A spiritually transformative experience (“STE”) is an event in a person’s life that profoundly changes their views on life, death, reality, consciousness, spirituality, or their own sense of purpose.
When someone has a spiritually transformative experience, their perceptions of the world around them are changed, often dramatically and permanently. They may see drastic changes in how they see their values, priorities, sensitivities, religious views or spirituality, or their own sense of themselves or their purpose in life.
These changes aren’t always sudden. They may evolve over the course of days, months, or even years. Others might see more immediate changes, and those may or may not intensify over time or see other aftereffects come about later.
What types of experiences might be classified as spiritually transformative?
Spiritually transformative experiences can occur for a great many reasons. For instance, a person might have a spiritually transformative experience after …
- Near-death experiences
- Shared death experiences
- After-death communications
- Out-of-body experiences
- Deathbed visions
- Mystical or unity experiences
- Transformative encounters during grief, illness, meditation, prayer, crisis, or spontaneous altered states
To be clear, this is not a definitive or exclusive list of events that can lead to spiritually transformative experiences. An STE can take place after almost any event that deeply alters someone’s sense of meaning or reality.
What changes for someone after a spiritually transformative experience?
A spiritually transformative experience is no small event in a person’s life. The changes a person goes through can be sweeping. That said, not everyone has exactly the same aftereffects following their STEs. These may include (but aren’t limited to):
- Greater compassion or empathy
- A stronger sense of purpose
- Changed values or priorities
- Increased spiritual curiosity
- Drastic changes in religious or spiritual views
- Stronger feelings of connection with others, nature, or the universe
- Increased appreciation for life
- Reduced fear of death
Why are STEs hard to talk about?
STEs can be beautiful, joyous, loving, and peaceful. But not all changes after spiritually transformative experiences are positive. STEs can strain relationships, disrupt work, and some feel a sense of alienation, resentment, confusion, and even fear. They can lead to feelings of isolation or difficulty relating to others. And all of this can make STEs challenging to talk about with others.
For the experiencer, there’s a fear of being judged, dismissed, or pathologized. There may be conflicts with previous beliefs, a lack of shared language, or religious misunderstandings.
The experiencer may inadvertently contribute to these communication challenges, too. Some experiencers may feel compelled to convince others to a cause, or to their STE’s significance. They may resent others for not understanding or joining them. And some simply struggle to describe something that feels “beyond words” to them.
How does someone integrate a spiritually transformative experience?
Some spiritually transformative experiences can happen in an instant. But the aftereffects of those STEs can last years or even a lifetime.
That’s why integration—learning how to live with and make sense of an experience after it happens—is important to mention, too. It helps experiencers understand what happened, adapt to changes in their lives, and move forward in healthy ways.
We strongly recommend reading about STE integration from ACISTE—the American Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences. You should also take a look at the STE support resources listed by ACISTE, too. But we can get you started with just a few early pointers:
- Give yourself time to process your STE
- Write about your STE privately. Note what led up to the experience and what the experience was like. Include times and dates wherever they’re relevant
- Avoid making immediate, sudden, major life decisions. Allow yourself time to consider your STE and the changes you’re looking to make. And don’t forget to consider how those decisions may affect others.
- Seek support. Talk with safe, open-minded people you trust. Seek out ACISTE certified counselors and mental health professionals.
While near-death experiences may be STEs, not all STEs are NDEs. That said, you might also find some useful information in our IANDS Q&A article explaining what to do after having an NDE.
More reading
IANDS is a nonprofit organization focused on near-death experiences and related phenomena. We’re not particularly focused on the study of spiritually transformative experiences. But you may also find valuable information in some of our other content:
- IANDS Q&A: What is a Near-Death Experience Like?
- Can a Near-Death Experience Change Your Life?
- Can Anyone Have an NDE? Are Certain People More or Less Prone?
- What is after-death communication?
- What is a past-life memory?
- Deathbed visions, and what research tells us
