Personal Experiences

Some personal experiences

'All at once, without warning of any kind, I found myself wrapped in a flame-coloured cloud. For an instant, I thought of fire, an immense conflagration somewhere close by in that great city; the next I knew was that the fire was within myself. Directly afterward, there came upon me a sense of exultation, of immense joyousness, accompanied or immediately followed by an intellectual illumination impossible to describe. Among other things, I did not merely come to believe, but I saw that the universe is not composed of dead matter, but is, on the contrary, a living Presence; I became conscious in myself of eternal life, but a consciousness that I possessed eternal life then; I saw that all men are immortal, that the cosmic order is such that without any pre-adventure, all things work together for the good of each and all; that the foundation principle of the world, of all the worlds, is what we call love, and the happiness of each and all is, in the long run, absolutely certain.'

James, W. The Varieties of Religious Experience. Macmillan Publishing Co., 1902, Collier Book Edition, 1961, pp. 313-314.

'From the first, the experience seemed to me to be holy. What I saw was the Power of Love, the name came to me at once, the Power that I knew somehow to have made all the universes, past, present and to come: to be utterly infinite, an infinity of infinities, to have conquered the Power of Hate, its opposite, and thus created the sun, the moon, the planets, the earth, light, life, joy and peace, never-ending… in that peace, I felt utterly and completely forgiven, relieved from all burden of sin. The whole infinity seemed to open up before me, and during the weeks and months that followed, I passed through experiences which are virtually indescribable. The complete transformation of u0022realityu0022 transported me as it were into the Kingdom of Heaven. I feel so close to God, so inspired by His Spirit that in a sense I am God. I see the future, plan the Universe, animate and inanimate, past, present and future is within me; all things are possible.'

Buckley, P. u0022Mystical Experience and Schizophreniau0022, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 7, No. 3, 1981, p. 517.

The Dark Night of the Soul

There is overlap between the experience of depression and the ‘Dark night of the soul’ which is explained below:

The term was first used by the 16th Century Catholic priest St John of the Cross. He describes a period of low mood and spiritual or emotional dryness. During which there was no pleasure or consolation. There was no attractiveness or sweetness in anything, and no ability to reflect, pray, or meditate.

'A period of spiritual desolation suffered by a mystic in which all sense of consolation is removed.'

Oxford Dictionary definition of the Dark Night of the Soul