What happens in your brain during moments of spiritual transcendence? Is it possible to experience profound mystical states without following a traditional religious path?
In his book Awe, Dacher Keltner explores well-being and self-awareness in connection with spiritual awe. From religious practices to psychedelic experiences, his work reveals various ways to access these transformative mental states that blur the line between inner and outer worlds.
Keep reading to learn about Keltner’s findings on the kind of awe that comes from spirituality.
Spiritual Awe
While some experiences of awe are sparked from without, there is another whose source is largely internal: Keltner describes spiritual awe as arising from religious and mystical experiences. Like the feelings evoked by nature, spiritual awe leads to both a diminution of the self and a feeling of connection to something greater. Keltner explains that spiritual awe leads to changes in brain activity, particularly in the regions that govern self-awareness. Though spiritual awe is felt by people of all religions, when we feel it, we usually interpret it through our own faith traditions or lack thereof.
| Religion, Meaning, and the Mind Despite their differences, spiritual traditions share many commonalities in addition to the feelings of wonder Keltner mentions. These include a belief in a higher power and a sense of interconnectedness with others. Additionally, most religions offer frameworks for addressing the meaning of life and death, which are further sources of awe. In How God Changes Your Brain, Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman explain how inducing spiritual awe through prayer and meditation increases activity in the brain region called the thalamus, which is responsible for relaying signals from your sensory organs to the information processing regions of the brain. At the same time, prayer and meditation suppress activity in the parietal lobe, which uses those sensory signals to paint a mental picture of your external surroundings. By neurologically skewing your ability to process sensory information, the spiritual awe Keltner talks about blurs the line between your perceptions of your inner experience and the outer world. |
However, religion isn’t the only path to experiencing spiritual awe. Keltner suggests that you can achieve states of mystical wonder using psychedelic substances like psilocybin, peyote, or LSD. Research has shown that the mystical experiences produced by these substances can lead to increased openness, reduced anxiety and depression, and other positive psychological changes, similar to those measured in people who’ve had profound religious experiences. Keltner reports that a majority of these studies’ participants describe their psychedelic experiences as one of the most important events of their lives.
(Shortform note: Keltner’s discussion of psychedelics shouldn’t be read as a full endorsement of their use. Most psychedelics appear to pose minimal physical risks—there’s little to no evidence of organ toxicity, and addiction and lethal overdoses are rare. Nevertheless, scientists don’t fully understand these substances’ long-term effects. For a small proportion of vulnerable individuals, they can trigger enduring psychotic episodes. LSD, in particular, has been linked to rare cases of hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), in which people continue to experience hallucinations and other disturbances for years. Psychedelics can also interact with prescription medications, particularly antidepressants, sometimes with lethal results.)
In whatever way spiritual awe is achieved, Keltner notes its potential benefits, including improved well-being and positive social behavior. However, he acknowledges that faith communities sometimes use spiritual awe to justify harmful behaviors, such as increased tribalism or abusive power structures. He suggests that contemporary spiritual leaders should work to lessen these negative aspects while cultivating the beneficial elements of spiritual awe. Overall, Keltner presents mystical experiences, however they’re achieved, as potentially transformative events that can lead to significant positive psychological changes.
| Spiritual Awe Without Religion Keltner doesn’t go into detail about the negative aspects of religious awe, but, in The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins does so at length. Dawkins argues that religions promote values that are at odds with modern morality, foster hatred and intolerance for those outside their faiths, and obstruct progress toward obtaining a more valid, scientific understanding of the world. However, it’s possible to separate spiritual awe from religion. In Waking Up, atheist philosopher Sam Harris argues that religious belief isn’t necessary to lead a spiritual life—in his view, spirituality is more accurately defined as the process of exploring your consciousness as a means to find happiness and tranquility. Since this path to spiritual awe is a largely introspective journey, it lessens the risk of falling afoul of the harmful mindsets that Keltner says some insular faith communities foster. |
