Katz questions the methodology of scholars like Stace and James in their attempts to identify common characteristics of mystical experience . He himself does not suggest any framework of mystical features as he assumes each individual experience is mediated and shaped by what has gone before for that person in their specific context . Whichever approach is taken , the closest any research can come is in the study of the reports of those individuals claiming to have had such experiences , and to proceed with comparisons in a meaningful way , some kind of typology is necessary . It has only been possible to include a few examples here , but enough reports of mystical experience exist to suggest some broad but significant shared characteristics which in turn may provide a rationale for some of the philosophical similarities which exist between different traditions .
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