Philosophy Optional · Paper II · Philosophy of Religion
Religious Experience Notes · PYQs
Free notes and every UPSC previous year question for Religious Experience, Unit 16 of Paper II, Section B: the official syllabus, 9 topic-wise notes in syllabus order, and all 23 questions from 2000 to 2026 grouped by sub-topic.
9
Free notes
23
Questions listed
17
Asked since 2013
2000–2026
Years covered
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Syllabus Free notes Previous year questions All Philosophy units
Official UPSC syllabus
Religious Experience: syllabus
The syllabus text for this unit in Paper II, Section B (Philosophy of Religion) of Philosophy Optional. Every note and question on this page maps to it.
Religious Experience: Nature and Object (Indian and Western).
Paper II · Section B · Unit 16
Religious Experience notes
Topic-wise notes for this unit in syllabus order, written for UPSC Mains in plain language, with diagrams and the previous year questions on each topic.
Free notes
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Religious Experience: Meaning and Nature, What Makes It an Experience, Swinburne’s Five Types, Visions, Conversion, Regenerative and Charismatic Experience, and Hick’s Experiencing-As
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William James’s Varieties of Religious Experience: Personal Religion, Fruits not Roots, the Sick Soul and the Twice-Born, Conversion, Saintliness, Four Marks and Three Conclusions
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Rudolf Otto and the Numinous: the Holy, Creature-Feeling, Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans, Arjuna’s Viśvarūpa, the Sacred and the Holy, and Numinous vs Mystical Experience
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Mysticism I: Meaning, Mystical vs Sensory-Intellectual Consciousness, Stace’s Extrovertive and Introvertive Mysticism, Zaehner and Happold, Union and Identity, the Mystic Way and the Chief Doctrines
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Mysticism II: Christian, Jewish, Sufi, Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina Mysticism, Mysticism in Hinduism and Islam Compared, and the Conflicting Experiences of Buddhism and Jainism
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Religious Experience in Vedānta and Radhakrishnan: Śruti as the Seers’ Vision, Turīya, Advaita’s Aparokṣānubhūti, Rāmānuja and Madhva, The Hindu View of Life and World Religion
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The Object of Religious Experience: God, Brahman, Nirvāṇa and Śūnyatā, Empirical or Trans-empirical, Experience and Interpretation, Perennialism vs Katz, and Hick’s Real
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Can Religious Experience Be Validated? The Argument from Perception, Swinburne’s Credulity and Testimony, James, Alston and Plantinga, the Challenges, and Anubhava as Pramāṇa
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Religious Experience, Revelation, Symbol and Language: Mystical Experience and Revelation, Communicable Language, Symbolism and Mysticism, Public Discourse, and Reason
Free practice
Previous year questions: Religious Experience
All 23 questions UPSC has set from this unit between 2000 and 2026, grouped by sub-topic with the most-asked first, newest first within each. Questions from 2013 onwards are shown; earlier ones open on a tap.
How often UPSC asks each sub-topic
| Sub-topic | Questions | Since 2013 | Last asked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mysticism | 6 | 4 | 2023 |
| Vedantic View | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Nature and Object | 3 | 1 | 2016 |
| Validity | 3 | 2 | 2016 |
| William James | 2 | 2 | 2026 |
| Communicability | 2 | 2 | 2019 |
| Comparative Traditions | 2 | 2 | 2015 |
| Reason vs Experience | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| Numinous vs Mystical | 1 | 0 | 2007 |
Mysticism
6 questions · 4 since 2013 · last asked 2023
Asked since 2013 · 4
2023Examine the relation between mystical experience and revelation and expound their significance in religious life. (15 marks)2019Discuss whether and how does religious symbolism lead to mysticism. (20 marks)2013What is the nature of mystical experience? (20 marks)2013Is mystical experience open to different interpretations? (15 marks)
Show 2 earlier questions (before 2013)
2000–2005 · 2 questions
2005Mysticism is the power of spiritual access to domains of knowledge closed off to ordinary thought.” Critical notes (20 marks)2000State and explain the chief doctrines of Mysticism. (60 marks)
Vedantic View
3 questions · 3 since 2013 · last asked 2025
Asked since 2013 · 3
2025Evaluate the nature and object of Religious Experience as explained by Radhakrishnan in ‘The Hindu View of Life’. (20 marks)2024Discuss the main features of religious experience according to Advaita Vedanta. (15 marks)2021Explain the concept of religious experience in the light of Vedantic tradition. (15 marks)
Nature and Object
3 questions · 1 since 2013 · last asked 2016
Asked since 2013 · 1
2016“World-religion is a spiritualistic and humanistic composite.” Evaluate. (10 marks)
Show 2 earlier questions (before 2013)
2010–2012 · 2 questions
2012What is the object of religious experience? Is it empirical or trans-empirical? Explain in detail (30 marks)2010If religious experience is unique, what makes it an experience? How is this experience logically different from the experience of loneliness, happiness, etc.? (20 marks)
Validity
3 questions · 2 since 2013 · last asked 2016
Asked since 2013 · 2
2016State and evaluate the nature and validity of mystic experience. (20 marks)2013Can mystical experience be regarded as a valid source of knowledge? (15 marks)
Show 1 earlier question (before 2013)
2009 · 1 question
2009Explain the nature of religious experience. Can this experience be validated? (20 marks)
William James
2 questions · 2 since 2013 · last asked 2026
Asked since 2013 · 2
2026On what grounds does William James characterize mystical states as a genuine expression of religious experience? Elaborate. (10 marks)2022Discuss the nature and variety of religious experiences as presented by William James. (15 marks)
Communicability
2 questions · 2 since 2013 · last asked 2019
Asked since 2013 · 2
2019How far can religious experience be made a topic of public discourse Analyse. (15 marks)2017In order to make expressions of religious experiences communicable, what kind of language needs to be constructed and used? Explain. (15 marks)
Comparative Traditions
2 questions · 2 since 2013 · last asked 2015
Asked since 2013 · 2
2015Explain the nature of mysticism in Hinduism and Islam. (15 marks)2014Discuss the conflicting nature of religious experiences with special reference to Buddhism and Jainism. (15 marks)
Reason vs Experience
1 question · 1 since 2013 · last asked 2026
Asked since 2013 · 1
2026“If religion were a subject of reason alone, it would have lacked an experiential account.” Do you agree with this statement? Give reasons in support of your answer. (10 marks)
Numinous vs Mystical
1 question · 0 since 2013 · last asked 2007
2007 · 1 question
2007The difference between numinous and mystical experience. Critical notes (20 marks)
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