The short answer
A mystical experience is a moment, or sometimes a longer period, in which a person feels in direct contact with ultimate reality, the divine, or a deeper unity underlying everything. It is typically described as intense, hard to put into words, and deeply meaningful. People report such experiences in religious and non-religious settings alike.
William James’s four marks
The psychologist William James, in The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), proposed four features that often mark a mystical state:
- Ineffability. It defies adequate description.
- Noetic quality. It feels like real insight or knowledge, not just emotion.
- Transiency. It usually does not last long, though its effects can.
- Passivity. The person often feels it happens to them rather than being produced by will.
Common features people report
- A sense of unity or oneness with others, nature or the divine
- A feeling of sacredness or reverence
- Deep peace, joy or love
- A sense of time or the sense of a separate self fading
- Lasting changes in outlook after the event
Reports vary widely, and not every experience includes all these elements. Some are sudden; others arise slowly.
What triggers mystical experiences
People describe them following prayer or meditation, deep contemplation, music, time in nature, illness or loss, childbirth, or sometimes with no apparent cause. Researchers have also studied them in the context of psychedelic substances, but taking such substances carries legal and health risks, and nothing here is a recommendation. For the disciplines traditions use, see mystical practices.
Types of mystical experience
The philosopher W. T. Stace distinguished two broad types, extrovertive and introvertive. The first perceives unity in the external world; the second involves an inner state of undifferentiated awareness. See extrovertive vs introvertive mysticism. Religious traditions also describe stages through which experiences may unfold, as in the three stages of the mystical path.
How scientists and scholars approach it
Psychologists and neuroscientists study the conditions and brain activity associated with such experiences, and questionnaires have been developed to measure them. These studies describe correlates; they do not settle whether the experiences point to anything beyond the mind. Philosophers and theologians continue to debate that question.
Interpreting an experience
Traditions generally advise testing an experience by its fruits, such as humility, compassion and stability, rather than treating intensity as proof. Anyone who has an overwhelming experience that is distressing or disorienting, or who is struggling to function afterward, should seek support from a qualified health professional. For broader context, see what mysticism is.