An introduction to religious and spiritual experience

Blessing
The laying on of hands can be a powerful experience.
I and my family were staying with college friends in their family home. 
We had known them for 15 years or so, firstly as fellow students and 
later Dave became ordained in C of E and we were staying at their Vic-
arage in Hull. I was asked if I would like a blessing and I said 
I would. I was sitting with my head bowed. David stretched out his 
hands so that they were about 6 inches from my head. I felt an incredi-
ble warmth, as if my head was wrapped in cotton wool. It was a very 
pleasant experience, I felt held (I later asked if Dave had touched my 
head and he said that he had not.)

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Religious Triggers
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I found myself going along a very dark tunnel – but I was not afraid 
– I could see a circle of bright light ahead. When I reached the bright 
light – I was in a beautiful garden. It was bathed in golden light and 
I felt such peace, happiness and tranquillity that I have never known 
before or since. There was no sense of time. I was not on my own – the 
Virgin Mary with baby Jesus on her knee in front of me. We made no 
contact – we were just being.
Then all at once I was back in the sitting room in the Vicarage in 
Hull, just left with a wish to go back.
I think it had all lasted a few minutes. (005439)
Silence
In the Daode Jing (Book of the Dao) it is said
Those who know do not talk.
Those who talk do not know.
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When members of different faiths come together, true communion is 
often best experienced in silence.
Mother Meera, an Avatar, an incarnation of the Divine Mother, 
explains the practice of Darshan in which she imparts the divine light of 
Paramatman to those who come to her in Germany, where she now 
lives. This takes place in complete silence.
People are too active and rarely sit quietly. In silence one can receive 
more because all one’s activities become concentrated at one point. My 
teaching is to give only the essence, the Divine, that which is necessary. 
I give exactly what is needed by each person.
Paramatman is silent. God is silent. Everything comes out of silence. 
In silence more work can be done. The true experience of bliss is with-
out words.
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Darshan
Here is an experience of Darshan with Mother Meera,
I first attended Darshan with Mother Meera in April, 1993. At that 
time, it was possible to stay for ten days and go to eight Darshans – for 
me, this was a very good foundation. There were about 150 of us in the 

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Religious and Spiritual Experience
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room and we sat in silence for about two hours. One by one, each per-
son went up and knelt in front of Mother. Before I got used to the pro-
cess, I felt some anxiety about waiting, queuing and choosing the right 
moment to approach. I got down on my knees, bent forward and Mother 
took my head in her hands for a few moments. I did not feel anything 
special at first but when I went back to my seat, I became aware that 
something momentous had happened. It was as though she had taken 
me by the scruff of the neck (metaphorically) and had shaken a lot of 
fear out of me. The feeling that blockages and limitations had been 
removed and that new possibilities could now open up was strengthened 
in the subsequent Darshans. Important changes did indeed take place. 
I returned a number of times and I feel this has speeded up my inner 
progress. On one occasion, I was in the middle of a spiritual crisis, and 
while sitting quietly in the Darshan hall, important advice – loving but 
firm – came into my mind and this helped to resolve the situation.
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