,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit  ,,and 
,,the ,,life ,,of ,,to-,,day  ,,by      
,,evelyn ,,underhill  ,author of        
,,mysticism1 ,,the ,,essentials ,,of    
,,mysticism1 etc4    ,,new ,,york       
,e4,p4 ,,dutton  ,,company  #fha ,,fifth
 ,,avenue   ,copyright1 #aibb4  ,,by    
,e4,p4 ,,dutton  ,,company  ,all rights 
reserved   ,,in ,,memoriam  ,e4,r4,b4   
,,preface   ,this book owes its origin  
to the fact that in the autumn of #aiba 
the authorities of ,manchester ,college1
 ,oxford invited me to deliver the      
inaugural course of a lectureship in    
religion newly established under the    
will of the late ,professor ,upton4 ,no 
conditions being attached to this       
appointment1 it seemed a suitable       
opportunity to discuss1 so far as       
possible in the language of the moment1 
some of the implicits which ,i believe  
to underlie human effort and achievement
 in the domain of the spiritual life4   
,the material gathered for this purpose 
has now been added to1 revised1 and to  

some extent re-written1 in order to make
 it appropriate to the purposes of the  
reader rather than the hearer4 ,as the  
object of the book is strictly          
practical1 a special attempt has been   
made to bring the classic experiences of
 the spiritual life into line with the  
conclusions of modern psychology1 and in
 particular1 to suggest some of the     
directions in which recent psychological
 research may cast light on the standard
 problems of the religious              
consciousness4 ,this subject is still in
 its infancy2 but it is destined1 ,i am 
sure1 in the near future to exercise a  
transforming influence on the study of  
spiritual experience1 and may even prove
 to be the starting point of a new      
apologetic4 ,those who are inclined     
either to fear or to resent the         
application to this experience of those 
laws which--as we are now gradually     
discovering--govern the rest of our     
psychic life1 or who are offended by the
 resulting demonstrations of continuity 

between our most homely and most lofty  
reactions to the universe1 might take to
 themselves the plain words of ,thomas  
,kempis3 ,thou art a man and not ,god1  
thou art flesh and no angel4  ,since my 
subject is not the splendor of historic 
sanctity but the normal life of the     
,spirit1 as it may be and is lived in   
the here-and-now1 ,i have done my best  
to describe the character and meaning of
 this life in the ordinary terms of     
present day thought1 and with little or 
no use of the technical language of     
mysticism4 ,for the same reason1 no     
attention has been given to those       
abnormal experiences and states of      
consciousness1 which1 too often regarded
 as specially mystical1 are now         
recognized by all competent students as 
representing the unfortunate accidents  
rather than the abiding substance of    
spirituality4 ,readers of these pages   
will find nothing about trances1        
,ecstasies and other rare psychic       
phenomena2 which sometimes indicate     

holiness1 and sometimes only disease4   
,for information on these matters they  
must go to larger and more technical    
works4 ,my aim here is the more general 
one1 of indicating first the            
characteristic experiences--discoverable
 within all great religions--which      
justify or are fundamental to the       
spiritual life1 and the way in which    
these experiences may be accommodated to
 the world-view of the modern man3 and  
next1 the nature of that spiritual life 
as it appears in human history4 ,the    
succeeding sections of the book treat in
 some detail the light cast on spiritual
 problems by mental analysis--a process 
which need not necessarily be conducted 
from the standpoint of a degraded       
materialism--and by recent work on the  
psychology of autistic thought and of   
suggestion4 ,these investigations have a
 practical interest for every man who   
desires to be the captain of his soul4  
,the relation in which institutional    
religion does or should stand to the    

spiritual life is also in part a matter 
for psychology2 which is here called    
upon to deal with the religious aspect  
of the social instincts1 and the        
problems surrounding symbols and cults4 
,these chapters lead up to a discussion 
of the personal aspect of the spiritual 
life1 its curve of growth1 characters   
and activities2 and a further section   
suggests some ways in which             
educationists might promote the up      
springing of this life in the young4    
,finally1 the last chapter attempts to  
place the fact of the life of the       
,spirit in its relation to the social   
order1 and to indicate some of the      
results which might follow upon its     
healthy corporate development4 ,it is   
superfluous to point out that each of   
these subjects needs1 at least1 a volume
 to itself3 and to some of them ,i shall
 hope to return in the future4 ,their   
treatment in the present work is        
necessarily fragmentary and suggestive2 
and is intended rather to stimulate     

thought1 than to offer solutions4  ,part
 of ,chapter ,,iv has already appeared  
in ,the ,fortnightly ,review under the  
title ,suggestion and ,religious        
,experience4 ,chapter ,,viii            
incorporates several passages from an   
article on ,sources of ,power in ,human 
,life originally contributed to the     
,hubert ,journal4 ,these are reprinted  
by kind permission of the editors       
concerned4 ,my numerous debts to        
previous writers are obvious1 and for   
the most part are acknowledged in the   
footnotes2 the greatest1 to the works of
 ,baron ,von ,hugely1 will be clear to  
all students of his writings4 ,thanks   
are also due to my old friend ,william  
,scott ,palmer1 who read part of the    
manuscript and gave me much generous and
 valuable advice4 ,it is a pleasure to  
express in this place my warm gratitude 
first to the ,principal and authorities 
of ,manchester ,college1 who gave me the
 opportunity of delivering these        
chapters in their original form1 and    

whose unfailing sympathy and kindness so
 greatly helped me3 and secondly1 to the
 members of the ,oxford ,faculty of     
,theology1 to whom ,i owe the great     
,honor of being the first woman lecturer
 in religion to appear in the           
,university list4    ,e4,u4             
,epiphany1 #aibb4  9999 ,transcriber's  
,note3 ,this text contains just a few   
instances of a     character with a     
diacritical mark4 ,the character is a   
lower-case     'u' with a macron        
7straight line7 above it4 ,in the text1 
that     character is depicted thusly3 u
 9999     ,,contents   ,,chapter        
,,page        ,,preface                 
vii     ,i4 ,,the ,,characters ,,of     
,,spiritual ,,life                      
#a    ,,ii4 ,,history ,,and ,,the ,,life
 ,,of ,,the ,,spirit                    
#ch   ,,iii4 ,,psychology ,,and ,,the   
,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit3      7,i7   
,,the ,,analysis ,,of ,,mind            
#gd    ,,iv4 ,,psychology ,,and ,,the   
,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit3      7,,ii7 

,,contemplation ,,and ,,suggestion      
#aab     ,v4 ,,institutional ,,religion 
,,and ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit  
#aec    ,,vi4 ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the   
,,spirit ,,in ,,the ,,individual        
#aia   ,,vii4 ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the   
,,spirit ,,and ,,education              
#bbh  ,,viii4 ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the   
,,spirit ,,and ,,the ,,social ,,order   
#bff        ,,principal ,,works ,,used  
,,and ,,cited                      #cjj 
,,index                                 
#cjg     ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the        
,,spirit  ,,and  ,,the ,,life ,,of      
,,to-,,day    ,initio tu1 ,domine1      
terram fundasti2 et opera manuum tuarum 
sunt caeli4   ,ipsi peribunt1 tu autem  
permanes2 et omnes sicut vestimentum    
veterascent4   ,et sicut opertorium     
mutabis eos1 et mutabuntur2   ,tu autem 
idem ipse es1 et anni tui non deficient4
   ,filii servorum tuorum habitabunt2 et
 semen eorum in seculum dirigetur4      
--,psalm cii3 #be-bh     ,,chapter ,i   
,,the ,,characters ,,of ,,spiritual     

,,life   ,this book has been called ,the
 ,life of the ,spirit and the ,life of  
,to-day in order to emphasize as much as
 possible the practical1 here-and-now   
nature of its subject2 and specially to 
combat the idea that the spiritual      
life--or the mystic life1 as its more   
intense manifestations are sometimes    
called--is to be regarded as primarily a
 matter of history4 ,it is not4 ,it is a
 matter of biology4 ,though we cannot   
disregard history in our study of it1   
that history will only be valuable to us
 in so far as we keep tight hold on its 
direct connection with the present1 its 
immediate bearing on our own lives3 and 
this we shall do only in so far as we   
realize the unity of all the higher     
experiences of the race4 ,in fact1 were 
,i called upon to choose a motto which  
should express the central notion of    
these chapters1 that motto would        
be--,there are diversities of gifts1 but
 the same ,spirit4 ,this declaration ,i 
would interpret in the widest possible  

sense2 as suggesting the underlying     
harmony and single inspiration of all   
man's various and apparently conflicting
 expressions of his instinct for        
fullness of life4 ,for we shall not be  
able to make order1 in any hopeful      
sense1 of the tangle of material which  
is before us1 until we have subdued it  
to this ruling thought3 seen one        
transcendent ,object towards which all  
our twisting pathways run1 and one      
impulsion pressing us towards it4  ,as  
psychology is now teaching us to find1  
at all levels of our craving1 dreaming1 
or thinking1 the diverse expressions of 
one psychic energy2 so that type of     
philosophy which comes nearest to the   
religion of the ,spirit1 invites us to  
find at all levels of life the workings 
and strivings of one ,power3 a ,reality 
which both underlies and crowns all our 
other1 lesser strivings4#a ,variously   
manifested in partial achievements of   
order and goodness1 in diversities of   
beauty1 and in our graded apprehensions 

of truth1 this ,spirit is yet most fully
 known to us in the transcendent values 
of holiness and love4 ,the more deeply  
it is loved by man1 the nearer he draws 
to its heart3 and the greater his love1 
the more fully does he experience its   
transforming and energizing power4 ,the 
words of ,plotinus are still true for   
every one of us1 and are unaffected by  
the presence or absence of creed3       
,yonder is the true object of our love1 
which it is possible to grasp and to    
live with and truly to possess1 since no
 envelope of flesh separates us from it4
 ,he who has seen it knows what ,i say1 
that the soul then has another life1    
when it comes to ,god1 and having come  
possesses ,him1 and knows when in that  
state that it is in the presence of the 
dispenser of true life and that it needs
 nothing further4#b  ,so1 if we would   
achieve anything like a real integration
 of life--and until we have done so1 we 
are bound to be restless and uncertain  
in our touch upon experience--we are    

compelled to press back towards contact 
with this living ,reality1 however      
conceived by us4 ,and this not by way of
 a retreat from our actual physical and 
mental life1 but by way of a fulfilment 
of it4  ,more perhaps than ever before1 
men are now driven to ask themselves the
 searching question of the disciple in  
,boehme's ,dialogue on the ,supersensual
 ,life3 ,seeing ,i am in nature1 how may
 ,i come through nature into the        
supersensual ground1 without destroying 
nature8#c ,and such a coming through    
into the ground1 such a finding and     
feeling of ,eternal ,life1 is ,i take it
 the central business of religion4 ,for 
religion is committed to achieving a    
synthesis of the eternal and the        
ever-fleeting1 of nature and of spirit2 
lifting up the whole of life to a       
greater reality1 because a greater      
participation in eternity4 ,such a      
participation in eternity1 manifested in
 the time-world1 is the very essence of 
the spiritual life3 but1 set as we are  

in mutability1 our apprehensions of it  
can only be partial and relative4       
,absolutes are known only to absolute   
mind2 our measurements1 however careful 
and intricate1 can never tally with the 
measurements of ,god4 ,as ,einstein     
conceives of space curved round the sun 
we1 borrowing his symbolism for a       
moment1 may perhaps think of the world  
of ,spirit as curved round the human    
soul2 shaped to our finite              
understanding1 and therefore presenting 
to us innumerable angles of approach4   
,this means that ,god can and must be   
sought only within and through our human
 experience4 ,where1 says ,jacob        
,boehme1 will you seek for ,god8 ,seek  
,him in your soul1 which has proceeded  
out of the ,eternal ,nature1 the living 
fountain of forces wherein the ,divine  
working stands4#d  ,but1 on the other   
hand1 such limitation as this is no     
argument for agnosticism4 ,for this our 
human experience in its humbling        
imperfection1 however we interpret it1  

is as real within its own system of     
reference as anything else4 ,it is our  
inevitably limited way of laying hold on
 the stuff of existence3 and not less   
real for that than the monkeys' way on  
one hand1 or the angels' way on the     
other4 ,only we must be sure that we do 
it as thoroughly and completely as we   
can2 disdaining the indolence which so  
easily relapses to the lower level and  
the smaller world4  ,and the first point
 ,i wish to make is1 that the experience
 which we call the life of the ,spirit  
is such a genuine fact2 which meets us  
at all times and places1 and at all     
levels of life4 ,it is an experience    
which is independent of1 and often      
precedes1 any explanation or            
rationalization we may choose to make of
 it3 and no one1 as a matter of fact1   
takes any real interest in the          
explanation1 unless he has had some form
 of the experience4 ,we notice1 too1    
that it is most ordinarily and also most
 impressively given to us as such an    

objective experience1 whole and         
unanalyzed2 and that when it is thus    
given1 and perceived as effecting a     
transfiguration of human character1 we  
on our part most readily understand and 
respond to it4   ,thus ,plotinus1 than  
whom few persons have lived more capable
 of analysis1 can only say3 ,the soul   
knows when in that state that it is in  
the presence of the dispenser of true   
life4 ,yet in saying this1 does he not  
tell us far more1 and rouse in us a     
greater and more fruitful longing1 than 
in all his disquisitions about the      
worlds of ,spirit and of ,soul8 ,and    
,kabir1 from another continent and time1
 saying ,more than all else do ,i       
cherish at heart the love which makes me
 to live a limitless life in this       
world1#e assures us in these words that 
he too has known that more abundant     
life4 ,these are the statements of the  
pure religious experience1 in so far as 
pure experience is possible to us2 which
 is only of course in a limited and     

relative sense4 ,the subjective element1
 all that the psychologist means by     
apperception1 must enter in1 and control
 it4 ,nevertheless1 they refer to man's 
communion with an independent objective 
,reality4 ,this experience is more real 
and concrete1 therefore more important1 
than any of the systems by which        
theology seeks to explain it4 ,we may   
then take it1 without prejudice to any  
special belief1 that the spiritual life 
we wish to study is one life2 based on  
experience of one ,reality1 and         
manifested in the diversity of gifts and
 graces which men have been willing to  
call true1 holy1 beautiful and good4    
,for the moment at least we may accept  
the definition of it given by ,dr4      
,bosanquet1 as oneness with the ,supreme
 ,good in every facet of the heart and  
will4#f ,and since without derogation of
 its transcendent character1 its vigour1
 wonder and worth1 it is in human       
experience rather than in speculation   
that we are bound to seek it1 we shall  

look first at the forms taken by man's  
intuition of ,eternity1 the life to     
which it seems to call him2 and next at 
the actual appearance of this life in   
history4 ,then at the psychological     
machinery by which we may lay hold of   
it1 the contributions which religious   
institutions make to its realization2   
and last1 turning our backs on these    
partial explorations of the living      
,whole1 seek if we can to seize         
something of its inwardness as it       
appears to the individual1 the way in   
which education may best prepare its    
fulfilment1 and the part it must play in
 the social group4  ,we begin therefore 
at the starting point of this life of   
,spirit3 in man's vague1 fluctuating1   
yet persistent apprehension of an       
enduring and transcendent reality--his  
instinct for ,god4 ,the characteristic  
forms taken by this instinct are simple 
and fairly well known4 ,complication    
only comes in with the interpretation we
 put on them4  ,by three main ways we   

tend to realize our limited personal    
relations with that transcendent ,other 
which we call divine1 eternal or real2  
and these1 appearing perpetually in the 
vast literature of religion1 might be   
illustrated from all places and all     
times4  ,first1 there is the profound   
sense of security3 of being safely held 
in a cosmos of which1 despite all       
contrary appearance1 peace is the very  
heart1 and which is not inimical to our 
true interests4 ,for those whose        
religious experience takes this form1   
,god is the ,ground of the soul1 the    
,unmoved1 our ,very ,rest2 statements   
which meet us again and again in        
spiritual literature4 ,this certitude of
 a principle of permanence within and   
beyond our world of change--the sense of
 ,eternal ,life--lies at the very centre
 of the religious consciousness2 which  
will never on this point capitulate to  
the attacks of philosophy on the one    
hand 7such as those of the ,new         
,realists7 or of psychology on the other

 hand1 assuring him that what he        
mistakes for the ,eternal ,world is     
really his own unconscious mind4 ,here  
man1 at least in his great              
representatives--the persons of         
transcendent religious genius--seems to 
get beyond all labels4 ,he finds and    
feels a truth that cannot fail him1 and 
that satisfies both his heart and mind2 
a justification of that transcendental  
feeling which is the soul alike of      
philosophy and of art4 ,if his life has 
its roots here1 it will be a fruitful   
tree2 and whatever its outward          
activities1 it will be a spiritual life1
 since it is lived1 as ,george ,fox was 
so fond of saying1 in the ,universal    
,spirit4 ,all know the great passage ,in
 ,st4 ,augustine's ,confessions in which
 he describes how the mysterious eye of 
his soul gazed on the ,light that never 
changes2 above the eye of the soul1 and 
above intelligence4#g ,there is nothing 
archaic in such an experience4 ,though  
its description may depend on the       

language of ,neoplatonism1 it is in its 
essence as possible and as fruitful for 
us to-day as it was in the fourth       
century1 and the doctrine and discipline
 of ,christian prayer have always       
admitted its validity4  ,here and in    
many other examples which might be      
quoted1 the spiritual fact is           
interpreted in a non-personal and cosmic
 way2 and we must remember that what is 
described to us is always1 inevitably1  
the more or less emotional              
interpretation1 never the pure immediacy
 of experience4 ,this interpretation    
frequently makes use of the symbolisms  
of space1 stillness1 and light3 the     
contemplative soul is lost in the ocean 
of the ,godhead1 enters ,his silence or 
exclaims with ,dante3          la mia   
vista1 venendo sincera1       e pi e pi 
entrava per lo raggio     dell' alta    
luce1 che da s  vera4#h  ,but in the    
second characteristic form of the       
religious experience1 the relationship  
is felt rather as the intimate and      

reciprocal communion of a person with a 
,person2 a form of apprehension which is
 common to the great majority of devout 
natures4 ,it is true that ,divine       
,reality1 while doubtless including in  
its span all the values we associate    
with personality1 must far overpass it3 
and this conclusion has been reached    
again and again by profoundly religious 
minds1 of whom among ,christians we need
 only mention ,dionysius the            
,areopagite1 ,eckhart1 and ,ruysbroeck4 
,yet these very minds have always in the
 end discovered the necessity of finding
 place for the overwhelming certitude of
 a personal contact1 a prevenient and an
 answering love4 ,for it is always in a 
personal and emotional relationship that
 man finds himself impelled to surrender
 to ,god2 and this surrender is felt by 
him to evoke a response4 ,it is         
significant that even modern liberalism 
is forced1 in the teeth of rationality1 
to acknowledge this fact of the         
religious experience4 ,thus we have on  

the one hand the ,catholic-minded but   
certainly unorthodox ,spanish thinker1  
,miguel de ,unamuno1 confessing--  ,i   
believe in ,god as ,i believe in my     
friends1 because ,i feel the breath of  
,his affection1 feel ,his invisible and 
intangible hand1 drawing me1 leading me1
 grasping me4444 ,once and again in my  
life ,i have seen myself suspended in a 
trance over the abyss2 once and again ,i
 have found myself at the cross-roads1  
confronted by a choice of ways and aware
 that in choosing one ,i should be      
renouncing all the others--for there is 
no turning back upon these roads of     
life2 and once and again in such unique 
moments as these ,i have felt the       
impulse of a mighty power1 conscious1   
sovereign and loving4 ,and then1 before 
the feet of the wayfarer1 opens out the 
way of the ,lord4#i  ,compare with this 
,upton the ,unitarian3 ,if1 he says1    
this ,absolute ,presence1 which meets us
 face to face in the most momentous of  
our life's experiences1 which pours into

 our fainting the elixir of new life-mud
 strength1 and into our wounded hearts  
the balm of a quite infinite sympathy1  
cannot fitly be called a personal       
presence1 it is only because this word  
personal is too poor and carries with it
 associations too human and too limited 
adequately to express this profound     
,god-consciousness4#aj  ,such a personal
 ,god-consciousness is the one impelling
 cause of those moral struggles1        
sacrifices and purifications1 those     
costing and heroic activities1 to which 
all greatly spiritual souls find        
themselves drawn4 ,we note that these   
souls experience it even when it        
conflicts with their philosophy3 for a  
real religious intuition is always      
accepted by the self that has it as     
taking priority of thought1 and carrying
 with it so to speak its own guarantees4
 ,thus ,blake1 for whom the ,holy ,ghost
 was an intellectual fountain1 hears the
 ,divine ,voice crying3      ,i am not a
 ,god afar off1 ,i am a brother and     

friend2     ,within your bosoms ,i      
reside1 and you reside in me4#aa  ,thus 
in the last resort the ,sufi poet can   
only say3      ,o soul1 seek the        
,beloved2 ,o friend1 seek the           
,friend6#ab  ,thus even ,plotinus is    
driven to speak of his ,divine ,wisdom  
as the ,father and ever-present         
,companion of the soul1#ac and ,kabir1  
for whom ,god is the ,unconditioned and 
the ,formless1 can yet exclaim3  ,from  
the beginning until the end of time     
there is love between me and thee3 and  
how shall such love be extinguished8#ad 
,christianity1 through its concepts of  
the ,divine ,fatherhood and of the      
,eternal ,christ1 has given to this     
sense of personal communion its fullest 
and most beautiful expression3          
,amore1 chi t'ama non sta ozioso1       
tanto li par dolce de te gustare1     ma
 tutta ora vive desideroso     como te  
possa stretto pi amare2     ch tanto sta
 per te lo cor gioioso1     chi nol     
sentisse1 nol porra parlare     quanto  

dolce a gustare lo tuo sapore4#ae  ,on  
the immense question of what it is that 
lies behind this sense of direct        
intercourse1 this passionate friendship 
with the ,invisible1 ,i cannot enter4   
,but it has been one of the strongest   
and most fruitful influences in         
religious history1 and gives in         
particular its special colour to the    
most perfect developments of ,christian 
mysticism4  ,last--and here is the      
aspect of religious experience which is 
specially to concern us--,spirit is felt
 as an inflowing power1 a veritable     
accession of vitality2 energizing the   
self1 or the religious group1 impelling 
it to the fullest and most zealous      
living-out of its existence1 giving it  
fresh joy and vigour1 and lifting it to 
fresh levels of life4 ,this sense of    
enhanced life is a mark of all religions
 of the ,spirit4 ,he giveth power to the
 faint1 says the ,second ,isaiah1 and to
 them that hath no might he increaseth  
strength 444 they that wait upon the    

