Editing Religious ecstasy (section)

{{Short description|Altered state of consciousness}}
{{for|related topics|Ecstasy (emotion)|Ecstasy (philosophy)}}
[[File:Giuseppe Bazzani - The Ecstasy of St Therese - WGA01527.jpg|thumb|A [[Cherubim]] piercing the heart of [[Saint Teresa of Avila]] while in religious ecstasy. Oil on Canvas. By Roman artisan [[Giuseppe Bazzani]]. Circa 1750.  ]]
{{Spirituality sidebar}}

'''Religious ecstasy''' is a purported form of [[altered state of consciousness]] characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and reportedly expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness, frequently accompanied by visions and emotional (and sometimes physical) [[Euphoria (emotion)|euphoria]].

Although the experience is usually brief in time,<ref>Marghanita Laski, ''Ecstasy. A Study of Some Secular and Religious Experiences''. The Cresset Press, London, 1961. p. 57</ref> there are records of such experiences lasting several days or even more, and of recurring experiences of ecstasy during a person's lifetime.

In [[Sufism]], the term is referred to as ''[[wajd]]''. In [[Buddhism]], ''piti'', usually translated as "joy" or "rapture", is an element of ''jhana'', a state of mental oneness with an object that one focuses on in meditation.<ref>{{cite web  
 | last = Gunaratana  
 | first = Henepola  
 | title = The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation  
 | website = Access to Insight  
 | date = 1995  
 | url = https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html#ch4.1  
 | access-date = 2 March 2025  
}}</ref>