The connection between a spiritual experience and a certain religion

[Bigdaddydvo]

I'll do my best to answer from personal experience. Spiritual experiences are significantly different than other human emotions. To narrow it down a bit, I'll contrast spiritual joy with happiness derived from earthly events/accomplishments. I have a whole host of terrific "worldly" events to draw from for this example (meeting my wife, kids being born, running the Boston Marathon, my West Point graduation day, winning big poker tournaments, even seeing U2 in concert, etc) All those things felt awesome, were exciting, and are among my most treasured memories. Yet they all lacked something present in my most joyful spiritual experiences.

I'll use a recent example. When I was deployed the last time, there was a significant shortage of Catholic priests in the AO. Thus I was unable to attend Mass for a long period time. During that stretch, I developed an intense spirtual hunger, especially for reception of the Holy Eucharist. Later through some good fortune, I was able to attend Mass for the first time in the deployment. From the moment the priest began Mass "In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit" to Communion and the closing prayer, I felt a spiritual high that rivaled many in my life. Spiritual joy is the purest form of happiness there is. As you feel God's love radiate in your soul, you feel no desire to be anywhere else. No happiness derived from any drug, earthly relationship, or accomplishment could ever mirror it. The happiness I felt was not self induced from years of "conditioning" as some suggest but an absolutely real experience. As I've said, in my life I've had some absolutely kick ass non-spiritual experiences, yet none can compare with those of the spiritual realm.

If you're curious, I recommend reading the biographies and writings of several well known Catholic mystics of the last century and the recounting of their spiritual experiences. Among them are St. Faustina and St. Padre Pio.