An introduction to religious and spiritual experience

Scientific and 
Medical Network Journal
states ‘Kensho (Sartori) may occur quite 
unexpectedly. In this state the mind is unfocussed but instantly acquires 
a sense of absolute reality, intrinsic rightness, ultimate perfection and 
an enhanced sense of reality. Impressions enter that this is an eternal 
state of affairs. There is nothing more to do and nothing to fear.’
I did not start making notes until 1991. Feelings that have been 
present during these experiences have included certainty of survival of 
death (the most frequent), the existence of a higher world, certainty of 
meeting deceased relatives and friends again (especially my mother), 
eternity is perpendicular to time, that I have a guardian angel or guide, 
a sense that I am experiencing absolute reality, a call to return to my 
real residence in a higher dimensional world etc. 
I have tried to classify these experiences as intense, moderate or 
slight. Since 1991 I have recorded just over a hundred such experi-
ences. Of these I would describe about 20% as intense, 30% as moder-
ate and the rest as slight. Perhaps I have been very lucky or very 
imaginative as the sceptical scientist within me says.
They have been triggered in various ways. Some types of music 
have often helped, particularly mass being sung in cathedrals and 
churches, chanting of monks and songs with a possible spiritual inter-
pretation have also helped. Beautiful sights such as mountains have 
played their part I was once transported by observing a beautiful 
ginger cat sitting on a wall. Another stimulus has been reading certain 
spiritual or religious texts. On one occasion I was put into a receptive 
state by listening to the accounts of some victims of violence in Belfast. 
My one visit to Lourdes also had an intense effect. Often there has 
been no obvious trigger.
Sadly the frequency of these experiences has decreased in the last 
few years.
I have never found meditation very useful except as an aid to relax-
ation. I have never had an NDE or an OBE. I have been given some 
vaguely correct information from mediums. I have observed the strange 
behaviour of my mother’s cat at the exact time she died in hospital 
20 miles away. I have been in contact with Rupert Sheldrake about 
this. A few days after my father’s death, suddenly to my astonishment 

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Religious and Spiritual Experience
186
(he was a convinced atheist) I felt with certainty his presence indicating 
survival. He seemed to be saying ‘I’M .OK’. A few years later a very 
similar occurrence happened with my mother.
I have only once tried hypnotic regression to former incarnations. 
During this session I made a statement about a fact that I did not con-
sciously know. I was very surprised that later investigation showed 
that I had made a true statement.
Since 1991 I have also kept a record of what I call ‘Lucky Misses’. 
By these I mean events which at the time have seemed like bad luck but 
have turned out to be the reverse, saving me from something possibly 
worse. To give one example, in July 2006 I had an accident which 
made me cancel a flight to Central Asia. It transpired that taking this 
flight would have caused very considerable problems.
I have recorded about 50 of these ‘blessings in disguise’, but most 
were less significant than the one mentioned above. It is tempting to 
imagine a ‘guardian angel’.
My background is Scientific with qualifications in Mathematics, 
Physics and the History of Science. I spent most of my working life 
lecturing on Mathematics in Colleges and Universities. I have been a 
member of the Scientific and Medical Network since 1987.
I do not subscribe to any religious faith. Indeed I even consider it wrong 
to do so. I try to remain an unbiased Scientific Observer. [100050]