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difference between types of experiences

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
When I was on borderline between theism and atheism, the question before me was 'what do I do with Gods and Goddesses that I had always revered and my family and fellow Hindus worshiped? Then came a revelation, a brain wave, a eureka moment for me - who is asking you to forget your Gods and Goddesses? You like their stories? You try follow their example in life, continue to do so. You get guidance from stories, Gods and Goddesses too are stories created by your people for this purpose.

So, I happily stepped into the atheist world, without breaking my relation with the Gods and Goddesses and remaining a staunch Hindu. I do not need to worship them, but their examples are always with me and the stories are great fun.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
Personal experiences, are, well personal. If I saw the spirit of my grandmother, no one else knows her, so the mystic experiences become personal

On the other hand, if five people of different faiths and lack thereof say a spirit, thats a universally accepted between all parties if their interpretation of the phenomena are the same. This is different than personal experience because it is universal and anyone can have a similar experience regardless who they are and what they believe.

This is a discussion not a debate
Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences and mystical experiences?

Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences, mystical experiences, spiritual experiences, religious experiences, paranormal experiences, and magical experiences?
@Orbit @Windwalker @FTNZ @well named @George-ananda
 

BSM1

What? Me worry?
This is a discussion not a debate
Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences and mystical experiences?

Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences, mystical experiences, spiritual experiences, religious experiences, paranormal experiences, and magical experiences?
@Orbit @Windwalker @FTNZ @well named @George-ananda


All depends on how much paper you need to clean up the mess afterward.
 

Orbit

I'm a planet
This is a discussion not a debate
Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences and mystical experiences?

Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences, mystical experiences, spiritual experiences, religious experiences, paranormal experiences, and magical experiences?
@Orbit @Windwalker @FTNZ @well named @George-ananda
Well, to be specific, the definition of a mystical experience is when you experience a unity with God, or with the universe if you are a pamtheist. You can interpret that under the general category of religious or spiritual also, depending on your POV.

I associate "paranormal experiences" with ghosts, UFOs etc.
I've never heard the term "magical experience" so I don't know what that is.
"Personal experience" is kind of meaningless, because all experiences are personal.
 

Rick O'Shez

Irishman bouncing off walls
On the other hand, if five people of different faiths and lack thereof say a spirit, thats a universally accepted between all parties if their interpretation of the phenomena are the same. This is different than personal experience because it is universal and anyone can have a similar experience regardless who they are and what they believe.

But everyone brings their personal beliefs to these experiences, and the language people use is significant. As an example, I have some Quaker friends and sometimes sit with them doing "silent worship". Some of them have a meditative approach to silent worship, and will talk in terms of experiencing "the God within". I suspect that they are having much the same experience as I do in Buddhist meditation, but using different language to describe it.
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences, mystical experiences, spiritual experiences, religious experiences, paranormal experiences, and magical experiences?
Well, these are all personal experiences. What exactly are you meaning to ask by differentiating mystical, spiritual, etc, from "personal"? How are you defining personal experience as distinctly different for personal mystical experiences, and so forth? What do you mean by personal?
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
But everyone brings their personal beliefs to these experiences, and the language people use is significant. As an example, I have some Quaker friends and sometimes sit with them doing "silent worship". Some of them have a meditative approach to silent worship, and will talk in terms of experiencing "the God within". I suspect that they are having much the same experience as I do in Buddhist meditation, but using different language to describe it.
True. If Jung is indeed correct, wouldnt that experience you are all taping into whether it is called "God within" or the "Buddha within" (how Id describe it) be the same: hence, you guys are touching in to a universal consciousness shares by all participants in silent worship?

Also, I agree. We need a concrete definition of what the OP means by consciousness and it being universal.
 

Rick O'Shez

Irishman bouncing off walls
Well, these are all personal experiences. What exactly are you meaning to ask by differentiating mystical, spiritual, etc, from "personal"? How are you defining personal experience as distinctly different for personal mystical experiences, and so forth? What do you mean by personal?

Yes, they are all personal experiences. It strikes me as very subjective, for example one person might see a beautiful sunset and describe it as a spiritual experience, while the person standing next to them might say "Yeah, that's nice, now how about a cup of tea?" ;)
 

Iti oj

Global warming is real and we need to act
Premium Member
@Orbit @Windwalker @Carlita and the others.

