An introduction to religious and spiritual experience

1. What is a Spiritual Experience?
A spiritual experience may be thought of as an experience which 
points beyond normal, everyday life, and which has spiritual or religious 
significance for the person to whom it happens. Whatever form it takes, 
such an experience gives an indication of a greater reality underlying 
the physical world of the senses. Reductionists explain away religion as a 
delusion and are convinced that in our experience of life ‘what you see 
is what you get’, that there is no more to life than meets the eye, or direct 
sense experience. Spiritual experience counters this, indicating another 
dimension which is different from ordinary reality or a deeper level of 
experience within that reality. Spiritual experiences occur with or without 
religious practice. Various surveys have shown that between half and 
one-third of the populace feel that they have had some kind of experience 
of spiritual significance. 
Interpretation of similar events varies, of course, according to the 
secular or spiritual standpoint of the experient. There are non-religious 
people who would lay claim to such experiences but interpret them as 
part of being human, an aspect of the natural world. They do however, 
recognize them as qualitatively different from ordinary experiences.
Such experiences can arrive out of the blue and happen to people with 
or without any kind of religious faith. Those who have such experiences 
are frequently convinced that they have been touched by a higher power, 
either in a single incident or continuously throughout life, in a constant 
awareness of a relationship with this power. Although in some of these 
experiences there is no immediately obvious connection to any particular 
religious tradition and descriptions are given which are open to different 
interpretations, others tell of visions of a loving, comforting figure, whom 
they recognize as Jesus, Krishna or a Bodhisattva. 
Many people try to induce such experiences, but they cannot be invoked 
to order, although intense religious practice may well result in a deepen-
ing awareness and openness. 
In 
The Spiritual Nature of Man
Alister Hardy defined religious 
experience as,
a deep awareness of a benevolent non-physical power which appears to 
be partly or wholly beyond, and far greater than, the individual self.

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He describes the ways in which such a power might become manifest.
To some, the presence of this abstract non-physical power is strongest 
when contemplating natural beauty or listening to music: others feel it 
when they paint or create. Awareness of its presence affects the way 
man looks at the world, it alters behaviour and changes attitudes. 
Knowledge of this wider dimension to life may be seen by the individ-
ual as life-enhancing, or he may recognize it as a special force which 
gives him added confidence and courage. As a result of their experi-
ences many are led to prayer and to religion.
People experience the abstract power in a wide variety of ways. 
Some may describe their feelings in terms of trust, awe, joy, or bliss; 
exceptionally they may reach the heights of ecstasy. Others may have 
sensory impressions, see lights, hear voices, or have feelings of being 
touched. . . . however diverse the kind of experience, spiritual aware-
ness appears to be universal to human kind . . . 
1
When beginning his research, Alister Hardy used the spiritual experi-
ence of the socialist reformer Beatrice Webb (1858–1943) to illustrate 
what he was looking for. 
Beatrice Webb was conscious of experiencing a sense of reverence or 
awe – an apprehension of a power and purpose outside herself – which 
she called ‘feeling’ and which was sometimes induced by appreciation 
of great music or corporate worship. But the experience went further 
than this nebulous, fleeting ‘feeling’ – because as a result of it she 
achieved a religious interpretation of the universe which satisfied and 
upheld her and enabled her to seek continuous guidance in prayer – 
and this without compromising her intellectual integrity. 
2
Let us look at a few more examples. The first two are taken from 
the Alister Hardy Trust website: www.alisterhardyreligiousexperience.
co.uk
The numbers in brackets throughout the book refer to the archive at 
the Religious Experience Research Centre at the University of Wales, 
Lampeter:
I was out walking one night in busy streets of Glasgow when, with 
slow majesty, at a corner where the pedestrians were hurrying by and 
the city traffic was hurtling on its way, the air was filled with heavenly 
music; and an all-encompassing light, that moved in waves of luminous 

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What is a Spiritual Experience?
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colour, outshone the brightness of the lighted streets. I stood still, filled 
with a strange peace and joy, the music beat on in its majesty and the 
traffic and the pedestrians moved through the light. They passed on 
their way, but the music and light remained, pulsating, harmonious, 
more real than the traffic of the streets. I too moved on . . . till 
I found myself in the everyday world again with a strange access of 
gladness and of love. [0208]
I was sitting one evening, listening to a Brahms symphony. My 
eyes were closed and I must have been completely relaxed for I 
became aware of a feeling of ‘expansion’, I seemed to be beyond the 
boundary of my physical self. Then an intense feeling of ‘light’ and 
‘love’ uplifted and enfolded me. It was so wonderful and gave me such 
an emotional release that tears streamed down my cheeks. For several 
days I seemed to bathe in its glow and when it subsided I was free from 
my fears. 
I didn’t feel happy about the world situation but seemed to see it 
from a different angle. So with my personal sorrow. I can truly say that 
it changed my life and the subsequent years have brought no dimming 
of the experience. [0071]
3
Some experiences are dramatic. Here a desperate woman who had 
decided to commit suicide shouts to a God she is not at all sure she 
believes in,
. . . at that moment I let out a loud challenge into that dark and lone-
some night, into that desolation of land and soul and I shouted:
. . . IF THERE IS SUCH A THING AS GOD THEN SHOW YOUR-
SELF TO ME – NOW . . . and at that very instant there was a loud 
crack, like a rifle shot (coming from the bedroom) . . . I stumbled 
through the open door to my bedroom. I fell into the bed shaking 
and then something forced my eyes upward to the wall above my 
bedside table and where I had a very small photograph of my father 
hanging. . . . The picture had gone – I just looked at the empty space . . . 
but on looking closer I saw the photograph, face down, on the little 
table and the narrow frame was split apart, the glass broken and from 
behind the cardboard on the back there had slipped out . . . the last 
letter [my father] had written me . . . When I picked up that letter and 
read over and over the words of this beloved caring father of mine, 
I knew that was HIS help to me, and God answered me directly in the 
hour of my soul being in anguish. 
4

