In the Christian Gospels, Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" We hear a variety of answers from one of his disciples stating that he thought Jesus was John the Baptist back from the dead, to Peter making what became known as the Great Confession where Peter states that Jesus is the Son of God.
The question then would be how would Peter know this to be the truth.
It would appear that he knew from his direct personal experience he had with Jesus.What he saw with his own eyes and felt with his own heart and mind.
He truly experienced Jesus.
If you were to be asked the same question, who you would say Jesus is?
If you are a Christian person, you would probably reply just as Peter did. But if you would, would you be doing it with the same experiences?
Sadly, probably not.
Like all monotheistic religions, they are based on a passed down written and oral tradition of historical figures interacting with divinity.
Generations of people having a direct experiences with a world beyond this world.
Where are the current religious experiences, where is modern man's personal experiences with the Divine and religious ecstasy that we've been told so much about?
The visions of the Transfiguration, the Great Prophet being taken into Heaven on his great steed or Krishna transmitting visions of True Reality to Arjuna on the battlefield of the mind.
Are we even seeking religious experiences?
Do we think that going to Temple or Church is a true religious experience? Are we in the true presence of God or feel the Divine within us or are we rapped in a mass trance and brainwashed by the stories we've been told from childhood?
If you were asked to describe God would you do it from the tradition of what you've been told, would you say what you think he's done for you in your life, or would be able to describe a true personal individual experience that is unique to your life?
When St Paul was yet Saul on the road to Damascus, he had a personal experience with the Risen Christ. The way we knew was not just because he told people, we knew because he was changed.
So the first way you can know if you've had a personal religious experience is because you would be changed because of it,truly changed.
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