Religious ecstasy
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Religious ecstasy is a type of
Although the experience is usually brief in time,[1] there are records of such experiences lasting several days or even more, and of recurring experiences of ecstasy during a person's lifetime.
In Sufism, the term is referred to as wajd.
Context
The adjective "religious" means that the experience occurs in connection with religious activities or is interpreted in the context of a religion. Journalist Marghanita Laski writes in her study "Ecstasy in Religious and Secular Experiences", first published in 1961:
Epithets are very often applied to mystical experiences including ecstasies without, apparently, any clear idea about the distinctions that are being made. Thus we find experiences given such names as nature, religious, aesthetic, neo-platonic, etc.. experiences, where in some cases the name seems to derive from a trigger, sometimes from the over belief.
History
Ancient
In
In the Dionysian Mysteries of ancient Greece, initiates used intoxicants, ecstatic dance and music to remove inhibitions and social constraints.
Modern
Modern meditator experiences in the Thai Forest Tradition, as well as other Theravadan traditions, demonstrate that this effort and rarity is necessary only to become completely immersed in the absorptions and experience no other sensations. It is possible to experience the absorptions in a less intense state with much less practice.
In the
Historically, large groups of individuals have experienced religious ecstasies during periods of Christian revivals, to the point of causing controversy as to the origin and nature of these experiences.[5][6] In response to claims that all emotional expressions of religious ecstasy were attacks on order and theological soundness from the Devil, Jonathan Edwards published his influential Religious Affections. Here, he argues, religious ecstasy could come from oneself, the Devil, or God, and it was only by observing the fruit, or changes in inner thought and behaviour, that one could determine if the religious ecstasy had come from God.[7]
In modern
In hagiographies (writings about Christian saints), many instances are recorded in which saints are granted ecstasies. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia[11] religious ecstasy (called "supernatural ecstasy") includes two elements: one, interior and invisible, in which the mind rivets its attention on a religious subject, and another, corporeal and visible, in which the activity of the senses is suspended, reducing the effect of external sensations upon the subject and rendering him or her resistant to awakening. The witnesses of a Marian apparition often describe experiencing these elements of ecstasy.
Modern witchcraft traditions may define themselves as "ecstatic traditions", and focus on reaching ecstatic states in their rituals. The Reclaiming Tradition and the Feri Tradition are two modern ecstatic Witchcraft examples.[12][13]
According to the Indian spiritual teacher
See also
- Altered state of consciousness – Any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state
- Divine illumination – Human thought aided by divine grace
- Divine madness (religion)– Behavior linked to spiritual pursuits
- Ecstasy (philosophy) – Term used in philosophy with different meanings in different traditions
- Ecstasy (emotion) – Subjective experience of total involvement of subject with object of their awareness
- Enlightenment in Buddhism – Goal of Buddhist practice
- Entheogen – Psychoactive substances that induce spiritual experiences
- Eroto-comatose lucidity – Sex magic technique
- Higher consciousness – Aspirational level of awareness
- Mast (Sufism)– in India, Pakistan, and Iran, a type of religious intoxication
- Mysticism – Practice of religious experiences during alternate states of consciousness
- Neurotheology– Attempts to explain religious experience in neuroscientific terms
- Numinous – Arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring
- Religious experience – Experience interpreted within a religious framework
- Self-transcendence – Psychological concept: expansion of personal boundaries
- Sleeping preacher – Type of Christian preacher
- Soul flight – The concept of soul flight
Notable individuals or movements
- Montanism – 2nd-century Christian movement, a prophetic sect, founded by Montanus and two female colleagues, Prisca (or Priscilla) and Maximilla, who attained ecstatic visions through fasting and prayer.
- Alexander Scriabin – Russian composer and pianist (1872–1915), who intended his music to induce religious ecstasy.
- Anastenaria – Greek fire-walking & dance ritual
- Thomas Aquinas – Italian Dominican theologian (1225–1274) experienced an ecstasy during a church-service towards the end of his life that caused him to stop writing.
- Dionysos / Bacchus – Ancient Greek god of winemaking and wine, religious ecstasy and ritual madness.
- Carmelitecloister.
- Hildegard of Bingen – German Benedictine, composer and writer (c. 1098–1179), abbess and mystic.
- Caitanya Mahaprabhu – 15th-century Indian Vaishnavite Hindu saintGaudiya Vaishnavism, immersed into deeper and deeper stages of ecstasy towards Krishna during the last 24 years of his life. , founder of
- Pio of Pietrelcina– 20th-century Italian saint, priest, stigmatist and mystic (1887–1968)
- Joseph of Cupertino – Italian Franciscan friar
- Maulanah Rumi – Sufi scholar and poet (1207–1273), mystic poet
- Hafez – Persian poet and mystic (1325-1390), mystic poet
- Moinuddin Chishti– Persian Sufi Chishtiyya order mystic (1143–1236)
- Amir Khusrow– Indian poet, writer, singer and scholar (1253–1325) mystic poet
- Marguerite Porete – French mystic and poet (died 1310), burned at the stake for her writings.
- Simone Weil – French philosopher, Christian, writer, and social activist (1909–1943)
References
- ^ Marghanita Laski, Ecstasy. A Study of Some Secular and Religious Experiences. The Cresset Press, London, 1961. p. 57
- ^ Xygalatas, Dimitris, "Firewalking and the Brain: The Physiology of High-Arousal Rituals", in: Joseph Bulbulia, Richard Sosis, Erica Harris, Russell Genet, Cheryl Genet, and Karen Wyman (eds.) Evolution of Religion: Studies, Theories, and Critiques, Santa Margarita, Calif.: Collins Foundation Press 2007, pp.189–195
- ISBN 978-1-84553-976-4
- ISBN 960-87186-7-8pp.90–99
- ^ Chauncy, Charles. Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England. 1743
- ^ Edwards, Jonathan (1742). Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival in New England and the Way it Ought to be Acknowledged and Promoted.
- ^ Treatise on Religious Affections at Google Books
- ^ "Impartations, Anointing and Manifestation".
- ^ "TRAVAIL AND APOSTOLIC ORDER - Vision International Ministries".
- ^ "Demoniac False Preacher Todd Bentley Says Angel Feathers Are Manifesting at His 'Revival' Meetings". 17 April 2016.
- ^ Ecstasy
- ^ M. Macha Nightmare, "Reclaiming Tradition Witchcraft", Witchvox, 2001. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
- ^ Cholla and Gabriel, Ecstasy and Transgression in the Faery Tradition, Witch Eye, 2000. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
- ^ Kalchuri, Bhau: Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, the Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba, Volume Six, Manifestation, Inc., 1986, p. 2035