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Here is a description of a lifetime of awareness of another dimension,
I think from my childhood I have always had the feeling that the true 
reality is not to be found in the world as the average person sees it. 
There seems to be a constant force at work from the inside trying to 
push its way to the surface of consciousness. The mind is continually 
trying to create a symbol sufficiently comprehensive to contain it, but 
it always ends in failure. There are moments of pure joy with a height-
ened awareness of one’s surroundings, as if a great truth had been 
passed across. [00651]
Some people live strengthened by such a spiritual awareness, 
My main religious experience has been of God’s guiding my life accord-
ing to His plan. I have had some terrible experiences and frustrations, 
and suffered defeats and failures and humiliations since childhood, but 
I have always been able to see the wise and loving purpose of God 
behind them, turning evil to good account and leading me onwards to 
do what He has for me to do here and to fulfil my destiny. This is par-
ticularly true of my marriage . . . and the birth of my son; and also true 
of my vocation and my work.
I have experienced the Holy Spirit as the Giver of Light, and the One 
who guides into Truth, especially the truth about myself, in psycho-
analysis and through dreams.
I have experienced the power and help of God, most particularly 
when I have had to do tasks and have personal encounters which 
I have feared. When I have really prayed about them beforehand and 
remembered His presence, they have become such as I could cope 
with.
I have had the vision of the Christian Way as the way of love and 
release from ego-centricity; it is still a vision which I can only approxi-
mate to in the reality of living; but I am sure it saves me from succumb-
ing to its opposite: at least it counterbalances the pull of self. In prayer 
and meditation, I find continuing light and inspiration of this sort, and 
also judgement and challenge. [001397]
A similar comfort is described by a mother,
About ten years later I began to pray for my children’s safety, and this 
became a habit which I have never lost, and often the answer to such 
a prayer is spectacular. Now I’ve evolved a belief which is identical 

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with Beatrice Webb’s: ‘I find it best to live as if the soul of man were in 
communion with a superhuman force which makes for righteousness’. 
May I add that since this belief grew in me I feel as if I had grown, as 
if my mind had stretched to take in the vast universe and be part of it. 
[00854]
Sometimes we know what is right and wrong, but such experiences 
reinforce a moral code.
One day when I walked around, I found some money. Although an 
inner voice said to me not to take it, I could not dominate my selfish 
desires and took it. However, just ten minutes after I put the money 
into my wallet, I found out that I lost my wallet. Oddly enough, there 
was nobody with me. Then I thought and realized that Allah had 
punished me. Because that money did not belong to me and, who 
knows, it was earned with how much difficulties. 
5
Some people beg for help in extreme circumstances and in return, make 
a vow to live for God if only God will spare them.
When I was twelve, my family were living on the outskirts of London 
and experiencing occasional visits from German bomber planes. 
One night, when I had been confined to bed for six weeks and 
was unable to walk because of some illness, I heard the roar of a 
German bomber overhead. (We knew the sound all too well.) This one 
was being chased by British fighter planes and the pilot must have 
decided to drop the bombs at random to make it easier to escape. The 
whine of a close bomb is ear-splitting and I just knew this one was 
going to hit us. 
I ducked my head under the eiderdown and I desperately prayed 
aloud: ‘Dear God, save me now and I will serve you all the days of my 
life.’ The bomb landed in the back garden and blew the roof off the 
bungalow. All the windows were blown in, of course, and I was smoth-
ered in broken glass – but shielded from injury by the eiderdown. My 
life was saved. This incident made God very real to me and I am very 
much aware of God’s presence in my life now, as well as when I look 
back. Of course one has to get on with life and its fascinations – but 
I do try to keep that vow to serve God. It is all too easy to drift away, 
especially in adolescence. But I know that even if, at times, I have lost 
God, God has never lost me. Deo gratias! . . . To me, God is pure love 
and uses us to convey that love to all His creatures. [005445]

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As a result, God remains important in this person’s life and she eventu-
ally became ordained.
The course of Alister Hardy’s life and work was set by a vow, 
At the outbreak of World War One, he made a vow that, if he 
lived through it, he would do all in his power for the rest of his life to 
reconcile the purely materialistic view of evolution with his own 
experience of what he could only call spirit.
6
Some people find such experiences linked to art, music or nature, 
and they may interpret them as aesthetic, although the loss of sense of 
self, of time or place as one is totally absorbed in creativity may be felt to 
be a spiritual experience. It is often while creating something that an 
awareness of one’s own creator may be felt, or oneness with creation 
itself. Whether active or passive, in a religious setting or not, spiritual 
experience can be triggered in many ways. Some people feel an awareness 
of God or the divine in nature:
Just occasionally when I was sure no-one could see me, I became so 
overcome with the glory of the natural scene that for a moment or two 
I fell on my knees in prayer – not prayer asking for anything, but 
thanking God, who felt very real to me, for the glories of his kingdom 
and for allowing me to feel them. It was always by a running waterside 
that I did this, perhaps in front of a great foam of Meadow Sweet or a 
mass of Purple Loosestrife.
7
Often these experiences are not written down until long afterwards. 
Alister Hardy was 88 years old before he noted down the above 
which, despite his great interest in the subject, he had never told anyone 
before.
It is so often the case that these experiences remain unshared. People 
treasure them as highly personal messages and are often reluctant to talk 
about them. They are precious and fear of ridicule is a potent factor in 
keeping such events to oneself. Yet once people feel that they have a sym-
pathetic ear or a helpful companion to share the experience with, they are 
able to talk freely about it and the effects it had on their lives. 

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