Yes, religious experience can mean many things. Let us not get ahead of ourselves, though, and get into the logic of discerning the spirits. First, is religious experience a real experience, or not?
It all depends upon what you mean by a religious experience. The term “experience” can be understood in so many ways. Are we talking about emotions which produce a state of ecstasy, or our we talking about an objective or external stimuli, such as a vision or apparition. There is no doubt that by using the right methods or self-inducements anyone can create an emotional reaction. Long before Christianity, pagans were having religious experiences and enthusiasms. Nearly all religions have some sort of emotional experiences, whether drug induced or group hysteria. The modern day phenomenon of speaking in tongues is a prime example of self-induced religious experience or enthusiasm.