,lord shall renew their strength2 they  
shall mount up with wings as eagles2    
they shall run and not be weary2 and    
they shall walk1 and not faint4#af ,i   
live--yet not ,i1 ,i can do all things1 
says ,st4 ,paul1 seeking to express his 
dependence on this ,divine strength     
invading and controlling him3 and       
assures his neophytes that they too have
 received the ,spirit of power4 ,my     
life1 says ,st4 ,augustine1 shall be a  
real life1 being wholly full of         
,thee4#ag ,having found ,god1 says a    
modern ,indian saint1 the current of my 
life flowed on swiftly1 ,i gained fresh 
strength4#ah ,all other men and women of
 the ,spirit speak in the same sense1   
when they try to describe the source of 
their activity and endurance4  ,so1 the 
rich experiences of the religious       
consciousness seem to be resumed in     
these three outstanding types of        
spiritual awareness4 ,the cosmic1       
ontological1 or transcendent2 finding   
,god as the infinite ,reality outside   

and beyond us4 ,the personal1 finding   
,him as the living and responsive object
 of our love1 in immediate touch with   
us4 ,the dynamic1 finding ,him as the   
power that dwells within or energizes   
us4 ,these are not exclusive but        
complementary apprehensions1 giving     
objectives to intellect feeling and     
will4 ,they must all be taken into      
account in any attempt to estimate the  
full character of the spiritual life1   
and this life can hardly achieve        
perfection unless all three be present  
in some measure4 ,thus the ,french      
contemplative ,lucie-,christine says1   
that when the voice of ,god called her  
it was at one and the same time a       
,light1 a ,drawing1 and a ,power1#ai and
 her ,indian contemporary the ,maharishi
 ,devendranath ,tagore1 that ,seekers   
after ,god must realize ,brahma in these
 three places4 ,they must see ,him      
within1 see ,him without1 and see ,him  
in that abode of ,brahma where ,he      
exists in ,himself4#bj ,and it seems to 

me1 that what we have in the ,christian 
doctrine of the ,trinity1 is above all  
the crystallization and mind's          
interpretation of these three ways in   
which our simple contact with ,god is   
actualized by us4 ,it is1 like so many  
other dogmas when we get to the bottom  
of them1 an attempt to describe         
experience4 ,what is that supernal      
symphony of which this elusive music1   
with its three complementary strains1   
forms part8 ,we cannot know this1 since 
we are debarred by our situation from   
knowledge of wholes4 ,but even those    
strains which we do hear1 assure us how 
far we are yet from conceiving the      
possibilities of life1 of power1 of     
beauty which are contained in them4     
,and if the first type of experience1   
with the immense feeling of assurance1  
of peace1 and of quietude which comes   
from our intuitive contact with that    
world which ,ruysbroeck called the world
 that is unwalled1#ba and from the      
mind's utter surrender and abolition of 

resistances--if all this seems to lead  
to a merely static or contemplative     
conception of the spiritual life2 the   
third type of experience1 with its      
impulse towards action1 its often       
strongly felt accession of vitality and 
power1 leads inevitably to a            
complementary and dynamic interpretation
 of that life4 ,indeed1 if the first    
moment in the life of the ,spirit be    
man's apprehension of ,eternal ,life1   
the second moment--without which the    
first has little worth for him--consists
 of his response to that transcendent   
,reality4 ,perception of it lays on him 
the obligation of living in its         
atmosphere1 fulfilling its meaning1 if  
he can3 and this will involve for him a 
measure of inward transformation1 a     
difficult growth and change4 ,thus the  
ideas of new birth and regeneration have
 always been1 and ,i think must ever be1
 closely associated with man's discovery
 of ,god3 and the soul's true path seems
 to be from intuition1 through          

adoration1 to moral effort1 and thence  
to charity4  ,even so did the ,oxford   
,methodists1 who began by trying only to
 worship ,god and be good by adhering to
 a strict devotional rule1 soon find    
themselves impelled to try to do good by
 active social work4#bb ,and at his     
highest development1 and in so far as he
 has appropriated the full richness of  
experience which is offered to him1 man 
will and should find himself1 as it     
were1 flung to and fro between action   
and contemplation4 ,between the call to 
transcendence1 to a simple self-loss in 
the unfathomable and adorable life of   
,god1 and the call to a full1 rich and  
various actualization of personal life1 
in the energetic strivings of a fellow  
worker with ,him3 between the soul's    
profound sense of transcendent love1 and
 its felt possession of and duty towards
 immanent love--a paradox which only    
some form of incarnational philosophy   
can solve4 ,it is said of ,abu ,said1   
the great ,sufi1 at the full term of his

 development1 that he did all normal    
things while ever thinking of ,god4#bc  
,here1 ,i believe1 we find the norm of  
the spiritual life1 in such a complete  
response both to the temporal and to the
 eternal revelations and demands of the 
,divine nature3 on the one hand1 the    
highest and most costing calls made on  
us by that world of succession in which 
we find ourselves2 on the other1 an     
unmoved abiding in the bosom of         
eternity1 where was never heard         
quarter-clock to strike1 never seen     
minute glasse to turne4#bd  ,there have 
been many schools and periods in which  
one half of this dual life of man has   
been unduly emphasized to the detriment 
of the other4 ,often in the ,east--and  
often too in the first1 pre-,benedictine
 phase of ,christian monasticism--there 
has been an unbalanced cultivation of   
the contemplative life1 resulting in a  
narrow1 abnormal1 imperfectly vitalized 
a-social type of spirituality4 ,on the  
other hand1 in our own day the tendency 

to action usually obliterates the       
contemplative side of experience        
altogether3 and the result is the       
feverishness1 exhaustion and uncertainty
 of aim characteristic of the           
over-driven and the underfed4 ,but no   
one can be said to live in its fulness  
the life of the ,spirit who does not    
observe a due balance between the two3  
both receiving and giving1 both         
apprehending and expressing1 and thus   
achieving that state of which           
,ruysbroeck said ,then only is our life 
a whole1 when work and contemplation    
dwell in us side by side1 and we are    
perfectly in both of them at once4#be   
,all ,christian writers on the life of  
the ,spirit point to the perfect        
achievement of this two-fold ideal in   
,christ2 the pattern of that completed  
humanity towards which the indwelling   
,spirit is pressing the race4 ,his deeds
 of power and mercy1 ,his richly various
 responses to every level of human      
existence1 ,his gift to others of new   

faith and life1 were directly dependent 
on the nights spent on the mountain in  
prayer4 ,when ,st4 ,paul entreats us to 
grow up into the fulness of ,his        
stature1 this is the ideal that is      
implied4  ,in the intermediate term of  
the religious experience1 that felt     
communion with a ,person which is the   
clou of the devotional life1 we get as  
it were the link between the extreme    
apprehensions of transcendence and of   
immanence1 and their expression in the  
lives of contemplation and of action2   
and also a focus for that               
religious-emotion which is the most     
powerful stimulus to spiritual growth4  
,it is needless to emphasize the        
splendid use which ,christianity has    
made of this type of experience2 nor    
unfortunately1 the exaggerations to     
which it has led4 ,both extremes are    
richly represented in the literature of 
mysticism4 ,but we should remember that 
,christianity is not alone in thus      
requiring place to be made for such a   

conception of ,god as shall give body to
 all the most precious and fruitful     
experiences of the heart1 providing     
simple human sense and human feeling    
with something on which to lay hold4 ,in
 ,india1 there is the existence1 within 
and alongside the austere worship of the
 unconditioned ,brahma1 of the ardent   
personal ,vaishnavite devotion to the   
heart's ,lord1 known as ,bhakti ,marga4 
,in ,islam1 there is the impassioned    
longing of the ,sufis for the ,beloved1 
who is the ,rose of all ,reason and all 
,truth4      ,without ,thee1 ,o         
,beloved1 ,i cannot rest2     ,thy      
goodness towards me ,i cannot reckon4   
,tho' every hair on my body becomes a   
tongue     ,a thousandth part of the    
thanks due to ,thee ,i cannot tell4#bf  
,there is the sudden note of rapture    
which startles us in the ,neoplatonists1
 as when ,plotinus speaks of the name of
 love for what is there to know--the    
passion of the lover testing on the     
'bosom of his love4#bg ,surely we may   

accept all these1 as the instinctive    
responses of a diversity of spirits to  
the one eternal ,spirit of life and     
love3 and recognize that without such   
personal response1 such a discovery of  
imperishable love1 a fully lived        
spiritual life is no more possible than 
is a fully lived physical life from     
which love has been left out4  ,when we 
descend from experience to              
interpretation1 the paradoxical         
character of such a personal sense of   
intimacy is eased for us1 if we remember
 that the religious man's awareness of  
the indwelling ,spirit1 or of a ,divine 
companionship--whatever name he gives   
it--is just his limited realization1    
achieved by means of his own mental     
machinery1 of a universal and not a     
particular truth4 ,to this realization  
he brings all his human--more1 his      
sub-human--feelings and experiences3 not
 only those which are vaguely called his
 spiritual intuitions1 but the full     
weight of his impulsive and emotional   

life4 ,his experience and its           
interpretation are1 then1 inevitably    
conditioned by this apperceiving mass4  
,and here ,i think the intellect should 
show mercy1 and not probe without       
remorse into those tender places where  
the heart and the spirit are at one4    
,let us then be content to note1 that   
when we consult the works of those who  
have best and most fully interpreted    
their religion in a universal sense1 we 
find how careful they are to provide a  
category for this experience of a       
personally known and loved indwelling   
,divinity--man's ,father1 ,lover1       
,saviour1 ever-present ,companion--which
 shall avoid its identification with the
 mere spirit of ,nature1 whilst         
safeguarding its immanence no less than 
its transcendent quality4 ,thus1 ,julian
 of ,norwich heard in her meditations   
the voice of ,god saying to her1 ,see6  
,i am in all things6 ,see6 ,i lift never
 mine hand from off my works1 nor ever  
shall6#bh ,is it possible to state more 

plainly the indivisible identity of the 
,spirit of ,life8 ,see6 ,i am in all    
things6 ,in the terrific energies of the
 stellar universe1 and the smallest song
 of the birds4 ,in the seething struggle
 of modern industrialism1 as much a part
 of nature1 of those works on which ,his
 hands are laid1 as the more easily     
comprehended economy of the ant-heap and
 the hive4 ,this sense of the personal  
presence of an abiding ,reality1        
fulfilling and transcending all our     
highest values1 here in our space-time  
world of effort1 may well be regarded as
 the differential mark of real spiritual
 experience1 wherever found4 ,it chimes 
well with the definition of ,professor  
,pratt1 who observes that the truly     
spiritual man1 though he may not be any 
better morally than his non-religious   
neighbour1 has a confidence in the      
universe and an inner joy which the     
other does not know--is more at-home in 
the universe as a whole1 than other     
men4#bi  ,if1 in their attempt to       

describe their experience of this       
companioning ,reality1 spiritual men of 
all types have exhausted all the        
resources and symbols of poetry1 even   
earthly lovers are obliged to do that1  
in order to suggest a fraction of the   
values contained in earthly love4 ,such 
a divine presence is dramatized for     
,christianity in the historic           
incarnation1 though not limited by it3  
and it is continued into history by the 
beautiful ,christian conception of the  
eternal indwelling ,christ4 ,the        
distinction made by the ,bhakti form of 
,hinduism between the ,manifest and the 
,unmanifest ,god seeks to express this  
same truth2 and shows that this idea1 in
 one form or another1 is a necessity for
 religious thought4  ,further and       
detailed illustration of spiritual      
experience in itself1 as a genuine and  
abiding human fact--a form of           
life--independent of the dogmatic       
interpretations put on it1 will come up 
as we proceed4 ,i now wish to go on to a

 second point3 this--that it follows    
that any complete description of human  
life as we know it1 must find room for  
the spiritual factor1 and for that      
religious life and temper in which it   
finds expression4 ,this place must be   
found1 not merely in the phenomenal     
series1 as we might find room for any   
special human activity or aberration1   
from the medicine-man to the ,jumping   
,perfectionists2 but deep-set in the    
enduring stuff of man's true life4 ,we  
must believe that the union of this life
 with supporting ,spirit cannot in fact 
be broken1 any more than the organic    
unity of the earth with the universe as 
a whole4 ,but the extent in which we    
find and feel it is the measure of the  
fullness of spiritual life that we      
enjoy4 ,organic union must be lifted to 
conscious realization3 and this to do1  
is the business of religion4 ,in this   
act of realization each aspect of the   
psychic life--thought1 will and         
feeling--must have its part1 and from   

each must be evoked a response4 ,only in
 so far as such all-round realization   
and response are achieved by us do we   
live the spiritual life4 ,we do it      
perhaps in some degree1 every time that 
we surrender to pure beauty or unselfish
 devotion2 for then all but the most    
insensitive must be conscious of an     
unearthly touch1 and hear the cadence of
 a heavenly melody4 ,in these partial   
experiences something1 as it were1 of   
the richness of ,reality overflows and  
is experienced by us4 ,but it is in the 
wholeness of response characteristic of 
religion--that uncalculated response to 
stimulus which is the mark of the       
instinctive life--that this ,realty of  
love and power is most truly found and  
felt by us4 ,in this generous and       
heart-searching surrender of religion1  
rightly made1 the self achieves inner   
harmony1 and finds a satisfying         
objective for all its cravings and      
energies4 ,it then finds its life1 and  
the possibilities before it1 to be far  

greater than it knew4  ,we need not     
claim that those men and women who have 
most fully realized1 and so at first    
hand have described to us1 this life of 
the ,spirit1 have neither discerned or  
communicated the ultimate truth of      
things2 nor need we claim that the      
symbols they use have intrinsic value1  
beyond the poetic power of suggesting to
 us the quality and wonder of their     
transfigured lives4 ,still less must we 
claim this discovery as the monopoly of 
any one system of religion4 ,but we can 
and ought to claim1 that no system shall
 be held satisfactory which does not    
find a place for it3 and that only in so
 far as we at least apprehend and       
respond to the world's spiritual aspect1
 do we approach the full stature of     
humanity4 ,psychologists at present are 
much concerned to entreat us to face    
reality1 discarding idealism along with 
the other phantasies that haunt the     
race4 ,yet this facing of reality can   
hardly be complete if we do not face the

 facts of the spiritual life4 ,certainly
 we shall find it most difficult to     
interpret these facts2 they are         
confused1 and more than one reading of  
them is possible4 ,but still we cannot  
leave them out and claim to have faced  
reality4  ,hffding goes so far as to say
 that any real religion implies and must
 give us a world-view4#cj ,and ,i think 
it is true that any vividly lived       
spiritual life must1 as soon as it      
passes beyond the level of mere feeling 
and involves reflection1 involve too    
some more or less articulated conception
 of the spiritual universe1 in harmony  
with which that life is to be lived4    
,this may be given to us by authority1  
in the form of creed3 but if we do not  
thus receive it1 we are committed to the
 building of our own ,city of ,god4 ,and
 to-day1 that world-view1 that spiritual
 landscape1 must harmonize--if it is    
needed to help our living--with the     
outlook1 the cosmic map1 of the ordinary
 man4 ,if it be adequate1 it will       

inevitably transcend this2 but must not 
be in hopeless conflict with it4 ,the   
stretched-out1 graded1 striving world of
 biological evolution1 the many-faced   
universe of the physical relativist1 the
 space-time manifold of realist         
philosophy--these great constructions of
 human thought1 so often ignored by the 
religious mind1 must on the contrary be 
grasped1 and accommodated to the        
world-view which centres on the ,god    
known in religious experience4 ,they are
 true within their own systems of       
reference2 and the soul demands a       
synthesis wide enough to contain them4  
,it is true that most religious systems1
 at least of the traditional type1 do   
purport to give us a world-view1 a      
universe1 in which devotional experience
 is at home and finds an objective and  
an explanation4 ,they give us a         
self-consistent symbolic world in which 
to live4 ,but it is a world which is    
almost unrelated to the universe of     
modern physics1 and emerges in a very   

dishevelled state from the explorations 
of history and of psychology4 ,even     
contrasted with our every-day unresting 
strenuous life1 it is rather like a     
conservatory in a wilderness4 ,whilst we
 are inside everything seems all right4 
,beauty and fragrance surround us4 ,but 
emerging from its doors1 we find        
ourselves meeting the cold glances of   
those who deal in other kinds of        
reality2 and discover that such         
spiritual life as we possess has got to 
accommodate itself to the conditions in 
which they live4 ,if the claim of       
religion be true at all1 it is plain    
that the conservatory-type of spiritual 
world is inconsistent with it4          
,imperfect though any conception we     
frame of the universe must be--and here 
we may keep in mind ,samuel ,butler's   
warning that there is no such source of 
error as the pursuit of absolute        
truth--still1 a view which is controlled
 by the religious factor ought to be1 so
 to speak1 a hill-top view4 ,lifting us 

up to higher levels1 it ought to give us
 a larger synthesis4 ,hence1 the wider  
the span of experience which we are able
 to bring within our system1 the more   
valid its claim becomes3 and the setting
 apart of spiritual experience in a     
special compartment1 the keeping of it  
under glass1 is daily becoming less     
possible4 ,that experience is life in   
its fullness1 or nothing at all4        
,therefore it must come out into the    
open1 and must witness to its own most  
sacred conviction2 that the universe as 
a whole is a religious fact1 and man is 
not living completely until he is living
 in a world religiously conceived4      
,more and more1 as it seems to me1      
philosophy moves toward this reading of 
existence4 ,the revolt from the last    
century's materialism is almost         
complete4 ,in religious language1       
abstract thought is again finding and   
feeling ,god within the world2 and      
finding too in this discovery and       
realization the meaning1 and perhaps--if

 we may dare to use such a word--the    
purpose of life4 ,it suggests--and here1
 more and more1 psychology supports     
it--that1 real and alive as we are in   
relation to this system with which we   
find ourselves in correspondence1 yet we
 are not so real1 nor so alive1 as it is
 possible to be4 ,the characters of our 
psychic life point us on and up to other
 levels4 ,already we perceive that man's
 universe is no fixed order2 and that   
the many ways in which he is able to    
apprehend it are earnests of a greater  
transfiguration1 a more profound contact
 with reality yet possible to him4      
,higher forms of realization1 a wider   
span of experience1 a sharpening of our 
vague1 uncertain consciousness of       
value--these may well be before us4 ,we 
have to remember how dim1 tentative1    
half-understood a great deal of our     
so-called normal experience is3 how     
narrow the little field of              
consciousness1 how small the number of  
impressions it picks up from the rich   

flux of existence1 how subjective the   
picture it constructs from them4 ,to    
take only one obvious example1 artists  
and poets have given us plenty of hints 
that a real beauty and significance     
which we seldom notice lie at our very  
doors2 and forbid us to contradict the  
statement of religion that ,god is      
standing there too4  ,that thought which
 inspires the last chapters of          
,professor ',alexander's ,space1 ,time1 
and ,deity1 that the universe as a whole
 has a tendency towards deity1 does at  
least seem true of the fully awakened   
human consciousness4#ca ,though ,st4    
,thomas ,aquinas may not have covered   
all the facts when he called man a      
contemplative animal1#cb he came nearer 
the mark than more modern               
anthropologists4 ,man has an            
ineradicable impulse to transcendence1  
though sometimes--as we may admit--it is
 expressed in strange ways3 and no      
psychology which fails to take account  
of it can be accepted by us as complete4

 ,he has a craving which nothing in his 
material surroundings seems adequate    
either to awaken or to satisfy2 a deep  
conviction that some larger synthesis of
 experience is possible to him4 ,the    
sense that we are not yet full grown has
 always haunted the race4 ,i am the     
,food of the full-grown4 ,grow1 and thou
 shalt feed on ,me6#cc said the voice of
 supreme ,reality to ,st4 ,augustine4   
,here we seem to lay our finger on the  
distinguishing mark of humanity3 that in
 man the titanic craving for a fuller   
life and love which is characteristic of
 all living things1 has a teleological  
objective4 ,he alone guesses that he may
 or should be something other2 yet      
cannot guess what he may be4 ,and from  
this vague sense of being in via1 the   
restlessness and discord of his nature  
proceed4 ,in him1 the onward thrust of  
the world of becoming achieves          
self-consciousness4  ,the best          
individuals and communities of each age 
have felt this craving and conviction2  

and obeyed1 in a greater or less degree1
 its persistent onward push4 ,the seed  
of the new birth1 says ,william ,law1 is
 not a notion1 but a real strong        
essential hunger1 an attracting1 a      
magnetic desire4#cd ,over and over      
again1 rituals have dramatized this1    
desire and saints have surrendered to   
it4 ,the history of religion and        
philosophy is really the history of the 
profound human belief that we have      
faculties capable of responding to      
orders of truth which1 did we apprehend 
them1 would change the whole character  
of our universe2 showing us reality from
 another angle1 lit by another light4   
,and time after time too--as we shall   
see1 when we come to consider the       
testimony of history--favourable        
variations have arisen within the race  
and proved in their own persons that    
this claim is true4 ,often at the cost  
of great pain1 sacrifice1 and inward    
conflict they have broken their         
attachments to the narrow world of the  

senses3 and this act of detachment has  
been repaid by a new1 more lucid vision1
 and a mighty inflow of power4 ,the     
principle of degrees assures us that    
such changed levels of consciousness and
 angles of approach may well involve    
introduction into a universe of new     
relations1 which we are not competent to
 criticize4#ce ,this is a truth which   
should make us humble in our efforts to 
understand the difficult and too often  
paradoxical utterances of religious     
genius4 ,it suggests the puzzlings of   
philosophers and theologians--and1 ,i   
may add1 of psychologists too--over     
experiences which they have not shared1 
are not of great authority for those    
whose object is to find the secret of   
the ,spirit1 and make it useful for     
life4 ,here1 the only witnesses we can  
receive are1 on the one part1 the       
first-hand witnesses of experience1 and 
on the other part1 our own profound     
instinct that these are telling us news 
of our native land4  ,baron von ,hgel   

has finely said1 that the facts of this 
spiritual life are themselves the       
earnests of its objective4 ,these facts 
cannot be explained merely as man's     
share in the cosmic movement towards a  
yet unrealized perfection2 such as the  
unachieved and self-evolving ,divinity  
of some realist philosophers4 ,for we   
have no other instance of an unrealized 
perfection producing such pain and joy1 
such volitions1 such endlessly varied   
and real results2 and all by means of   
just this vivid and persistent          
impression that this ,becoming is an    
already realized ,perfection4#cf        
,therefore though the irresistible urge 
and the effort forward1 experienced on  
highest levels of love and service1 are 
plainly one-half of the life of the     
,spirit--which can never be consistent  
with a pious indolence1 an acceptance of
 things as they are1 either in the      
social or the individual life--yet1 the 
other half1 and the very inspiration of 
that striving1 is this certitude of an  

untarnishable ,perfection1 a great goal 
really there2 a living ,god ,who draws  
all spirits to ,himself4 ,our quest1    
said ,plotinus1 is of an ,end1 not of   
ends3 for that only can be chosen by us 
which is ultimate and noblest1 that     
which calls forth the tenderest longings
 of our soul4#cg  ,there is of course a 
sense in which such a life of the       
,spirit is the same yesterday1 to-day   
and for ever4 ,even if we consider it in
 relation to historical time1 the span  
within which it has appeared is so      
short1 compared with the ages of human  
evolution1 that we may as well regard it
 as still in the stage of               
undifferentiated infancy4 ,yet even     
babies change1 and change quickly1 in   
their relations with the external world4
 ,and though the universe with which    
man's childish spirit is in contact be a
 world of enduring values2 yet1 placed  
as we are in the stream of succession1  
part of the stuff of a changing world   
and linked at every point with it1 our  

apprehensions of this life of spirit1   
the symbols we use to describe it--and  
we must use symbols--must inevitably    
change too4 ,therefore from time to time
 some restatement becomes imperative1 if
 actuality is not to be lost4 ,whatever 
,god meant man to do or to be1 the whole
 universe assures us that ,he did not   
mean him to stand still4 ,such a        
restatement1 then1 may reasonably be    
called a truly religious work2 and ,i   
believe that it is indeed one of the    
chief works to which religion must find 
itself committed in the near future4    
,hence my main object ,in this book is  
to recommend the consideration of this  
enduring fact of the life of the ,spirit
 and what it can mean to us1 from       
various points of view2 thus helping to 
prepare the ground for that synthesis   
which we may not yet be able to achieve1
 but towards which we ought to look4 ,it
 is from this stand-point1 and with this
 object of examining what we have1 of   
sorting out if we can the permanent from

 the transitory1 of noticing lacks and  
bridging cleavages1 that we shall       
consider in turn the testimony of       
history1 the position in respect of     
psychology1 and the institutional       
personal and social aspects of the      
spiritual life4  ,in such a restatement1
 such a reference back to actual man1   
here at the present day as we have      
him--such a demand for a spiritual      
interpretation of the universe1 which   
will allow us to fit in all his         
many-levelled experiences--,i believe we
 have the way of approach to which      
religion to-day must look as its best   
hope4 ,thus only can we conquer that    
museum-like atmosphere of much          
traditional piety which--agreeable as it
 may be to the historic or sthetic      
sense--makes it so unreal to our        
workers1 no less than to our students4  
,such a method1 too1 will mean the      
tightening of that alliance between     
philosophy and psychology which is      
already a marked character of           

contemporary thought4  ,and note that1  
working on this basis1 we need not in   
order to find room for the facts commit 
ourselves to the harsh dualism1 the     
opposition between nature and spirit1   
which is characteristic of some earlier 
forms of ,christian thought4 ,in this   
dualism1 too1 we find simply an effort  
to describe felt experience4 ,it is an  
expression of the fact1 so strongly and 
deeply felt by the richest natures1 that
 there is an utter difference in kind   
between the natural life of use and     
wont1 as most of us live it1 and the    
life that is dominated by the spiritual 
consciousness4 ,the change is indeed so 
great1 the transfiguration so complete1 
that they seize on the strongest        
language in which to state it4 ,and in  
the good old human way1 referring their 
own feelings to the universe1 they speak
 of the opposing and incompatible worlds
 of matter and of spirit1 of nature and 
of grace4 ,but those who have most      
deeply reflected1 have perceived that   

the change effected is not a change of  
worlds4 ,it is rather such a change of  
temper and attitude as will disclose    
within our one world1 here and now1 the 
one ,spirit in the diversity of ,his    
gifts2 the one ,love1 in homeliest      
incidents as well as noblest vision1    
laying its obligations on the soul2 and 
so the true nature and full             
possibilities of this our present life4 
,although it is true that we must       
register our profound sense of the      
transcendental character of this        
spirit-life1 its otherness from mere    
nature1 and the humility and penitence  
in which alone mere nature receive it2  
yet ,i think that our movement from one 
to the other is more naturally described
 by us in the language of growth than in
 the language of convulsion4 ,the primal
 object of religion is to disclose to us
 this perdurable basis of life1 and     
foster our growth into communion with   
it4 ,and whatever its special1 language 
and personal colour be--for all our news

