A questioner wrote:
What are some strange experiences you’ve had along your spiritual journey?
Alexander wrote:
I have had a number of strange ones over the years. There was a time when having these experiences was very meaningful to me, and constituted a kind of “proof” that I was making progress on the spiritual quest. In the east they do say that saints and yogis are supposed to manifest “siddhis” or “signs” of spiritual attainment. These days they are not something I worry too much about. I definitely rest in a world of “knowledge” now, so all the stresses do not bother me anymore. It may be that across your journey you will have these strange experiences; you may also have none. Whether you interpret them as “siddhis” or just odd events, though, is up to you.
I have gone through some of my entries I made over the years and it looks like this is a decent list of them:
1. Intuition – An intrusive line of thoughts, or an inner “push” or feeling that seems to come from a higher source. For example, it may manifest as a premonition of a future event, or you may feel a push to do something or not do something to act in conformity with your higher self.
2. Spiritual tears – Likely connected to the opening of the heart chakra, this is the “joy-making mourning” referred to by ascetic writers. Spiritual seekers will experience this sourceless crying, which we might interpret as causing an alchemical change in the body.
3. A warmth or heat in the chest – Likely a product of the opening of the heart chakra, it manifests as a definite sensation in the heart.
4. A sensation in the right abdomen, just below the ribs – I went to the doctor to investigate this; it was a strange one. The pain would not go away. The doctor was not able to diagnose it as anything – his best guess was an inflammation of the cartilage. It was not for some time till I realized the small, circular area the sensation was coming from was the location of the injury of Longinus. Whether that is a coincidence or a kindly sign is up to others to decide.
5. Vibrations in the hands and feet – These are the same vibrations many feel when they are going out-of-body. It is an interesting coincidence that these manifest most palpably in the places where the “holy wounds” of Christ were located. It shows what a fascinating, fateful universe we live in.
6. Invocation of a spiritual master – Concentrated attention for a long period time on a particular figure, like a guru, may call that teacher to be in your presence. This may be felt as a strong intuitive sense that they are there with you.
7. Out-of-body experiences – I have had some unimpressive OOBEs, where I have felt my awareness separate from my body, but I’ve been blind and brought quickly back into the physical again.
What I will do is give you the logs I made of some of these experiences at the time, as my original reactions to them may be useful to you.
Here is the one I wrote when I felt I had invoked the presence of Gurdjieff:
I wanted to make a record of this experience because I think it was an extraordinary one.
To start off, in occult books, a lot of importance is put into the idea of "invocation." Often, there is a fascination with people "summoning demons." As though summoning a demon could ever be a useful action.
Invocation, however, is not something unique to the occult. In different religions, invocations are made to gods, saints, and spiritual masters. Actually, every time you hear someone who hits his foot yell "Jesus Christ!" that is an invocation to Christ. (Of course, an exclamation like this could never invoke Christ.)
About two years ago I had an experience in this area, which has taken me a large amount of time to understand.
What occurred? Well, to explain first requires some context. As I have explained to Jhanananda and mapeli here, for many years I was a student of G. I. Gurdjieff. He was someone I dedicated a large amount of study to, and who I learned a lot from his teachings.
At one point I came to subject everything in my experience to the judgment of Gurdjieff. What would he think of X? How should I do Y in reference to him? It is important to understand this, because he occupied a large amount of space in my thoughts.
Now, how does an invocation work? How would it be possible to invoke Christ, Shiva, etc? Well, it is an exercise of the mind, and of the whole personality. Fixation is needed. One has to very seriously dedicate one's thoughts to a guru, saint, etc.
People imagine invocation in the stereotype of a pentagram drawn on the floor. They imagine a ceremony with different objects. In Christianity, people imagine the physical re-enactment of the Last Supper as being essential for the presence of Christ.
But, all of the outward show is just that. The adornments are not anything in themselves. What these objects do is simply give a context for a person. It is the person himself who invokes the guru, saint, or deva.
So, what occurred? Well, one day I was just sitting, going about my business as usual. I was engaged in study of Gurdjieff. Then, suddenly, I became aware of the "presence" of G. I. Gurdjieff.
It was a floaty experience. It was like he was there, but not there. It was like he was above me, over my shoulder, looking at me - though I could not see him back. It was unsettling. It was out of the ordinary.
In my imagination I slowly came to have different images emerge. These made the presence of Gurdjieff into a more concrete experience. His "presence" remained for a few minutes. Then, the "presence" went away.
I would like to conclude that it is essential to understand experiences like this in the context of doubt. I saw nothing. Remember, the experience was of a "presence." There could be nothing more flighty. Finally, the associative flow of images was not anything special. They cannot be made distinct from imagination. So, even if this particular experience was veritable, experiences like this always end up in a mixture with imagination. (Invocation of a Spiritual Master)
Here is one of my first entries where I refer to intuition:
Has anyone had experiences of intuition, where an (arguably) intrusive line of thoughts enters your head, just before X experience happens?
I've had several of these which has convinced me it's not just my imagination. Not that it's something I want to go around telling people about, either. But a few of the intuitions seemed to have confirmed that they were real, for example:
- One experience about a year ago, late in the evening, I get into my head one of my friends from school, who I had not talked to in years. This is at about 1 o'clock in the morning. I get a weird intimation then to check my phone... and find I had just received a conciliatory message from her.
I had a similar experience a couple months ago:
- Again, I have a line of thoughts about one of my friends (actually in regard to something in particular we're both a part of), and when I go to check my email about 10 minutes after, I find a message from that friend along with a reference to the same subject that I had had in mind. Right when I was having the intuition, was about when he had sent the email.
Interesting is that these were two people I had (and still have) close emotional connections with. Though I can't say if that emotional connection is important or not to having intuitions. What seems key about the experience, though, is that an intuition is noticeably different in quality from an ordinary line of thoughts, i.e., it isn't something you would have been thinking about on your own. I can't manipulate or produce these experiences when I want them, but they just seem to come now and then and are (probably?) tied to events of personal importance. (Intuition)
And here is a final entry I wrote where I talk about spiritual tears:
One phenomenon I have found that is explored in the Western tradition, but not the Eastern, is that of mystic crying or mourning.
In the writings of the hesychasts, Margery Kempe, John of the Cross, John Climacus, and others, there is an expression of a period during which one undergoes sobbing from no apparent cause.
Often, this experience accompanies an introversion into oneself. As one learns more about one's past experiences, these memories become painful and cause suffering.
However, while this sobbing is very sad, the consequences of it are positive. One effect is it leads to a significant humanizing of the individual. Another effect is it leads to a re-evaluation of all one's values and ideas.
There are two interesting points we can mention about these mystic tears:
First, they appear to accompany the "opening of the heart" as referred to in hesychasm. In the East, this is called the opening of the heart chakra. Either case represents our accessing the seat of our superior emotions, which for the ordinary person are inaccessible. By accessing them, we have reached an intermediate stage of spiritual development.
Second, some argue that the crying itself is an expression of a chemical (or alchemical) change that is going on in the body. This argument helps explain why the crying sometimes just happens, with no particular cause. According to this view, sobbing facilitates the "transmutation" or transfiguration of the body. (Opening the Spiritual Heart)
I hope these were helpful to share with you!
