Religious experiences in the context of "Traditionalist School"

Mysticism encompasses religious traditions of human transformation aided by various practices and religious experiences. Popularly, mysticism is used synonymously with mystical experience, a neologism which refers to an ecstatic unitive experience of becoming one with God, the Absolute, or all that exists.

Scholarly research since the 1970s had questioned this understanding, noting that what appears to be mysticism may also refer to the attainment of insight into ultimate or hidden truths, as in Buddhist awakening and Hindu prajna, in nondualism, and in the realisation of emptiness and ego-lessness, and also to altered states of consciousness such as samadhi.

A mystical or religious experience, also known as a spiritual experience or sacred experience, is a subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework. In a strict sense, "mystical experience" refers specifically to an ecstatic unitive experience, or nonduality, of 'self' and other objects, but more broadly may also refer to non-sensual or unconceptualized sensory awareness or insight, while religious experience may refer to any experience relevant in a religious context. Mysticism entails religious traditions of human transformation aided by various practices and religious experiences.

The concept of mystical or religious experience developed in the 19th century, as a defense against the growing rationalism of western society. William James popularized the notion of distinct religious or mystical experiences in his Varieties of Religious Experience, and influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies knowledge of the transcendental.

Natural theology is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics, such as the existence of a deity, based on human reason. It is distinguished from revealed theology, which is based on supernatural sources such as scripture or religious experiences. It is thus a form of theology open to critical examination, aimed at understanding the divine.

Natural theology does not preclude the concept of divine intervention nor presuppose a clockwork universe; however, it demands that any position be supported through reasoned arguments based on natural reason.