For those who've had a mystical experience

The Institute for Mystical Experience Research and Education (imere.org)

“A human being…experiences himself…as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness….Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature…”

— Nobel Laureate in Physics Albert Einstein (1921)

What to call the reverse, the sudden realization that we are not separate? Mystical Experience • Cosmic Consciousness • Enlightenment Experience • God-Realization • Kensho • NDE Like Experience • Near Death Like Experience • Oneness Experience • Religious Experience • Samadhi • Self-Realization • Spiritual Awakening • Spiritual Experience • Transcendent Experience • Unitive Experience.

For at least the last 3,000 years, people from every region of the world have experienced something extraordinary and transformational – the mystical experience.

During a mystical experience, there exists a simple unity, a pure consciousness, or non-duality of observer and observed (advaita).

In addition to oneness, the defining features of mystical experience include feelings of sacredness, peace, and bliss, a sense of transcending time and space, and an intuitive conviction that the experience is a source of objective truth about reality.

1 The effects of mystical experiences are of enormous value to both experiencers and humanity. On a personal level, mystical experience leads to sudden and lasting positive changes in an experiencer’s character and values.

2 And on a global scale, mystical experiences lie at or near the foundation of religions generally and thus even of civilization itself. Indeed, the mystical roots of conscious experience reveal a deep human identity, transcending all national, racial, personal, and theological differences.

3 It is therefore vital to further our understanding of these important, transformative experiences. The Institute for Mystical Experience Research and Education (IMERE) is dedicated to empirical research on mystical experiences.

Its mission is to advance the creation, communication, and application of mystical experience knowledge to help unite people throughout the world and to assist individuals in their spiritual growth. 

At present, IMERE’s primary research project is an international survey of people who have had mystical experiences. (See the Mystical Experience Questionnaire page for more information).

By working to collect thousands of mystical experience questionnaires from people from all over the world, IMERE is furthering the human understanding of these important transcendental experiences.

IMERE invites all to thoroughly explore its website to find out more. And if anyone believes such an experience occurred or may have occurred, such persons are warmly encouraged to share such experiences using the Online Mystical Experience Questionnaire. (Submissions will be kept anonymous unless they indicate otherwise).

It is these people who drive the success of IMERE. Questions or comments? Do not hesitate to contact IMERE, who very much looks forward to hearing from mystics.

I was God. Everyone told me so.

NOTE: mystical experience is often referred to by different names, including, but not limited to, cosmic consciousness, ecstatic experience, enlightenment, enlightenment experience, experience of god, experience of oneness, god consciousness, god-realization, intellectual vision, kensho, mystic experience, mystical consciousness, NDE like experience, near death like experience, religious conversion, religious experience, sacred experience, samadhi, self-realization, spiritual awakening, spiritual experience, spiritually transformative experience (STE), transcendent experience, transcendental experience, transpersonal experience, unity experience, and unitive experience.

If anyone believes that such was his or her experience, then IMERE warmly encourages the completion of its Mystical Experience Questionnaire. More

1: W.T. Stace, Mysticism and Philosophy, Los Angeles, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1987, pp. 131–132.

2: Bruce Greyson, MD, “Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness,” # 17, December 2007–February 2008, p. 11.

3: Edward Kelly, et al., Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century, Maryland, Rowman & Littlefield, 2010, pp. 573–574.