structure of religious experience

there are two fundamental types of religious experience, each with a distinct structure.

the religious experience common in semitic/christian traditions is of the structure subject-content-object, that is, the subject (worshiper) has an experience (a prayer answered) of a particular object (god). in this model, the content of the experience is evidence that the object (god) exists if the causes and conditions of the experience accord with the attributes of the object (god).

the religious experience sought after in buddhism is of the structure subject-content, that is, the subject (adept) has an experience of enlightment or satori, which has no particular object necessarily. in this model, the cause (object) of the experience (content) is irrelevant; all that is relevant is that the content of the subject's experience accords with attributes consistent with enlightenment or satori.

the latter type of experience can be found in semitic/christian traditions in the concept of time (and causality) found in the old testament book of ecclesiastes. it is akin to poetic truth, which is different in kind from logical truth, but literal in much the same sense.

paul valery wondered why defunct philosophical theories are still studied as having philosophical value, while defunct scientific theories are relegated to history. he concluded with a certain idea of poetry, a poetry of ideas...

a poetry that transcends the forms of art, to live through its very own being...

to embody even wretchedness, because there is no distinction between samsara and enlightenment...

because distinction is entirely arbitrary when confronted with the truths of the soul...

when the truth of the soul is seen from afar, and whose presence is felt with a sublime pious terror...

when all one can do is follow this truth, and revel in the beauty of the world...

mere ideas struggling to inhabit the world with this beauty...