What does religious instant mean?

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When Oedipa first arrives in San Narciso, she has a type of "religious instant" when she thinks that a divine being may be imparting some sort of knowledge on her, although what exactly that knowledge is she does not know. The television is also a source of confusion and one-sided communication in the novel, as we will see in the hotel scene with Metzger. And, of course, drunkenness and other drugs lead one to mental states that seem expanded and yet render communication impossible. All three of these motifs, as well as memories from the past, are examples of things that surround us and try to send us messages that we, for whatever reason, cannot understand.