ration of the psyche. It pathologizes spirituality of any kind and together with it the entire spiritual history of humanity. The observations from the study of holotropic states confirm an important insight of C. G. Jung. According to him, the experiences originating in deeper levels of the psyche (in my own terminology perinatal and transpersonal experiences) have a certain quality that he called (after Rudolph Otto) “numinosity”. They are associated with the feeling that one is encountering a dimension which is sacred, holy, and radically different from everyday life, and which belongs to a superior order of reality. The term “numinous” is relatively neutral and thus preferable to others, such as religious, mystical, magical, holy, or sacred, which have often been used incorrectly and are easily misleading. To prevent confusion and misunderstandings that in the past have compromised many similar discussions, it is critical to make a clear distinction between spirituality and religion. Spirituality is based on direct experiences of other realities. It does not necessarily require a special place, or a special person mediating contact with the divine, although mystics can certainly benefit from spiritual guidance and a community of fellow seekers. Spirituality involves a special relationship between the individual and the cosmos and is in its essence a personal and private affair. At the cradle of all great religions were visionary (perinatal and/or transpersonal) experiences of their founders, prophets, saints, and even ordinary followers. All major spiritual scriptures – the Vedas, the Buddhist Pali Canon, the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, and many others are based on revelations in holotropic states of consciousness. By comparison, the basis of organized religion is institutionalized group activity that takes place in a designated location (temple, church), and involves a system of appointed officials. Ideally, religions should provide for their members access to and support for direct spiritual experiences. However, it often happens that an organized religion sooner or later completely loses the connection with its spiritual source and becomes a secular institution exploiting the human spiritual needs without satisfying them. Instead, it creates a hierarchical system focusing on the pursuit of power, control, politics, money, and other possessions. Under these circumstances, religious hierarchy tends to actively discourage and suppress direct spiritual experiences in its members, because they foster independence and cannot be effectively controlled. When this happens, genuine spiritual life continues only in the mystical branches and monastic orders. From the scientific point of view, the main question is the ontological status of transpersonal experiences. While mainstream psychiatry and psychology see them as indications of pathology, transpersonal psychology considers them important phenomena sui generis that have great heuristic and therapeutic value and deserve to be seriously studied. While much of what is found in mainstream religions and their theologies is certainly in serious conflict with science, this is not true in regard to spirituality based on direct transpersonal experiences. The findings of modern consciousness research show actually remarkable convergence with many revolutionary developments in Western science referred to as the emergSpirituality Studies 2 (1) Spring 2016 33
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