Spiritual Experience

To be part of society, to be part of any group, is to have a spiritual experience. For many this is not enough and they seek out a deeper level of spirituality, a more intense experience. The desire for a deeper spirituality is the spiritual gap that many feel and which helps religion continue to exist in the face of rationality and experience.

Intense spiritual experience is usually associated with religion because it is through religion that people often have and interpret intense spiritual experience. The path to spiritual experience is culturally dependent. For a Christian, the path is usually Christianity. The intense spiritual experience then becomes seen as evidence that Christianity is the true way. Similarly, the Hindu or Muslim will find in spiritual experience the evidence that Hinduism or Islam is the truth.

If intense spiritual experience is found outside of religion, this will often still be interpreted as religious if the person experiencing it is religious. What happens, though, if an atheist finds spirituality, including intense spirituality, present throughout life?

Depending on the person, spirituality proves Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and nothing.