Editing Religious experience (section)

===Origins===
The notion of "religious experience" can be traced back to [[William James]], who used the term "religious experience" in his book, ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]''.{{sfn|Hori|1999|p=47}} It is considered to be the classic work in the field, and references to James' ideas are common at professional conferences. James distinguished between [[institutional religion]] and [[Spirituality|personal religion]]. Institutional religion refers to the religious group or organization, and plays an important part in a society's culture. Personal religion, in which the individual has [[mystical experience]], can be experienced regardless of the culture.

The origins of the use of this term can be dated further back.{{sfn|Sharf|2000}} In the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, several historical figures put forth very influential views that religion and its beliefs can be grounded in experience itself. While [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]] held that [[Moral obligation|moral experience]] justified [[religious belief]]s, [[John Wesley]] in addition to stressing individual moral exertion thought that the religious experiences in the [[Methodist movement]] (paralleling the [[Romantic Movement]]) were foundational to religious commitment as a way of life.{{sfn|Barbour|1966|pp=69, 79}}

[[Wayne Proudfoot]] traces the roots of the notion of "religious experience" to the German theologian [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]] (1768–1834), who argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion of "religious experience" was used by Schleiermacher and [[Albrecht Ritschl|Albert Ritschl]] to defend religion against the growing scientific and secular critique, and defend the view that human (moral and religious) experience justifies [[religious belief]]s.{{sfn|Sharf|2000}}

The notion of "religious experience" was adopted by many scholars of religion, of which William James was the most influential.{{sfn|Sharf|2000|p=271}}{{refn|group=note|James also gives descriptions of conversion experiences. The Christian model of dramatic conversions, based on the role-model of Paul's conversion, may also have served as a model for Western interpretations and expectations regarding "enlightenment", similar to Protestant influences on Theravada Buddhism, as described by Carrithers: "It rests upon the notion of the primacy of religious experiences, preferably spectacular ones, as the origin and legitimation of religious action. But this presupposition has a natural home, not in Buddhism, but in Christian and especially Protestant Christian movements which prescribe a radical conversion."{{sfn|Carrithers|1983|p=18}} See Sekida for an example of this influence of William James and Christian conversion stories, mentioning Luther{{sfn|Sekida|1985|pp=196-197}} and St. Paul.{{sfn|Sekida|1985|p=251}} See also McMahan for the influence of Christian thought on Buddhism.{{sfn|McMahan|2008}}}}

A broad range of western and eastern movements have incorporated and influenced the emergence of the modern notion of "mystical experience", such as the [[Perennial philosophy]], [[Transcendentalism]], [[Universalism]], the [[Theosophical Society]], [[New Thought]], [[Neo-Vedanta]] and [[Buddhist modernism]].{{sfn|McMahan|2008}}{{sfn|King|1999}}

====Perennial philosophy====
{{Main|Perennial philosophy}}
According to the Perennial philosophy, the mystical experiences in all religions are essentially the same. It supposes that many, if not all of the world's great religions, have arisen around the teachings of mystics, including [[Buddha]], [[Jesus]], [[Lao Tze]], and [[Krishna]]. It also sees most religious traditions describing fundamental mystical experience, at least esoterically. A major proponent in the 20th century was [[Aldous Huxley]], who "was heavily influenced in his description by Vivekananda's [[neo-Vedanta]] and the idiosyncratic version of Zen exported to the west by [[D.T. Suzuki]]. Both of these thinkers expounded their versions of the perennialist thesis",{{sfn|King|2002|p=163}} which they originally received from western thinkers and theologians.{{sfn|King|2002}}

====Existentialism====
[[Søren Kierkegaard]] argued that dying to the world and possessions is a foundational aspect of religious experience in Christianity.{{sfn|Dunning|1995}}

====Transcendentalism and Unitarian Universalism====
{{Main|Transcendentalism|Universalism}}
[[Transcendentalism]] was an early 19th-century [[Liberal Christianity|liberal Protestant]] movement, which was rooted in English and German [[Romanticism]], the [[Biblical criticism]] of [[Johann Gottfried Herder|Herder]] and [[Schleiermacher]], and the [[skepticism]] of [[David Hume|Hume]].{{sfn|Goodman|2003}} The Transcendentalists emphasised an intuitive, experiential approach of religion.{{sfn|Lewis|n.d.}} Following Schleiermacher,{{sfn|Sharf|1995a}} an individual's intuition of truth was taken as the criterion for truth.{{sfn|Lewis|n.d.}} In the late 18th and early 19th century, the first translations of Hindu texts appeared, which were also read by the Transcendentalists, and influenced their thinking.{{sfn|Lewis|n.d.}} They also endorsed [[Universalism|universalist]] and [[Unitarianism|Unitarianist]] ideas, leading to [[Unitarian Universalism]], the idea that there must be truth in other religions as well, since a loving God would redeem all living beings, not just Christians.{{sfn|Lewis|n.d.}}{{sfn|Andrews|1999}}

====Theosophical Society====
{{Main|Theosophical Society}}
{{See also|Vipassana movement|Hindu reform movements|Buddhist modernism}}
The Theosophical Society was formed in 1875 by [[Helena Blavatsky]], [[Henry Steel Olcott]], [[William Quan Judge]] and others to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]].{{sfn|Melton|1990}} The Theosophical Society has been highly influential in promoting interest, both in west and east, in a great variety of religious teachings:{{sfn|Melton|1990}}
{{Blockquote|No single organization or movement has contributed so many components to the [[New Age Movement]] as the Theosophical Society ... It has been the major force in the dissemination of [[occult]] literature in the [[Western world|West]] in the twentieth century.}}

The Theosophical Society searched for 'secret teachings' in Asian religions. It has been influential on modernist streams in several Asian religions, notably [[Hindu reform movements]], the revival of [[Theravada Buddhism]], and [[D.T. Suzuki]], who popularized the idea of enlightenment as insight into a timeless, transcendent reality.{{sfn|Sharf|1995c}}{{sfn|Shih|1953}}{{sfn|McMahan|2008}} Another example can be seen in [[Paul Brunton|Paul Brunton's]] ''A Search in Secret India'', which introduced [[Ramana Maharshi]] to a western audience.

====Orientalism and the "pizza effect"====
{{Main|Pizza effect|Neo-Vedanta|Buddhist modernism}}
The interplay between western and eastern notions of religion is an important factor in the development of modern mysticism. In the 19th century, when Asian countries were colonialised by western states, a process of cultural mimesis began.{{sfn|King|2002}}{{sfn|McMahan|2008}}{{sfn|Sharf|2000}} In this process, Western ideas about religion, especially the notion of "religious experience" were introduced to Asian countries by missionaries, scholars and the Theosophical Society, and amalgamated in a new understanding of the Indian and Buddhist traditions. This amalgam was exported back to the West as 'authentic Asian traditions', and acquired a great popularity in the west. Due to this western popularity, it also gained authority back in India, Sri Lanka and Japan.{{sfn|King|2002}}{{sfn|McMahan|2008}}{{sfn|Sharf|2000}}

The best-known representatives of this amalgamated tradition are [[Annie Besant]] (Theosophical Society), [[Vivekananda|Swami Vivekenanda]] and [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]] ([[Neo-Vedanta]]), [[Anagarika Dharmapala]], a 19th-century Sri Lankan Buddhist activist who founded the [[Maha Bodhi Society]], and [[D.T. Suzuki]], a Japanese scholar and [[Zen|Zen Buddhist]]. A synonymous term for this broad understanding is [[Nonduality (spirituality)|nondualism]]. This mutual influence is also known as the [[pizza effect]].