Thank you @ pops for introducing me to the concept of perennialism, and for all of our discussions for hours and hours.
Religious perennialism interests me, and is an appealing solution to a question that has been troubling me for a while. My understanding of it is that major religions and those with spiritual experiences are all connecting to a common truth.
There’s a large set of religions each with their own central beliefs and doctrines, plenty of them with many well-intended and genuine seeming believers. I’ve spoken to friends and family, who are believers in various exclusivist religions, and often notice a shared sense of goodness and integrity in many of them. I notice those traits often when around those who are religiously devout, spiritual, or in the process. I also sense them in those I meet who have a genuine purpose, typically related to serving others. I see them less often in those who are committed atheistic materialists. When I’m around those who are filled with goodness and integrity, it feels “right” and as if they are connected to something grander.
My initial interpretation of that rightness was an attempt to rationalize it. Goodness and integrity are admirable, high-functioning, and pleasant human traits. It would make sense that it would feel right. That feeling could simply be a release of serotonin due to an unconscious feeling of safety. I can’t truthfully say I know that’s not the truth. However, I’ve realized that while that is a good (potentially) partial explanation, it is unneeded and ignorant for me to reason away my experience to being strictly chemical and biological. I could be genuinely connecting and experiencing a range of something spiritual or otherwise otherworldly that I don’t have cerebral capacity to reason about.
If it is the case that I’m experiencing a connection to something grander, it quickly brings up some questions. One of them is – why am I noticing this connection with all of these different individuals, yet they all seem to deeply contradict each other? Sometimes, dependent on the individual’s specific beliefs, without a change in course of action the others (who I perceive as genuinely good) are on path to be damned. This leaves me stuck. Religious perennialism would offer an explanation that seems to work (although attempted logical thinking may be the wrong tool for this variety of question). My interpretation would be: they are all connecting to a shared god/truth/beyond this world, but the specific doctrines are subject to human interpretation and specific cultures. This would offer an explanation that intuitively answers this question, which (uncomfortably) doesn’t mean it’s correct. I will continue to explore.