An introduction to religious and spiritual experience

Consciousness Studies
A great deal of work is being done at the moment on the study of con-
sciousness. Neuroscientists in particular are studying the brain, not just in 
isolation, but incorporating a study of the mind. This is a fairly recent 
phenomenon in the West, where study of the brain has long been estab-
lished, but that of the mind has been a separate field, the province of 
psychology. Buddhists have been in the field of consciousness studies for 
two and a half millennia, but have been less interested in the workings of 
the brain. The two fields are now being looked at together by a wide 
range of scientists, and the Dalai Lama too is keen to be involved in sci-
entific discussion. Spiritual experience has a place in such studies as it 
looks at unusual human experiences and the relation between mind and 
brain. Brain-imaging techniques enable researchers to observe the brains 
of people in deep meditation and various physical triggers can result in 
experiences which could be interpreted as spiritual. It is a field of study in 
which the function of the brain is considered in relation to how humans 
experience the transcendent.
Interesting work on the link between the mind and the brain has been 
done by Rupert Sheldrake, with books such as 
Seven Experiments that 
Could Change the World
, 
Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are 
Coming Home
and 
The Sense of Being Stared At
and Other Aspects of 
the Extended Mind
. His thesis is that the mind is not confined to the 
brain, but extends beyond it. Thus he is able to explain telepathy and 
mind over matter effects as quite natural. He sees science as constantly 
moving forward with new discoveries building on what is known, which 
is what he is doing in his innovative work.

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As much evidence for religious experience is dismissed as ‘anecdotal’, it 
is interesting to read Sheldrake’s appraisal.
The boundaries of scientific ‘normality’ are shifting again with a dawn-
ing recognition of the reality of consciousness. The powers of the mind, 
hitherto ignored by physics, are the new scientific frontier.
. . .
. . . to brush aside what people have actually experienced is not to be 
scientific, but unscientific. Science is founded on the empirical method, 
that is to say on experience and observation. Experiences and observa-
tions are the starting point for science, and it is unscientific to disre-
gard or exclude them.
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In the late 1970s, Rupert Sheldrake spent many months at Bede 
Griffiths’ ashram, writing 
A New Science of Life
there, discussing it with 
Father Bede as he wrote it.
The Scientific and Medical Network brings science and spirituality 
together, looking at the latest research into consciousness. Its aims as 
stated on the website www.scimednet.org are:
To provide a safe forum for the critical and open minded discussion of 
ideas that go beyond conventional paradigms in science, medicine and 
philosophy 
To integrate intuitive insights with rational analysis in our 
investigations 
To encourage a respect for Earth and community which emphasizes a 
spiritual and holistic approach 
To challenge the adequacy of ‘scientific materialism’ as an exclusive 
basis for knowledge and values.
Spiritual experience, particularly of meditation, is of interest in this 
field, as it can be monitored for research. As we become more aware of 
how the mind works and are able to track changes in brain activity, we 
are beginning to be able to understand the process of thought and the 
relation between the mind and the brain. Experiences of being outside the 
body in an OBE or NDE need to be considered in such research.

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