Awe

Religion is about our experience: James defines mystical awe in terms of these qualities: The state is ineffable; it cannot be captured with language. It is noetic, involving profound realizations about human existence and the nature of reality. It is transient and rooted in fleeting feelings. And it is passive; our sense of self and agency diminish during mystical awe.

GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT

We can find these feelings: Van Cappellen, Patty. “Rethinking Self-Transcendent Positive Emotions and Religion: Perspectives from Psychological and Biblical Research.”

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 9 (2017): 254–63.

GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT

Or for Mark Twain: Kripal, Jeffrey J. The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge. New York: Bellevue Literary Press, 2019. In this book Kripal surveys a wide range of extraordinary experiences that shaped the spiritual beliefs of well-known scholars over the ages.

GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT

guided by Divine forces: For a fascinating account of how evangelical Christians hear the voice of God, see: Luhrmann, Tanya. When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. New York: Alfred Knopf, 2012.

GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT

known collectively as yōkai: Foster, Michael D. The Book of Yokai. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015.

GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT

ancient cognitive systems: Boyer, Pascal. “Religious Thought and Behaviour as By-Products of Brain Function.” Trends in Cognitive Science 7, no. 3 (2003): 119–24. Boyer, Pascal. Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought. New York: Basic Books, 2001. Taves, Ann, Egil Asprem, and Elliott Ihm. “Psychology, Meaning Making, and the Study of Worldviews: Beyond Religion and Non-religion.” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 10, no. 3 (2018): 207–17.

GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT

We attribute unusual experiences: Barrett, Justin. “Exploring the Natural Foundations of Religion.” Trends in Cognitive Science 4, no. 1 (2000): 29–34.

GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT

When alone in an eerie: Our attachment to adult figures is grounded in touch, soothing, comfort in the face of threat, and the formation of beliefs about how vast, powerful figures—caregivers—attend to our needs. It is sound to conjecture that our attachment experiences are a platform for the emergence of beliefs about the Divine. Given certain cultural and family contexts, this thinking goes, God becomes a noncorporeal attachment figure, a “secure base” in our adult lives. Cherniak, Aaron D., Mario Mikulincer, Phillip R. Shaver, and Pehr Granqvist. “Attachment Theory and Religion.” Current Opinion in Psychology 40 (2021): 126–30. Granqvist, Pehr, and Lee A. Kirkpatrick. “Religion, Spirituality, and Attachment.” In APA Handbook of Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality.

Vol. 1, Context, Theory, and Research, edited by Kenneth I. Pargament, Julie J. Exline, and James W. Jones, 139–155. American Psychological Association, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1037/14045-007. This article shows that feelings of being securely attached to God account for some of religion’s benefits, such as reduced distress. Bradshaw, Matt, Christopher G. Ellison, and Jack P. Marcum. “Attachment to God, Images of God, and Psychological Distress in a Nationwide Sample of Presbyterians.” International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 20, no. 2 (2010): 130–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508611003608049.

GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT

Carmelite nuns recall: Beauregard, Mario, and David Leary. The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. Newberg, Andrew. Neurotheology: How Science Can Enlighten Us about Spirituality. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018. See also: Sheldrake, Rupert. Science and Spiritual Practices. Berkeley: Counterpoint Press, 2018.

GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT