Religious ecstasy is a trance-like state characterized by expanded mental and spiritual awareness and is frequently accompanied by visions, hallucinations, and physical euphoria. Such an experience usually lasts about a half-hour. However, there are many records of such experiences lasting several days, and some people claim to have experienced ecstasy over a period of over three decades, or to have recurring experiences of ecstasy during their lifetime.

Religious ecstasy can be distinguished from spirit possession and hypnosis in that ecstasy is not accompanied by a loss of consciousness or will on the part of the subject experiencing it. Rather, the person experiencing ecstasy notices dramatic changes in his or her physiological responses and psychological perceptions. In some instances, ecstasy is induced accidentally or spontaneously, thereby creating intense fear and doubts about the mental health of those who experience it. Spiritual possession or channeling is a concept of many religions and tales, where it is believed that a demon, or disincarnate being, may take temporary control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in behaviour. ... Hypnosis is popularly understood to be a psychological condition in which an individual may be induced to exhibit apparent changes in behaviour or thought patterns - in particular an increase in suggestibility and subjective feelings of relaxation. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise such key features as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ... The grammar in this article needs to be checked. ...

Religious ecstasy can be deliberately induced using a variety of techniques, including prayer, meditation, Gospel music, breathing exercises, dancing, sweating, fasting, thirsting, and the consumption of coffee, wine, or psychotropic drugs. The particular technique that an individual uses to induce ecstasy is usually one that is associated with that individual's particular religious and cultural traditions. As a result, an ecstatic experience is usually interpreted within the context of a particular individual's religious and cultural traditions. Prayer is an effort to communicate with God, or to some deity or deities, or another form of spiritual entity, or otherwise, either to offer praise, to make a request, or simply to express ones thoughts and emotions. ... According to Bogart (1991) and Perez-De-Albeniz & Holmes (2000) the different techniques of meditation can be classified according to their focus. ... Gospel music may refer either to the religious music that first came out of African-American churches in the 1930s or, more loosely, to both black gospel music and to the religious music composed and sung by white southern Christian artists. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... Sweating (also called perspiration or sometimes transpiration) is the loss of a watery fluid, consisting mainly of sodium chloride and urea in solution, that is secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. ... Fasting is the act of willingly abstaining from all food and in some cases drink, for a period of time. ... Drinking is the act of consuming a liquid through the mouth, almost always largely consisting of water. ... Coffee is a drink, usually hot, prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant. ... Wine is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting grapes or grape juice. ... A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical that alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness, or behaviour. ... The anthropology of religion involves the study of religious institutions in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. ... Look up Culture in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikinews has news related to this article: Culture and entertainment Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cultural Development in Antiquity Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Culture and Civilization in Modern Times Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations, by Dr. Sam Vaknin...

Achieving ecstatic trances is a major activity of shamans, who use ecstasy for such purposes as traveling to heaven or the underworld, guiding or otherwise interacting with spirits, clairvoyance, and healing. Some shamans use drugs from such plants as peyote and cannabis (also see cannabis (drug)) in their attempts to reach ecstasy, while others rely on such non-chemical means as ritual, music, dance, ascetic practices, or visual designs as aids to mental discipline. The rituals followed by some athletes in preparing for contests are dismissed as superstition, but this is a device of sports psychologists to help them to attain an ecstasy-like state. The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means... Michelangelos interpretation of Heaven Heaven is an afterlife concept found in many religions or spiritual philosophies. ... // In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly dead souls go. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Clairvoyance is defined as a form of extra-sensory perception that it is claimed allows a person to perceive distant objects, persons, or events, including seeing through opaque objects and the detection of types of energy not normally perceptible to humans (i. ... Healing is the process where the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area. ... Look up drug in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Binomial name Lophophora williamsii (Lem. ... Species Cannabis indica Cannabis ruderalis Cannabis sativa Cannabis is a genus of flowering plant that includes one or more species. ... A Cannabis sativa plant The cannabis plant can be dried or otherwise processed to yield products containing large concentrations of compounds that have medicinal and psychoactive effects when consumed, usually by smoking or eating. ... A ritual is a formalised, predetermined set of symbolic actions generally performed in a particular environment at a regular, recurring interval. ... Someone who performs, composes, or conducts music is a musician. ... Dance (from Old French dancier, perhaps from Frankish) generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression (see also body language) or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... The word ascetic derives from the ancient Greek term askesis (practice, training or exercise). ...

Kriya yoga, a type of yoga popularized in the West by Paramahansa Yogananda, provides techniques to attain a state of ecstasy called Samadhi. According to practitioners, there are various stages of ecstasy, the highest of which is called Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Kriya yoga is a system of Indian yoga that was first popularized in the West by Paramahansa Yogananda. ... // Yoga practice and intention Modern yoga practice often includes traditional elements inherited from Hinduism, such as moral and ethical principles, postures designed to keep the body fit, spiritual philosophy, instruction by a guru, chanting of mantras (sacred syllables), quieting the breath, and stilling the mind through meditation. ... Paramhansa Yogananda Paramahansa Yogananda परमहंस योगानन्‍द (January 5, 1893 – March 7, 1952), was an Indian yogi and guru. ... Samadhi is a term used in Hindu and Buddhist yogic meditation. ...

