|
Published
Collections of Mystical Experiences
The
Spiritual Nature of Man - Alister Hardy
Alister
Hardy, professor of zoology and explorer, established
The Alister
Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre in the
1960s to study the mystical experience. After eight
years of work, a study was published outlining the findings
of a survey of thousands of first-hand accounts of mystical
experience.
Note:
The Centre did not report its data in terms of percentage
of total. Instead they broke their survey into three
groups of 1000 and then calculated the average of each
1000 grouping. The average is reported below.
Descriptor
of Experience
|
Average
Number of Times per 1000
|
A
sense of security, protection and peace
|
253
|
A
sense of joy, happiness, well-being
|
212
|
Sense
of presence (not human)
|
202.3
|
A
sense of certainty, clarity, enlightenment
|
194.7
|
Sense
of guidance, vocation, inspiration
|
157.7
|
Sense
of prayer answered in events
|
138.3
|
Sense
of purpose behind events
|
113.7
|
Awe,
reverence, wonder
|
66
|
Sense
of new strength in oneself
|
65
|
Feeling
of love, affection (in oneself)
|
56.7
|
Exaltation,
excitement, ecstasy
|
47.3
|
Sense
of forgiveness, restoration, renewal
|
40
|
Sense
of timelessness
|
37.7
|
Sense
of release from fear of death
|
36.3
|
Sense
of being at a loss for words
|
25.3
|
Hope,
optimism
|
15.3
|
Yearning,
desire, nostalgia
|
14.3
|
Sense
of integration, wholeness, fulfilment
|
12.7
|
Sense
of indifference, detachment
|
11.3
|
Triggers
|
Average
Number of Times per 1000
|
Depression
or despair
|
183.7
|
Prayer,
meditation
|
135.7
|
Natural
beauty
|
122.7
|
Religious
worship
|
117.7
|
Literature,
film, drama
|
82
|
Illness
|
80
|
Music
|
56.7
|
Crises
in personal relations
|
37.3
|
The
death of others
|
28
|
Sacred
places
|
26
|
Visual
art
|
24.7
|
Creative
work
|
20.7
|
Prospect
of death
|
15.3
|
Silence,
solitude
|
15.3
|
Physical
activity
|
9.7
|
Childbirth
|
8.7
|
Happiness
|
7.3
|
Sexual
relations
|
4
|
Drugs:
anaesthetic
|
10.7
|
Drugs:
psychedelic
|
0.67
|
Senses
Affected
|
Average
Number of Times per 1000
|
Visual
|
462.9
|
Auditory
|
197.7
|
Touch
|
121.6
|
Smell
|
11
|
Source:
Hardy, Sir Alister. The Spiritual Nature of Man: A study
of contemporary religious experience, (Oxford, England:
Clarendon Press, 1979), p. 26-29.
Click
here
to go to the Alister Hardy Trust web site.
<<Back
to Read Mystical Experiences
|
