Ecstasy thread. Religious ecstasy, communion with the divine, the image of the asymptote where we mere mortals meet the transcendent. When we are properly aligned with the true being and the righteousness of our cause/group/tradition, we may be granted a glimpse of the infinite

The manifestations of religious ecstasy are often physiological as well as psychological. In the otherworldly landscapes of the mind of god, and we may feel a sense of the interconnectedness of all things, of deep and abiding peace, or the conviction of life-altering insight

There are some common pathways to religious ecstasy. Most of them hinge on expectation: there is a certain feedback loop between mental openness to ecstasy and a belief that you will enter it. In this stance, the following practices are conducive to the ecstatic

Meditation: dissociating the mind by focusing on repetitive stimulus can cause you to enter an altered state where your sensation of yourself is greatly reduced

Glossolalia: used by charismatic Christians and in shamanic practice. Seems to be at least partially memetic. In Matthew 6, Jesus speaks against the practice. “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions”. Seems to spread mimetically.

Prayer: can be similar to meditation, a long prayer or confession to god can become rapturous. The supplicant may have a sense of god’s presence, the feeling of attendance from a divine power and love.

Fasting: short term fasting causes the body to release adrenaline, and gives you a heightened sense of your own body. When stacked with other ecstatic practices, it increases their potency

Psychedelic drugs: mushrooms, acid, and ayahuasca are all famous for inducing feelings of ego loss, deep introspection, and the sensation of a spiritual presence

Fellowship and group worship: communal singing of hymns, chanting political or religious slogans, and the drama of being lost in a crowd can all cause a sense of otherness, a grand awareness of one’s own smallness, a kind of unity of consciousness into a hivelike unity.

CrossFit: its an outlier but I suspect cross fitters get a bit of a runner’s high, and since I am treating them like a church, it’s worth noting that this is similar to a religious ecstasy, fulfilling a similar role

Shamanic mysticism and new age types are the most likely to use drugs as part of a spiritual practice. Some ancient Greco-Roman mystery religions consumed ergotized grains in order to enter a psychedelic state

Marxists and some neoliberals use political protest rallies as a kind of church, where they experience the ecstasy of crowds. In this light, OWS was a kind of mystery cult

Buddhism is a religion entirely built around a the ecstasy of meditation. Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel Ingraham is a deep elucidation of this.

Christianity has always had a rocky relationship with religious ecstasy, tending to believe that the loss of self-control is not of God

Musical concerts, such as rock shows and edm raves are a a gateway to spiritual ecstasy for many people, as they combine the ecstasy of crowds with the high of extertion from dancing and the rhythmic repetition of music. H/t @MimeticValue

: taking a walk in the woods