Experiential Spirituality and Contemporary Gnosis

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Just as the Age of Reason spawned a golden age for science and intellect, Western religions became more oriented toward beliefs and religious practices that grew out of and drew upon the left brain – i. e., in religious beliefs and practices, we stayed in our heads.

At the same time, Western religions have traditionally encouraged adherents to cede control to the church and its authority, rather than encouraging believers to take individual responsibility for their own spirituality. This approach worked for centuries until the advent of more public education and the resultant higher education of the populace. Education leads to empowerment.

Small wonder, then, that New Agers and those into metaphysics want to experience their spirituality, so that they may feel it, rather than simply think it, and that they want to have some control over their practice or manifestation of it, rather than strictly going through an external intermediary. This shift to a feeling of control over one’s expression of spirituality also reflects the trend towards personal responsibility, as well as personal empowerment.

Experiential spirituality may be expressed in various ways: some learn to meditate to tap into the divine; some are sensitized to the divine in nature and animals; some become healers or receive healing work; some seek to tap into the divine and receive guidance; etc. The list goes on and on….

Experiential spirituality shifts spirituality from something “out there,” impersonal, and external, to an internalization of the divine. Aside from this making more people mystics because they transcend the physical in their spiritual explorations, it also represents

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