Spiritual enlightenment experiences : mechanisms of suffering transformation

Abstract

To reduce existential suffering, people with diverse cultural backgrounds are seeking a state of spiritual enlightenment, which represents suffering liberation. To depict the whole picture of enlightenment experiences which are relevant to meditative practices, this thesis aims to explore meditators’ direct live experiences of enlightenment; the methods of measuring this type of experience; and the relationships between the meditation practice time, enlightenment experiences, and people’s psychological well- being. This thesis adopts a mixed-method approach which includes one qualitative study and one quantitative study with a follow-up qualitative interview. Study One is a qualitative study with a semi-structured in-depth interview design. The purpose of this study is to explore how meditative practitioners started their spiritual journey that leads to their enlightenment moment and how they experienced their enlightenment moment, as well as the impacts of the enlightenment moment on their daily life. There were 24 participants involved in this study. The phenomenological analysis was applied as the data analysis approach. Nine clusters with 26 categories and 56 subcategories were formed: The beginning of a spiritual journey, Entering the moment, Qualities of enlightenment experiences, Feelings during enlightenment moment, Nondual realizations, Phase-out of the moment, Enlightenment and spiritual bypass, Outcomes of spiritual enlightenment, and Others that cannot be categorized. The realizations during the enlightenment moment found in Study One offered new insights for understanding spiritual enlightenment experiences, and they contributed to Study Two. Based on these findings, Study Two consists of two quantitative analyses. The objectives of Study Two are 1) to develop and validate a Spiritual Enlightenment Experiences Scale (SEES), and 2) to explore the relationships between meditation practice time, enlightenment experiences, and mental health status. A total of 1130 participants were involved in the development and validation process of SEES. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) revealed a three-factor structure of SEES, including sensory clarity, sensory disappearance, and nonduality. After the validation of SEES, a path analysis was conducted to examine the correlations between peoples’ meditation practice time, enlightenment experiences, daily spiritual experience and several mental health factors, including anxiety, depression, stagnation, and perceived stress. A total of 218 meditators among the 1130 participants who offered their meditation practice time were included in this study. The results of the path analysis showed that there were significant associations between meditation practice time, spiritual enlightenment experiences, daily spiritual experience, and mental health status. To further validate these relationships, a follow-up qualitative interview was conducted among ten meditators who received full marks on SEES. The findings of the research for a full picture of spiritual enlightenment experiences contribute to the current knowledge of religiosity and spirituality, as well as transpersonal psychology. The results suggest that the importance of spiritual enlightenment experiences is universal across cultures with different layers of realizations. The role of spiritual enlightenment experiences in people’s psychological well-being needs further exploration. Implications for the core elements of enlightenment experiences, as well as for its construct, its relationships with spiritual practices, and mental health are discussed.