Examine the Main Characteristics of Conversion and Mystical Experience

While reading the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, I did not expect to come across a spiritual discipline that would be a perfect combination of my own idea of spiritual formation, and a wonderful way to connect with the Lord. What I mean by this, is that I was wanting to create a gratitude journal, but I wanted it to be deeper than just a list of things that I was thankful for. That is why I fell in love with the idea of writing responses to the questions that were posed in the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, but still taking a few minutes to write a list of things that I am grateful for! A journal like this is also a great way for me to see the strong points in my day or week, and the areas where I need improvement. Since journaling has always

In “The Confessions” by Saint Augustine, he starts on a journey to becoming a Christian. He was not completely invested on converting to this faith or why his mother wanted him to convert so he began asking questions to find reasons as to why he should, but before he could convert he needed to find faith

Throughout human history people have sought experiences that somehow transcend every day life. Some sort of wisdom that might progress their knowledge of self and of the world that they live in. For some reason they believed that the tangible world just could not be all there is to life. Some believed in a greater force that controlled them, some believed of invisible beings that influenced their lives, some of an actual other world that paralleled their own. Many of these people also believed that it was possible to catch a glimpse of these forces, beings, or worlds through a variety of means that propel individuals into altered states of consciousness. These techniques include

Spirituality gives meaning and purposes to their belief (51). In Reconnecting science and spirituality, Walach defines spirituality as “a way to understand the natural makeup of the world by means of rational methods of inquiry”. This quotes allows the world to have faith in their own beliefs (425). The happenings in Hydesville involving the Fox sisters started to increase the rate of mediums around the world (Walliss 129). Spiritualism started to have a greater influence of people’s lives. People started to go to mediums to communicate with lost love ones. Spiritualism was given closures to people in the world (Walliss

The first occurrence that we observe of him rejecting his religion is when he enters the concentration camp and witnesses the atrocities that take place there. “Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.” (p.34) After that first night at the concentration camp he would never be able to see his religion the same as before. His religion have might as well been literally consumed by the flames because there was no going back from that.

In William James’ 1902 book “The Varieties of Religious Experience” he opens with depicting the approach of his review. He clarifies that it would be of little advantage to construct the examination with respect to regular people who have bound religious encounters and emulate customs which have been passed on to them. Rather, he centers the review around 'religious virtuosos '. In addition, as he clarifies in his second address, the attention must be on individual religious experience instead of corporate, in light of the fact that it is more central. Actually, it is out of the extreme encounters of a little few that most religious developments (or "factions" as he terms them) have created. Part 3 builds up that individuals appear to have the ability to encounter the concealed furthermore an inclination to see it as being more genuine than things seen, listened, touched or tasted.

The topic of spirituality and religion is filled with much confusion. In most all religions, there is a greater purpose in which believers attempt to reach a better state of living, usually in death. The question then arises, how does one go about obtaining this better living? In the book Four Spiritualities, Richardson defines four main spiritual pathways: the journey of unity which pertains to jnana yoga, the journey of devotion which pertains to bhakti yoga, the journey of works which pertains to karma yoga, and the journey of harmony which pertains to raja yoga. Furthermore, he correlates four main Myer-Briggs personality types. With these four pathways and personality types, one can

Many would argue that events in John Lewis’ life caused him to become a Christian in the first

After the realization that one of his favorite authors and two of his most influential friends shared the same religion, Lewis began to question and rethink his views as an atheist. Around 1929, Lewis converted fully to Christianity, and became what he called “the most reluctant convert”. After this conversion, his success and popularity greatly bloomed, becoming the C.S. Lewis everyone knows today. As Lewis got closer to God and gained more understanding of the religion, he soon was unable to fathom how one could just live their life with heart constantly longing for something so much more than anything they could achieve on earth, believing that this is it. There has to be something beyond this, and Lewis believed that the answer is God and His promise of eternal life.

Prior to understanding and describing religious experiences, it’s important to define the terms and typology of religious experiences. A point of contention for theologians is whether or not mystical or out-of-body experiences are religious in nature. To understand what the role religion plays in these experiences, for this context, you must define and understand what religion is and the major components that make it up. James states that religion “cannot stand for any single principle or essence, but is rather a collective name” (35). If you were to ask someone about the essence of an object or a concept, different people would provide various components or parts of it. You would end up of with a list ranging from objective and subjective responses, but it would provide a better understanding of it because, like religion, no one thing or person can be summed up in a sentence or a word.

Spirituality is defined as “of relating to sacred matters”. To many people this has different meanings. In the traditional modernistic western, this can be defined as being sacred to Christianity. In the Christian approach one is believed to be spiritual if they attend church and pray to Jesus and abide by the rules set by the bible. It is a sin to go against the bible and doing so leads to a consequence of praying for forgiveness to Jesus in hope for your eternal salvation of your soul. But to many, this type of church does not exist. To native-Americans, spirituality is defined as something more powerful than the church, stories and rituals is what takes part in fighting

Ray LaMontagne has said that:"You can make bad choices and find yourself in a downward spiral or you can find something that gets you out of it." C.S.Lewis fits both of the situations mentioned above. He used to fall downward like a fool because the decision he make about faith but later he made the intelligent choice and turned the darkness of his life inside out and embraced the light of the world. Unlike the fools, people full of intelligence in both physical and spiritual ways will turn the darkness back and embrace the light of the world honorably. C.S. Lewis, a fabulous Christian author, apologist and evangelist, was admirable not only because of his knowledge but also because of his willingness to share Christianity and his undoubted impact on Christian faith.

St. Anthony’s story of conversion from landowner to ascetic, while following the steps outlined by Fowler, also conforms to create the ideal journey as described by Searle. Mark Searle is a theology professor who teaches at Notre Dame University . For Searle, conversion should be viewed more as a “Journey of Crisis” , where conversion to a new faith or belief is one that is inspired by a point of total crisis in one’s life. According to Searle, conversion is a form of transition where one gains a new lease on life and worldview in response to a life altering moment. In the case of St. Anthony, this point would clearly be when his parents die. This represents part of the first of the three stages of the conversion journey according to Searle: The Setting Out.

He proclaimed, "I had to sink to the greatest mental depths, ...in order to experience grace, ...to sleep deeply and awaken refreshed again" (78).  When he stopped his religious pilgrimage for the pleasures of a senseless life his quest for inner direction seemed to be setback, but this was actually imperative in moving forward to find himself.  He unknowingly achieved the second step in his journey and was left with just one more stage.

Spirituality and religion hold different values and truths depending on your personal beliefs. Being religious is a belief or practice that contains certain values one should follow. When looking deeper into religion you can find spirituality which is the part of religion that effects our spirit and soul, it is not tangible. “The Sacred within” is spirituality and pertains to God dwelling inside of our heart and soul. When looking at “the sacred within” there are certain senses that we can tap into so, we may obtain that sort of spirituality. Through solitude, silence, imagination, and nature, we can have a better sense of spirituality.