 of ,god comes to us through the        
consciousness of individual men1 and    
arrives tinctured by their feelings and 
beliefs--in the end it does this by     
disclosing us to ourselves as spirits   
growing up1 though unevenly and hampered
 by our past1 through the physical order
 into completeness of response to a     
universe that is itself a spiritual     
fact4 ,heaven1 said ,jacob ,boehme1 is  
nothing else but a manifestation of the 
,eternal ,one1 wherein all worketh and  
willeth in quiet love4#ch ,such a       
manifestation of ,spirit must clearly be
 made through humanity1 at least so far 
as our own order is concerned3 by our   
redirection and full use of that spirit 
of life which energizes us1 and which1  
emerging from the more primitive levels 
of organic creation1 is ours to carry on
 and up--either to new                  
self-satisfactions1 or to new           
consecrations4  ,it is hardly worth     
while to insist that the need for such a
 redirection has never been more        

strongly felt than at the present day4  
,there is indeed no period in which     
history exhibits mankind as at once more
 active1 more feverishly self-conscious1
 and more distracted1 than is our own   
bewildered generation2 nor any which    
stood in greater need of ,blake's       
exhortation3 ,let every ,christian as   
much as in him lies1 engage himself     
openly and publicly before all the      
,world in some ,mental pursuit for the  
,building up of ,jerusalem4#ci  ,how    
many people do each of us know who work 
and will in quiet love1 and thus        
participate in eternal life8  ,consider 
the weight of each of these words4 ,the 
energy1 the clear purpose1 the deep     
calm1 the warm charity they imply4      
,willed work2 not grudging toil4 ,quiet 
love1 not feverish emotionalism4 ,each  
term is quite plain and human1 and each 
has equal importance as an attribute of 
heavenly life4 ,how many                
politicians--the people to whom we have 
confided the control of our national    

existence--work and will in quiet love8 
,what about industry8 ,do the masters1  
or the workers1 work and will in quiet  
love8 that is to say with diligence and 
faithful purpose1 without selfish       
anxiety1 without selfish demands and    
hostilities8 ,what about the hurried1   
ugly and devitalizing existence of our  
big towns8 ,can we honestly say that    
young people reared in them are likely  
to acquire this temper of heaven8 ,yet  
we have been given the secret1 the law  
of spiritual life2 and psychologists    
would agree that it represents too the  
most favourable of conditions for a full
 psychic life1 the state in which we    
have access to all our sources of power4
  ,but man will not achieve this state  
unless he dwells on the idea of it2 and1
 dwelling on that idea1 opening his mind
 to its suggestions1 brings its modes of
 expression into harmony with his       
thought about the world of daily life4  
,our spiritual life to-day1 such as it  
is1 tends above all to express itself in

 social activities4 ,teacher after      
teacher comes forward to plume himself  
on the fact that ,christianity is now   
taking a social form2 that love of our  
neighbour is not so much the corollary  
as the equivalent of the love of ,god1  
and so forth4 ,here ,i am sure that all 
can supply themselves with illustrative 
quotations4 ,yet is there in this state 
of things nothing but food for          
congratulation8 ,is such a view         
complete8 ,is nothing left out8 ,have we
 not lost the wonder and poetry of the  
forest in our diligent cultivation of   
the economically valuable trees2 and    
shall we ever see life truly until we   
see it with the poet's eyes8 ,there is  
so much meritorious working and willing2
 and so little time left for quiet love4
 ,a spiritual fussiness--often a        
material fussiness too--seems to be     
taking the place of that inward resort  
to the fontal sources of our being which
 is the true religious act1 our chance  
of contact with the ,spirit4 ,this      

compensating beat of the fully lived    
human life1 that whole side of existence
 resumed in the word contemplation1 has 
been left out4 ,all the artillery of the
 world1 said ,john ,everard1 were they  
all discharged together at one clap1    
could not more deaf the ears of our     
bodies than the clamourings of desires  
in the soul deaf its ears1 so you see a 
man must go into the silence1 or else he
 cannot hear ,god speak4#dj ,and until  
we remodel our current conception of the
 ,christian life in such a sense as to  
give that silence and its revelation    
their full value1 ,i do not think that  
we can hope to exhibit the triumphing   
power of the ,spirit in human character 
and human society4 ,our whole notion of 
life at present is such as to set up    
resistances to its inflow4 ,yet the     
inner mood1 the consciousness1 which    
makes of the self its channel1 are      
accessible to all1 if we would but      
believe this and act on our belief4     
,worship1 said ,william ,penn1 is the   

supreme act of a man's life4#da ,and    
what is worship but a reach-out of the  
finite spirit towards ,infinite ,life8  
,here thought must mend the breach which
 thought has made3 for the root of our  
trouble consists in the fact that there 
is a fracture in our conception of ,god 
and of our relation with ,him4 ,we do   
not perceive the hidden unity in the    
,eternal ,being2 the single nature and  
purpose of that ,spirit which brought   
life forth1 and shall lead it to full   
realization4  ,here is our little       
planet1 chiefly occupied1 to our view1  
in rushing round the sun2 but perhaps   
found from another angle to fill quite  
another part in the cosmic scheme4 ,and 
on this apparently unimportant speck1   
wandering among systems of suns1 the    
appearance of life and its slow         
development and ever-increasing         
sensitization2 the emerging of pain and 
of pleasure2 and presently man with his 
growing capacity for self-affirmation   
and self-sacrifice1 for rapture and for 

grief4 ,love with its unearthly         
happiness1 unmeasured devotion1 and     
limitless pain2 all the ecstasy1 all the
 anguish that we extract from the rhythm
 of life and death4 ,it is much1 really1
 for one little planet to bring to      
birth4 ,and presently another music1    
which some--not many perhaps yet1 in    
comparison with its population--are able
 to hear4 ,the music of a more inward   
life1 a sort of fugue in which the      
eternal and temporal are mingled2 and   
here and there some1 already1 who       
respond to it4 ,those who hear it would 
not all agree as to the nature of the   
melody2 but all would agree that it is  
something different in kind from the    
rhythm of life and death4 ,and in their 
surrender to this--to which1 as they    
feel sure1 the physical order too is    
really keeping time--they taste a larger
 life2 more universal1 more divine4 ,as 
,plotinus said1 they are looking at the 
,conductor in the midst2 and1 keeping   
time with ,him1 find the fulfilment both

 of their striving and of their peace4  
,,footnotes3  ,footnote #a3 ,von ,hgel3 
,essays and ,addresses on the           
,philosophy of ,religion1 p4 #fj4       
,footnote #b3 ,ennead ,i1 #f4 #g4       
,footnote #c3 ,jacob ,boehme3 ,the ,way 
to ,christ1 ,pt4 ,,iv4  ,footnote #d3   
,op4 cit41 loc4 cit4  ,footnote #e3 ,one
 ,hundred ,poems of ,kabir1 p4 #ca4     
,footnote #f3 ,bernard ,bosanquet3 ,what
 ,religion ,is p4 #cb4  ,footnote #g3   
,aug43 ,conf4 ,,vii1 #bg4  ,footnote #h3
 ,my vision1 becoming more purified1    
entered deeper and deeper into the ray  
of that ,supernal ,light1 which in      
itself is true--,par4 ,,xxxiii1 #eb4    
,footnote #i3 ,the ,tragic ,sense of    
,life ,in ,men and ,peoples1 p4 #aid4   
,footnote #aj3 ,t4 ,upton3 ,the ,bases  
of ,religious ,belief1 p4 #cfc4         
,footnote #aa3 ,blake3 ,jerusalem1 ,cap4
 i4  ,footnote #ab3 ,nicholson3 ,the    
,divni ,shamsi ,tabriz1 p4 #ada4        
,footnote #ac3 ,ennead ,v4 i4 #c4       
,footnote #ad3 ,kabir1 op4 cit41 p4 #da4

  ,footnote #ae3 ,love1 whoso loves thee
 cannot idle be1 so sweet to him to     
taste thee2 but every hour he lives in  
longing that he may love thee more      
straitly4 ,for in thee the heart so     
joyful dwells1 that he who feels it not 
can never say how sweet it is to taste  
thy savour--,jacopone da ,todi3 ,lauda  
#aja4  ,footnote #af3 ,isaiah xl1       
#bi-ca4  ,footnote #ag3 ,aug43 ,conf4   
,x1 #bh4  ,footnote #ah3 ,autobiography 
of the ,maharishi ,devendranath ,tagore1
 ,cap4 #ab4  ,footnote #ai3 ,le ,journal
 ,spirituel de ,lucie-,christine1 p4 ii4
  ,footnote #bj3 ,autobiography of      
,maharishi ,devendranath ,tagore1 ,cap4 
#bj4  ,footnote #ba3 ,ruysbroeck3 ,the  
,book of the ,,xii ,bguines2 ,cap4 #h4  
,footnote #bb3 ,overton3 ,life of       
,wesley4 ,cap4 #b4  ,footnote #bc3      
,r4,a4 ,nicholson3 ,studies ,in ,islamic
 ,mysticism1 ,cap4 ,i4  ,footnote #bd3  
,donne's ,sermons1 edited by ,l4        
,pearsall ,smith1 p4 #bcf4  ,footnote   
#be3 ,ruysbroeck1 ,the ,sparkling       

,stone1 ,cap4 #ad4  ,footnote #bf3      
,bishr-i-,yasin1 cf4 ,nicholson1 op4    
cit41 loc4 cit4  ,footnote #bg3 ,ennead 
,,vi4 #i4 #d4  ,footnote #bh3           
,revelations of ,divine ,love1 ,cap4    
,,ii4  ,footnote #bi3 ,pratt3 ,the      
,religious ,consciousness1 ,cap4 #b4    
,footnote #cj3 ,hffding3 ,philosophy of 
,religion1 ,pt4 ,,ii1 ,a  ,footnote #ca3
 ,op4 cit41 ,bk4 #d1 ,cap4 #a4          
,footnote #cb3 ,summa contra ,gentiles1 
,l4 ,,iii4 ,cap4 #cg4  ,footnote #cc3   
,aug3 ,conf4 ,,vii1 #aj4  ,footnote #cd3
 ,the ,liberal and ,mystical ,writings  
of ,william ,law1 p4 #aed4  ,footnote   
#ce3 ,cf4 ,haldane1 ,the ,reign of      
,relativity1 ,cap4 ,,vi4  ,footnote #cf3
 ,von ,hgel3 ,eternal ,life1 p4 #che4   
,footnote #cg3 ,ennead ,i4 #d4 #f4      
,footnote #ch3 ,boehme3 ,the ,way to    
,christ1 ,pt4 ,,iv4  ,footnote #ci3     
,blake3 ,jerusalem3 ,to the ,christians4
  ,footnote #dj3 ,some ,gospel          
,treasures ,opened1 p4 #fjj4  ,footnote 
#da3 ,william ,penn1 ,no ,cross1 ,no    

,crown4     ,,chapter ,,ii  ,,history   
,,and ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit  
,we have already agreed that1 if we wish
 to grasp the real character of         
spiritual life1 we must avoid the       
temptation to look at it as merely a    
historical subject4 ,if it is what it   
claims to be1 it is a form of eternal   
life1 as constant1 as accessible to us  
here and now1 as in any so-called age of
 faith3 therefore of actual and present 
importance1 or else nothing at all4     
,this is why ,i think that the approach 
to it through philosophy and psychology 
is so much to be preferred to the       
approach through pure history4 ,yet     
there is a sense in which we must not   
neglect such history2 for here1 if we   
try to enter by sympathy into the past1 
we can see the life of the ,spirit      
emerging and being lived in all degrees 
of perfection and under many different  
forms4 ,here1 through and behind the    
immense diversity of temperaments which 
it has transfigured1 we can best realise

 its uniform and enduring character2 and
 therefore our own possibility of       
attaining to it1 and the way that we    
must tread so to do4 ,history does not  
exhort us or explain to us1 but exhibits
 living specimens to us2 and these      
specimens witness again and again to the
 fact that a compelling power does exist
 in the world--little understood1 even  
by those who are inspired by it--which  
presses men to transcend their material 
limitations and mental conflicts1 and   
live a new creative life of harmony1    
freedom and joy4 ,directly human        
character emerges as one of man's prime 
interests1 this possibility emerges too1
 and is never lost sight of again4      
,hindu1 ,buddhist1 ,egyptian1 ,greek1   
,alexandrian1 ,moslem and ,christian all
 declare with more or less completeness 
a way of life1 a path1 a curve of       
development which shall end in its      
attainment2 and history brings us face  
to face with the real and human men and 
women who have followed this way1 and   

found its promise to be true4  ,it is1  
indeed1 of supreme importance to us that
 these men and women did truly and      
actually thus grow1 suffer and attain3  
did so feel the pressure of a more      
intense life1 and the demand of a more  
authentic love4 ,their adventures1      
whatsoever addition legend may have made
 to them1 belong at bottom to the realm 
of fact1 of realistic happening1 not of 
phantasy3 and therefore speak not merely
 to our imagination but to our will4    
,unless the spiritual life were thus a  
part of history1 it could only have for 
us the interest of a noble dream3 an    
interest actually less than that of     
great poetry1 for this has at least been
 given to us by man's hard passionate   
work of expressing in concrete          
image--and ever the more concrete1 the  
greater his art--the results of his     
transcendental contacts with ,beauty1   
,power or ,love4 ,thus1 as the          
tracking-out of a concrete life1 a ,man1
 from ,nazareth to ,calvary1 made of    

,christianity a veritable human         
revelation of ,god and not a ,gnostic   
answer to the riddle of the soul2 so the
 real and solid men and women of the    
,spirit--eating1 drinking1 working1     
suffering1 loving1 each in the          
circumstances of their own time--are the
 earnests of our own latent destiny and 
powers1 the ability of the ,christian to
 grow taller in ,christ4#db ,these      
powers--that ability--are factually     
present in the race1 and are totally    
independent of the specific religious   
system which may best awaken1 nourish1  
and cause them to grow4  ,in order1     
then1 that we may be from the first     
clear of all suspicion of vague         
romancing about indefinite types of     
perfection and keep tight hold on       
concrete life1 let us try to re-enter   
history1 and look at the quality of life
 exhibited by some of these great       
examples of dynamic spirituality1 and   
the movements which they initiated4 ,it 
is true that we can only select from    

among them1 but we will try to keep to  
those who have followed on highest      
levels a normal course2 the upstanding  
types1 varying much in temperament but  
little in aim and achievement1 of that  
form of life which is re-made and       
controlled by the ,spirit1 entinctured  
with ,eternal ,life4 ,if such a use of  
history is indeed to be educative for   
us1 we must avoid the conventional view 
of it1 as a mere chronicle of past      
events2 and of historic personalities as
 stuffed specimens exhibited against a  
flat tapestried background1 more or less
 picturesque1 but always thought of in  
opposition to the concrete thickness of 
the modern world4 ,we are not to think  
of spiritual epochs now closed2 of ages 
of faith utterly separated from us2 of  
saints as some peculiar species1 ,god's 
pet animals1 living in an incense-laden 
atmosphere and less vividly human and   
various than ourselves4 ,such           
conceptions are empty of historical     
content in the philosophic sense2 and   

when we are dealing with the accredited 
heroes of the ,spirit--that is to say1  
with the ,saints--they are particularly 
common and particularly poisonous4 ,as  
,benedetto ,croce has observed1 the very
 condition of the existence of real     
history is that the deed celebrated must
 live and be present in the soul of the 
historian2 must be emotionally realized 
by him now1 as a concrete fact weighted 
with significance4 ,it must answer to a 
present1 not to a past interest of the  
race1 for thus alone can it convey to us
 some knowledge of its inward truth4    
,consider from this point of view the   
case of ,richard ,rolle1 who has been   
called the father of ,english mysticism4
 ,it is easy enough for those who regard
 spiritual history as dead chronicle and
 its subjects as something different    
from ourselves1 to look upon ,rolle's   
threefold experience of the soul's      
reaction to ,god--the heat of his quick 
love1 the sweetness of his spiritual    
intercourse1 the joyous melody with     

which it filled his austere1 self-giving
 life#dc--;as the probable result of the
 reaction of a neurotic temperament to  
medival traditions4 ,but if1 for        
instance the ,oxford undergraduate of   
to-day realizes ,rolle1 not as a        
picturesque fourteenth-century hermit1  
but as a fellow-student--another ,oxford
 undergraduate1 separated from him only 
by an interval of time--who gave up that
 university and the career it could     
offer him1 under the compulsion of      
another ,wisdom and another ,love1 then 
he re-enters the living past4 ,if1      
standing by him in that small hut in the
 ,yorkshire wolds1 from which the urgent
 message of new life spread through the 
north of ,england1 he hears ,rolle      
saying ,nought more profitable1 nought  
merrier than grace of contemplation1 the
 which lifteth us from low things and   
presenteth us to ,god4 ,what thing is   
grace but beginning of joy8 ,and what is
 perfection of joy but grace            
complete8#dd--;if1 ,i say1 he so        

re-enters history that he can hear this 
as ,rolle meant it1 not as a poetic     
phrase but as a living fact1 indeed     
life's very secret--then1 his heart may 
be touched and he may begin to          
understand4 ,and then it may occur to   
him that this ardour1 and the sacrifice 
it impelled1 the hard life which it     
supported1 witness to another level of  
being2 reprove his own languor and      
comfort1 his contentment with a merely  
physical mental life1 and are not wholly
 to be accounted for in terms of        
superstition or of pathology4  ,when the
 living spirit in us thus meets the     
living spirit of the past1 our time-span
 is enlarged1 and history is born and   
becomes contemporary2 thus both widening
 and deepening our vital experience4 ,it
 then becomes not only a real mode of   
life to us2 but more than this1 a mode  
of social life4 ,indeed1 we can hardly  
hope without this re-entrance into the  
time stream to achieve by ourselves1 and
 in defiance of tradition1 a true       

integration of existence4 ,thus to defy 
tradition is to refuse all the gifts the
 past can make to us1 and cut ourselves 
off from the cumulative experiences of  
the race4 ,the ,spirit1 as ,croce#de    
reminds us1 is history1 makes history1  
and is also itself the living result of 
all preceding history2 since ,becoming  
is the essential reality1 the creative  
formula1 of that life in which we find  
ourselves immersed4  ,it is from such an
 angle as this that ,i wish to approach 
the historical aspect of the life of    
,spirit2 re-entering the past by        
sympathetic imagination1 refusing to be 
misled by superficial characteristics1  
but seeking the concrete factors of the 
regenerate life1 the features which     
persist and have significance for       
it--getting1 if we can1 face to face    
with those intensely living men and     
women who have manifested it4 ,this is  
not easy4 ,in studying all such         
experience1 we have to remember that the
 men and women of the ,spirit are       

members of two orders4 ,they have       
attachments both to time and to         
eternity4 ,their characteristic         
experiences indeed are non-temporal1 but
 their feet are on the earth2 the earth 
of their own day4 ,therefore two factors
 will inevitably appear in those        
experiences1 one due to tradition1 the  
other to the free movements of creative 
life3 and we1 if we would understand1   
must discriminate between them4 ,in this
 power of taking from the past and      
pushing on to the future1 the balance   
maintained between stability and        
novelty1 we find one of their abiding   
characteristics4 ,when this balance is  
broken--when there is either too        
complete a submission to tradition and  
authority1 or too violent a rejection of
 it--full greatness is not achieved4    
,in complete lives1 the two things      
overlap3 and so perfectly that no sharp 
distinction is made between the gifts of
 authority and of fresh experience4     
,traditional formul1 as we all know1 are

 often used because they are found to   
tally with life1 to light up dark       
corners of our own spirits and give     
names to experiences which we want to   
define4 ,ceremonial deeds are used to   
actualize free contacts with ,reality4  
,and we need not be surprised that they 
can do this2 since tradition represents 
the crystallization1 and handling on    
under symbols1 of all the spiritual     
experiences of the race4  ,therefore the
 man or woman of the ,spirit will always
 accept and use some tradition2 and     
unless he does so1 he is not of much use
 to his fellow-men4 ,he must not1 then1 
be discredited on account of the        
symbolic system he adopts2 but must be  
allowed to tell his news in his own way4
 ,we must not refuse to find reality    
within the ,hindu's account of his      
joyous life-giving communion with ,ram1 
any more than we refuse to find it      
within the ,christian's description of  
his personal converse with ,christ4 ,we 
must not discredit the assurance which  

comes to the devout ,buddhist who       
faithfully follows the ,middle ,way1 or 
deny that ,pagan sacramentalism was to  
its initiates a channel of grace4 ,for  
all these are children of tradition1    
occupy a given place in the stream of   
history2 and commonly they are better1  
not worse1 for accepting this fact with 
all that it involves4 ,and on the other 
hand1 as we shall see when we come to   
discuss the laws of suggestion and the  
function of belief1 the weight of       
tradition presses the loyal and humble  
soul which accepts it1 to such an       
interpretation of its own spiritual     
intuitions as its ,church1 its creed1   
its environment give to it4 ,thus ,st4  
,catherine of ,genoa1 ,st4 ,teresa1 even
 ,ruysbroeck1 are able to describe their
 intuitive communion with ,god in       
strictly ,catholic terms2 and by so     
doing renew1 enrich and explicate the   
content of those terms for those who    
follow them4 ,those who could not       
harmonize their own vision of reality   

with the current formul--,fox1 ,wesley  
or ,blake1 driven into opposition by the
 sterility of the contemporary          
,church--were forced to find elsewhere  
some tradition through which to maintain
 contact with the past4 ,fox found it in
 the ,bible2 ,wesley in patristic       
,christianity4 ,even ,blake's prophetic 
system1 when closely examined1 is found 
to have many historic and ,christian    
connections4 ,and all these regarded    
themselves far less as bringers-in of   
novelty1 than as restorers of lost      
truth4 ,so we must be prepared to       
discriminate the element of novelty from
 the element of stability2 the reality  
of the intuition1 the curve of growth1  
the moral situation1 from the           
traditional and often symbolic language 
in which it is given to us4 ,the        
comparative method helps us towards     
this2 and is thus not1 as some would    
pretend1 the servant of scepticism1 but 
rightly used the revealer of the ,spirit
 of ,life in its variety of gifts4 ,in  

this connection we might remember that  
time--like space--is only of secondary  
importance to us4 ,compared with the    
eons of preparation1 the millions of    
years of our animal and sub-human       
existence1 the life of the ,spirit as it
 appears in human history might well be 
regarded as simultaneous rather than    
successive4 ,we may borrow the imagery  
of ,donne's great discourse on ,eternity
 and say1 that those heroic livers of   
the spiritual life whom we idly class in
 comparison with ourselves as antique1  
or medival men1 were but as a bed of    
flowers some gathered at six1 some at   
seven1 some at eight--all in one morning
 in respect of this day4#df  ,such a    
view brings them more near to us1 helps 
us to neglect mere differences of       
language and appearance1 and grasp the  
warmly living and contemporary character
 of all historic truth4 ,it preserves   
us1 too1 from the common error of       
discriminating between so-called ages of
 faith and our own4 ,the more we study  

the past1 the more clearly we recognize 
that there are no ages of faith4 ,such  
labels merely represent the arbitrary   
cuts which we make in the time-stream1  
the arbitrary colours which we give to  
it4 ,the spiritual man or woman is      
always fundamentally the same kind of   
man or woman2 always reaching out with  
the same faith and love towards the     
heart of the same universe1 though      
telling that faith and love in various  
tongues4 ,he is far less the child of   
his time1 than the transformer of it4   
,his this-world business is to bring in 
novelty1 new reality1 fresh life4 ,yet1 
coming to fulfil not to destroy1 he uses
 for this purpose the traditions1       
creeds1 even the institutions of his    
day4 ,but when he has done with them1   
they do not look the same as they did   
before4 ,christ himself has been well   
called a ,constructive                  
,revolutionary1#dg yet each single      
element of ,his teaching can be found in
 ,jewish tradition2 and the noblest of  

