IMPORTANCE OF DIRECT EXPERIENCE

Swami Vivekananda held that direct experience was preferable to shruti, the sacred texts, when it came to spiritual advancement.  He explained that all the religions of the world were built upon “that one universal foundation of all human knowledge--direct experience.”
 
He said that all the religious teachers saw God; they all saw their own souls, and saw the eternal nature of those souls.  What these teachers saw, then, they preached.

He pointed out, however, that most of these religions, in modern times especially, claim that these experiences are impossible to others.  They were possible only to a few men, the founders of the religions.  This meant that the religions now had to be taken on faith alone. 

This development is completely false, in Vivekananda’s view.  He maintained that religion is based on experiences of ancient times true enough, but also that no person can be religious until he has had the same experiences himself.  It is no use talking about religion, he said, until one has felt it personally.