Is Listening to Music “A Spiritual Experience”?

Sometimes, a song can feel so special that everything seems to fall into place the moment you listen to it. Our Music writer, Haneen, unpacks this immaculate, sacred feeling. (And no, you're not the only one.)

The Weeknd for After Hours

Have you ever listened to a song and felt moved to tears, or got a sudden sense or tranquility, or as if time itself has stopped?

I have experienced this while listening to The Weeknd. His songs have a liturgical quality; almost like confessions because of the way it combines longing, darkness and vulnerability. The world vanished into sound when I first listened to his album “After Hours”. It was more than just entertainment, it felt as though I was looking into a mirror that reflected not just my face but a soul with all its imperfections, desires, and hope for some kind of salvation. 

That moment had a spiritual weight, though not tied to any religion. It made me wonder why and how music can affect human experiences deeply. Why does music have this “sacred” power? Is it just a trick of the mind or is there something genuinely ethereal about it? 

The Science Behind The Melody

Modern neuroscience offers clues about this mysterious experience. Brain imaging reveals that music can actually stimulate regions that are related to emotions (hippocampus/amygdala), reward (ventral tegmental area), and even self-awareness (parietal cortex). Researchers at Yale have even found that the same neural networks linked to spirituality are stimulated by certain sounds, suggesting that music aids in guiding the brain into a state of meaning and unity (Yale News 2018). 

Photo by Ben Hope on Unsplash

Psychologists describe music as a kind of spiritual regulation that can be used to process loss, arouse gratitude, and/or rediscover joy. Especially when words cannot adequately convey beliefs, identity, and connection. The existence of music therapy itself is enough to explain this.   (Aasgaard and Stige 2018). 

Put another way, whether or not the divine exists, the experience of transcendence is neurologically real. When people listen to music that moves them, their brains release dopamine — the same neurotransmitter associated with love, reward, and pleasure. Studies using fMRI show that music literally lights up the brain’s emotional and reward circuits in harmony, almost like an orchestra within the mind. Some scientists even suggest that this neurological “resonance” mirrors what religious people describe as feeling touched by the “divine.” In a way, music is both biological and mystical; it bridges science and spirit, showing how our brains are wired to experience wonder.

How Faith Found its Soundtrack

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Aside from all the scientific explanations, music has long been intertwined with religion. Long before written scriptures, humans used rhythm, chanting, and melody to express reverence and connect with unseen forces. Sound and music were the first “languages” of worship able to unify emotion, movement, and meaning. Over time, these sonic expressions became integral to sacred ritual: from Vedic chants and Sufi recitations to Christian hymns and Buddhist mantras. Religion embraced music because it expressed devotion in a way words alone could not.

Every religious tradition assigns a sacred role to sound. According to Hindu philosophy, the universe's primordial vibration (nāda) or the chanting of Om is believed to bring oneself into harmony with cosmic order. Sufi Muslims dissolve the ego in remembrance of God through music and repeated chanting (dhikr). Hymns have long been used in Christianity to guide the heart toward adoration of God. According to Augustine — “He who sings prays twice.” (Confessions Book X).

Is Music… Spiritual? Verdict’s Out:

Between what is visible and what is unseen... Is music spiritual?

The answer appears to be both yes and no. According to science music is produced through neural chemistry patterns and vibration. Spiritually speaking it alludes to something that those mechanisms are unable to adequately describe: the sensation of transcendence, oneness and profound presence that sound evokes. 

Photo by BandLab on Unsplash

Perhaps it is precisely this tension that gives music its spirituality. It serves as a reminder that although we are physical beings we are susceptible to the influence of invisible air waves which have the power to transform us and inspire, love and even wonder. The fact that invisible waves of sound can move us to tears or lift us into peace says something about the mysterious harmony between body and spirit. Even when stripped of words or meaning, a simple melody can communicate something pure and ancient, as if it remembers what we have forgotten. In that way, music becomes a quiet kind of faith, reminding us that not everything meaningful can be seen, and not everything unseen is empty.

As philosopher Alain de Botton said; “Music transports us back to the state of feeling independent of words or beliefs.” (de Botton 54).  The feeling of being uplifted by music may be one of the most obvious glimpses of the sacred in the ordinary regardless of whether we refer to it as spiritual, emotional or just human. It is the sole reminder that we are still capable of feeling deeply, of being moved, and of finding light in the dark.

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Author: Haneen F. Editor: Syamilah Co-Editor-in-Chief: Sue Ann

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References:

Aasgaard, Trygve, and Brynjulf Stige. "Music Therapy and Spirituality: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives." Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, vol. 27, no. 4, 2018, pp. 295–310.

Augustine of Hippo. The Confessions of Saint Augustine. Translated by Edward B. Pusey, Dover Publications, 2002.

Beck, Guy L. Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound. University of South Carolina Press, 1993.

de Botton, Alain. Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion. Vintage International, 2013.

Ernst, Carl W. The Shambhala Guide to Sufism. Shambhala Publications, 1997.

Moss, Hilary. "Music Therapy, Spirituality, and Transcendence." Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, vol. 19, no. 1, 2019, pp. 28–38.

"Where the Brain Processes Spiritual Experiences." YaleNews, Yale University, 29 May 2018, https://news.yale.edu/2018/05/29/where-brain-processes-spiritual-experiences.