,his followers have the same character4 
,thus ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi only     
sought consistently to apply the        
teaching of the ,new ,testament1 and    
,st4 ,teresa that of the ,carmelite     
,rule4 ,every element of ,wesleyanism is
 to be found in primitive ,christianity2
 and ,wesleyanism is itself the         
tradition from which the new vigour of  
the ,salvation ,army sprang4 ,the great 
regenerators of history are always in   
fundamental opposition to the common    
life of their day1 for they demand by   
their very existence a return to first  
principles1 a revolution in the ways of 
thinking and of acting common among men1
 a heroic consistency and               
single-mindedness3 but they can use for 
their own fresh constructions and       
contacts with ,eternal ,life the        
material which this life offers to them4
 ,the experiments of ,st4 ,benedict1    
,st4 ,francis1 ,fox or ,wesley1 were not
 therefore the natural products of ages 
of faith4 ,they each represented the    

revolt of a heroic soul against         
surrounding apathy and decadence2 an    
invasion of novelty2 a sharp break with 
society1 a new use of antique tradition 
depending on new contacts with the      
,spirit4 ,greatness is seldom in harmony
 with its own epoch1 and spiritual      
greatness least of all4 ,it is usually  
startlingly modern1 even eccentric at   
the time at which it appears4 ,we are   
accustomed to think of ,the ,imitation  
of ,christ as the classic expression of 
medival spirituality4 ,but when ,thomas 
,kempis wrote his book1 it was the      
manifesto of that which was called the  
,modern ,devotion2 and represented a new
 attempt to live the life of the        
,spirit1 in opposition to surrounding   
apathy4  ,when we re-enter the past1    
what we find1 there is the persistent   
conflict between this novelty and this  
apathy2 that is to say between man's    
instinct for transcendence1 in which we 
discern the pressure of the ,spirit and 
the earnest of his future1 and his      

tendency to lag behind towards animal   
levels1 in which we see the influence of
 his racial past4 ,so far as the        
individual is concerned1 all that       
religion means by grace is resumed under
 the first head1 much that it means by  
sin under the second head4 ,and the most
 striking--though not the only--examples
 of the forward reach of life towards   
freedom 7that is1 of conquering grace7  
are those persons whom we call men and  
women of the ,spirit4 ,in them it is    
incarnate1 and through them1 as it were1
 it spreads and gives the race a lift3  
for their transfiguration is never for  
themselves alone1 they impart it to all 
who follow them4 ,but the downward      
falling movement ever dogs the emerging 
life of spirit2 and tends to drag back  
to the average level the group these    
have vivified1 when their influence is  
withdrawn4 ,hence the history of the    
,spirit--and1 incidentally1 the history 
of all churches--exhibits to us a series
 of strong movements towards completed  

life1 inspired by vigorous and          
transcendent personalities2 thwarted by 
the common indolence and tendency to    
mechanization1 but perpetually renewed4 
,we have no reason to suppose that this 
history is a closed book1 or that the   
spiritual life struggling to emerge     
among ourselves will follow other laws4 
,we desire then1 if we can1 to discover 
what it was that these transcendent     
personalities possessed4 ,we may think1 
from the point at which we now stand1   
that they had some things which were    
false1 or1 at least1 were misinterpreted
 by them4 ,we cannot without insincerity
 make their view of the universe our    
own4 ,but1 plainly1 they also possessed 
truths and values which most of us have 
not3 they obtained from their religion1 
whether we allow that it had as creed an
 absolute or a symbolic value1 a power  
of living1 a courage and clear vision1  
which we do not as a rule obtain4 ,when 
we study the character and works of     
these men and women1 observing their    

nobility1 their sweetness1 their power  
of endurance1 their outflowing love1 we 
must1 unless we be utterly insensitive1 
perceive ourselves to be confronted by a
 quality of being which we do not       
possess4 ,and when we are so fortunate  
as to meet one of them in the flesh1    
though his conduct is commonly more     
normal than our own1 we know then with  
,plotinus that the soul has another     
life4 ,yet many of us accept the same   
creedal forms1 use the same liturgies1  
acknowledge the same scale of values and
 same moral law4 ,but as something1     
beyond what the ordinary man calls      
beauty rushes out to the great artist   
from the visible world1 and he at this  
encounter becomes more vividly alive2 so
 for these there was and is in religion 
a new1 intenser life which they can     
reach4 ,they seem to represent          
favourable variations1 genuine movements
 of man towards new levels2 a type of   
life and of greatness1 which remains    
among the hoarded possibilities of the  

race4  ,now the main questions which we 
have to ask of history fall into two    
groups3  ,first1 ,type4 ,what are the   
characters which mark this life of the  
,spirit8  ,secondly1 ,process4 ,what is 
the line of development by which the    
individual comes to acquire and exhibit 
these characters8  ,first1 then1 the    
,spiritual ,type4  ,what we see above   
all in these men and women1 so          
frequently repeated that we may regard  
it as classic1 is a perpetual serious   
heroic effort to integrate life about   
its highest factors4 ,their central     
quality and real source of power is this
 single-mindedness4 ,they aim at ,god3  
the phrase is ,ruysbroeck's1 but it     
pervades the real literature of the     
,spirit4 ,thus it is the first principle
 of ,hinduism that the householder must 
keep touch with ,brahma in all his      
actions4#dh ,thus the ,sufi says he has 
but two laws--to look in one direction  
and to live in one way4#di ,christians  
call this1 and with reason1 the         

,imitation of ,christ2 and it was in    
order to carry forward this imitation   
more perfectly that all the great       
,christian systems of spiritual training
 were framed4 ,the ,new ,testament      
leaves us in no doubt that the central  
fact of ,our ,lord's life was ,his      
abiding sense of direct connection with 
and responsibility to the ,father2 that 
,his teaching and works of charity alike
 were inspired by this union2 and that  
,he declared it1 not as a unique fact1  
but as a possible human ideal4 ,this ,is
 not a theological1 but a historical    
statement1 which applies1 in its degree 
to every man and woman who has been a   
follower of ,christ3 for ,he was1 as    
,st4 ,paul has said1 the eldest in a    
vast family of brothers4 ,the same      
single-minded effort and attainment meet
 us in other great faiths2 though these 
may lack a historic ideal of perfect    
holiness and love4 ,and by a paradox    
repeated again and again in human       
history1 it is this utter devotion to   

the spiritual and eternal which is seen 
to bring forth the most abundant fruits 
in the temporal sphere2 giving not only 
the strength to do difficult things1 but
 that creative charity which wins and   
redeems the unlovely by the power of its
 love4#ej ,the man or woman of prayer1  
the community devoted to it1 tap some   
deep source of power and use it in the  
most practical ways4 ,thus1 the only    
object of the ,benedictine rule was the 
fostering of goodness in those who      
adopted it1 the education of the soul2  
and it became one of the chief          
instruments in the civilization of      
,europe1 carrying forward not only      
religion1 but education1 pure           
scholarship1 art1 and industrial reform4
 ,the object of ,st4 ,bernard's reform  
was the restoration of the life of      
prayer4 ,his monks1 going out into the  
waste places with no provision but their
 own faith1 hope and charity1 revived   
agriculture1 established industry1      
literally compelled the wilderness to   

flower for ,god4 ,the ,brothers of the  
,common ,life joined together1 in order 
that1 living simply and by their own    
industry1 they might observe a rule of  
constant prayer3 and they became in     
consequence a powerful educational      
influence4 ,the object of ,wesley and   
his first companions was by declaration 
the saving of their own souls and the   
living only to the glory of ,god2 but   
they were impelled at once by this to   
practical deeds of mercy1 and ultimately
 became the regenerators of religion in 
the ,english-speaking world4  ,it is    
well to emphasize this truth1 for it    
conveys a lesson which we can learn from
 history at the present time with much  
profit to ourselves4 ,it means that     
reconstruction of character and         
reorientation of attention must precede 
reconstruction of society2 that the     
,sufi is right when he declares that the
 whole secret lies in looking in one    
direction and living in one way4 ,again 
and again it has been proved1 that those

 who aim at ,god do better work than    
those who start with the declared       
intention of benefiting their           
fellow-men4 ,we must be good before we  
can do good2 be real before we can      
accomplish real things4 ,no generalized 
benevolence1 no social ,christianity1   
however beautiful and devoted1 can take 
the place of this centring of the spirit
 on eternal values2 this humble1        
deliberate recourse to ,reality4 ,to    
suppose that it can do so1 is to fly in 
the face of history and mistake effect  
for cause4  ,this brings us to the      
,second ,character3 the rich            
completeness of the spiritual life1 the 
way in which it fuses and transfigures  
the complementary human tendencies to   
contemplation and action1 the           
non-successive and successive aspects of
 reality4 ,the love of ,god1 said       
,ruysbroeck1 is an indrawing and        
outpouring tide2#ea and history endorses
 this4 ,in its greatest representatives1
 the rhythm of adoration and work is    

seen in an accentuated form4 ,these     
people seldom or never answer to the    
popular idea of idle contemplatives4    
,they do not withdraw from the stream of
 natural life and effort1 but plunge    
into it more deeply1 seek its heart4    
,they have powers of expression and     
creation1 and use them to the full4 ,st4
 ,paul1 ,st4 ,benedict1 ,st4 ,bernard1  
,st4 ,francis1 ,st4 ,teresa1 ,st4       
,ignatius organizing families which     
shall incarnate the gift of new life2   
,fox1 ,wesley and ,booth striving to    
save other men2 ,mary ,slessor driven by
 vocation from the ,dundee mill to the  
,african swamps--these are              
characteristic of them4 ,we perceive    
that they are not specialists1 as more  
earthly types of efficiency are apt to  
be4 ,theirs are rich natures1 their     
touch on existence has often an artistic
 quality1 ,st4 ,paul in his             
correspondence could break into poetry1 
as the only way of telling the truth4   
,st4 ,jerome lived to the full the lives

 of scholar and of ascetic4 ,st4        
,francis1 in his perpetual missionary   
activities1 still found time for his    
music songs2 ,st4 ,hildegarde and ,st4  
,catherine of ,siena had their strong   
political interests2 ,jacopone da ,todi 
combined the careers of contemplative   
politician and poet4 ,so too in         
practical matters4 ,st4 ,catherine of   
,genoa was one of the first hospital    
administrators1 ,st4 ,vincent de ,paul a
 genius in the sphere of organized      
charity1 ,elizabeth ,fry in that of     
prison reform4 ,brother ,laurence       
assures us that he did his cooking the  
better for doing it in the ,presence of 
,god4 ,jacob ,boehme was a hard-working 
cobbler1 and afterwards as a writer     
showed amazing powers of composition4   
,the perpetual journeyings and          
activities of ,wesley reproduced in     
smaller compass the career of ,st4      
,paul3 he was also an exact scholar and 
a practical educationist4 ,mary ,slessor
 showed the quality of a ruler as well  

as that of a winner of souls4 ,in the   
intellectual region1 ,richard of ,st4   
,victor was supreme in contemplation1   
and also a psychologist far in advance  
of his time4 ,we are apt to forget the  
mystical side of ,aquinas2 who was poet 
and contemplative as well as scholastic 
philosopher4  ,and the third feature we 
notice about these men and women is1    
that this new power by which they lived 
was1 as ,ruysbroeck calls it1 a         
spreading light4#eb ,it poured out of   
them1 invading and illuminating other   
men3 so that1 through them1 whole groups
 or societies were re-born1 if only for 
a time1 on to fresh levels of reality1  
goodness and power4 ,their own intense  
personal experience was valid not only  
for themselves4 ,they belonged to that  
class of natural1 leaders who are       
capable1--of infecting the herd with    
their own ideals2 leading it to new     
feeding grounds1 improving the common   
level ,it is indeed the main social     
function of the man or woman of the     

,spirit to be such a crowd-compeller ,in
 the highest sense2 and1 as the artist  
reveals new beauty to his fellow-men1 to
 stimulate in their neighbours the      
latent human capacity for ,god4 ,in     
every great surge forward to new life1  
we can trace back the radiance to such a
 single point of light2 the             
transfiguration of an individual soul4  
,thus ,christ's communion with ,his     
,father was the life-centre1 the point  
of contact with ,eternity1 whence       
radiated the joy and power of the       
primitive ,christian flock3 the classic 
example of a corporate spiritual life4  
,when the young man with great          
possessions asked ,jesus1 ,what shall ,i
 do to be saved8 ,jesus replied in      
effect1 ,put aside all lesser interests1
 strip off unrealities1 and come1 give  
yourself the chance of catching the     
,infection of holiness from ,me4        
,whatever be our view of ,christian     
dogma1 whatever meaning we attach to the
 words redemption and atonement1 we     

shall hardly deny that in the life and  
character of the historic ,christ       
something new was thus evoked from1 and 
added to1 humanity4 ,no one can read    
with attention the ,gospel and the story
 of the primitive ,church1 without being
 struck by the consciousness of         
renovation1 of enhancement1 experienced 
by all who received the ,christian      
secret in its charismatic stage4 ,this  
new factor is sometimes called re-birth1
 sometimes grace1 sometimes the power of
 the ,spirit1 sometimes being in        
,christ4 ,we misread history if we      
regard it either as a mere gust of      
emotional fervour1 or a theological     
idea1 or discount the miracles of       
healing and other proofs of enhanced    
power by which it was expressed4        
,everything goes to prove that the more 
abundant life offered by the ,johannine 
,christ to ,his followers1 was literally
 experienced by them2 and was the source
 of their joy1 their enthusiasm1 their  
mutual love and power of endurance4  ,on

 lower levels1 and through the          
inspiration of lesser teachers1 history 
shows us the phenomena of primitive     
,christianity repeated again and again2 
both within and without the ,christian  
circle of ideas4 ,every religion looks  
for1 and most have possessed1 some      
revealer of the ,spirit2 some ,prophet1 
,buddha1 ,mahdi1 or ,messiah4 ,in all1  
the characteristic demonstrations of the
 human power of transcendence--a        
supernatural life which can be lived by 
us--have begun in one person1 who has   
become a creative centre mediating new  
life to his fellow-men3 as were ,buddha 
and ,mohammed for the faiths which they 
founded4 ,such lives as those of ,st4   
,paul1 ,st4 ,benedict1 ,st4 ,francis1   
,fox1 ,wesley1 ,booth are outstanding   
examples of the operation of this law4  
,the parable of the leaven is in fact an
 exact description of the way in which  
the spiritual consciousness--the        
supernatural urge--is observed to spread
 in human society4 ,it is characteristic

 of the regenerate type1 that he should 
as it were overflow his own boundaries  
and energize other souls3 for the gift  
of a real and harmonized life pours out 
inevitably from those who possess it to 
other men4 ,we notice that the great    
mystics recognize again and again such a
 fertilizing and creative power1 as a   
mark of the soul's full vitality4 ,it is
 not the personal rapture of the        
spiritual marriage1 but rather the      
divine fecundity of one who is a parent 
of spiritual children2 which seems to   
them the goal of human transcendence1   
and evidence of a life truly lived on   
eternal levels1 in real union with ,god4
 ,in the fourth and last degree of love 
the soul brings forth its children1 says
 ,richard of ,st4 ,victor4#ec ,the last 
perfection to supervene upon a thing1   
says ,aquinas1 is its becoming the cause
 of other things4#ed ,in a word1 it is  
creative4 ,and the spiritual life as we 
see it in history is thus creative2 the 
cause of other things4  ,history is full

 of examples of this law3 that the man  
or woman of the spirit is1              
fundamentally1 a life-giver2 and all    
corporate achievement of the life of the
 spirit flows from some great apostle or
 initiator1 is the fruit of             
discipleship4 ,such corporate           
achievement is a form of group          
consciousness1 brought into being       
through the power and attraction of a   
fully harmonized life1 infecting others 
with its own sharp sense of ,divine     
reality4 ,poets and artists thus infect 
in a measure all those who yield to     
their influence4 ,the active mystic1 who
 is the poet of ,eternal ,life1 does it 
in a supreme degree4 ,such a relation of
 master and disciples is conspicuous in 
every true spiritual revival2 and is the
 link between the personal and corporate
 aspects of regeneration4 ,we see it in 
the little flock that followed ,christ1 
the ,little ,poor ,men who followed     
,francis1 the ,friends of ,fox1 the army
 of ,general ,booth4 ,not ,christianity 

alone1 but ,hindu and ,moslem history   
testify to this necessity4 ,the ,hindu  
who is drawn to the spiritual life must 
find a guru who can not only teach its  
laws but also give its atmosphere2 and  
must accept his discipline in a spirit  
of obedience4 ,the ,sufi neophyte is    
directed to place himself in the hands  
of his sheikh as a corpse in the hands  
of the washer2 and all the great saints 
of ,islam have been the inspiring       
centres of more or less organized       
groups4  ,history teaches us1 in fact1  
that ,god most often educates men       
through men4 ,we most easily recognize  
,spirit when it is perceived            
transfiguring human character1 and most 
easily achieve it by means of           
sympathetic contagion4 ,though the new  
light may flash1 as it seems1 directly  
into the soul of the specially gifted or
 the inspired1 this spontaneous         
outbreaking of novelty is comparatively 
rare2 and even here1 careful analysis   
will generally reveal the extent in     

which environment1 tradition1 teaching  
literary or oral1 have prepared the way 
for it4 ,there is no aptitude so great  
that it can afford to dispense with     
human experience and education4 ,even   
the noblest of the sons and daughters of
 ,god are also the sons and daughters of
 the race2 and are helped by those who  
go before them4 ,and as regards the     
generality1 not isolated effort but the 
love and sincerity of the true spiritual
 teacher--and every man and woman of the
 ,spirit is such a teacher within his   
own sphere of influence--the            
unselfconscious trust of the disciple1  
are the means by which the secret of    
full life has been handed on4 ,one      
loving spirit1 said ,st4 ,augustine1    
sets another on fire2 and expressed in  
this phrase the law which governs the   
spiritual history of man4 ,this law     
finds notable expression in the         
phenomena of the ,religious ,order2 a   
type of association1 found in more or   
less perfection in every great religion1

 which has not received the attention it
 deserves from students of psychology4  
,if we study the lives of those who     
founded these ,orders--though such a    
foundation was not always intended by   
them--we notice one general             
characteristic3 each was an enthusiast1 
abounding in zest and hope1 and became  
in his lifetime a fount of regeneration1
 a source of spiritual infection1 for   
those who came under his influence4 ,in 
each the spiritual world was seen       
through a temperament1 and so mediated  
to the disciples2 who shared so far as  
they were able the master's special     
secret and attitude to life4 ,thus ,st4 
,benedict's sane and generous outlook is
 crystallized in the ,benedictine rule4 
,st4 ,francis' deep sense of the        
connection between poverty and freedom  
gave ,franciscan regeneration its       
peculiar character4 ,the heroisms of the
 early ,jesuit missionaries reflected   
the strong courageous temper of ,st4    
,ignatius4 ,the rich contemplative life 

of ,carmel is a direct inheritance from 
,st4 ,teresa's mystical experience4 ,the
 great ,orders in their purity were     
families1 inheriting and reproducing the
 salient qualities of their patriarch2  
who gave1 as a father to his children1  
life stamped with his own               
characteristics4  ,yet sooner or later  
after the withdrawal of its founder1 the
 group appears to lose its spontaneous  
and enthusiastic character4 ,zest fails4
 ,unless a fresh leader be forthcoming1 
it inevitably settles down again towards
 the general level of the herd4 ,thence 
it can only be roused by means of       
reforms or revivals1 the arrival of new1
 vigorous leaders1 and the formation of 
new enthusiastic groups3 for the bulk of
 men as we know them cannot or will not 
make the costing effort needed for a    
first-hand participation in eternal     
life4 ,they want a crowd-compeller to   
lift them above themselves4 ,thus the   
history of ,christianity is the history 
of successive spiritual                 

group-formations1 and their struggle to 
survive2 from the time when ,jesus of   
,nazareth formed ,his little flock with 
the avowed aim of bringing in the       
,kingdom of ,god--transmuting the       
mentality of the race1 and so giving it 
more abundant life4  ,christians appeal 
to the continued teaching and compelling
 power of their ,master1 the influence  
and infection of ,his spirit and        
atmosphere1 as the greatest of the      
regenerative forces still at work within
 life3 and this is undoubtedly true of  
those devout spirits able to maintain   
contact with the eternal world in       
prayer4 ,the great speech of ,serenus de
 ,cressy in ,john ,inglesant described  
once for all the highest type of        
,christian spirituality4#ee ,but in     
practice this link and this influence   
are too subtle for the mass of men4     
,they must constantly be re-experienced 
by ardent and consecrated souls2 and by 
them be mediated to fresh groups1 formed
 within or without the institutional    

frame4 ,thus in the thirteenth century  
,st4 ,francis1 and in the fourteenth the
 ,friends of ,god1 created a true       
spiritual society within the ,church1 by
 restoring in themselves and their      
followers the lost consistency between  
,christian idea and ,christian life4 ,in
 the seventeenth and eighteenth         
centuries1 ,fox and ,wesley possessed by
 the same essential vision1 broke away  
from the institution which was no longer
 supple enough to meet their needs1 and 
formed their fresh groups outside the   
old herd4  ,when such creative          
personalities appear and such groups are
 founded by them1 the phenomena of the  
spiritual life reappear in their full   
vigour1 and are disseminated4 ,a new    
vitality1 a fresh power of endurance1 is
 seen in all who are drawn within the   
group and share its mind4 ,this is what 
,st4 ,paul seems to have meant1 when he 
reminded his converts that they had the 
mind of ,christ4 ,the primitive friars1 
living under the influence of ,francis1 

did practice the perfect poverty which  
is also perfect joy4 ,the assured calm  
and willing sufferings of the early     
,christians were reproduced in the early
 ,quakers1 secure in their possession of
 the inner light4 ,we know very well the
 essential characters of this fresh     
mentality2 the power1 the enthusiasm1   
the radiant joy1 the indifference to    
pain and hardship it confers4 ,but we   
can no more produce it from these raw   
materials than the chemist's crucible   
can produce life4 ,the whole experience 
of ,st4 ,francis is implied in the      
,beatitudes4 ,the secret of ,elizabeth  
,fry is the secret of ,st4 ,john4 ,the  
doctrine of ,general ,booth is fully    
stated by ,st4 ,paul4 ,but it was not by
 referring inquirers to the pages of the
 ,new ,testament that the first brought 
men fettered by things to experience the
 freedom of poverty2 the second faced   
and tamed three hundred ,newgate        
criminals1 who seemed at her first visit
 like wild beasts2 or the third created 

armies of the redeemed from the dregs of
 the ,london ,slums4 ,they did these    
things by direct personal contagion2 and
 they will be done among us again when  
the triumphant power of ,eternal ,spirit
 is again exhibited1 not in ideas but in
 human character4  ,i think1 then1 that 
history justifies us in regarding the   
full living of the spiritual life as    
implying at least these three           
characters4 ,first1 single-mindedness3  
to mean only ,god4 ,second1 the full    
integration of the contemplative and    
active sides of existence1 lifted up1   
harmonized1 and completely consecrated  
to those interests which the self       
recognizes as ,divine4 ,third1 the power
 of reproducing this life2 incorporating
 it in a group4 ,before we go on1 we    
will look at one concrete example which 
illustrates all these points4 ,this     
example is that of ,st4 ,benedict and   
the ,order which he founded2 for in the 
rounded completeness of his life and    
system we see what should be the normal 

life of the ,spirit1 and its result4    
,benedict was born in times not unlike  
our own1 when wars had shaken           
civilization1 the arts of peace were    
unsettled1 religion was at a low ebb4   
,as a young man1 he experienced an      
intense revulsion from the vicious      
futility of ,roman society1 fled into   
the hills1 and lived in a cave for three
 years alone with his thoughts of ,god4 
,it would be easy to regard him as an   
eccentric boy3 but he was adjusting     
himself to the real centre of his life4 
,gradually others who longed for a more 
real existence joined him1 and he       
divided them into groups of twelve1 and 
settled them in small houses2 giving    
them a time-table by which to live1     
which should make possible a full and   
balanced existence of body1 mind and    
soul4 ,thanks to those years of retreat 
and preparation1 he knew what he wanted 
and what he ought to do2 and they       
ushered in a long life of intense mental
 and spiritual activity4 ,his houses    

were schools1 which taught the service  
of ,god and the perfecting of the soul  
as the aims of life4 ,his rule1 in which
 genial human tolerance1 gentle         
courtesy1 and a profound understanding  
of men are not less marked than lofty   
spirituality1 is the classic statement  
of all that the ,christian spiritual    
life implies and should be4#ef  ,what1  
then1 is the character of the life which
 ,st4 ,benedict proposed as a remedy for
 the human failure and disharmony that  
he saw around him8 ,it was framed1 of   
course1 for a celibate community3 but it
 has many permanent features which are  
unaffected by his limitation4 ,it offers
 balanced opportunities of development  
to the body1 the mind and the spirit2   
laying equal emphasis on hard work1     
study1 and prayer4 ,it aims at a robust 
completeness1 not at the production of  
professional ascetics2 indeed1 its ,rule
 says little about physical austerities1
 insists on sufficient food and rest1   
and countenances no extremes4 ,according

