An introduction to religious and spiritual experience

particular direction.
At the same time as this vision occurred, I forgot to mention that 
I was made aware that I should go far afield with this message.
At Epiphany (I was immediately back in church), which followed 
soon afterwards, the conviction that I should go overseas was strongly 
reinforced by the service and the sermon.
Among the changes that took place in my life the greatest was the 
confidence I now felt to face new challenges, though I was well aware 
that I was being given help from outside to meet them also.
I was seconded from my teaching post for a year to train for the 
ministry. I was ordained deacon and served as a part-time curate as 
well as returning to my teaching post. I was ordained priest and went 
to South India to lecture in English and to be the chaplain to the church 
of South India students. In this way my vision came true.
What I consider particularly remarkable is that I had never intended 
to enter the ministry and certainly never thought that I should return 
to India (where I spent nine months during my time in the army) as a 
missionary. I now felt my life had far greater purpose and meaning, 
and looking for guidance has remained a constant attitude. [4107] 
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Here a wide range of religious triggers of spiritual experience has been 
shown to produce many different experiences, often to the surprise of the 
experient.

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7.
Non-Religious Triggers of Spiritual 
Experience
Many spiritual experiences are not related to any kind of religious 
practice, but are triggered by glorious music, the beauty of nature or 
absorption in creativity. If there is any common factor, perhaps it is 
a shift of focus from the concerns of the everyday world, away from more 
self-centred pursuits, leading to an openness to another dimension. It is 
however the case that the triggers are more often less pleasant – illness, 
stress and depression frequently result in a change of direction, and are in 
retrospect seen as a challenge or wake-up call. Often the comfort felt at 
such times has a profound effect.
Place
. . . London’s Charing Cross Station. For me it has become like a small 
Underground sacrament.
The last time I passed through it, on the Bakerloo Line, was just 
after Easter Sunday when the imagination is sensitised to the nearness 
of mystery. I have always associated the place with Francis Thompson’s 
poem ‘The Kingdom of God’, picturing angels ascending and descend-
ing between heaven and Platform 3. Synchronically, almost scarily, this 
is what happened to me as the train drew into the station. While only 
half aware of the sea of different faces and garments, and half 
listening to the lilt and timbre of many accents, I began to perceive in 
a more focused way the colours and textures, shapes and sounds flow-
ing from the human panoply around me.
In the sudden spring warmth they seemed to shimmer with divinity. 
It was one of those moments of disclosure that many people experience 
a few times in their lives, when, caught off guard, time stands still, and 
a deeper awareness breaks through. It was a gift of grace, when God’s 
presence seemed to be pressing in on me more intensely than usual. 
It was all so mysterious, yet so intimate and energising.

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Non-Religious Triggers
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I still remember my delight at the realisation that the power within 
Creation, the author of all the beauty I was just then experiencing, was, 
in fact, personally involved with me, utterly satisfying and fulfilling. 
There was also a strong sense of the part I played in this whole pan-
orama. A line from de Chardin came to me: ‘What I call my body is not