Your inferior function and spiritual experiences

[kvothe27]

Quote to be discussed:

" As the complement to the dominant function, the inferior carries the promise of greater psychic balance and wholeness. This is why people often report experiences with their inferior as magic or ecstatic."

http://personalityjunkie.com/05/dominant-inferior-function-dynamics-healthy-vs-unhealthy/

What I'm curious about: What is going on with you when you're feeling spiritual or as though your consciousness is being elevated somehow (increased psychic balance)? What are you thinking or feeling or experiencing when feeling these sort of feelings?

For my own purposes, I'm going to define spiritual as a feeling of oneness with the universe. If you have a different definition or one you believe would more accurately reflect what was meant in the above quote, feel free to provide it and provide an experience that provides an example of it. The reason I'd prefer a definition is that people have different definitions of spirituality, which may be indicative of their inferior function.


My experience:

Spoiler

When I'm feeling a oneness with the universe, I'm usually piecing together internal images I've constructed over the years into a coherent whole. However, I'm not really trying to make intuitive connections when I do this, but rather I'm just trying to imagine as much of it, in as much detail, as possible. For example, I'll start with mental images I've constructed of atoms, then I'll move up to molecules, and I'll continually increase the scope of my mental image until I'm trying to imagine the entire universe. When I end up doing this, I feel elevated and ecstatic, as though I'm reaching some enlightened state.


This confuses me. Is this more indicative of Se or Si? I'm constructing most of this via internal images I've constructed, but there are parts that are Se. I would think an Se spiritual experience would involve an experience directly with the senses. If piecing together mental images is more indicative of Si, this would provide more confirmation of my tentative ENTP type.



Then again, I'll sometimes feel ecstatic when I'm thinking about my progress toward hopefully contributing to humanity. Originally, I thought these might just be narcissistic delusions, but I really do want to make an intellectual contribution to mankind. Damnit. Another INTP/ENTP draw . .

 

[Bhagavat]

I would say it definitely has to do with the elimination of all distinctions within your perception.

 

[kvothe27]

Okay, so spiritual experiences and inferior functions:

Se: More likely to feel a oneness while having intercourse, experiencing some novel sensory experience, etc?

Si: More likely to feel a oneness while sticking to a routine or upholding traditional institutions? heh

Fe: More likely to feel a oneness while working toward some goal that would benefit mankind?

Ni: More likely to feel a oneness while attending some traditional religious service?

Ne: More likely to feel a oneness while trying out different religious practices?

What do you guys think? Do any of you have any observations to share regarding spiritual experiences and other people or yourselves?

 

[snafupants]

Ni: More likely to feel a oneness while attending some traditional religious service?

Yuck. Can I get an amen from my ESFP brothers and sisters?!

 

[SpaceYeti]

What I'm curious about: What is going on with you when you're feeling spiritual or as though your consciousness is being elevated somehow (increased psychic balance)? What are you thinking or feeling or experiencing when feeling these sort of feelings?

Sex.

 

[Inceptacon]

My life-altering spiritual experiences, looking back at the one or two (possibly 3) that I believe I have had, have been sparked by very intense, focused thinking. These have occured to me while alone, comfortable, and uninhibited to roam my inner world, but with subtle differences from my usual churning mind. Every INTP on this forum knows what it is like to roam their inner world, but in these instances, there has been something entirely euphoric that is usually just not there. I really, really wish I could explain this better. Just ask me a question about it what I have already ramblingly said and I can try to go from there.

 

[DIALECTIC]

I have had several such "Religious/Spiritual experiences" over the last 30 months... The very first was in fact the first nail in the coffin of my persona and the beginning of a crusade of self-realization...

Anyway, those experiences are hard to explain with words, all i can say the feeling was lasting and intense pure euphoria, a mix of intense oneness, unconditional love, omniscience... I did feel something similar when i used to get high on Ecstasy when i was younger and i didn't realize then i could have the same feeling "naturally"...

Every time, music made the experience must stronger and the experience lasted as long as i kept isolated from people in general.

I could think (or rather KNOW) about 2-3 different questions at the same time, and solve them instantly, something defying causality !

The speed of my brain was unreal, including memory access even to apparently repressed memories.

I just didn't think things as such, i KNEW them nearly instantly.

I had both transcendental objective knowledge (flashes of intuition) and immanent subjective knowledge (gut feeling) ie think-feeling !

I do think it is such religious/spiritual experiences Kant called "Synthetic A Priori knowledge" or what Spinoza called the "Knowledge of the Third Kind" / "Pure Intuition" / "Intellectual Love of God".

However there was always a trigger, and usually it was one of those "Eureka" moments... Also as i said earlier, music amplified the whole experience, also caffeine and Choline and isolation was paramount. The very first time i had such an experience, it lasted for 10 days as i was pretty much in total isolation from people (i only communicated with them with SMS)

To me the whole experience is the same as what is called "Quantum Coherence" in Quantum computing, and then the loss of Coherence (ie "Decoherence") is the loss of isolation from the "external world", i then decohered/"crashed"... Sounds very much similar to someone having bipolar disorder/schizophrenia and then passing from an altered state of consciousness ("genius/God mode") to the lower state of depression (the boredom of the Newtonian world) !

What have been YOUR personal experiences and in's and out's ?