 to ,abbot ,butler1 ,st4 ,benedict's day
 was divided into three and a half hours
 for public worship1 four and a half for
 reading and meditation1 six and a half 
for manual work1 eight and a half for   
sleep1 and one hour for meals4 ,so that 
in spite of the time devoted to         
spiritual and mental interests1 the     
primitive ,benedictine did a good day's 
work and had a good night's rest at the 
end of it4 ,the work might be anything  
that wanted doing1 so long as the hours 
of prayer were not infringed4           
,agriculture1 scholarship1 education1   
handicrafts and art have all been done  
perfectly by ,st4 ,benedict's sons1     
working and willing in quiet love4 ,this
 is what one of the greatest            
constructive minds of ,christendom      
regarded as a reasonable way of life2 a 
frame within which the loftiest human   
faculties could grow1 and man's spirit  
achieve that harmony with ,god which is 
its goal4 ,moreover1 this life was to be
 social4 ,it was in the beginning just  

the busy useful life of an ,italian     
farm1 lived in groups--in monastic      
families1 under the rule and inspiration
 not of a ,master but of an ,abbot2 a   
,father who really was the spiritual    
parent of his monks1 and sought to train
 them in the humility1 obedience1       
self-denial and gentle suppleness of    
character which are the authentic fruits
 of the ,spirit4 ,this ideal1 it seems  
to me1 has something still to say to us2
 some reproof to administer to our      
hurried and muddled existence1 our      
confusion of values1 our failure to find
 time for reality4 ,we shall find in it 
and its creator1 if we look1 all those  
marks of the regenerate life of the     
,spirit which history has shown to us as
 normal3 namely the transcendent aim1   
the balanced career of action and       
contemplation1 the creative power1 and  
above all the principle of social       
solidarity and discipleship4  ,we go on 
to ask history what it has to tell us on
 the second point1 the process by which 

the individual normally develops this   
life of the ,spirit1 the serial changes 
it demands2 for plainly1 to know this is
 of practical importance to us4 ,the    
full inwardness of these changes will be
 considered when we come to the personal
 aspect of the spiritual life4 ,now we  
are only concerned to notice that       
history tends to establish the constant 
recurrence of a normal process1         
recognizable alike in great and small   
personalities under the various labels  
which have been given to it1 by which   
the self moves from its usually         
exclusive correspondence with the       
temporal order to those full            
correspondences with reality1 that union
 with ,god1 characteristic of the       
spiritual life4 ,this life we must      
believe in some form and degree to be   
possible for all2 but we study it best  
on heroic levels1 for here its moments  
are best marked and its fullest records 
survive4  ,the first moment of this     
process seems to be1 that man falls out 

of love with life as he has commonly    
lived it1 and the world as he has known 
it4 ,dissatisfaction and disillusion    
possess him2 the negative marks of his  
nascent intuition of another life1 for  
which he is intended but which he has   
not yet found4 ,we see this initial     
phase very well in ,st4 ,benedict1      
disgusted by the meaningless life of    
,roman society2 in ,st4 ,francis1       
abandoning his gay and successful social
 existence2 in ,richard ,rolle1 turning 
suddenly from scholarship to a hermit's 
life2 in the restless misery of ,st4    
,catherine of ,genoa2 in ,fox1          
desperately seeking something that could
 speak to his condition2 and also in two
 outstanding examples from modern       
,india1 those of the ,maharishi         
,devendranath ,tagore and the ,sadhu    
,sundar ,singh4 ,this dissatisfaction1  
sometimes associated with the negative  
vision or conviction of sin1 sometimes  
with the positive longing for holiness  
and peace1 is the mental preparation of 

conversion2 which1 though not a         
constant1 is at least a characteristic  
feature of the beginning of the         
spiritual life as seen in history4 ,we  
might1 indeed1 expect some crucial      
change of attitude1 some inner crisis1  
to mark the beginning of a new life     
which is to aim only at ,god4 ,here too 
we find one motive of that movement of  
world-abandonment which so commonly     
follows conversion1 especially in heroic
 souls4 ,thus ,st4 ,paul hides himself  
in ,arabia2 ,st4 ,benedict retires for  
three years to the cave at ,subiaco2    
,st4 ,ignatius to ,manresa4 ,gerard     
,groot1 the brilliant and wealthy young 
,dutchman who founded the brotherhood of
 the ,common ,life1 began his new life  
by self-seclusion in a ,carthusian cell4
 ,st4 ,catherine of ,siena at first     
lived solitary in her own room4 ,st4    
,francis with dramatic completeness     
abandoned his whole past1 even the      
clothing that was part of it4 ,jacopone 
da ,todi1 the prosperous lawyer         

converted to ,christ's poverty1 resorted
 to the most grotesque devices to       
express his utter separation from the   
world4 ,others1 it is true1 have chosen 
quieter methods1 and found in that which
 ,st4 ,catherine calls the cell of      
self-knowledge the solitude they        
required2 but some decisive break was   
imperative for all4 ,history assures us 
that there is no easy sliding into the  
life of the ,spirit4  ,a secondary cause
 of such world refusal is the first     
awakening of the contemplative powers2  
the intuition of ,eternity1 hitherto    
dormant1 and felt at this stage to      
be--in its overwhelming reality and     
appeal--in conflict with the unreal     
world and unsublimated active life4     
,this is the controlling idea of the    
hermit and recluse4 ,it is well seen in 
,st4 ,teresa2 whom her biographers      
describe as torn1 for years1 between the
 interests of human intercourse and the 
imperative inner voice urging her to    
solitary self-discipline and prayer4 ,so

 we may say that in the beginning of the
 life of the ,spirit1 as history shows  
it to us1 if disillusion marks the first
 moment1 some measure of asceticism1 of 
world-refusal and painful               
self-schooling1 is likely to mark the   
second moment4  ,what we are watching is
 the complete reconstruction of         
personality2 a personality that has     
generally grown into the wrong shape4   
,this is likely to be a hard and painful
 business2 and indeed history assures us
 that it is1 and further that the       
spiritual life is never achieved by     
taking the line of least resistance and 
basking in the divine light4 ,with      
world-refusal1 then1 is intimately      
connected stern moral conflict2 often   
lasting for years1 and having as its    
object the conquest of selfhood in all  
its insidious forms4 ,take one step out 
of yourself1 say the ,sufis1 and you    
will arrive at ,god4#eg ,this one step  
is the most difficult act of life2 yet  
urged by love1 man has taken it again   

and again4 ,this phase is so familiar to
 every reader of spiritual biography1   
that ,i need not insist upon it4 ,in the
 field of this body1 says ,kabir1 a     
great war goes forward1 against passion1
 anger1 pride and greed4 ,it is in the  
,kingdom of ,truth1 ,contentment and    
,purity that this battle is raging1 and 
the sword that rings forth most loudly  
is the sword of ,his ,name4#eh ,man1    
says ,boehme1 must here be at war with  
himself if he wishes to be a heavenly   
citizen 444 fighting must be the        
watchword1 not with tongue and sword1   
but with mind and spirit2 and not to    
give over4#ei ,the need of such a       
conflict1 shown to us in history1 is    
explained on human levels by psychology4
 ,on spiritual levels it is made plain  
to all whose hearts are touched by the  
love of ,god4 ,by this way all must pass
 who achieve the life of the ,spirit2   
subduing to its purposes their wayward  
wills1 and sublimating in its power     
their conflicting animal impulses4 ,this

 long effort brings1 as its reward a    
unification of character1 an inflow of  
power3 from it we see the mature man or 
woman of the ,spirit emerge4 ,in ,st4   
,catherine of ,genoa this conflict      
lasted for four years1 after which the  
thought of sin ceased to rule her       
consciousness4#fj ,st4 ,teresa's        
intermittent struggles are said to have 
continued for thirty years4 ,john       
,wesley1 always deeply religious1 did   
not attain the inner stability he calls 
assurance till he was thirty-five years 
old4 ,blake was for twenty years in     
mental conflict1 shut off from the      
sources of his spiritual life4 ,so      
slowly do great personalities come to   
their full stature1 and subdue their    
vigorous impulses to the one ruling     
idea4  ,the ending of this conflict1 the
 self's unification and establishment in
 the new life1 commonly means a return  
more or less complete to that world from
 which the convert had retreated2 taking
 up of the fully energized and fully    

consecrated human existence1 which must 
express itself in work no less than in  
prayer2 an exhibition too of the        
capacity for leadership which is the    
mark of the regenerate mind4 ,thus the  
first return of the ,buddhist saint is  
from the absolute world to the world of 
phenomena to save all sentient          
beings4#fa ,thus ,st4 ,benedict's and   
,st4 ,catherine of ,siena's three       
solitary years are the preparation for  
their great and active life works4 ,st4 
,catherine of ,genoa1 first a           
disappointed and world-weary woman and  
then a penitent1 emerges as a busy and  
devoted hospital matron and inspired    
teacher of a group of disciples4 ,st4   
,teresa's long interior struggles       
precede her vigorous career as founder  
and reformer2 her creation of spiritual 
families1 new centres of contemplative  
life4 ,the vast activities of ,fox and  
,wesley were the fruits first of inner  
conflict1 then of assurance--the        
experience of ,god and of the self's    

relation to ,him4 ,and on the highest   
levels of the spiritual life as history 
shows them to us1 this experience and   
realization1 first of profound harmony  
with ,eternity and its interests1 next  
of a personal relation of love1 last of 
an indwelling creative power1 a         
givenness1 an energizing grace1 reaches 
that completeness to which has been     
given the name of union with ,god4  ,the
 great man or woman of the ,spirit who  
achieves this perfect development is1 it
 is true1 a special product3 a genius1  
comparable with great creative          
personalities in other walks of life4   
,but he neither invalidates the smaller 
talent nor the more general tendency in 
which his supreme gift takes its rise4  
,where he appears1 that tendency is     
vigorously stimulated4 ,like other      
artists1 he founds a school2 the        
spiritual life flames up1 and spreads to
 those within his circle of influence4  
,through him1 ordinary men1 whose       
aptitude for ,god might have remained   

latent1 obtain a fresh start2 an impetus
 to growth4 ,there is a sense in which  
he might say with the ,johannine        
,christ1 ,he that receiveth me receiveth
 ,him that sent me2 for yielding to his 
magnetism1 men really yield to the      
drawing of the ,spirit itself4 ,and when
 they do this1 their lives are found to 
reproduce--though with less             
intensity--the life history of their    
leader4 ,therefore the main characters  
of that life history1 that steady       
undivided process of sublimation2 are   
normal human characters4 ,we too may    
heal the discords of our moral nature1  
learn to judge existence in the         
universal light1 bring into             
consciousness our latent transcendental 
sense1 and keep ourselves so spiritually
 supple that alike in times of stress   
and hours of prayer and silence we are  
aware of the mysterious and energizing  
contact of ,god4 ,psychology suggests to
 us that the great spiritual            
personalities revealed in history are   

but supreme instances of a searching    
self-adjustment and of a way of life1   
always accessible to love and courage1  
which all men may in some sense         
undertake4  ,,footnotes3  ,footnote #db3
 ,everard1 ,some ,gospel ,treasures     
,opened1 p4 #eee  ,footnote #dc3 ,canor 
,dulcor1 ,canor2 cf4 ,rolle3 ,the ,fire 
of ,love1 ,bk4 #a1 ,cap4 #ad  ,footnote 
#dd3 ,rolle3 ,the ,mending of ,life1    
,cap4 ,,xii4  ,footnote #de3 ,benedetto 
,croce3 ,theory and ,history of         
,historiography1 trans4 by ,douglas     
,ainslie1 p4 #be4  ,footnote #df3       
,donne's ,sermons1 p4 #bcf4  ,footnote  
#dg3 ,b4,h4 ,streeter1 in ,the ,spirit1 
p4 #cdi seq4  ,footnote #dh3            
,autobiography of ,maharishi            
,devendranath ,tagore1 ,cap4 #bc4       
,footnote #di3 ,r4,a4 ,nicholson3       
,studies in ,islamic ,mysticism1 ,cap4  
i4  ,footnote #ej3 ,baron von ,hgel ,in 
the ,hibbert ,journal1 ,july1 #aiba4    
,footnote #ea3 ,ruysbroeck3 ,the        
,sparkling ,stone1 ,cap4 #aj4  ,footnote

 #eb3 ,ruysbroeck3 ,the ,adornment of   
the ,spiritual ,marriage1 ,bk4 ,,ii1    
,cap4 #ci4  ,footnote #ec3 ,r4 of ,st4  
,victor3 ,de ,quatuor ,gradibus ,violent
 ,charitatis 7,migne1 ,pat4 ,lat47 ,t4  
#aif1 ,col4 #abaf4  ,footnote #ed3      
,summa ,contra ,gentiles1 ,bk4 ,,iii1   
,cap4 #ba4  ,footnote #ee3 ,j4,e4       
,shorthouse3 ,john ,inglesant1 ,cap4    
#ai4  ,footnote #ef3 ,cf4 ,delatte3 ,the
 ,rule of ,st4 ,benedict2 and ,c4       
,butler3 ,benedictine ,monachism4       
,footnote #eg3 ,r4,a4 ,nicholson3       
,studies in ,islamic ,mysticism1 ,cap4  
#a4  ,footnote #eh3 ,one ,hundred ,poems
 of ,kabir1 p4 #dd4  ,footnote #ei3     
,boehme3 ,six ,theosophic ,points1 p4   
#aaa4  ,footnote #fj3 ,cf4 ,von ,hgel3  
,the ,mystical ,element of ,religion1   
,vol4 ,i1 ,pt4 ,,ii4  ,footnote #fa3    
,mc,govern3 ,an ,introduction to ,mahyna
 ,buddhism1 p4 #age4     ,,chapter ,,iii
  ,,psychology ,,and ,,the ,,life ,,of  
,,the ,,spirit  7,i7 ,,the ,,analysis   
,,of ,,mind   ,having interrogated      

history in our attempt to discover the  
essential character of the life of the  
,spirit1 wherever it is found1 we are   
now to see what psychology has to tell  
us or hint to us of its nature2 and of  
the relation in which it stands to the  
mechanism of our psychic life4 ,it is   
hardly necessary to say that such an    
inquiry1 fully carried out1 would be a  
life-work4 ,moreover1 it is an inquiry  
which we are not yet in a position to   
undertake4 ,true1 more and more material
 is daily becoming available for it3 but
 many of the principles involved are1   
even yet1 obscure4 ,therefore any       
conclusions at which we may arrive can  
only be tentative2 and the theories and 
schematic representations that we shall 
be obliged to use must be regarded as   
mere working diagrams--almost certainly 
of a temporary character--but useful to 
us1 because they do give us an          
interpretation of inner experience with 
which we can deal4 ,i need not emphasize
 the extent in which modern developments

 of psychology are affecting our        
conceptions of the spiritual life1 and  
our reading of many religious phenomena 
on which our ancestors looked with awe4 
,when we have eliminated the more heady 
exaggerations of the psycho-analysts1   
and the too-violent simplifications of  
the behaviourists1 it remains true that 
many problems have lately been          
elucidated in an unexpected1 and some in
 a helpful1 sense4 ,we are learning in  
particular to see in true proportion    
those abnormal states of trance and     
ecstasy which were once regarded as the 
essentials1 but are now recognized as   
the by-products1 of the mystical life4  
,but a good deal that at first sight    
seems startling1 and even disturbing to 
the religious mind1 turns out on        
investigation to be no more than the    
re-labelling of old facts1 which behind 
their new tickets remain unchanged4     
,perhaps no generation has ever been so 
much at the mercy of such labels as our 
own4 ,thus many people who are inclined 

to jibe at the doctrine of original sin 
welcome it with open arms when it is    
reintroduced as the uprush of primitive 
instinct4 ,opportunity of confession to 
a psychoanalyst is eagerly sought and   
gladly paid for1 by troubled spirits who
 would never resort for the same purpose
 to a priest4 ,the formul of            
auto-suggestion are freely used by those
 who repudiate vocal prayer and acts of 
faith with scorn4 ,if1 then1 ,i use for 
the purpose of exposition some of those 
labels which are affected by the newest 
schools1 ,i do so without any suggestion
 that they represent the only valid way 
of dealing with the psychic life of man4
 ,indeed1 ,i regard these labels as     
little more than exceedingly clever     
guesses at truth4 ,but since they are   
now generally current and often         
suggestive1 it is well that we should   
try to find a place for spiritual       
experience within the system which they 
represent2 thus carrying through the    
principle on which we are working1 that 

of interpreting the abiding facts of the
 spiritual life1 so far as we can1 in   
the language of the present day4        
,first1 then1 ,i propose to consider the
 analysis of mind1 and what ,it has to  
tell us about the nature of ,sin1 of    
,salvation1 of ,conversion2 what light  
it casts on the process of purgation or 
self-purification which is demanded by  
all religions of the ,spirit2 what are  
the respective parts played by reason   
and instinct in the process of          
regeneration2 and the importance for    
religious experience of the phenomena of
 apperception4  ,we need not at this    
point consider again all that we mean by
 the life of the ,spirit4 ,we have      
already considered it as it appears in  
history--its inexhaustible variety1 its 
power1 nobility1 and grace4 ,we need    
only to remind ourselves that what we   
have got to find room for in our        
psychological scheme is literally1 a    
changed and enhanced life2 a life which1
 immersed in the stream of history1 is  

yet poised on the eternal world4 ,this  
life involves a complete re-direction of
 our desires and impulses1 a            
transfiguration of character2 and often1
 too1 a sense of subjugation to superior
 guidance1 of an access of impersonal   
strength1 so overwhelming as to give    
many of its activities an inspirational 
or automatic character4 ,we found that  
this life was marked by a rhythmic      
alternation between receptivity and     
activity1 more complete and purposeful  
than the rhythm of work and rest which  
conditions1 or should condition1 the    
healthy life of sense4 ,this            
re-direction and transfiguration1 this  
removal to a higher term of our mental  
rhythm1 are of course psychic phenomena2
 using this word in a broad sense1      
without prejudice to the discrimination 
of any one aspect of it as spiritual4   
,all that we mean at the moment is1 that
 the change which brings in the         
spiritual life is a change in the mind  
and heart of man1 working in the stuff  

of our common human nature1 and         
involving all that the modern           
psychologist means by the word psyche4  
,we begin therefore with the nature of  
the psyche as this modern1 growing1     
changing psychology conceives it2 for   
this is the raw material of regenerate  
man4 ,if we exclude those merely        
degraded and pathological theories which
 have resulted from too exclusive a     
study of degenerate minds1 we find that 
the current conception of the psyche--by
 which of course ,i do not mean the     
classic conceptions of ,ward or even    
,william ,james--was anticipated by     
,plotinus1 when he said in the ,fourth  
,ennead1 that every soul has something  
of the lower life for the purposes of   
the body and of the higher for the      
purposes of the ,spirit1 and yet        
constitutes a unity2 an unbroken series 
of ascending values and powers of       
response1 from the levels of merely     
physical and mainly unconscious life to 
those of the self-determining and       

creative consciousness4#fb ,we first    
discover psychic energy as              
undifferentiated directive power1       
controlling response and adaption to    
environment2 and as it develops1 ever   
increasing the complexity of its        
impulses and habits1 yet never          
abandoning anything of its past4        
,instinct represents the correspondence 
of this life-force with mere nature1 its
 effort as it were to keep its footing  
and accomplish its destiny in the world 
of time4 ,spirit represents this same   
life acting on highest levels1 with most
 vivid purpose2 seeking and achieving   
correspondence with the eternal world1  
and realities of the loftiest order yet 
discovered to be accessible to us4 ,we  
are compelled to use words of this kind2
 and the proceeding is harmless enough  
so long as we remember that they are    
abstractions1 and that we have no real  
reason to suppose breaks in the life    
process which extends from the infant's 
first craving for food and shelter to   

the saint's craving for the knowledge of
 ,god4 ,this urgent1 craving life is the
 dominant characteristic of the psyche4 
,thought is but the last come and least 
developed of its powers2 one among its  
various responses to environment1 and   
ways of laying hold on experience4      
,this conception of the multiplicity in 
unity of the psyche1 conscious and      
unconscious1 is probably one of the most
 important results of recent            
psychological advance4 ,it means that we
 cannot any longer in the good old way  
rule off bits or aspects of it1 and call
 them intellect1 soul1 spirit1          
conscience and so forth2 or1 on the     
other hand1 refer to our lower nature as
 if it were something separate from     
ourselves4 ,i am spirit when ,i pray1 if
 ,i pray rightly4 ,i am my lower nature1
 when my thoughts and deeds are swayed  
by my primitive impulses and physical   
longings1 declared or disguised4 ,i am  
most wholly myself when that impulsive  
nature and that craving spirit are      

welded into one1 subject to the same    
emotional stimulus1 directed to one     
goal4 ,when theologians and             
psychologists1 ignoring this unity of   
the self1 set up arbitrary              
divisions--and both classes are very    
fond of doing so--they are merely making
 diagrams for their own convenience4 ,we
 ourselves shall probably be compelled  
to do this3 and the proceeding is       
harmless enough1 so long as we recollect
 that these diagrams are at best        
symbolic pictures of fact4 ,specially is
 it necessary to keep our heads1 and    
refuse to be led away by the constant   
modern talk of the primitive1           
unconscious1 foreconscious instinctive  
and other minds which are so prominent  
in modern psychological literature1 or  
by the spatial suggestions of such terms
 as threshold1 complex1 channel of      
discharge3 remembering always the       
central unity and non-material nature of
 that many-faced psychic life which is  
described under these various formul4   