Ok yes they are all personal experiences but I was trying to imply the type of personal experience you hear theist talking about as leading yo there faith. I guess how different is the experience of god vs the experience of union with god.

as for magical experiences, its a term i think i invented. I lack a way to express the experiences one has when thinking magically or practicing magic. Like my spell worked or the spirit I summoned came or something like that.

For religious and spiritual, those of terms i hear people talk in. They seem to signify I type of personal experience yet it seems to differ from some of the others.

Perhaps we can say there is Personal Experience and that's a different kind of personal experience
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Well, I was going to go on a tangent of priori and apriori experiences, but that's not the experiences being discussed.
 

arthra

Baha'i
This is a discussion not a debate
Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences and mystical experiences?

Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences, mystical experiences, spiritual experiences, religious experiences, paranormal experiences, and magical experiences?
@Orbit @Windwalker @FTNZ @well named @George-ananda

Off hand I'd say "mystical experiences" are those spiritual experiences you have personally... there are some classic books on the subject I would recommend

(1) Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness by Evelyn Underhill

(2) Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind by Richard Maurice Bucke


(3) The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James

I believe you can access them online.
 

Orbit

I'm a planet
@Orbit @Windwalker @Carlita and the others.

Ok yes they are all personal experiences but I was trying to imply the type of personal experience you hear theist talking about as leading yo there faith. I guess how different is the experience of god vs the experience of union with god.

as for magical experiences, its a term i think i invented. I lack a way to express the experiences one has when thinking magically or practicing magic. Like my spell worked or the spirit I summoned came or something like that.

For religious and spiritual, those of terms i hear people talk in. They seem to signify I type of personal experience yet it seems to differ from some of the others.

Perhaps we can say there is Personal Experience and that's a different kind of personal experience

The mystic experience has a concrete, historical definition of union with God, or with "universal consciousness" or whatever other underlying force there is to the universe. Contrary to common belief on RF, the definition of mystic is well established and not up for change. The meaning of the word does not change according to the user, or according to the differing contents of experiences.

Feeling mystic union is very much different than "feeling the presence of" or "being in the presence of", which is "normal" religious/spiritual experience. In union, you merge with God, become one, "become God". In religious/spiritual "normal experience" you feel God's presence, but God is separate from you in that you are not one merged entity. This is why sex is used so often as a metaphor for mystical union in mystic writings across traditions. To truly "know" (same word as sex in Hebrew) another, you merge with them.

Again "personal experience" is so broad as to be meaningless. Going to the grocery store is a personal experience.
 
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Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Ok yes they are all personal experiences but I was trying to imply the type of personal experience you hear theist talking about as leading yo there faith. I guess how different is the experience of god vs the experience of union with god.
The question here is a matter of degrees. Experiencing God may come through many ways and is experienced anywhere from the sense of loving presence, all the way up to a complete unity of mind and spirit in a Oneness experience. I would suppose you could say are there different degrees that love manifests itself with your partner, all the way from the warm feeling of companionship to united bliss.

Are you trying to ask what is the difference of experience between mystical and ordinary mundane states of being?

For religious and spiritual, those of terms i hear people talk in. They seem to signify I type of personal experience yet it seems to differ from some of the others.
I think if I wanted to I could maybe make a distinction between religious and spiritual experience, though it would be a fine point. Someone can enjoy the practice of their religion, the ritual, the symbols, the forms, the music, and so forth. That in and of itself carries a particular flavor of experience. It's an experience of the ambiance and the richness of form. Now the fine line between this and spiritual experience is that a spiritual experience can be around anything, or everything. A walk outside and the sound of the leaves through the trees can open one up to the spiritual in themselves. So the fine line is that between this is religious experience is that which is evoked will be a different sort of connection, but of the same "taste" if you will. It's inspiration leading to moving beyond the mundane. And that is what differentiates this from "normal" experience. Although one could answer that if all of life is spiritual, that is normal. I think this is true for many people.
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences and mystical experiences?
Mystical experiences are personal experiences it's just that you consciousness has shifted to higher planes.

Whats the differences, if any, between personal experiences, mystical experiences, spiritual experiences, religious experiences, paranormal experiences, and magical experiences?
To differentiate I'll go with spiritual experiences are experiences you have with entities of a higher plane.....Religious experiences are when you associate the spiritual entity with a figure from religious lore......Paranormal experiences are experiences with anything beyond the physical plane....I never use the term 'magical experiences'.....
 
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