Experience is knowledge a person gets by doing something or watching someone else do it. Experience is learning through actions.
Some religious groups and teaching methods value learning by experiencing. For example, if someone wants to learn about the game chess, they would play several games. By making mistakes and learning from them, they learn more rather than just reading about playing.
Experience is often divided into four types:
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Body | A physical activity like riding a bicycle |
| Mind | A mental activity like playing chess |
| Heart | Learned from dealing with emotions like being in love |
| Soul | spiritual learning by prayer |
Someone who experienced by watching or doing something himself is said to have first-hand experience.
When one person tells another person, the other person has second-hand experience.
When an experience is felt or enjoyed through imagined participation, the person has had a "vicarious experience".
A religious experience is a spiritual event seen by someone. Holy books like the Bible talk about visions or dreams where men like Moses, Daniel or Jesus met God. Mystics also describe these events, and offer advice. William James wrote a famous book about the kinds of religious experience.