,if we accept this central unity with   
all its implications1 it follows that we
 cannot take our superior and conscious 
faculties1 set them apart1 and call them
 ourselves2 refusing responsibility for 
the more animal and less fortunate      
tendencies and instincts which surge up 
with such distressing ease and frequency
 from the deeps1 by attributing these to
 nature or heredity4 ,indeed1 more and  
more does it become plain that the      
sophisticated surface-mind which alone  
we usually recognize is the smallest1   
the least developed1 and in some        
respects still the least important part 
of the real self3 that whole man of     
impulse1 thought and desire1 which it is
 the business of religion to capture and
 domesticate for ,god4 ,that whole man  
is an animal-spirit1 a living1 growing1 
plastic unit2 moving towards a racial   
future yet unperceived by us1 and       
carrying with him a racial past which   
conditions at every moment his choices1 
impulses and acts4 ,only the most rigid 

self-examination will disclose to us the
 extent in which the jungle and the     
,stone ,age are still active in our     
games1 our politics and our creeds2 how 
many of our motives are still those of  
primitive man1 and how many of our      
social institutions offer him a discreet
 opportunity of self-expression4  ,here1
 as it seems to me1 is a point at which 
the old thoughts of religion and the new
 thoughts of psychology may unite and   
complete one another4 ,here the         
scientific conception of the psyche is  
merely restating the fundamental        
,christian paradox1 that man is truly   
one1 a living1 growing spirit1 the      
creature and child of the ,divine ,life2
 and yet that there seem to be in him1  
as it were1 two antagonistic            
natures--that duality which ,st4 ,paul  
calls the old ,adam and the new ,adam4  
,the law of the flesh and the law of the
 spirit1 the earthward-tending life of  
mere natural impulse and the quickening 
life of re-directed desire1 the natural 

and the spiritual man1 are conceptions  
which the new psychologist can hardly   
reject or despise4 ,true1 religion and  
psychology may offer different          
rationalizations of the facts4 ,that    
which one calls original sin1 the other 
calls the instinctive mind3 but the     
situation each puts before us is the    
same4 ,i find a law1 says ,st4 ,paul1   
that when ,i would do good evil is      
present with me4 ,for ,i delight in the 
law of ,god after the inward man but ,i 
see another law in my members warring   
against the law of my mind4444 ,with the
 mind ,i myself serve the law of ,god1  
but with the flesh the law of sin4      
,without going so far as a distinguished
 psychoanalyst who said in my hearing1  
,if ,st4 ,paul had come to me1 ,i feel  
,i could have helped him1 ,i think it is
 clear that we are learning to give a   
new content to this1 and many other     
sayings of the ,new ,testament4 ,more   
and more psychology tends to emphasize  
the ,pauline distinction2 demonstrating 

that the profound disharmony existing in
 most civilized men between the         
impulsive and the rational life1 the    
many conflicts which sap his energy1    
arise from the persistence within us of 
the archaic and primitive alongside the 
modern mind4 ,it demonstrates that the  
many stages and constituents of our     
psychic past are still active in each   
one of us2 though often below the       
threshold of consciousness4 ,the blindly
 instinctive life1 with its almost      
exclusive interests in food1 safety and 
reproduction2 the law of the flesh in   
its simplest form1 carried over from our
 pre-human ancestry and still capable of
 taking charge when we are off our      
guard4 ,the more complex life of the    
human primitive2 with its outlook of    
wonder1 self-interest and fear1         
developed under conditions of ignorance1
 peril and perpetual struggle for life4 
,the history of primitive man covers    
millions of years3 the history of       
civilized man1 a few thousand at the    

most4 ,therefore it is not surprising   
that the primitive outlook should have  
bitten hard into the plastic stuff of   
the developing psyche1 and forms still  
the infantile foundation of our mental  
life4 ,finally1 there is the rational   
life1 so far as the rational is yet     
achieved by us2 correcting1 conflicting 
with1 and seeking to refine and control 
the vigour of primitive impulse4  ,but  
if it is to give an account of all the  
facts psychology must also point out1   
and find place for1 the last-comer in   
the evolutionary series3 the rare and   
still rudimentary achievement of the    
spiritual consciousness1 bearing witness
 that we are the children of ,god1 and  
pointing1 not backward to the roots but 
onward to the fruits of human growth4   
,but it cannot allow us to think of this
 spiritual life as something separate   
from1 and wholly unconditioned by1 our  
racial past4 ,we must rather conceive it
 as the crown of our psychic evolution1 
the end of that process which began in  

the dawn of consciousness and which ,st4
 ,paul calls growing up into the stature
 of ,christ4 ,here psychology is in     
harmony with the teaching of those      
mystics who invite us to recognize1 not 
a completed spirit1 but rather a seed   
within us4 ,in the spiritual yearnings1 
the profound and yet uncertain stirrings
 of the religious consciousness1 its    
half-understood impulses to ,god1 we    
perceive the floating-up into the       
conscious field of this deep germinal   
life4 ,and psychology warns us1 ,i      
think1 that in our efforts to forward   
the upgrowth of this spiritual life1 we 
must take into account those earlier    
types of reaction to the universe which 
still continue underneath our bright    
modern appearance1 and still inevitably 
condition and explain so many of our    
motives and our deeds4 ,it warns us that
 the psychic growth of humanity is slow 
and uneven2 and that every one of us    
still retains1 though not always it is  
true in a recognizable form1 many of the

 characters of those stages of          
development through which the race has  
passed--characters which inevitably give
 their colour to our religious no less  
than to our social life4  ,i desire1    
says  ,kempis1 to enjoy thee inwardly   
but ,i cannot take thee4 ,i desire to   
cleave to heavenly things but fleshly   
things and unmortified passions depress 
me4 ,i will in my mind be above all     
things but in despite of myself ,i am   
constrained to be beneath1 so ,i unhappy
 man fight with myself and am made      
grievous to myself while the spirit     
seeketh what is above and the flesh what
 is beneath4 ,o what ,i suffer within   
while ,i think on heavenly things in my 
mind2 the company of fleshly things     
cometh against me when ,i pray4#fc  ,oh 
,master1 says the ,scholar in ,boehme's 
great dialogue1 the creatures that live 
in me so withhold me1 that ,i cannot    
wholly yield and give myself up as ,i   
willingly would4#fd  ,no psychologist   
has come nearer to a statement of the   

human situation than have these old     
specialists in the spiritual life4  ,the
 bearing of all this on the study of    
organized religion is of course of great
 importance2 and will be discussed in a 
subsequent section4 ,all that ,i wish to
 point out now is that the beliefs1 and 
the explanations of action1 put forward 
by our rationalizing surface            
consciousness are often mere veils which
 drape the crudeness of our real desires
 and reactions to life2 and that before 
life can be reintegrated about its      
highest centres1 these real beliefs and 
motives must be tracked down1 and their 
humiliating character acknowledged4 ,the
 ape and the tiger1 in fact1 are not    
dead in any one of us4 ,in polite       
persons they are caged1 which ,is a very
 different thing3 and a careful         
introspection will teach us to recognize
 their snarls and chatterings1 their    
urgent requests for more mutton chops or
 bananas1 under the many disguises which
 they assume--disguises which are not   

infrequently borrowed from ethics or    
from religion4 ,thus a primitive desire 
for revenge often masquerades as        
justice1 and an unedifying interest in  
personal safety can be discerned in at  
least some interpretations of atonement1
 and some aspirations towards           
immortality4#fe  ,i now go on to a      
second point4 ,it will already be clear 
that the modern conception of the       
many-levelled psyche gives us a fresh   
standpoint from which to consider the   
nature of ,sin4 ,it suggests to us1 that
 the essence of much sin is             
conservatism1 or atavism3 that it is    
rooted in the tendency of the           
instinctive life to go on1 in changed   
circumstances1 acting in the same old   
way4 ,virtue1 perfect rightness of      
correspondence with our present         
surroundings1 perfect consistency of our
 deeds with our best ideas1 is hard     
work4 ,it means the sublimation of crude
 instinct1 the steady control of impulse
 by such reason as we possess2 and      

perpetually forces us to use on new and 
higher levels that machinery of         
habit-formation1 that power of          
implanting tendencies in the plastic    
psyche1 to which man owes his earthly   
dominance4 ,when our unstable psychic   
life relaxes tension and sinks to lower 
levels than this1 and it ,is always     
tending so to do1 we are relapsing to   
antique methods of response1 suitable to
 an environment which is no longer      
there4 ,few people go through life      
without knowing what it is to feel a    
sudden1 even murderous1 impulse to      
destroy the obstacle in their path2 or  
seize1 at all costs1 that which they    
desire4 ,our ancestors called these     
uprushes the solicitations of the devil1
 seeking to destroy the ,christian soul2
 and regarded them with justice as an   
opportunity of testing our spiritual    
strength4 ,it is true that every man has
 within him such a tempting spirit2 but 
its characters can better be studied in 
the ,zoological ,gardens than in the    

convolutions of a theological hell4     
,external ,reason1 says ,boehme1        
supposes that hell is far from us4 ,but 
it is near us4 ,every one carries it in 
himself4#ff ,many of our vices1 in fact1
 are simply savage qualities--and some  
are even savage virtues--in their old   
age4 ,thus in an organized society the  
acquisitiveness and self-assertion      
proper to a vigorous primitive dependent
 on his own powers survive as the sins  
of envy and covetousness1 and are seen  
operating in the dishonesty of the      
burglar1 the greed and egotism of the   
profiteer3 and1 on the highest levels1  
the great spiritual sin of pride may be 
traced back to a perverted expression of
 that self-regarding instinct without   
which the individual could hardly       
survive4  ,when therefore qualities     
which were once useful on their own     
level are outgrown but unsublimated1 and
 check the movement towards life's      
spiritualization1 then--whatever they   
may be--they belong to the body of      

death1 not to the body of life1 and are 
sin4 ,call sin a lump--none other thing 
than thyself1 says ,the ,cloud of       
,unknowing4#fg ,capitulation to it is   
often brought about by mere slackness1  
or1 as religion would say1 by the mortal
 sin of sloth2 which ,julian of ,norwich
 declares to be one of the two most     
deadly sicknesses of the soul4          
,sometimes2 too1 sin is deliberately    
indulged in because of the perverse     
satisfaction which this yielding to old 
craving gives us4 ,the violent-tempered 
man becomes once more a primitive1 when 
he yields to wrath4 ,a starved and      
repressed side of his nature--the old   
,adam1 in fact--leaps up into           
consciousness and glories in its        
strength4 ,he obtains from the explosion
 an immense feeling of relief2 and so   
too with the other great natural        
passions which our religious or social  
morality keeps in check4 ,even the      
saints have known these revenges of     
natural instincts too violently denied4 

,thoughts of obscene words and gestures 
came unasked to torment the pure soul of
 ,catherine of ,siena4#fh ,st4 ,teresa  
complained that the devil sometimes sent
 her so offensive a spirit of bad temper
 that she could eat people up4#fi ,games
 and sport of a combative or destructive
 kind provide an innocent outlet for a  
certain amount of this unused ferocity2 
and indeed the chief function of games  
in the modern state is to help us avoid 
occasions of sin4 ,the sinfulness of any
 deed depends1 therefore1 on this       
theory1 on the extent in which it       
involves retrogression from the point we
 have achieved3 failure to correspond   
with the light we possess4 ,the         
inequality of the moral standard all    
over the world is a simple demonstration
 of this fact3 for many a deed which is 
innocent in ,new ,guinea1 would in      
,london provoke the immediate attention 
of the police4  ,does not this view of  
sin1 as primarily a fall-back to past   
levels of conduct and experience1 a     

defeat of the spirit of the future in   
its conflict with the undying past1 give
 us a fresh standpoint from which to    
look at the idea of ,salvation8 ,we know
 that all religions of the spirit have  
based their claim upon man on such an   
offer of salvation3 on the conviction   
that there is something from which he   
needs to be rescued1 if he is to achieve
 a satisfactory life4 ,what is it1 then1
 from which he must be saved8  ,i think 
that the answer must be1 from conflict3 
the conflict between the pull-back of   
his racial origin and the pull-forward  
of his spiritual destiny1 the antagonism
 between the buried ,titan and the      
emerging soul1 each tending towards     
adaptation to a different order of      
reality4 ,we may as well acknowledge    
that man as he stands is mostly full of 
conflicts and resistances3 that the     
trite verse about fightings and fears   
within1 without does really describe the
 unregenerate yet sensitive mind with   
its ineffective struggles1 its          

inveterate egotism1 its inconsistent    
impulses and loves4 ,man's young will   
and reason need some reinforcement1 some
 helping power1 if they are to conquer  
and control his archaic impulsive life4 
,and this salvation1 this extrication   
from the wrongful and atavistic claims  
of primitive impulse in its many strange
 forms1 is a prime business of religion2
 sometimes achieved in the sudden       
convulsion we call conversion1 and      
sometimes by the slower process of      
education4 ,the wrong way to do it is   
seen in the methods of the ,puritan and 
the extreme ascetic1 where all animal   
impulse is regarded as sin and          
repressed3 a proceeding which involves  
the risk of grave physical and mental   
disorder1 and produces even at the best 
a bloodless pietism4 ,the right way to  
do it was described once for all by     
,jacob ,boehme1 when he said that it was
 the business of a spiritual man to     
harness his fiery energies to the       
service of the light-- that is to say1  

change the direction of our passionate  
cravings for satisfaction1 harmonize and
 devote them to spiritual ends4 ,this is
 true regeneration3 this is the         
salvation offered to man1 the healing of
 his psychic conflict by the unification
 of his instinctive and his ideal life4 
,the voice which ,st4 ,mechthild heard1 
saying ,come and be reconciled1         
expresses the deepest need of civilized 
but unspiritualized humanity4  ,this    
need for the conversion or remaking of  
the instinctive life1 rather than the   
achievement of mere beliefs1 has always 
been appreciated by real spiritual      
teachers2 who are usually some          
generations in advance of the           
psychologists4 ,here they agree in      
finding the root of evil1 the heart of  
the old man and best promise of the new4
 ,here is the raw material both of vice 
and of virtue--namely1 a mass of desires
 and cravings which are in themselves   
neither moral nor immoral1 but natural  
and self-regarding4 ,in will1           

imagination and desire1 says ,william   
,law1 consists the life or fiery driving
 of every intelligent creature4#gj ,the 
,divine voice which said to ,jacopone da
 ,todi ,set love in order1 thou that    
lovest ,me6 declared the one law of     
mental growth4#ga ,to use for a moment  
the language of mystical theology1      
conversion1 or repentance1 the first    
step towards the spiritual life1        
consists in a change in the direction of
 these cravings and desires2 purgation  
or purification1 in which the work begun
 in conversion is made complete1 in     
their steadfast setting in order or     
re-education1 and that refinement and   
fixation of the most desirable among    
them which we call the formation of     
habit1 and which is the essence of      
character building4 ,it is from this    
hard1 conscious and deliberate work of  
adapting our psychic energy to new and  
higher correspondences1 this costly     
moral effort and true self-conquest1    
that the spiritual life in man draws its

 earnestness1 reality and worth4  ,oh1  
,academicus1 says ,william ,law1 in     
terms that any psychologist would       
endorse1 forget your scholarship1 give  
up your art and criticism1 be a plain   
man2 and then the first rudiments of    
sense may teach you that there1 and     
there only1 can goodness be1 where it   
comes forth as a birth of ,life1 and is 
the free natural work and fruit of that 
which lives within us4 ,for till        
goodness thus comes from a ,life within 
us1 we have in truth none at all4 ,for  
reason1 with all its doctrine1          
discipline1 and rules1 can only help us 
to be so good1 so changed1 and amended1 
as a wild beast may be1 that by         
restraints and methods is taught to put 
on a sort of tameness1 though its wild  
nature is all the time only restrained1 
and in a readiness to break forth again 
as occasion shall offer4#gb ,our        
business1 then1 is not to restrain1 but 
to put the wild beast to work1 and use  
its mighty energies2 for thus only shall

 we find the power to perform hard acts4
 ,see the young ,salvation ,army convert
 turning over the lust for drink or     
sexual satisfaction to the lust to save 
his fellow-men4 ,this transformation or 
sublimation is not the work of reason4  
,his instinctive life1 the main source  
of conduct1 has been directed into a    
fresh channel of use4  ,we may now look 
a little more closely at the character  
and potentialties of our instinctive    
life3 for this life is plainly of the   
highest importance to us1 since it will 
either energize or thwart all the       
efforts of the rational self4 ,current  
psychology1 even more plainly than      
religion1 encourages us to recognize in 
this powerful instinctive nature the    
real source of our conduct1 the origin  
of all those dynamic personal demands1  
those impulses to action1 which         
condition the full and successful life  
of the natural man4 ,instincts in the   
animal and the natural man are the      
methods by which the life force takes   

care of its own interests1 insures its  
own full development1 its unimpeded     
forward drive4 ,in so far as we form    
part of the animal kingdom our own      
safety1 property1 food1 dominance1 and  
the reproduction of our own type1 are   
inevitably the first objects of our     
instinctive care4 ,civilized life has   
disguised some of these crude demands   
and the behaviour which is inspired by  
them1 but their essential character     
remains unchanged4 ,love and hate1 fear 
and wonder1 self-assertion and          
self-abasement1 the gregarious1 the     
acquisitive1 the constructive           
tendencies1 are all expressions of      
instinctive feeling2 and can be traced  
back to our simplest animal needs4  ,but
 instincts are not fixed tendencies3    
they are adaptable4 ,this can be seen   
clearly in the case of animals whose    
environment ,is artificially changed4   
,in the dog1 for instance1 loyalty to   
the interests of the pack has become    
loyalty to his master's household4 ,in  

man1 too1 there has already been obvious
 modification and sublimation of many   
instincts4 ,the hunting impulse begins  
in the jungle1 and may end in the       
philosopher's exploration of the        
,infinite4 ,it is the combative instinct
 which drives the reformer headlong     
against the evils of the world1 as it   
once drove two cave men at each others' 
throats4 ,love1 which begins in the     
mergence of two cells1 ends in the      
saint's supreme discovery1 ,thou art the
 ,love wherewith the heart loves        
,thee4#gc ,the much advertized herd     
instinct may weld us into a mob at the  
mercy of unreasoning passions2 but it   
can also make us living members of the  
,communion of ,saints4 ,the appeals of  
the prophet and the revivalist1 the     
,psalmist's ,taste and see1 the         
,baptist's ,change your hearts1 are all 
invitations to an alteration in the     
direction of desire1 which would turn   
our instinctive energies in a new       
direction and begin the domestication of

 the human soul for ,god4  ,this1 then1 
is the real business of conversion and  
of the character building that succeeds 
it2 the harnessing of instinct to idea  
and its direction into new and more     
lofty channels of use1 transmuting the  
turmoil of man's merely egoistic        
ambitions1 anxieties and emotional      
desires into fresh forms of creative    
energy1 and transferring their interest 
from narrow and unreal to universal     
objectives4 ,the seven deadly sins of   
,christian ethics--,pride1 ,anger1      
,envy1 ,avarice1 ,sloth1 ,gluttony1 and 
,lust--represent not so much deliberate 
wrongfulness1 as the outstanding forms  
of man's uncontrolled and self-regarding
 instincts2 unbridled self-assertion1   
ruthless acquisitiveness1 and           
undisciplined indulgence of sense4 ,the 
traditional evangelical virtues of      
,poverty1 ,chastity and ,obedience which
 sum up the demands of the spiritual    
life exactly oppose them4 ,over against 
the self-assertion of the proud and     

angry is set the ideal of humble        
obedience1 with its wise suppleness and 
abnegation of self-will4 ,over against  
the acquisitiveness of the covetous and 
envious is set the ideal of inward      
poverty1 with its liberation from the   
narrow self-interest of ,i1 ,me and     
,mine4 ,over against the sensual        
indulgence of the greedy1 lustful and   
lazy is set the ideal of chastity1 which
 finds all creatures pure to enjoy1     
since it sees them in ,god1 and ,god in 
all creatures4 ,yet all this1 rightly   
understood1 is no mere policy of        
repression4 ,it is rather a rational    
policy of release1 freeing for higher   
activities instinctive force too often  
thrown away4 ,it is giving the wild     
beast his work to do1 training him4     
,since the instincts represent the      
efforts of this urgent life in us to    
achieve self-protection and             
self-realization1 it is plain that the  
true regeneration of the psyche1 its    
redirection from lower to higher levels1

 can never be accomplished without their
 help4 ,we only rise to the top of our  
powers when the whole man acts together1
 urged by an enthusiasm or an           
instinctive need4  ,further1 a complete 
and ungraduated response to stimulus--an
 all-or-none reaction--is characteristic
 of the instinctive life and of the     
instinctive life alone4 ,those whom it  
rules for the time give themselves      
wholly to it2 and so display a power far
 beyond that of the critical and the    
controlled4 ,thus1 fear or rage will    
often confer abnormal strength and      
agility4 ,a really dominant instinct is 
a veritable source of psycho-physical   
energy1 unifying and maintaining in     
vigour all the activities directed to   
its fulfilment4#gd ,a young man in love 
is stimulated not only to emotional     
ardour1 but also to hard work in the    
interests of the future home4 ,the      
explorer develops amazing powers of     
endurance2 the inventor in the ecstasy  
of creation draws on deep vital forces1 

and may carry on for long periods       
without sleep or food4 ,if we apply this
 law to the great examples of the       
spiritual life1 we see in the vigour and
 totality of their self-giving to       
spiritual interests a mark of           
instinctive action2 and in the power1   
the indifference to hardship which these
 selves develop1 the result of          
unification1 of an all-or-none response 
to the religious or philanthropic       
stimulus4 ,it helps us to understand the
 cheerful austerities of the true       
ascetic2 the superhuman achievement of  
,st4 ,paul1 little hindered by the thorn
 in the flesh2 the career of ,st4 ,joan 
of ,arc2 the way in which ,st4 ,teresa  
or ,st4 ,ignatius1 tormented by         
ill-health1 yet brought their great     
conceptions to birth2 the powers of     
resistance displayed by ,george ,fox and
 other ,quaker saints4 ,it explains     
,mary ,slessor living and working       
bare-foot and bare-headed under the     
tropical sun1 disdaining the use of     

mosquito nets1 eating native food1 and  
taking with impunity daily risks fatal  
to the average ,european4#ge ,it shows  
us1 too1 why the great heroes of the    
spiritual life so seldom think out their
 positions1 or husband their powers4    
,they act because they are impelled3    
often in defiance of all prudent        
considerations6 yet commonly with an    
amazing success4 ,thus ,general ,booth  
has said that he was driven by the      
impulses and urgings of an undying      
ambition to save souls4 ,what was this  
impulse and urge8 ,it was the           
instinctive energy of a great nature in 
a sublimated form4 ,the level at which  
this enhanced power is experienced will 
determine its value for life2 but its   
character is much the same in the       
convert at a revival1 in the postulant's
 vivid sense of vocation and consequent 
break with the world8 in the            
disinterested man of science consecrated
 to the search for truth1 and in the    
apostle's self-giving to the service of 

,god1 with its answering gift of new    
strength and fruitfulness4 ,its secret1 
and indeed the secret of all            
transcendence is implied ,in the        
direction of the old ,english mystic3   
,mean ,god all1 all ,god1 so that nought
 work in thy wit and in thy will1 but   
only ,god1#gf ,the over-belief1 the     
religious formula in which this         
instinctive passion is expressed1 is    
comparatively unimportant ,the          
revivalist1 wholly possessed by concrete
 and anthropomorphic ideas of ,god which
 are impossible to a man of             
different--and1 as we suppose1          
superior--education1 can yet1 because of
 the burning reality with which he lives
 towards the ,god so strangely          
conceived1 infect those with whom he    
comes in contact with the spiritual     
life4  ,we are now in a position to say 
that the first necessity of the life of 
the ,spirit is the sublimation of the   
instinctive life1 involving the transfer
 of our interest and energy to new      

objectives1 the giving of our old vigour
 to new longings and new loves4 ,it     
appears that the invitation of religion 
to a change of heart1 rather than a     
change of belief1 is founded on solid   
psychological laws4 ,i need not dwell on
 the way in which ,divine love1 as the  
saints have understood it1 answers to   
the complete sublimation of our         
strongest natural passion2 or the extent
 in which the highest experiences of the
 religious life satisfy man's           
instinctive craving for self-realization
 within a greater ,reality1 how he feels
 himself to be fed with a mysterious    
food1 quickened by a fresh dower of     
life1 assured of his own safety within a
 friendly universe1 given a new         
objective for his energy4 ,it is        
notorious that one of the most striking 
things about a truly spiritual man is1  
that he has achieved a certain stability
 which others lack4 ,in him1 the central
 craving of the psyche for more life and
 more love has reached its bourne2      

instead of feeding upon those secondary 
objects of desire which may lull our    
restlessness but cannot heal it ,he     
loves the thing which he ought to love1 
wants to do the deeds which he ought to 
do1 and finds all aspects of his        
personality satisfied in one objective4 
,every one has really a forced option   
between the costly effort to achieve    
this sublimation of impulse1 this       
unification of the self on spiritual    
levels1 and the quiet evasion of it     
which is really a capitulation to the   
animal instincts and unordered cravings 
of our many-levelled being4 ,we cannot  
stand still2 and this steady downward   
pull keeps us ever in mind of all the   
backward-tending possibilities          
collectively to be thought of as sin1   
and explains to us why sloth1 lack of   
spiritual energy1 is held by religion to
 be one of the capital forms of human   
wrongness4  ,i go on to another point1  
which ,i regard as of special           
importance4  ,it must not be supposed   

that the life of the ,spirit begins and 
with the sublimation of1 the instinctive
 and emotional life2 though this is     
indeed for it a central necessity4 ,nor 
must we take it for granted that the    
apparent redirection of impulse to      
spiritual objects is always and         
inevitably an advance4 ,all who are or  
may be concerned with the spiritual     
training1 help1 and counselling of      
others ought clearly to recognize that  
there are elements in religious         
experience which represent1 not a true  
sublimation1 but either disguised       
primitive cravings and ideas1 or        
uprushes from lower instinctive levels3 
for these experiences have their special
 dangers4 ,as we shall see when we come 
to their more detailed study1 devotional
 practices tend to produce that state   
which psychologists call mobility of the
 threshold of consciousness2 and may    
easily permit the emergence of natural  
inclinations and desires1 of which the  
self does not recognize the real        

character4 ,as a matter of fact1 a good 
deal of religious emotion is of this    
kind4 ,instances are the childish       
longing for mere protection1 for a sort 
of supersensual petting1 the excessive  
desire for shelter and rest1 voiced in  
too many popular hymns2 the subtle form 
of self-assertion which can be detected 
in some claims to intercourse with      
,god--e4g4 the celebrated conversation  
of ,angela of ,foligno with the ,holy   
,ghost2#gg the thinly veiled human      
feelings which find expression in the   
personal raptures of a certain type of  
pious literature1 and in what has been  
well described as the divine duet type  
of devotion4 ,many1 though not all of   
the supernormal phenomena of mysticism  
are open to the same suspicion3 and the 
,church's constant insistence on the    
need of submitting these to some        
critical test before1 accepting them at 
face value1 is based on a most wholesome
 scepticism4 ,though a sense of meek    
dependence on enfolding love and power  

is the very heart of religion1 and no   
intense spiritual life is possible      
unless it contain a strong emotional    
element1 it is of first importance to be
 sure that its affective side represents
 a true sublimation of human feelings   
and desires1 and not merely an oblique  
indulgence of lower cravings4  ,again1  
we have to remember that the instinctive
 self1 powerful though it be8 does not  
represent the sum total of human        
possibility4 ,the maximum of man's      
strength is not reached until all the   
self's powers1 the instinctive and also 
the rational1 are united and set on one 
objective2 for then only is he safe from
 the insidious inner conflict between   
natural craving and conscious purpose   
which saps his energies1 and is welded  
into a complete and harmonious          
instrument of life1 ,the source of      
power1 says ,dr4 ,hadfield in ,the      
,spirit1 lies not in instinctive emotion
 alone1 but in instinctive emotion      
expressed in a way with which the whole 

man can1 for the time being at least1   
identify himself4 ,ultimately1 this is  
impossible without the achievement of a 
harmony of all the instincts and the    
approval of the reason4#gh  ,thus we see
 that any unresolved conflict or divorce
 between the religious instinct and the 
intellect will mar the full power of the
 spiritual life3 and that an essential  
part of the self's readjustment to      
reality must consist in the uniting of  
these partners1 as intellect and        
intuition are united in creative art4   
,the noblest music1 most satisfying     
poetry are neither the casual results of
 uncriticized inspiration nor the       
deliberate fabrications of the brain1   
but are born of the perfect fusion of   
feeling and of thought2 for the greatest
 and most fruitful minds are those which
 are rich and active on both            
levels--which are perpetually raising   
blind impulse to the level of conscious 
purpose1 uniting energy with skill1 and 
thus obtaining the fiery energies of the

 instinctive life for the highest uses4 
,so too the spiritual life is only seen 
in its full worth and splendour when the
 whole man is subdued to it1 and one    
object satisfies the utmost desires of  
heart and mind4 ,the spiritual impulse  
must not be allowed to become the centre
 of a group of specialized feelings1 a  
devotional complex1 in opposition to1 or
 at least alienated from1 the           
intellectual and economic life4 ,it must
 on the contrary brim over1 invading    
every department of the self4 ,when the 
mind's loftiest and most ideal thought1 
its conscious vivid aspiration1 has been
 united with the more robust qualities  
of the natural man2 then1 and only then1
 we have the material for the making of 
a possible saint4  ,we must also        
remember that1 important as our         
primitive and instinctive life may      
be--and we should neither despise nor   
neglect it--its religious impulses1     
taken alone1 no more represent the full 
range of man's spiritual possibilities  

than the life of the hunting tribe or   
the ,african kraal represent his full   
social possibilities4 ,we may1 and      
should1 acknowledge and learn from our  
psychic origins4 ,we must never be      
content to rest in them4 ,though in many
 respects1 mental as well as physical1  
we are animals still2 yet we are animals
 with a possible future in the making1  
both corporate and individual1 which we 
cannot yet define4 ,all other levels of 
life assure us that the impulsive nature
 is peculiarly susceptible to education4
 ,not only can the whole group of       
instincts which help self-fulfilment be 
directed to higher levels1 united and   
subdued to a dominant emotional         
interest2 but merely instinctive actions
 can1 by repetition and control1 be     
raised to the level of habit and be     
given improved precision and complexity4
 ,this1 of course1 is a primary function
 of devotional exercises2 training the  
first blind instinct for ,god to the    
complex responses of the life of prayer4

