This book is the first modern scientific explanation of faith in God, spiritual experience and communion with a higher reality, mystical insights, the effects of prayer, religious conversions, communication with spirits, near-death visions, the experience of the soul leaving the body, and other phenomena that are usually associated with the divine presence or action of sacred forces. Matthew Alper is one of the founders of neurotheology, the most promising field of scientific study of religious life, spirituality and mysticism today. Since its first publication in 1996, the book has been reprinted several times and has been translated into 8 languages. It is necessary for everyone who strives for a scientific understanding of the spiritual nature of man.