Published Collections of Mystical Experiences

Ecstasy: A Way of Knowing - Andrew M. Greeley

Rev. Greeley directed a national survey in the early 1970s, obtaining responses from 1,467 persons.

Descriptor of Experience	Percent
A feeling of deep and profound peace	55
A certainty that all things would work out for the good	48
Sense of my own need to contribute to others	43
A conviction that love is a the center of everything	43
Sense of joy and laughter	43
An experience of great emotional intensity	38
A great increase in my understanding and knowledge	32
A sense of the unity of everything and my own part in it	29
A sense of a new life or living in a new world	27
A confidence in my own personal survival	27
A feeling that I couldn't possibly describe what was happening to me	26
The sense that all the universe is alive	25
The sensation that my personality has been taken over by something much more powerful than I am	24
A sense of tremendous personal expansion, either psychological or physical	22
A sensaton of warmth or fire	22
A sense of being alone	19
A loss of concern about worldly problems	19
A sense that I was bathed in light	14
A feeling of desolation	8
Something else	4

Triggers	Percent
Listening to music	49
Prayer	48
Beauties of nature (i.e. a sunset)	45
Moments of quiet reflection	42
Attending church service	41
Listening to a sermon	40
Watching little children	34
Reading the Bible	31
Being alone in church	30
Reading a poem or a novel	21
Childbirth	20
Sexual lovemaking	18
Your own creative work	17
Looking at a painting	15
Something else	13
Physical exercise	1
Drugs	0

Duration of Experience	Percent
A few minutes or less	37
Ten or fifteen minutes	13
Half an hour	6
An hour	5
Several hours	9
A day or more	21
No answer	8

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