Three Types

THREE TYPES OF SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES

Everything we “know” or think we “know” about spirituality can be traced back to spiritual experiences, either our own or those of others we trust, such as family, friends, and spiritual leaders. A “spiritual experience” is one that gives you information about and/or advances your relationship with your spirituality. The vast majority of us, at least 70-90%, have had spiritual experiences—ranging from brief spiritual glimpses to near-death experiences, miraculous cures, and life-changing events.

Review your own spiritual experiences by filling in the left column of Question #5 of the Questionnaire:

5. Briefly describe any experiences you have had that increased your awareness or understanding of and/or your relationship with whatever does or does not exist that is greater than or beyond human experience.

Map of the Spirit classifies spiritual experiences into three discrete and, importantly, sequential types—Awareness, Commitment, and Union Experiences.

Awareness Experiences (the first type) are primarily informational, giving you information about and helping you construct your spiritual beliefs. For individuals with Deistic beliefs, Awareness Experiences might include seeing or hearing Divine Beings, such as God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, angels, or other Deities. For Non-dualists, such as Buddhists or Taoists, Awareness Experiences might include transient experiences of “loss of Self”, total “One-ness”, “Bliss,” or glimpses of the “One” or the Tao. For Existentialists, Awareness Experiences give the individual the distinct feeling that “nothing” is out there beyond humans.

Commitment Experiences (the second type) are primarily volitional, involving an internal commitment or decision on your part to follow or cede some measure of control to your spirituality. During Commitment Experiences, you decide to trust your spirituality enough to give it priority over your personal desires for all, or at least some significant aspect(s), of your life. For Christians, this might be called being "Born Again," "Dying to Oneself," "Taking Up the Cross," “Letting Go and Letting God,” or any other such phrase signifying that you've decided to let God take priority over some or all of your life. For Non-dualists, Commitment Experiences involve the decision to commit to beginning the discipline and training, such as meditation, martial arts, or the monastic life, needed to pierce the illusion of separation that prevents us from seeing the “One-ness” of all. For Existentialists, Commitment Experiences involve committing oneself wholeheartedly to a “Cause(s),” such as Art, Beauty, Love, Fame, Power, Wealth, or political or humanitarian efforts, that creates meaning in an otherwise meaningless world.

Union Experiences (the third and final type) are also volitional, involving a decision or action on your part to manifest or fulfill your prior internal spiritual commitment. Union Experiences occur when you actually live out your spiritual beliefs.

Spiritual experiences can, at times, mixed, containing elements of more than one type of spiritual experience.

Classify the type(s) of each of your prior spiritual experiences, as well as you can, in the right column of Question #5. Then use this information in the next section to help you determine where you are, spiritually—your current Stage of Spiritual Development.