Whilst some will take a methodical scientific approach to such an experience and not necessarily change them.
There are many who would use Momen’s model as the definitive physiological approach to religious experience.
Much of the chapter centres on different forms of public and private worship, the public worship includes sermons and reading of religious texts which stimulates the mind and brings the individual to a deeper sense of consciousness. Again, this can be centred on Momen’s model. The first can be compared to someone who takes exercise very seriously, they use running as a means to better health rather than any intrinsic value in the activity. Likewise a religious person may use religious worship to attain a better spiritual health.
The second model would fit for someone that uses a religious experience and religion as a fashion and flitter from practise to practise, for example Madonna and the Kabala.
The third type of person seeks to attain a higher level of religious thought, this is far more valid than the previous two as the result, in a spiritual sense is far more rewarding.
Some may argue that in a world which is becoming increasingly less spiritual, the first two can be seen as just a valuable and productive to the society because at least they have some form of further insight however small.
On the other hand, others would argue that they make a mockery of religion and are potentially dangerous to religion as we know it. They would cite examples of American TV Christian Angelical priests, who feel they have Gods power within them to heal. Macintrye may describe it as ‘the therapist’ where the person gets a ‘quick fix’ so while Madonna feels she is becoming spiritually enlightened, it is just a falsehood and an artificial experience.
Momen further narrows religious experience down to ecstatic experiences and more calming ones. The ecstatic experience is a short period of ecstasy whereby a sudden event results in the individual feeling as never before. An example of this would be some Muslims in the festival of Ashura bang their heads against the wall in order to feel the experience felt by their ancestors. Here the physical pain endured by the people acts as a constant stimulant and puts them in a place where one does not usually find oneself and can use this raw emotion as a vehicle to religious experience.
The latter is a more passive way of reaching a state of spiritual awareness, where sitting calmly and contemplating acts as a catalyst for the higher state of mind. The greatest example of this is Sithama Gotoma or the Buddha who sat for days on end underneath a tree with a single grain of rice for subsidence, cutting himself off from the outside world. It is a long standing tradition in many of the world religions to use fasting to bring you into a new way of thinking. As the body yearns for food, the mind transcends into a new path and, being away from the material world heightens the sense of the natural world around you.
Momen felt that there are many who claim to have religious experiences but are in fact mistaken; he believed that instances where people claimed to reached a spiritual state through group hysteria, drug taking and mental disorder, he feels this is in no way religious.
It is very difficult to try to categorize mystical experience, James feels that they are ‘ineffable,’ so how does one propose to put them in a rational order is you can’t even know what it really was. A Suffi Muslim describing his experience is the same as describing the taste of an onion. Where religious texts can be read and interpreted by people, religious experience is in a different league as there is nothing tangible to see and try and explain.
Many would argue that it is a deeply personal experience whereby different people are triggered by different means in the world around, but the main goal is still shared by all.
Many mystics, I feel, would be horrified by Momens vulgar table, religious experience is an individual activity that many take very seriously, they would argue that this form of rationalizing the irrational is a poor reflection on the Western culture where people are obsessed with rankings, tables and categories. What right does he have to say that some people’s experiences are invalid and shallow whilst others are genuine?