 ,instinct is at best a rough and ready 
tool of life3 practice is required if it
 is to produce its best results4        
,observe1 for instance1 the poor efforts
 of the young bird to escape capture2   
and compare this with the finished      
performance of the parent4#gi ,therefore
 in estimating man's capacity for       
spiritual response1 we must reckon not  
only his innate instinct for ,god1 but  
also his capacity for developing this   
instinct on the level of habit2         
educating and using its latent powers to
 the best advantage4 ,especially on the 
contemplative side of life1 education   
does great things for us2 or would do1  
if we gave it the chance4 ,here1 then1  
the rational mind and conscious will    
must play their part in that great      
business of human transcendence1 which  
is man's function within the universal  
plan4  ,it is true that the deep-seated 
human tendency to ,god may best be      
understood as the highest form of that  
out-going instinctive craving of the    

psyche for more life and love which1 on 
whatever level it be experienced1 is    
always one4 ,but some external stimulus 
seems to be needed1 if this deep        
tendency is to be brought up into       
consciousness2 and some education1 if it
 is to be fully expressed4 ,this        
stimulus and this education1 in normal  
cases1 are given by tradition2 that is  
to say1 by religious belief and         
practice4 ,or they may come from the    
countless minor and cumulative          
suggestions which life makes to us1 and 
which few of us have the subtlety to    
analyze4 ,if these suggestions of       
tradition or environment are met by     
resistance1 either of the moral or      
intellectual order1 whilst yet the deep 
instinct for full life remains          
unsatisfied1 the result is an inner     
conflict of more or less severity2 and  
as a rule1 this is only resolved and    
harmony achieved through the crisis of  
conversion1 breaking down resistances1  
liberating emotion and reconciling inner

 craving with outer stimulus4 ,there is1
 however1 nothing spiritual in the      
conversion process itself4 ,it has its  
parallel in other drastic readjustments 
to other levels of life2 and is merely a
 method by which selves of a certain    
type seem best able to achieve the union
 of feeling1 thought1 and will necessary
 to stability4  ,now we have behind us  
and within us all humanity's funded     
instinct for the ,divine1 all the racial
 habits and traditions of response to   
the ,divine4 ,but its valid thought     
about the ,divine comes as yet to very  
little4 ,thus we see that the author of 
,the ,cloud of ,unknowing spoke as a    
true psychologist when he said that a   
secret blind love pressing towards ,god 
held more hope of success than mere     
thought can ever do2 for ,he may well be
 loved but not thought--by love ,he may 
be gotten and holden1 but by thought    
never4#hj ,nevertheless1 if that        
consistency of deed and belief which is 
essential to full power is to be        

achieved by us1 every man's conception  
of the ,god ,whom he serves ought to be 
the very best of which he is capable4   
,because ideas which we recognize as    
partial or primitive have called forth  
the richness and devotion of other      
natures1 we are not therefore excused   
from trying all things and seeking a    
,reality which fulfils to the utmost our
 craving for truth and beauty1 as well1 
as our instinct for good4 ,it is easy1  
natural1 and always comfortable for the 
human mind to sink back into something  
just a little bit below its highest     
possible4 ,on one hand to wallow in easy
 loves1 rest in traditional formul1 or  
enjoy a moving type of devotion which   
makes no intellectual demand4 ,on the   
other1 to accept without criticism the  
sceptical attitude of our neighbours1   
and keep safely in the furrow of        
intelligent agnosticism4  ,religious    
people have a natural inclination to    
trot along on mediocre levels2 reacting 
pleasantly to all the usual practices1  

playing down to the hopes and fears of  
the primitive mind1 its childish craving
 for comfort and protection1 its        
tendency to rest in symbols and spells1 
and satisfying its devotional           
inclinations by any long psalter        
unmindfully mumbled in the teeth4#ha    
,and a certain type of intelligent      
people have an equally natural tendency 
to dismiss1 without further worry1 the  
traditional notions of the past4 ,in so 
far as all this represents a slipping   
back in the racial progress1 it has the 
character of sin3 at any rate1 it lacks 
the true character of spiritual life4   
,such life involves growth1 sublimation1
 the constant and difficult redirection 
of energy from lower to higher levels2 a
 real effort to purge motive1 see things
 more truly1 face and resolve the       
conflict between the deep instinctive   
and the newer rational life4 ,hence1    
those who realize the nature of their   
own mental processes sin against the    
light if they do not do with them the   

very best that they possibly can3 and   
the penalty of this sin must be a       
narrowing of vision1 an arrest4 ,the    
laws of apperception apply with at least
 as much force to our spiritual as to   
our sensual impressions3 what we bring  
with us will condition what we obtain4  
,we behold that which we are6 said      
,ruysbroeck long ago4#hb ,the mind's    
content and its ruling feeling-tone1    
says psychology1 all its memories and   
desires1 mingle with all incoming       
impressions1 colour them and condition  
those which our consciousness selects4  
,this intervention of memory and emotion
 in our perceptions is entirely         
involuntary2 and explains why the       
devotee of any specific creed always    
finds in the pure immediacy of religious
 experience the special marks of his own
 belief4 ,in most acts of               
perception--and probably1 too1 in the   
intuitional awareness of religious      
experience--that which the mind brings  
is bulkier if less important than that  

which it receives2 and only the closest 
analysis will enable us to separate     
these two elements4 ,yet this machinery 
of apperception--humbling though its    
realization must be to the eager        
idealist--does not merely confuse the   
issue for us2 or compel us to           
agnosticism as to the true content of   
religious intuition4 ,on the contrary1  
its comprehension gives us the clue to  
many theological puzzles2 whilst its    
existence enables us to lay hold of     
supersensual experiences we should      
otherwise miss1 because it gives to us  
the means of interpreting them4 ,pure   
immediacy1 as such1 is almost           
ungraspable by us4 ,as man1 not as pure 
spirit1 the ,high ,priest entered the   
,holy of ,holies3 that is to say1 he    
took to the encounter of the ,infinite  
the finite machinery of sense4 ,this    
limitation is ignored by us at our      
peril4 ,the great mystics1 who have     
sought to strip off all image and       
reach--as they say--the ,bare ,pure     

,truth1 have merely become inarticulate 
in their effort to tell us what it was  
that they knew4 ,a light ,i cannot      
measure1 goodness without form6 exclaims
 ,jacopone da ,todi4#hc ,the ,light of  
the ,world--the ,good ,shepherd1 says   
,st4 ,john1 bringing a richly furnished 
poetic consciousness to the vision of   
,god2 and at once gives us something on 
which to lay hold4  ,generally speaking1
 it is only in so far as we bring with  
us a plan of the universe that we can   
make anything of it2 and only in so far 
as we bring with us some idea of ,god1  
some feeling of desire for ,him1 can we 
apprehend ,him--so true is it that we   
do1 indeed1 behold that which we are1   
find that which we seek1 receive that   
for which we ask4 ,feeling1 thought1 and
 tradition must all contribute to the   
full working out of religious           
experience4 ,the empty soul facing an   
unconditioned ,reality may achieve      
freedom but assuredly achieves nothing  
else3 for though the self-giving of     

,spirit is abundant1 we control our own 
powers of reception4 ,this lays on each 
self the duty of filling the mind with  
the noblest possible thoughts about     
,god1 refusing unworthy and narrow      
conceptions1 and keeping alight the fire
 of ,his love4 ,we shall find that which
 we seek3 hence a richly stored         
religious consciousness1 the lofty      
conceptions of the truth seeker1 the    
vision of the artist1 the boundless     
charity and joy in life of the lover of 
his kind1 really contribute to the      
fulness of the spiritual life2 both on  
its active and on its contemplative     
side4 ,as the self reaches the first    
degrees of the prayerful or recollected 
state1 memory-elements1 released from   
the competition of realistic experience1
 enter the foreconscious field4 ,among  
these will be the stored remembrances of
 past meditations1 reading1 and         
experiences1 all giving an affective    
tone conducive to new and deeper        
apprehensions4 ,the pure in heart see   

,god1 because they bring with them that 
radiant and undemanding purity3 because 
the storehouse of ancient memories1     
which each of us inevitably brings to   
that encounter1 is free from conflicting
 desires and images1 perfectly          
controlled by this feeling-tone4  ,it is
 now clear that all which we have so far
 considered supports1 from the side of  
psychology1 the demand of every religion
 for a drastic overhaul of the elements 
of character1 a real repentance and     
moral purgation1 as the beginning of all
 personal spiritual life4 ,man does not1
 as a rule1 reach without much effort   
and suffering the higher levels of his  
psychic being4 ,his old attachments are 
hard2 complexes of which he is hardly   
aware must be broken up before he can   
use the forces which they enchain4 ,he  
must1 then1 examine without flinching   
his impulsive life1 and know what is in 
his heart1 before he is in a position to
 change it4 ,the light which shows us   
our sins1 says ,george ,fox1 is the     

light that heals us4 ,all those         
repressed cravings1 those quietly       
unworthy motives1 those mean acts which 
we instinctively thrust into the        
hiddenness and disguise or forget1 must 
be brought to the surface and1 in the   
language of psychology1 abreacted2 in   
the language of religion1 confessed4    
,the whole doctrine of repentance really
 hinges on this question of abreacting  
painful or wrongful experience instead  
of repressing it4 ,the broken and       
contrite heart is the heart of which the
 hard complexes have been shattered by  
sorrow and love1 and their elements     
brought up into consciousness and faced3
 and only the self which has endured    
this1 can hope to be established in the 
free ,spirit4 ,it is a process of       
spiritual hygiene4  ,psycho-analysis has
 taught us the danger of keeping        
skeletons in the cupboards of the soul1 
the importance of tracking down our real
 motives1 of facing reality1 of being   
candid and fearless in self-knowledge4  

,but the emotional colour of this       
process when it is undertaken in the    
full conviction of the power and        
holiness of that life-force which we    
have not used as well as we might1 and  
with a humble and loving consciousness  
of our deficiency1 our falling short1   
will be totally different from the      
feeling state of those who conceive     
themselves to be searching for the      
merely animal sources of their mental   
and spiritual life4 ,meekness in itself1
 says ,the ,cloud of ,unknowing1 is     
naught else but a true knowing and      
feeling of a man's self as he is4 ,for  
surely whoso might verily see and feel  
himself as he is1 he should verily be   
meek4 ,therefore swink and sweat all    
that thou canst and mayst for to get    
thee a true knowing and feeling of      
thyself as thou art2 and then ,i trow   
that soon after that thou shalt have a  
true knowing and feeling of ,god as he  
is4#hd  ,the essence1 then1 of          
repentance and purification of character

 consists first in the identification1  
and next in the sublimation of our      
instinctive powers and tendencies2 their
 detachment from egoistic desires and   
dedication to new purposes4 ,we should  
not starve or repress the abounding life
 within us2 but1 relieving it of its    
concentration on the here-and-now1 give 
its attention and its passion a wider   
circle of interest over which to range1 
a greater love to which it can          
consecrate its growing powers4 ,we do   
not yet know what the limit of such     
sublimation may be4 ,but we do know that
 it is the true path of life's          
advancement1 that already we owe to it  
our purest loves1 our loveliest visions1
 and our noblest deeds4 ,when such      
feeling1 such vision and such act are   
united and transfigured in ,god1 and    
find in contact with ,his living ,spirit
 the veritable sources of their power2  
then1 man will have resolved his inner  
conflict1 developed his true            
potentialities1 and live a harmonious   

because a spiritual life4  ,we end1     
therefore1 upon this conception of the  
psyche as the living force within us2 a 
storehouse of ancient memories and      
animal tendencies1 yet plastic1         
adaptable1 ever pressing on and ever    
craving for more life and more love4    
,only the life of reality1 the life     
rooted in communion with ,god1 will ever
 satisfy that hungry spirit1 or provide 
an adequate objective for its persistent
 onward push4  ,,footnotes3  ,footnote  
#fb3 ,ennead ,,iv4 #h4 #e4  ,footnote   
#fc3 ,de ,imit4 ,christi1 ,bk4 ,,iii1   
,cap4 #ec4  ,footnote #fd3 ,boehme1 ,the
 ,way to ,christ1 ,pt4 ,,iv4  ,footnote 
#fe3 ,unamuno has not hesitated to base 
the whole of religion on the instinct of
 self-preservation3 but this must ,i    
think be regarded as an exaggerated     
view4 ,see ,the ,tragic ,sense of ,life 
in ,men and in ,peoples1 ,caps4 #c and  
#d4  ,footnote #ff3 ,boehme3 ,six       
,theosophic ,points1 p4 #ih4  ,footnote 
#fg3 ,the ,cloud of ,unknowing1 ,cap4   

#cf4  ,footnote #fh3 ,e4 ,gardner3 ,st4 
,catherine of ,siena1 p4 #bj4  ,footnote
 #fi3 ,life of ,st4 ,teresa1 by         
,herself1 ,cap4 #cj4  ,footnote #gj3    
,liberal and ,mystical ,writings of     
,william ,law p4 #ei4  ,footnote #ga3   
,jacopone da ,todi1 ,lauda #ij4         
,footnote #gb3 ,liberal and ,mystical   
,writings of ,william ,law1 p4 #abc4    
,footnote #gc3      ,amor tu se'quel ama
      donde lo cor te ama4  --,jacopone 
da ,todi3 ,lauda #ha4  ,footnote #gd3   
,cf4 ,watts3 ,echo ,personalities1 for  
several illustrations of this law4      
,footnote #ge3 ,livingstone3 ,mary      
,slessor of ,calabar1 p4 #aca4          
,footnote #gf3 ,the ,cloud of           
,unknowing1 ,cap1 #dj4  ,footnote #gg3  
,and very often did ,he say unto me1    
',bride and daughter1 sweet art thou    
unto ,me1 ,i love thee better than any  
other who is in the valley of ,spoleto4'
 7,the ,divine ,consolations of ,blessed
 ,angela of ,foligno1 p4 #afj47         
,footnote #gh3 ,the ,spirit1 edited by  

,b4,h4 ,streeter1 p4 #ic4  ,footnote    
#gi3 ,cf4 ,b4 ,russell3 ,the ,analysis  
of ,mind1 ,cap4 #b4  ,footnote #hj3 ,op4
 cit41 ,cap4 #f4  ,footnote #ha3 ,cloud 
of ,unknowing1 ,cap4 #cg4  ,footnote    
#hb3 ,ruysbroeck3 ,the ,sparkling       
,stone1 ,cap4 #i4  ,footnote #hc3 ,lauda
 #ia4  ,footnote #hd3 ,op4 cit41 ,cap4  
#ac4     ,,chapter ,,iv  ,,psychology   
,,and ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit  
7,,ii7 ,,contemplation ,,and            
,,suggestion   ,in the last chapter we  
considered what the modern analysis of  
mind had to tell us about the nature of 
the spiritual life1 the meaning of sin  
and of salvation4 ,we now go on to      
another aspect of this subject3 namely1 
the current conception of the           
unconscious mind as a dominant factor of
 our psychic life1 and of the extent and
 the conditions in which its resources  
can be tapped1 and its powers made      
amenable to the direction of the        
conscious mind4 ,two principal points   
must here be studied4 ,the first is the 

mechanism of that which is called       
autistic thinking and its relation to   
religious experience3 the second1 the   
laws of suggestion and their bearing    
upon the spiritual life4 ,especially    
must we consider from this point of view
 the problems which are resumed under   
the headings of prayer1 contemplation1  
and grace4 ,we shall find ourselves     
compelled to examine the nature of      
meditation and recollection1 as         
spiritual persons have always practised 
them2 and1 to give1 if we can1 a        
psychological account of many of their  
classic conceptions and activities4 ,we 
shall therefore be much concerned with  
those experiences which are often called
 mystical1 but which ,i prefer to call  
in general contemplative and intuitive2 
because they extend1 as we shall find1  
without a break from the simplest type  
of mental prayer1 the most general      
apprehensions of the ,spirit1 to the    
most fully developed examples of        
religious mono-ideism4 ,to place all    

those intuitions and perceptions of     
which ,god or ,his ,kingdom are the     
objects in a class apart from all other 
intuitions and perceptions1 and call    
them mystical1 is really to beg the     
question from the start4 ,the psychic   
mechanisms involved in them are seen in 
action in many other types of mental    
activity2 and will not1 in my opinion1  
be understood until they are removed    
from the category of the supernatural1  
and studied as the movements of the one 
spirit of life--here directed towards a 
transcendent objective4 ,and further we 
must ever keep in mind1 since we are now
 dealing with specific spiritual        
experiences1 deeply exploring the       
contemplative soul1 that though         
psychology can criticize these          
experiences1 and help us to separate the
 wheat from the chaff--can tell us1 too1
 a good deal about the machinery by     
which we lay hold of them1 and the best 
way to use it--it cannot explain the    
experiences1 pronounce upon their       

,object1 or reduce that ,object to its  
own terms4  ,we may some day have a     
valid psychology of religion1 though we 
are far from it yet3 but when we do1 it 
will only be true within its own system 
of reference4 ,it will deal with the    
fact of the spiritual life from one side
 only4 ,and as a discussion of the      
senses and their experience explains    
nothing about the universe by which     
these senses are impressed1 so all      
discussion of spiritual faculty and     
experience remains within the human     
radius and neither invalidates nor      
accounts for the spiritual world4 ,when 
the psychologist has finished telling us
 all that he knows about the rules which
 govern our mental life1 and how to run 
it best1 he is still left face to face  
with the mystery of that life1 and of   
that human power of surrender to        
,spiritual ,reality which is the very   
essence of religion4 ,humility remains1 
therefore1 not only the most becoming   
but also the most scientific attitude   

for investigators in this field4 ,we    
must1 then1 remember the inevitably     
symbolic nature of the language which we
 are compelled to use in our attempt to 
describe these experiences2 and resist  
all temptation to confuse the handy     
series of labels with which psychology  
has furnished us1 with the psychic unity
 to which they will be attached4        
,perhaps the most fruitful of all our   
recent discoveries in the mental region 
will turn out to be that which is       
gradually revealing to us the extent and
 character of the unconscious mind2 and 
the possibility of tapping its          
resources1 bending its plastic shape to 
our own mould4 ,it seems as though the  
laws of its being are at last beginning 
to be understood2 giving a new content  
to the ancient command ,know thyself4   
,we are learning that psycho-therapy1   
which made such immense strides during  
the war1 is merely one of the directions
 in which this knowledge may be used1   
and this control exercised by us4 ,that 

regnancy of spirit over matter towards  
which all idealists must look1 is by way
 of coming at least to a partial        
fulfilment in this control of the       
conscious over the unconscious1 and thus
 over the bodily life4 ,such control is 
indeed an aspect of our human freedom1  
of the creative power which has been put
 into our hands4 ,in all this religion  
must be interested3 because1 once more1 
it is the business of religion to       
regenerate the whole man and win him for
 ,reality4  ,if we could get rid of the 
idea that the unconscious is a separate1
 and in some sort hostile or animal     
entity set over against the conscious   
mind2 and realize that it is1 simply1   
our whole personality1 with the         
exception of the scrap that happens at  
any moment to be in consciousness--then1
 perhaps1 we should more easily grasp   
the importance of exploring and         
mobilizing its powers4 ,as it is1 most  
of us behave like the owners of a       
well-furnished room1 who ignore every   

aspect of it except the window looking  
out upon the street4 ,this we keep      
polished1 and drape with the best       
curtains that we can afford4 ,but the   
room upon which we sedulously turn our  
backs contains all that we have         
inherited1 all that we have accumulated1
 many tools which are rusting for want  
of use2 machinery too which1 left to    
itself1 may function satisfactorily1 or 
may get out of order and work to results
 that we neither desire nor dream4 ,the 
room is twilit4 ,only by the window is a
 little patch of light4 ,beyond this    
there is a fringe of vague1 fluctuating1
 sometimes prismatic radiance3 an       
intermediate region1 where the images   
and things which most interest us have  
their place1 just within range1 or the  
fringe of the field of consciousness4   
,in the darkest corners the machinery   
that we do not understand1 those        
possessions of which we are least proud1
 and those pictures we hate to look at1 
are hidden away4  ,this little parable  

represents1 more or less1 that which    
psychology means by the conscious1      
foreconscious1 and unconscious regions  
of the psyche4 ,it must not be pressed1 
or too literally interpreted2 but it    
helps us to remember the graded         
character of our consciousness1 its     
fluctuating level1 and the fact that1 as
 well as the outward-looking mind which 
alone we usually recognize1 there is    
also the psychic matrix from which it   
has been developed1 the inward-looking  
mind1 caring for a variety of interests 
of which we hardly1 as we say1 think at 
all4 ,we know as yet little about this  
mysterious psychic whole3 the inner     
nature of which is only very            
incompletely given to us in the         
fluctuating experiences of              
consciousness4 ,but we do know that it1 
too1 receives at least a measure of the 
light and the messages coming in by the 
window of our wits3 that it is the home 
of memory instinct and habit1 the source
 of conduct1 and that its control and   

modification form the major part of the 
training of character4 ,further1 it is  
sensitive1 plastic1 accessible to       
impressions1 and unforgetting4          
,consider now that half-lit region which
 is called the foreconscious mind2 for  
this is of special interest to the      
spiritual life4 ,it is1 in psychological
 language1 the region of autistic as    
contrasted with realistic thought4#he   
,that is to say1 it is the agent of     
reverie and meditation2 it is at work in
 all our brooding states1 from day-dream
 to artistic creation4 ,such autistic   
thought is dominated not by logic or    
will1 but by feeling4 ,it achieves its  
results by intuition1 and has its       
reasons which the surface mind knows not
 of4 ,here1 in this fringe-region--which
 alone seems fully able to experience   
adoration and wonder1 or apprehend the  
values we call holiness1 beauty or      
love--is the source of that intuition of
 the heart to which the mystic owes the 
love which is knowledge1 and the        

knowledge which is love4 ,here is the   
true home of inspiration and invention4 
,here1 by a process which is seldom     
fully conscious save in its final       
stages1 the poet's creations are        
prepared1 and thence presented in the   
form of inspiration to the reason2      
which--if he be a great                 
artist--criticizes them1 before they are
 given as poems to the world4 ,indeed1  
in all man's apprehensions of the       
transcendental these two states of the  
psyche must co-operate if he is to      
realize his full powers3 and it is      
significant that to this foreconscious  
region religion1 in its own special     
language1 has always invited him to     
retreat1 if he would know his own soul  
and thus commune with his ,god4 ,over   
and over again it assures him under     
various metaphors1 that he must turn    
within1 withdraw from the window1 meet  
the inner guest2 and such a withdrawal  
is the condition of all contemplation4  
,consider the opening of ,jacob         

