The Paradox of Personal Experience
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." — John Milton
Personal experiences are inherently unfalsifiable. Emotions have the ability to alter our perception of reality, often in ways that blur the line between the internal and external. For instance, thinking intensely about a former partner might cause someone to believe they can hear their voice or even see them. Similarly, if a person closes their eyes for 10 minutes and visualises a blonde woman, they might momentarily perceive such a figure upon opening their eyes.
There is something your brain does when you have existing beliefs—it shapes your reality to fit those beliefs. If you believe someone is cheating on you, your brain shapes your reality to make every action, even if neutral, align with the idea of that person cheating. If you believe ghosts exist, your brain interprets any creak, wind sound, door noise, or rustling of paper as the presence of a ghost. If you believe a girl likes you, your brain will distort your reality so that any action she does, even the most neutral smile, fits the belief that you are the love of her life. Similarly, if you believe that the universe is against you, and is causing you to be late for work, your brain will distort your reality to fit that narrative. Your brain will distort time. Every traffic light takes longer to turn green; every pedestrian suddenly walks extra slowly when crossing the road. Every car is suddenly taking its time to change lanes. Every driver is rude and cuts in front of you. Your brain has created a new reality to fit the belief of the universe working against you.
This same mechanism applies to religious experiences. If you believe in a god who does miracles, when you pray, your brain distorts your reality so that it aligns with the belief of being able to connect with such a god. Unfortunately, this does not reflect reality—they're all forms of delusion.
While it is theoretically possible that visions or experiences of this nature are genuine, they present a paradox. For example, Sophie may claim she spoke with Jesus, while Daniel insists he spoke with the God of a contradicting religion. Both accounts cannot logically be true at the same time. Perhaps they are both genuinely experiencing Jesus, and Daniel is mistaken about his interpretation. Alternatively, Sophie may be deluded; she may not be hearing Jesus at all, but instead, the indigenous God of the Hawaiian islands, whom she misattributes as Jesus.
When you think about it, someone claiming that they are in dialogue with the creator of the universe—it's a bit absurd. The "being" responsible for the laws of physics, black holes, quantum mechanics, evolution, and the very fabric of reality is directly communicating with them? "I felt God's presence inside me, therefore my specific God must exist with certainty, and the personal experience of anyone of a conflicting religion is experiencing a delusion and is wrong." A Muslim feels Allah, a Hindu feels Krishna, a Greek feels Zeus, a Christian feels Jesus—then you have tens of thousands of mutually exclusive claims, and all of them coincidentally happened while no one was watching.
Conclusion—they are likely all false; it's more of a post hoc rationalisation of being in a certain emotional state. You are deep in prayer, dopamine levels high, tears running down your face, you're hyperconscious, and you mistake that for having a personal experience.
So perhaps you felt Jesus, or maybe you just felt a release of serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins—chemicals your brain naturally produces during moments of intense emotion, relief, or spiritual euphoria, which you then interpreted as divine presence because of your existing beliefs. Alternatively, it is possible that you are genuinely experiencing the indigenous Hawaiian God without realising it.
While personal experiences can be paradoxical and open to interpretation, they remain deeply powerful. They have the ability to provide comfort, inspire positive change, and foster connection with something greater than ourselves. My aim here is not to undermine their value but to highlight the complexity and paradoxical nature of how they are understood and interpreted.