind the experience. An experience like this lets us know the nature of the ‘self’, who we think we are, is much more fluid than our minds and cultural conditioning believe to be. No one can really give you the answer though, this is something that must be pursued directly, as an experience. From meditation, to plant medicine, ecstatic dancing to group discussions on metaphysical topics, these are all ways to get closer to that which this invitation points towards.
There have been several mystical experiences along my journey and it is more than ecstasy, it courses through my body and I’m high off the indescribable feeling of peace, love, perfection all at once washing over and through out me. It’s as though I’m in a deja vu that’s where I’ve always been or at least belonged and there is no time. When I “come back to earth” I feel rejuvenated, I have learned something even though I have difficulties wording this I feel I have grown a little bit more.
Here is another mystical experience when I was in my adolescent years… I experienced my soul separates from my body or what is called,astral travel… It seems as though, I was half awake and half asleep…
I was fully aware of what was happening to the soul that slowly separates from my body… My mind controls the soul where to go and what to do… Till I became fully awake… Pls enlighten me about this experience. Thank you.