0:00
[MUSIC]
And so I think it's important to differentiate what we mean by when we
say spiritual experience.
Because different people mean different things and we know that because we've
read through over a thousand descriptions of these experiences.
And we know that people report very different kinds of content.
And so here's an example of a scale that we're developing.
0:41
So again these categories there's a lot of research on each one of them
that has been done in isolation, and we're going to try to bring that all together.
So that we can look at the triggers and
the outcomes of each of these unique types of experiences.
So just take a look at these and see if you would agree,
whether you've had any of these kinds of experiences.
Now again, we're not saying that there's, that these experiences are necessarily
true or that they're completely illusions, that question is off the table.
We're only looking at what people report,
what triggers those experience and what kind of outcomes that
come from those experiences particularly those related to well being.
1:31
Okay, now we get to experiences, and experiences are really my interest and
expertise and what most of my research is focused on and that's no accident.
I, myself, had a spiritual experience as an atheist,
lying in my dorm room bed in college.
I felt sort of a heat in my chest,
and it felt like it came on pretty spontaneously so much so
that I thought that it was just maybe heartburn or something.
And that heat began to spread, and
at that point I thought this is someone unusual.
Especially when the heat spread over my entire body,
and a voice in my mind said this is love.
At that point I went into my mind I felt like I went out of my body and
just saw 360 degrees boundary less
horizon in this intricate fabric that I was woven into.
And that feeling of love just increased to the boiling point.
2:44
And it probably only lasted about a minute or so, but it felt like it lasted years.
And when I woke up, when I opened my eyes, my body was laughing and
crying at the same time.
It was just a huge emotional release, really unusual for me.
And I really felt changed after that experience,
I felt more open to life and other people.
More interested in possibilities, and
all of that was incredibly profound and positive.
It was the most positive, meaningful moment of my life.
But the thought occurred to me, what just happened to me?
And that question has guided a lot of my research in this area.
And I really feel that it's kind of a calling to continue to pursue
that question.
I'm not alone in having these experiences.
Here's Dostoevsky who was an epileptic describing his
experiences that were similar to mine in some ways.
And I want to draw your attention to the end of this passage where he's saying,
I don't know if this felicity lasts for seconds, hours or months.
But believe me, for all the joys that life may bring, I would not exchange this one.
And I think if we take him at his word that's a really profound statement to say
that a single moment is almost equal in some ways to many months of other moments.
And so as positive psychologists, we should really
pay attention to that statement and look at what's going on here.
Jill Bolte Taylor did a great TED talk on her experience, and
I invite you to watch that.
And she describes a stroke that she had, that triggered a very
intense spiritual experience that she also describes as life changing.
4:44
In the book that I mentioned, Being Called, a number of scientists and
scholars describe their own spiritual experiences and
they interpret them in very different ways.
Remember, you can differentiate belief from experience.
And so we have religious, spiritual, agnostic, atheist,
scientist and scholars all describing at sometimes similar,
sometimes quite different experiences.
But that they found very meaningful and often life changing.
5:30
If you said yes, about 33% of the population,
probably would say yes as well.
And this is based on a number of studies in the US and the UK.
Now how about this question,
this is a gallop question that's been asked a number of times.
So I've had a profound religious experience or
awakening that changed the direction of my life.
How would you answer that?
If you would say yes, about 41% of people
also say yes, which is a really astonishingly high number.
Before I knew this data, I had no idea that so
many people are having this experiences and not only just momentary flashes.
But experiences that they say change the direction of their life.
6:19
Lastly, I just want to draw your attention to a website VarietiesCorpus.com
where we're hoping to gather people's descriptions of their experiences.
Any kind of spiritual or
self transcending experience that you've had we'd love to hear from you.
You can also read a number of fascinating
descriptions that other people have provided us with.
And learn a little bit more about the ongoing research
on this fascinating topic.
So I just want to thank you for listening and feel free
to contact me if you have any questions or further interest in this topic.
Thank you.
Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D.Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology & Director, Positive Psychology Center
