The Experience of Hallucinations in Religious Practice

When people take visions and voices as signs from the divine, they may become delusional. It has only been in the recent past that we have been able to see clearly by brain sciences that many of these experiences actually are taking place in the brain. Such studies, including one in which the IQ of hallucinators was shown to decrease after the onset of hallucinations, are very important for all religious people to understand. The author believes that today's spiritual climate is often dangerous. Most of the traditional religious leaders, whether they be Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu or Buddhist, teach that some religious experiences may be dangerous. However, in today’s spiritual marketplace, these experiences often become the most important part of some people’s spirituality. The author has tried to remove his own specific personal beliefs from this book to create an important interfaith work.