"God, as Hegel understands God, is the process of self-determination and the reality of self-determination in everything. In you and me, in the universe as a whole, to the extent that we succeed in being self-determining, which is Hegel's account of what freedom is, to the extent that we succeed in being free, in being ourselves (by virtue of being self-determining, we are real as ourselves) to the extent that we achieve any of this, we are going beyond the finite, as I said, and we are participating in God, we are contributing to God or we are instantiating God." ROBERT M. WALLACE

 

[kvothe27]

My life-altering spiritual experiences, looking back at the one or two (possibly 3) that I believe I have had, have been sparked by very intense, focused thinking. These have occured to me while alone, comfortable, and uninhibited to roam my inner world, but with subtle differences from my usual churning mind. Every INTP on this forum knows what it is like to roam their inner world, but in these instances, there has been something entirely euphoric that is usually just not there. I really, really wish I could explain this better. Just ask me a question about it what I have already ramblingly said and I can try to go from there.

On what were you focused? Do you have an example from when you were euphoric? What were you doing immediately preceding this euphoric feeling?

 

[kvothe27]

I have had several such "Religious/Spiritual experiences" over the last 30 months... The very first was in fact the first nail in the coffin of my persona and the beginning of a crusade of self-realization...

Anyway, those experiences are hard to explain with words, all i can say the feeling was lasting and intense pure euphoria, a mix of intense oneness, unconditional love, omniscience... I did feel something similar when i used to get high on Ecstasy when i was younger and i didn't realize then i could have the same feeling "naturally"...

Every time, music made the experience must stronger and the experience lasted as long as i kept isolated from people in general.

I could think (or rather KNOW) about 2-3 different questions at the same time, and solve them instantly, something defying causality !

The speed of my brain was unreal, including memory access even to apparently repressed memories.

I just didn't think things as such, i KNEW them nearly instantly.

I had both transcendental objective knowledge (flashes of intuition) and immanent subjective knowledge (gut feeling) ie think-feeling !

I do think it is such religious/spiritual experiences Kant called "Synthetic A Priori knowledge" or what Spinoza called the "Knowledge of the Third Kind" / "Pure Intuition" / "Intellectual Love of God".

However there was always a trigger, and usually it was one of those "Eureka" moments... Also as i said earlier, music amplified the whole experience, also caffeine and Choline and isolation was paramount. The very first time i had such an experience, it lasted for 10 days as i was pretty much in total isolation from people (i only communicated with them with SMS)

To me the whole experience is the same as what is called "Quantum Coherence" in Quantum computing, and then the loss of Coherence (ie "Decoherence") is the loss of isolation from the "external world", i then decohered/"crashed"... Sounds very much similar to someone having bipolar disorder/schizophrenia and then passing from an altered state of consciousness ("genius/God mode") to the lower state of depression (the boredom of the Newtonian world) !

What have been YOUR personal experiences and in's and out's ?

Excellent response. I believe you've described the feeling I associate with my own spiritual experiences very well.

I usually describe it as a feeling that my consciousness is being elevated to a higher level (similar to describing it as increased psychic balance).

Lately, I've been getting this feeling when I go jogging. It's a feeling of elevation -- as though I'm destined for something greater. I'm usually listening to music. Classical or baroque music seems to induce the more potent feelings of elevation. It usually has something with violins in it, such as Vivaldi's version of La Follia.

I've also had these feelings after a particularly deep meditative session. Everything appears brighter and my senses seem cleaner somehow. It's as though I've washed out all the garbage and my senses have become pure again. It's as though a fog has been lifted and I can see and understand and perceive things as they really are. It's like my cognition has been reborn.

Like you, I've experienced that sort of euphoria when I'm isolated. People seem to get in the way of such experiences. The presence of other people tends to bring the mental fog back.

Another aspect is that everything seems to make sense, whether I can state it or not (what you called gut-feeling).

It's odd. Sometimes it feels like my experience is converging on some unifying theory, which makes me think of Ni. But, I'm not really converging on any ideas. It's just a feeling of convergence (increased psychic balance). Sometimes I think these experiences are symptoms of narcissism (feeling of being destined for greatness), but that could just be Fe causing me to desire making an intellectual contribution to society. The fact that it often occurs while doing something as repetitive as jogging leads me to consider Si, and I'm typically lost in thought while jogging, which is typical of INTPs.

I've had such an experiences after reading a few chapters from a biology textbook or after completing a particularly difficult math problem, as well. This would fit in with Fe being my inferior function.

Yeah, I didn't describe that very well. I might give it another try later. Spirituality is fascinating because it can be difficult to interpret and describe.

 

[snafupants]

I had a meditation experience when I was nineteen that greatly eclipsed anything I subsequently experienced with drugs in terms of spiritual significance and personal resonance. About one hour into meditation, the entire landscape vanished and everything I could see became swirling orangish-red balls of energy. The balls, which reminded me of quanta or mandalas, were moving in orderly, predictable patterns around the room - the bookshelf was no longer a bookshelf. I felt this tremendous, exhilarating energy rising in my heart and I intuited that I could end this perception by getting up but it was far too weird and pleasant to want to crimp. I definitely felt the disconnection or artificial divide between the environment and me dissolve into ethereal ecstasy and ineffable unity. I really can't explain it. Maybe some Ni-Se-Fi action. Who can say?!

 

[Solitaire U.]

Christ. I don't even know how to define 'universe'. Here, I'll try...

Methamphetamine.