REL-1010 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Stanley Krippner, Paracosm, Great Transition
Document Summary
These presumptions underlie religions emphasis on such states of meditation, conversion, worship, and reflection: entering into a religious situation always implies entering a different state of consciousness (cid:862)(cid:396)ealit(cid:455)(cid:863) (cid:449)ith its o(cid:449)(cid:374) (cid:449)a(cid:455) of seei(cid:374)g thi(cid:374)gs. We go from child, to adult, student to sage, etc. It marks these transitions with rites such as confirmation and marriage. It suggests the return to childhood, yet also indicating and sanctifying new life as an adult. It also infers passing through a mysterious alternative reality, which indicates that one who is truly reborn has knowledge of other realities: rebirth can also be seen as an invitation. Virtually every religious tradition has some process of initiation, such as the symbolism for dying, and then coming back to life against: religious experiences are unexpected and spontaneous, conversions: feels like a new and unexpected gift, a grace. It moves through the recipient into an altered worldview and behavior pattern along with a new state of consciousness.
