Quantifying Religious And Spiritual Experiences.

[BU-DRTS]

Does the Carmelite nun interacting with God through contemplative prayer experience something similar to the Hindu standing before Shiva? If so, how similar (and, for that matter, how different) are these experiences? And what about men and women? To what extent are the religious or spiritual experiences that women tend to have different from the types of experience that men typically identify as religious or spiritual? 

 

With the prior approval of this forum's administrator, I would like to invite you to participate in a new survey that aims to shed some light upon these controversial questions by describing religious/spiritual experience in such a way that comparisons like those above become far more manageable. This survey, called the Enhanced Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (EPCI), uses culturally-independent categories to measure the subjective features of a religious/spiritual experience from your own past and produces a quantitative profile of that experience as a result. Think about sharing your own religious/spiritual experience with us and, by extension, help to resolve the embittered controversy of comparison!!! [FULL DISCLOSURE: I am one of the survey's co-developers and a doctoral student in the Division of Religious & Theological Studies, Boston University.]

 

If you're ready to take the EPCI at any point, simply go here and look for the survey called Religious and Spiritual Experiences. 

 

In prior studies, the EPCI has shown that religious/spiritual experiences clearly do exhibit a unique profile, as compared to similar but non-religious/spiritual forms of experience. And with regard to the difficulties mentioned above, the EPCI has also consistently demonstrated its ability to differentiate between the average profile for experiences shared by men and that for experiences shared by women. This can be seen in the following graph, for example, which represents this average profile for each gender (M=Yellow, W=Blue; the actual characteristics have been hidden to avoid biasing your choice of experience toward those very characters).

 

 

But I must be perfectly clear about one thing. It would be naïve of anybody to claim that this survey captures all (or even most) of what makes this type of experience such a profoundly significant and influential part of human existence. We are most emphatically not using the EPCI with the intent to minimize or to deny the authenticity of religious and spiritual experiences by reducing them to something other than they are, something more "real" because more scientific in some way. Rather, we developed the EPCI in the hopes of obtaining a clearer understanding of religious and spiritual experiences precisely as they are in themselves.

 

So, if you've had an experience that you would somehow characterize as religious or spiritual, please consider filling out the EPCI. Once finished, you will receive immediate feedback that allows you to compare your own experience with the experiences of many others who have taken this survey. And if a group of you are interested in taking the survey together (which would offer you feedback comparing the results specifically among yourselves), just PM me and that can easily be arranged.

 

What's more, you'll be contributing to a good cause!!! As our way of showing how much we appreciate your participation, each participant who completes the survey can make a donation to their choice of two charities. Come make the world a better place, and start exploring your religion while you do!

[Nihil Obstat]

Hm...

[CrossCuT]

Very interesting!

[BU-DRTS]

Very interesting!

 

Thanks! Glad you like it! 

[CrossCuT]

I was about to ask if this was for something school related then I kept reading and yep! I dont mind helping as long as I get credit as a VIP participant hahahah

Edited February 8, 2014 by CrossCuT

[maximillion]

Interesting.

[BU-DRTS]

I was about to ask if this was for something school related then I kept reading and yep! I dont mind helping as long as I get credit as a VIP participant hahahah

 

Consider it done! Your contribution has been set aside as a "Very Important Profile" and will be pampered accordingly. I will personally see to it that your profile enjoys only the finest of cheeses and the most expensive champagne (that a graduate student's budget can buy). 

 

:hehe2:

[cmaD2006]

Consider it done! Your contribution has been set aside as a "Very Important Profile" and will be pampered accordingly. I will personally see to it that your profile enjoys only the finest of cheeses and the most expensive champagne (that a graduate student's budget can buy). 

 

:hehe2:

 

That means a $5 bottle of cheap wine, right? :smile2:

[BU-DRTS]

Hey, 

 

I know that we've already gotten some good responses from the members of phatmass, so I wanted to thank all of you who have taken a moment to participate (and encourage those who haven't)! But mostly, I just wanted to make sure that there aren't any questions and that those who have taken the survey feel comfortable making comments or leaving feedback. Please don't hesitate to voice your questions/comments, either in this thread or by personal message.

 

And again, thanks everybody for your wonderful contributions!   :like2:

 

 

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

Sorry can't do the survey because i have to give my full name, email. etc. To many personal details required.  :( but i really would have liked to take such a survey on religious and spiritual experiences, i consider myself both.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Tab'le De'Bah-Rye

[Guest]

10 years ago or so I had a couple crazy ones....With lights...God is real...

Edited February 28, 2014 by Guest

[mortify ii]

10 years ago or so I had a couple crazy ones....With lights...God is real...

 

Can you explain brother?

[BU-DRTS]

Sorry can't do the survey because i have to give my full name, email. etc. To many personal details required.  :( but i really would have liked to take such a survey on religious and spiritual experiences, i consider myself both.

 

Not that this is the rationale behind your concern (and please don't feel the need to justify whether it is or it is not), but you have brought to my attention a pretty key piece of information that is lacking in the original post. 

 

I should have mentioned that all submitted responses are rendered anonymous and that your identity will remain completely protected...even from us, the researchers! Only one person, Professor Wesley J. Wildman of Boston University's School of Theology (the primary investigator), has full access to the information. 

 

10 years ago or so I had a couple crazy ones....With lights...God is real...

 

Well, your experiences certainly sound like they qualify! If you still retain a pretty clear recollection of them, I would definitely encourage you to share them with us!