September 24, 2006
Triggers of Potential Exceptional Human Experiences
"Several writers have compiled lists of "triggers," or circumstances predisposing people to have exceptional human experiences.The following list is compiled with the use of a number of sources that are cited in the list itself....Space does not permit listing all the bibliographic information for the references cited, but if anyone is interested in following up on some, please contact the EHE Network."
Abuse/ Activity shared with another/ Activity shared with group/ Aesthetic experience/ Agony/ Agoral gatherings/ Alcohol / Alienation- anomie/ Anesthesia / Animals / Archery/ Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)/ Auto and other types of racing/ Automatisms/ Baptism/ Bathing / Baths, extreme temperature/ sequence of hot and cold/ Bedside gathering around sickbed/ Bedtime, not asleep/preparation for/ Begging-fervent questioning for answer-help from higher power/Being alone in church, cathedral, mosque, temple/ Bible or other religious texts/ Biofeedback/ Breathing exercises/ Burnout/ Change in health considerations / Change in job-business/ Change in lifestyle/ Change of finances/ Change of home, physical location, geography/ Change of marriage, partner, family Chanting, drumming, and other rhythmic activities/ Charismatic personality, encounter with/ Childbirth/ Chorale singing / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)/ Church, cathedral, mosque, temple, being inside a/ Church service/ Coma/ Conflict at personal crossroads (on the horns of a dilemma), inner/ Conscious dying / Conviction that one is dying/ Crafts/ Creative activities/ Crises in personal relationships/ Crying-pleading for help from another/ Dancing/ Danger, inviting / Danger, risk-taking/ Danger, sense of immediate/ Death of another/ Déjà vu/ Depression, despair/ Development of mediumship or channeling/ Disaster / Distress, financial-poverty/ Dowsing/ Dreaming / Driving a vehicle/ Empathy/ Encounter groups/ Endurance feats such as singlehanded sailing for many weeks/ Engaging in any repetitious boring chore/ Estranged from another/ Exceptional human performance/ Experiencing a series of meaningful coincidences promoting belief in the interconnectedness of everything/ Exploration, ideas/ Exploration, tools-methods/ Exploration, travel-places/ Extrasensory perception/ Fasting/ Fatigue/ Fear-concern for another-children/ Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS)/ Films, watching/ Flow activities/ Flying/ Frustration-futility, general feeling of/ Gardening / Guided imagery or music/ Guru-Spiritual teacher encounter/ Healing / Historical monument/ Holotropic breathwork-breathing/ Human interaction/ Hypnagogic or hypnapompic experiences/ Illness-Health/ Impasse/ Incubus experience/ Induction-revelation technique/ Insight of finally "seeing" the long-sought key to a problem/experience/ Intense sadness/ Intimate relationships/ Jewelry-making/ Life-threatening situation/ Liminal situation/ Listening to or observing highly integrated individuals/ Listening to sermon or other stirring speech/ Literature/ Loss/ Lucid dreams/ Mantram, reciting/ Martial arts/ Meditation and prayer/ Mid-life crisis/ Mirror writing/ Moments of quiet reflection/ Moon, phases of/ Mountain climbing/ Multiple sclerosis (MS)/ Multiple personality/ Music/ Near-fatal circumstances/ Observing animals/ Observing children/ Ocean cruising/ Out-of-body experiences/ Outward Bound events/ Performing-witnessing noble acts/ Personal need for "more" in life/ Physical activities/ Physical diagnosis/ Play/ Poetry/ Politics/ Prayer group/ Precognitive experiences/ Professional presentation, preparing-performing/ Prospect of death (e.g., deathbed experiences/ Psychedelic drugs/ Psychotic states/ Psychotherapy/ Reading about transcendent experiences and other EHEs, especially first-hand accounts/ Recovering from an ended relationship/ Rejection/ Relaxation after a period of exercise/ Relaxation technique/ Religious icon/ Religious-spiritual matters discussed/ Remarkable coincidence of events/ Retrocognitive experiences/ Riding in vehicle/ Risktaking/ Ritual cleansing/ Running/ Sacred places/ Scents/ Schizophrenia/ Science/ Self-hypnosis/ Sensitivity training/ Sensory enhancement/ Sensory isolation tank/ Sexual lovemaking/ Shamanism/ Sharing experience with another/ Silence/ Sleeping Slow-motional meditation/ Soaring/ Solitary ordeals/ Solitude/ Spiritual emergency/ Sport of any kind/ State celebrations, such as coronations, inaugurations, etc./ Stillness/ Surgery/ Surrender/ Survival-of-death type experiences/ Swordsmanship/ Television watching / Tending others / Trauma/ UFO encounter/ Vertigo/ Victims, sudden awareness of other abused (human, animal, environment)/ Visual art/ Watching performing arts/ Watching sports/ Wilderness/ Wind/ Work/ Workshop-retreat, psychic-spiritual development/ Workshop-retreat, self- development / Yoga
article w/references by Rhea A. White, Suzanne V. Brown (2000)
>related on Spitting Image list of potential EHEs
more EHE info: http://www.ehe.org/display/map.cfm
[illus. not from EHE Network]