An article in the October issue of Scientific American reports on the neurology of mystical experiences.

I’ve been meditating in one for or another for around 30 years. I started originally for stress reduction in an attempt to short-circuit migraines. My intention was never spiritual, but in the process I’ve experienced what many consider spiritual experiences.

I’ve experienced the sense that my body does not have physical boundaries, but is dissolving and expanding. I’ve had moments of euphoria. I’ve had sudden epiphanies (which did not necessarily turn out to be predictive or useful insights, but were strongly felt at the moment).

I commonly have what I’ve heard referred to as “kriyas” in yoga—twitches that are similar to myoclonic jerks. I’ve found that allowing myself to experience a series of these twitches can lead to migraine relief and sometimes to feelings of euphoria. And when the twitches occur in my throat, it sounds like I’m babbling in an unknown language. Like I’m speaking in tongues.

I find it curious that, as an atheist practicing stress reduction techniques, I should experience what is widely considered to be a religious, or at least a “spiritual” experience. But is that what it really is? I reject the notion that others who experience this are actually speaking fluently in languages they don’t know: I’ve never seen an account of this being independently verified, so I chalk it up to legend.

I know a number of people who consider themselves to be spiritual but not religious. I take this to mean that they don’t believe in an invisible realm of sentient or divine beings, yet they do have feelings, philosophies or behaviors that are commonly found in people who do believe in such things. In which case, I wonder: is the word “spiritual” a catch-all term for a panoply of other experiences? Is there any experience that can be termed spiritual that cannot also be explained as mental, emotional, philosophical, behavioral, physical or neurological?