Spiritual Ecstasy

Spiritual ecstasy is not a feeling or an idea but a shift of perception in which direct contact with spirit is made. Being in ecstasy does not have to express itself through intensity of any kind. The biblical injunction “Be still and know that I am God” is an invitation to ecstasy.

I prefer the spiritual definition because it is inclusive of the physical and the mythical. The most famous example of spiritual ecstasy is probably that of Saint Teresa, who dreamed that an angel came and pierced her heart with a golden arrow. She describes this experience in intensely physical terms, as a burning pain that was almost unendurable until it wondrously transformed itself into equally intense pleasure.

The mythic ingredients of the angel and the arrow are unmistakable once we think back to the god Eros with his quiver and bow. In her ecstasy Teresa felt nothing less than the intimate embrace of God, and the erotic and mythic overtones of her experience make it no less divine. Being supremely spiritual, her ecstasy is able to include every level of interpretation.

What usually makes ecstasy so intense and extreme is not the experience itself but getting to it. The common images of God or an angel coming down from heaven to pierce, shatter, and penetrate the ecstatic one do not have to be taken literally; they serve to remind us that many layers shield us from contact with spirit. To receive the gift of ecstasy is an exquisite experience, as told in a remarkable passage from Greek Orthodox manuscript written a thousand years ago:

For if we genuinely love Him,
We wake up inside Christ’s body

Where all our body, all over,
Every most hidden part of it,
Is realized in joy as Him,
And He makes us, utterly, real.

Adapted from The Path to Love, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 1997).

Read more: Deepak Chopra's Tips, Spirit, spiritual ecstasy

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Emma S.

6:28AM PST on Nov 24, 2011

Stillness as in meditation, do you think?

send a green star

Past Member .

3:10AM PDT on Nov 2, 2011

Be careful of the ecstasy trip It scares people.

Just the other night I was talking with a Christian neighbor.
Suddenly she yelled "You're shining!" I had to calm her down. It took a while.

I had a preacher who would accuse me, "You're shining again!"

What the hell!

Do they want a black aura?

Maybe I could arrange it. lol
ROFLOL

Maybe I will.

I can create mental pictures that the telepaths can see.

Hey, in case you haven't noticed there's more and more of them around these days.

Full directions on the internet.

Me, I try not to invade. It is none of my business.

But,, what was thought comes to me later if it involves me and I'm receptive.

Everything we think, as well as everything we do, is recorded in the ethers.

So I get high on God. I've told drug addicts I've worked with, "I've got the kind of high you want and you can't get! lol"
Gets them interested in a better way.

Hey, we're living in a new age when lots of powers and energies are being poured out. Carefully kept secrets in the occult organizations are being dispensed.

Me, I think man's consciousness is evolving. Empathy may be the only way humans will stop killing each other and everything else living around them.

I've found there's lots of telepaths in the new age groups, the churches and the mental health community especially the professionals.

But there's an agreement. You don't talk about it.

"When they get it, they'll know."

ROFLOL

Full di

Robert O.

4:39PM PDT on Aug 11, 2011

Thank you.

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Gaby M.

6:15AM PDT on Sep 19, 2010

Thank you. This was a beautiful article. I believe that 'being still' is an 'invitation to ecstasy'

Cynthia E.

11:46AM PDT on Aug 11, 2010

I personally feel that Being in the NOW presence as described by Eckhart Tolle in The Power of the NOW is being in ecstacy... I have felt almost 'orgasmic' bliss (not down there) but the all over body feeling of bliss he tells very well on a kindergarten level in his book. He also explains well online with Oprah in The New Earth book study and answers laymen's questions about esoteric things that have been studied and discussed for centuries, ,but never so clearly and precisely as Eckhart, imho. Also, Mooji is another person that gives a good feel for the ecstasy to be found within. Many videos on him on utube, I like the River of Love for the first to get the vibe... . Love you Deepok

Ellinor S.

10:07AM PDT on Jul 26, 2010

It would sure be a interesting experience.

Rose S.

9:05AM PDT on Jul 26, 2010

Thanks for sharing. This is so deep. One must truly be in tune with God, self and the world in order to appreciate this message. Love and Peace. Be blessed.

Janice L.

11:37PM PDT on Jul 25, 2010

Mine was an experience of being bathed in shimmering light while silvery voices sang wordlessly.

That's the only time that's happened. The rest of the time is little prods to "Keep going."

Eileen P.

3:23PM PDT on Jul 25, 2010

i know that perhaps i am mincing words......
but spiritual ecstasy in my understanding is not a perception at all until we try to describe it to others...but once we try to describe the experience we have lost the actual experience because we enter the realm of the mind....
perception is of the mind mechanism and the mind mechanism needs to be totally still in order for a spiritual experience to take place......
it is not a perception at all...
that is why God said to Moses: Be still and know that i AM God..
it is in the stillness where the mind and perception do not work....