In the monotheistic tradition, ecstasy is usually associated with communion and oneness with God. Indeed, ecstasy is the primary vehicle for the type of prophetic visions and revelations found in the Bible. However, such experiences can also be personal mystical experiences with no significance to anyone but the person experiencing them. Monotheism (in Greek μόνος = single and θεός = God) is the belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity. ... Within Christianity the word communion can refer to: Communion - a close relationship between Christian Churches or communities, and by metonymy a group of such Churches or communities that recognize the existence between them of such a relationship, especially if it can be characterized as full communion. ... Oneness (concept) is related to Enlightenment and is referring to the experience of oneness and nonduality. ... God is the term used to denote the Supreme Being believed by many people, and especially followers of monotheistic religions, to be the creator, ruler and/or the sum total of, existence. ... Prophecy, in a broad sense, is the prediction of future events. ... For information on the last book of the New Testament see the Book of Revelation. ... The Bible (sometimes The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity (The Bible actually refers to at least two...

In Buddhism, especially in the Pali Canon, there are 8 states of trance also called absorption. The first four of these states are called Rupa or materially oriented. The next four are called Arupa or non-material. These eight states are preliminary trances which lead up to final saturation which upon return to the phenomenal world manifests as enlightenment. It takes great effort and years of sustained meditation to reach even the first absorption, when the meditator characteristically notices the sustained lucidity of a non-material light enveloping him/her. The term Buddha is a word in ancient Indian languages including Pāli and Sanskrit which means one who has awakened. It is derived from the verbal root budh, meaning to awaken or to be enlightened, and to comprehend. It is written in devanagari script as Hindi: and pronounced as... Standard edition of the Thai Pali Canon The Pali Canon is one the earliest existing scripture collections of the Buddhist tradition. ... Trance is an altered state of consciousness. ... Absorption has a number of meanings: In physics, absorption is a process in which particles of some sort encounter another material and are taken up by or even disappear in it. ... ... According to Bogart (1991) and Perez-De-Albeniz & Holmes (2000) the different techniques of meditation can be classified according to their focus. ... Absorption has a number of meanings: In physics, absorption is a process in which particles of some sort encounter another material and are taken up by or even disappear in it. ...

In Christianity, the trance experiences of the Apostles Peter and Paul are recorded in Acts 10:10, 11:5 and 22:17. See also: Timeline of Christianity Beliefs Jesus crucifixion as portrayed by Diego Velázquez. ... Alternate meaning: See Apostle (Mormonism) The Christian Apostles were Jewish men chosen from among the disciples, who were sent forth (as indicated by the Greek word απόστολος apostolos= messenger), by Jesus to preach the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles, across the world. ... Saint Peter, also known as Peter, Simon ben Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha—original name Simon or Simeon (Acts 15:14)—was one of the twelve original disciples or apostles of Jesus. ... An early portrait of the Apostle Paul. ... The Acts of the Apostles (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ...

In hagiography (writings on the subject of Christian saints) many instances are recorded in which saints are granted ecstasies. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, religious ecstasy (called supernatural ecstasy) includes two elements: one, interior and invisible, in which the mind rivets its attention on a religious subject, and another, corporeal and visible, in which the activity of the senses is suspended, reducing the effect of external sensations upon the subject and rendering him or her resistant to awakening. Hagiography is the study of saints. ... In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ... The Catholic Encyclopedia (also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia today) is an English-language encyclopedia published in 1913 by the The Encyclopedia Press, designed to give authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine. // History The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11...

The Catholic Encyclopedia also asserts that there are a number of false views on the question of religious ecstasy:

1. That during an ecstasy there is a lessening of intellectual power.
2. That ecstasies are solely a product of violent emotions.
3. That ecstasy is an entirely natural phenomenon, and that others such as Archimedes and Socrates achieved these natural ecstasies.
4. That religious ecstasy is another form of lethargy or catalepsy.
5. That ecstasy is related to the hypnotic state.
6. That ecstasy is related to somnambulism or the trances of spirit mediums.
7. That ecstasy is equivalent to the states produced by the use of narcotic drugs.

Archimedes of Syracuse. ... This article is about the ancient Greek philosopher, for all other uses see: Socrates (disambiguation) Socrates (June 4, ca. ... Hypnosis is popularly understood to be a psychological condition in which an individual may be induced to exhibit apparent changes in behaviour or thought patterns - in particular an increase in suggestibility and subjective feelings of relaxation. ... Sleepwalking (also called noctambulism or somnambulism) is a sleep disorder where the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while asleep or in a sleeplike state. ... In spirituality, a medium or spirit medium (plural mediums) is an individual who claims the ability to receive messages from spirits, ghosts, or other discorporate entities, or claims that he or she can channel such entities -- that is, write or speak in the voice of these entities rather than in... The term narcotic, derived from the Greek word narkotikos, meaning benumbing or deadening, originally referred to a variety of substances that induced sleep (such state is narcosis). ...

Notable individuals or movements

• St. Teresa of Avila, Roman Catholic mystic, first entered states of ecstasy while studying religious texts when taken ill in a Carmelite cloister.
• St. Thomas Aquinas experienced an ecstasy during a church service towards the end of his life that caused him to stop writing.
• The Toronto Blessing - an example of religious ecstasy in the Charismatic Christian church.