,boehme's great dialogue on the         
,supersensual ,life4  ,the ,scholar said
 to his ,master3 ,how may ,i come to the
 supersensual life1 that ,i may see ,god
 and hear ,him speak8  ,his ,master     
said3 ,when thou canst throw thyself for
 a moment into that where no creature   
dwelleth1 then thou hearest what ,god   
speaketh4  ,the ,scholar said3 ,is that 
near at hand or far off8  ,the ,master  
said3 ,it is in thee1 if thou canst for 
a while cease from all thinking and     
willing1 thou shalt hear the unspeakable
 words of ,god4  ,the ,scholar said3    
,how can ,i hear when ,i stand still    
from thinking and willing8  ,the ,master
 said3 ,when thou standest still from   
the thinking and willing of self1 then  
the eternal hearing1 seeing and speaking
 will be revealed in thee4#hf  ,in this 
passage we have a definite invitation to
 retreat from volitional to affective   
thought3 from the window to the quiet   
place where no creature dwelleth1 and in
 ,patmore's phrase the night of thought 

becomes the light of perception4#hg     
,this fringe-region or foreconscious is 
in fact the organ of contemplation1 as  
the realistic outward looking mind is   
the organ of action4 ,most men go       
through life without conceiving1 far    
less employing1 the rich possibilities  
which are implicit in it4 ,yet here1    
among the many untapped resources of the
 self1 lie our powers of response to our
 spiritual environment3 powers which are
 kept by the tyrannical interests of    
everyday life below the threshold of    
full consciousness1 and never given a   
chance to emerge4 ,here take place those
 searching experiences of the inner life
 which seem moonshine or morbidity to   
those who have not known them4  ,the    
many people who complain that they have 
no such personal religious experience1  
that the spiritual world is shut to     
them1 are usually found to have expected
 this experience to be given to them    
without any deliberate and sustained    
effort on their own part4 ,they have    

lived from childhood to maturity at the 
little window of consciousness and have 
never given themselves the opportunity  
of setting up correspondences with any  
other world than that of sense4 ,yet all
 normal men and women possess1 at least 
in a rudimentary form1 some intuition of
 the transcendental2 shown in their     
power of experiencing beauty or love4   
,in some it is dominant1 emerging easily
 and without help2 in others it is      
latent and must be developed in the     
right way4 ,in others again it may exist
 in virtual conflict with a strongly    
realistic outlook2 gathering way until  
it claims its rights at last in a       
psychic storm4 ,its emergence1 however  
achieved1 is a part--and for our true   
life1 by far the most important part--of
 that outcropping and overflowing into  
consciousness of the marginal faculties 
which is now being recognized as        
essential to all artistic and creative  
activities2 and as playing1 too1 a large
 part in the regulation of mental and   

bodily health4  ,all the great religions
 have implicitly understood--though     
without analysis--the vast importance of
 these spiritual intuitions and         
faculties lying below the surface of the
 everyday mind2 and have perfected      
machinery tending to secure their       
release and their training4 ,this is of 
two kinds3 first1 religious ceremonial1 
addressing itself to corporate feeling2 
next the discipline of meditation and   
prayer1 which educates the individual to
 the same ends1 gradually developing the
 powers of the foreconscious region1    
steadying them1 and bringing them under 
the control of the purified will4       
,without some such education1 widely as 
its details may vary1 there can be no   
real living of the spiritual life4      
,a going out into the life of sense     
,prevented the exercise of earnest      
realization4#hh  ,psychologists         
sometimes divide men into the two       
extreme classes of extroverts and       
introverts4 ,the extrovert is the       

typical active2 always leaning out of   
the window and setting up contacts with 
the outside world4 ,his thinking is     
mainly realistic4 ,that is to say1 it   
deals with the data of sense4 ,the      
introvert is the typical contemplative1 
predominantly interested in the inner   
world4 ,his thinking is mainly autistic1
 dealing with the results of intuition  
and feeling1 working these up into new  
structures and extorting from them new  
experiences4 ,he is at home in the      
foreconscious1 has its peculiar powers  
under control2 and instinctively        
obedient to the mystic command to sink  
into the ground of the soul1 he leans   
towards those deep wells of his own     
being which plunge into the unconscious 
foundations of life4 ,by this avoidance 
of total concentration on the sense     
world--though material obtained from it 
must as a matter of fact enter into all1
 even his most spiritual creations--he  
seems able to attend to the messages    
which intuition picks up from other     

levels of being4 ,it is significant that
 nearly all spiritual writers use this  
very term of introversion1 which        
psychology has now adopted as the most  
accurate that it can find1 in a         
favourable1 indeed laudatory1 sense4 ,by
 it they intend to describe the healthy 
expansion of the inner life1 the        
development of the soul's power of      
attention to the spiritual1 which is    
characteristic of those real men and    
women of prayer whom ,ruysbroeck        
describes as3--      ,gazing inward with
 an eye uplifted and open to the        
,eternal ,truth     ,inwardly abiding in
 simplicity and stillness and in utter  
peace4#hi  ,it is certain that no one   
who wholly lacks this power of retreat  
from the surface1 and has failed thus to
 mobilize his foreconscious energies1   
can live a spiritual life4 ,this is why 
silence and meditation play so large a  
part in all sane religious discipline4  
,but the ideal state1 a state answering 
to that rhythm of work and prayer which 

should be the norm of a mature          
spirituality1 is one in which we have   
achieved that mental flexibility and    
control which puts us in full possession
 of our autistic and our realistic      
powers2 balancing and unifying the inner
 and the outer world4  ,this being so1  
it is worth while to consider in more   
detail the character of foreconscious   
thought4  ,foreconscious thinking1 as it
 commonly occurs in us1 with its        
unchecked illogical stream of images and
 ideas1 moving towards no assigned end1 
combined in no ordered chain1 is merely 
what we usually call day-dream4 ,but    
where a definite wish or purpose1 an    
end1 dominates this reverie and links up
 its images and ideas into a cycle1 we  
get in combination all the valuable     
properties both of affective and of     
directed thinking2 although the reverie 
or contemplation place in the           
fringe-region of our mental life1 and in
 apparent freedom from the control of   
the conscious reason4 ,the object of    

recollection and meditation1 which are  
the first stages of mental prayer1 is to
 set going such a series and to direct  
it towards an assigned end3 and this    
first inward-turning act and            
self-orientation are voluntary1 though  
the activities which they set up are    
not4 ,you must know1 my daughters1 says 
,st4 ,teresa1 that this is no           
supernatural act but depends on our     
will2 and that therefore we can do it1  
with that ordinary assistance of ,god   
which we need for all our acts and even 
for our good thoughts4#ij  ,consider for
 a moment what happens in prayer4 ,i    
pass over the simple recitation of      
verbal prayers1 which will better be    
dealt with when we come to consider the 
institutional framework of the spiritual
 life4 ,we are now concerned with mental
 prayer or orison2 the simplest of those
 degrees of contemplation which may pass
 gradually into mystical experience1 and
 are at least in some form a necessity  
of any real and actualized spiritual    

life4 ,such prayer is well defined by   
the mystics1 as a devout intent directed
 to ,god4#ia ,what happens in it8 ,all  
writers on the science of prayer        
observe1 that the first necessity is    
,recollection2 which1 in a rough and    
ready way1 we may render as             
concentration1 or perhaps in the special
 language of psychology as contention4  
,the mind is called in from external    
interests and distractions1 one by one  
the avenues of sense are closed1 till   
the hunt of the world is hardly         
perceived by it4 ,i need not labour this
 description1 for it is a state of which
 we must all have experience3 but those 
who wish to see it described with the   
precision of genius1 need only turn to  
,st4 ,teresa's ,way of ,perfection4     
,having achieved this1 we pass gradually
 into the condition of deep withdrawal  
variously called ,simplicity or ,quiet2 
a state in which the attention is       
quietly and without effort directed to  
,god1 and the whole self as it were held

 in ,his presence4 ,this presence is    
given1 dimly or clearly1 in intuition4  
,the actual prayer used will probably   
consist--again to use technical         
language--of affective acts and         
aspirations2 short phrases repeated and 
held1 perhaps expressing penitence1     
humility1 adoration or love1 and for the
 praying self charged with profound     
significance4  ,if we would intentively 
pray for getting of good1 says ,the     
,cloud of ,unknowing1 let us cry either 
with word or with thought or with       
desire1 nought else nor on more words   
but this word ,god4444 ,study thou not  
for no words1 for so shouldst thou never
 come to thy purpose nor to this work1  
for it is never got by study1 but all   
only by grace4#ib  ,now the question    
naturally arises1 how does this         
recollected state1 this alogical        
brooding on a spiritual theme1 exceed in
 religions value the orderly saying of  
one's prayers8 ,and the answer          
psychology suggests is1 that more of us1

 not less1 is engaged in such a         
spiritual act3 that not only the        
conscious attention1 but the            
foreconscious region too is then thrown 
open to the highest sources of life4 ,we
 are at last learning to recognize the  
existence of delicate mental processes  
which entirely escape the crude methods 
of speech4 ,reverie as a genuine thought
 process is beginning to be studied with
 the attention it deserves1 and new     
understanding of prayer must result4 ,by
 its means powers of perception and     
response ordinarily latent are roused to
 action2 and thus the whole life is     
enriched4 ,that faculty in us which     
corresponds1 not with the busy life of  
succession but with the eternal sources 
of power1 gets its chance4 ,though the  
soul1 says ,von ,hgel1 cannot abidingly 
abstract itself from its fellows1 it can
 and ought frequently to recollect      
itself in a simple sense of ,god's      
presence4 ,such moments of direct       
preoccupation with ,god alone bring a   

deep refreshment and simplification to  
the soul4#ic  ,true silence1 says       
,william ,penn1 of this quiet surrender 
to reality1 is rest to the mind1 and is 
to the spirit what sleep is to the body2
 nourishment and refreshment4#id        
,psychology endorses the constant       
statements of all religions of the      
,spirit1 that no one need hope to live a
 spiritual life who cannot find a little
 time each day for this retreat from the
 window1 this quiet and loving waiting  
upon the unseen with the forces of the  
soul1 as ,ruysbroeck puts it1 gathered  
into unity of the ,spirit4#ie ,under    
these conditions1 and these only1 the   
intuitive1 creative1 artistic powers are
 captured and dedicated to the highest  
ends3 and in these powers rather than   
the rational our best chance of         
apprehending eternal values abides1     
,taste and see that the ,lord is sweet4 
,be still6 be still6 and know that ,i am
 ,god6  ,since1 then1 the foreconscious 
mind and its activities are of such     

paramount interest to the spiritual     
life1 we may before we go on glance at  
one or two of its characteristics4 ,and 
first we notice that the fact that the  
foreconscious is1 so to speak1 in charge
 in the mental and contemplative type of
 prayer explains why it is that even the
 most devout persons are so constantly  
tormented by distractions whilst engaged
 in it4 ,very often1 they are utterly   
unable to keep their attention fixed2   
and the reason of this is1 that         
conscious attention and thought are not 
the faculties primarily involved4 ,what 
is involved1 is reverie coloured by     
feeling2 and this tends to depart from  
its assigned end and drift into mere    
day-dream1 if the emotional tension     
slackens or some intruding image starts 
a new train of associations4 ,the       
religious mind is distressed by this    
constant failure to look steadily at    
that which alone it wants to see2 but   
the failure abides in the fact that the 
machinery used is affective1 and        

obedient to the rise and fall of feeling
 rather than the control of the will4   
,by love shall ,he be gotten and holden1
 by thought never4  ,next1 consider for 
a moment the way in which the           
foreconscious does and must present its 
apprehensions to consciousness4 ,its    
cognitions of the spiritual are in the  
nature of pure immediacy1 of            
uncriticized contacts3 and the best and 
greatest of them seem to elude          
altogether that machinery of speech and 
image which has been developed through  
the life of sense4 ,the well-known      
language of spiritual writers about the 
divine darkness or ignorance is an      
acknowledgment of this4 ,god is known   
darkly4 ,our experience of ,eternity is 
that of which nothing can be said4 ,it  
is beyond feeling and beyond knowledge1 
a certitude known in the ground of the  
soul1 and so forth4 ,it is indeed true  
that the spiritual world is for the     
human mind a transcendent world1 does   
differ utterly in kind from the best    

that the world of succession is able to 
give us2 as we know once for all when we
 establish a contact with it1 however   
fleeting4 ,but constantly the           
foreconscious--which1 as we shall do    
well to remember1 is the artistic region
 of the mind1 the home of the poem1 and 
the creative phantasy--works up its     
transcendent intuitions in symbolic     
form4 ,for this purpose it sometimes    
uses the machinery of speech1 sometimes 
that of image4 ,as our ordinary reveries
 constantly proceed by way of an        
interior conversation or narrative1 so  
the content of spiritual contemplation  
is often expressed in dialogue1 in which
 memory and belief are fused with the   
fruit of perception4 ,the ,dialogue of  
,st4 ,catherine of ,siena1 the ,life of 
,suso1 and the ,imitation of ,christ1   
all provide beautiful examples of this2 
but indeed illustrations of it might be 
found in every school and period of     
religious literature4  ,such inward     
dialogue1 one of the commonest          

spontaneous forms of autistic thought1  
is perpetually resorted to by devout    
minds to actualize their consciousness  
of direct communion with ,god4 ,i need  
not point out how easily and naturally  
it expresses for them that sense of a   
,friend and ,companion1 an indwelling   
power and support1 which is perhaps     
their characteristic experience4        
,blessed is that soul1 says  ,kempis1   
that heareth the ,lord speaking in him  
and taketh from ,his mouth the word of  
consolation4 ,blessed be those ears that
 receive of ,god's whisper and take no  
heed of the whisper of this world4#if   
,though ,st4 ,john of the ,cross has    
reminded us with blunt candour that such
 persons are for the most part only     
talking to themselves1 we need not deny 
the value of such a talking as a means  
of expressing the deeply known and      
intimate presence of ,spirit4 ,moreover1
 the thoughts and words in which the    
contemplative expresses his sense of    
love and dedication reverberate as it   

were in the depths of the instinctive   
mind1 now in this quietude thrown open  
to these influences3 and the instinctive
 mind1 as we have already seen1 is the  
home of character and of habit          
formation4  ,where there is a tendency  
to think in images rather than in words1
 the experiences of the ,spirit may be  
actualized in the form of vision rather 
than of dialogue3 and here again1 memory
 and feeling will provide the material4 
,here we stand at the sources of        
religious art3 which1 when it is        
genuine1 is a symbolic picture of the   
experiences of faith1 and in those minds
 attuned to it may evoke again the      
memory or very presence of those        
experiences4 ,but many minds are1 as it 
were1 their own religious artists2 and  
build up for themselves psychic         
structures answering to their intuitive 
apprehensions4 ,so vivid may these      
structures sometimes be for them        
that--to revert again to our original   
simile--the self turns from the window  

and the realistic world without1 and    
becomes for the time wholly concentrated
 on the symbolic drama or picture within
 the room2 which abolishes all awareness
 of the everyday world4 ,when this      
happens in a small way1 we have what    
might be called a religious day-dream of
 more or less beauty and intensity2 such
 as most devout people who tend to      
visualization have probably known4 ,when
 the break with the external world is   
complete1 we get those ecstatic visions 
in which mystics of a certain type      
actualize their spiritual intuitions4   
,the ,bible is full of examples of this4
 ,good historic instances are the       
visions of ,mechthild of ,magdeburg or  
,angela of ,foligno4 ,the first contain 
all the elements of drama1 the last     
cover a wide symbolic and emotional     
field4 ,those who have read ,canon      
,streeter's account of the visions of   
the ,sadhu ,sundar ,singh will recognize
 them as being of this type4#ig  ,i do  
not wish to go further than this into   

the abnormal and extreme types of       
religious autism2 trance1 ecstasy and so
 forth4 ,our concern is with the norm of
 the spiritual life1 as it exists to-day
 and as all may live it4 ,but it is     
necessary to realize that image and     
vision do within limits represent a     
perfectly genuine way of doing things1  
which is inevitable for deeply spiritual
 selves of a certain type2 and that it  
is neither good psychology nor good     
,christianity1 lightly to dismiss as    
superstition or hysteria the pictured   
world of symbol in which our neighbour  
may live and save his soul4 ,the        
symbolic world of traditional piety1    
with its angels and demons1 its friendly
 saints1 its spatial heaven1 may        
conserve and communicate spiritual      
values far better than the more         
sophisticated universe of religious     
philosophy4 ,we may be sure that both   
are more characteristic of the          
image-making and structure-building     
tendencies of the mind1 than they are of

 the ultimate and for us unknowable     
reality of things4 ,their value--or the 
value of any work of art which the      
foreconscious has contrived--abides     
wholly in the content3 the quality of   
the material thus worked up4 ,the rich  
nature1 the purified love1 capable of   
the highest correspondences1 will       
express even in the most primitive      
duologue or vision the results of a     
veritable touching and tasting of       
,eternal ,life4 ,its psychic            
structures--however logic may seek to   
discredit them--will convey spiritual   
fact1 have the quality which the mystics
 mean when they speak of illumination4  
,the emotional pietist will merely      
ramble among the religious symbols and  
phrases with which the devout memory is 
stored4 ,it is true that the voice or   
the picture1 surging up as it does into 
the field of consciousness1 seems to    
both classes to have the character of a 
revelation4 ,the pictures unroll        
themselves automatically and with       

amazing authority and clearness1 the    
conversation is with ,another than      
ourselves2 or in more generalized       
experiences1 such as the sense of the   
,divine ,presence1 the contact is with  
another order of life4 ,but the crucial 
question which religion asks must be1   
does fresh life flow in from those      
visions and contacts1 that intercourse8 
,is transcendental feeling involved in  
them8 ,what fruits dost thou bring back 
from this thy vision8 says ,jacopone da 
,todi2#ih and this remains the only real
 test by which to separate day-dreams   
from the vitalizing act of              
contemplation4 ,in the first we are     
abandoned to a delightful1 and perhaps  
as it seems holy or edifying vagrancy of
 thought4 ,in the second1 by a          
deliberate choice and act of will1      
foreconscious thinking is set going and 
directed towards an assigned end3 the   
apprehending and actualizing of our     
deepest intuition of ,god4 ,in it1 a    
great region of the mind usually ignored

 by us and left to chance1 yet source of
 many choices and deeds1 and capable of 
much purifying pain1 is put to its true 
work3 and it is work which must be      
humbly1 regularly and faithfully        
performed4 ,it is to this region that   
poetry1 art and music--and even1 if ,i  
dare say so1 philosophy--make their     
fundamental appeal4 ,no life is whole   
and harmonized in which it has not taken
 its right place4  ,we must now go      
on--and indeed1 any psychological study 
of prayerful experience must lead us    
on--to the subject of suggestion1 and   
its relation to the inner life4 ,by     
suggestion of course is here meant1 in  
conformity with current psychological   
doctrine1 the process by which an idea  
enters the deeper and unconscious       
psychic levels and there becomes        
fruitful4 ,its real nature1 and in      
consequence something of its            
far-reaching importance1 is now         
beginning to be understood by us3 a fact
 of great moment for both the study and 

the practice of the spiritual life4     
,since the transforming work of the     
,spirit must be done through man's      
ordinary psychic machinery and in       
conformity with the laws which govern   
it1 every such increase in our knowledge
 of that machinery must serve the       
interests of religion1 and show its     
teachers the way to success4 ,suggestion
 is usually said to be of two kinds4    
,the first is hetero-suggestion1 in     
which the self-realizing idea is        
received either wittingly or unwittingly
 from the outer world4 ,during the whole
 of our conscious lives for good or evil
 we are at the mercy of such            
hetero-suggestions1 which are being made
 to us at every moment by our           
environment2 and they form1 as we shall 
afterwards see1 a dominant factor in    
corporate religious exercises4 ,the     
second type is auto-suggestion4 ,in     
this1 by means of the conscious mind1 an
 idea is implanted in the unconscious   
and there left to mature4 ,thus do      

willingly accepted beliefs1 religious1  
social1 or scientific1 gradually and    
silently permeate the whole being and   
show their results in character4  ,a    
little reflection shows1 however1 that  
these two forms of suggestion shade into
 one another2 and that no               
hetero-suggestion1 however impressively 
given1 becomes active in us until we    
have in some sort accepted it and       
transformed it into an auto-suggestion4 
,theology expresses this fact in its own
 special language1 when it says that the
 will must co-operate with grace if it  
is to be efficacious4 ,thus the primacy 
of the will is safe-guarded4 ,it stands1
 or should stand1 at the door2 selecting
 from among the countless dynamic       
suggestions1 good and bad1 which life   
pours in on us1 those which serve the   
best interests of the self4  ,as a rule1
 men take little trouble to sort out the
 incoming suggestions4 ,they allow      
uncriticized beliefs and prejudices1 the
 ideas of hatred1 anxiety or ill-health1

 free entrance4 ,they fail to seize and 
affirm the ideas of power1 renovation1  
joy4 ,they would be more careful1 did   
they grasp more fully the immense and   
often enduring effect of these accepted 
suggestions2 the extent in which the    
fundamental1 unreasoning psychic deeps  
are plastic to ideas4 ,yet this         
plasticity is exhibited in daily life   
first under the emotional form of       
sympathy1 response to the suggestion of 
other peoples' feeling-states2 and next 
under the conative form of imitation1   
active acceptance of the suggestion made
 by their appearance1 habits1 deeds4    
,all political creeds1 panics1 fashion  
and good form witness to the            
overwhelming power of suggestion4 ,we   
are so accustomed to this psychic       
contagion that we fail to realize the   
strangeness of the process3 but it is   
now known to reach a degree previously  
unsuspected1 and of which we have not   
yet found the limits4  ,in the religious
 sphere1 the more sensational           

demonstrations of this psychic          
suggestibility have long been notorious4
 ,obvious instances are those           
ecstatics--some of them true saints1    
some only religious invalids--whose     
continuous and ardent meditation on the 
,cross produced in them the actual      
bodily marks of the ,passion of ,christ4
 ,in less extreme types1 perpetual      
dwelling on this subject1 together with 
that eager emotional desire to be united
 with the sufferings of the ,redeemer   
which medival religion encouraged1      
frequently modified the whole life of   
the contemplative2 shaping the plastic  
mind1 and often the body too1 to its own
 mould4 ,a good historic example of this
 law of religious suggestibility is the 
case of ,julian of ,norwich4 ,as a young
 girl1 ,julian prayed that she might    
have an illness at thirty years of age1 
and also a closer knowledge of ,christ's
 pains4 ,she forgot the prayer3 but it  
worked below the threshold as forgotten 
suggestions often do1 and when she was  

thirty the illness came4 ,its psychic   
origin can still be recognized in her   
own candid account of it2 and with the  
illness the other half of that dynamic  
prayer received fulfilment1 in those    
well-known visions of the ,passion to   
which we owe the ,revelations of ,divine
 ,love4#ii  ,this is simply a striking  
instance of a process which is always   
taking place in every one of us1 for    
good or evil4 ,the deeper mind opens to 
all who knock2 provided only that the   
new-comers be not the enemies of some   
stronger habit or impression already    
within4 ,to suggestions which coincide  
with the self's desires or established  
beliefs it gives an easy welcome2 and   
these1 once within1 always tend to      
self-realization4 ,thus the ,french     
,carmelite ,thrse de l',enfant-,jsus1   
once convinced that she was destined to 
be a victim of love1 began that career  
of suffering which ended in her death at
 the age of twenty-four4#ajj ,the lives 
of the ,saints are full of incidents    

explicable on the same lines3 exhibiting
 again and again the dramatic           
realization of traditional ideas or     
passionate desires4 ,we see therefore   
that ,st4 ,paul's admonition ,whatsoever
 things are pure1 whatsoever things are 
lovely1 whatsoever things be of good    
report1 think on these things is a piece
 of practical advice of which the       
importance can hardly be exaggerated2   
for it deals with the conditions under  
which man makes his own mentality4      
,suggestion1 in fact1 is one of the most
 powerful agents either of              
self-destruction or of self-advancement 
which are within our grasp3 and those   
who speak of the results of             
psycho-therapy1 or the certitudes of    
religious experience1 as mere suggestion
 are unfortunate in their choice of an  
adjective4 ,if then we wish to explore  
all those mental resources which can be 
turned to the purposes of the spiritual 
life1 this is one which we must not     
neglect4 ,the religious idea1 rightly   

received into the mind and reinforced by
 the suggestion of regular devotional   
exercises1 always tends to realize      
itself4 ,receive ,his leaven1 says      
,william ,penn1 and it will change thee1
 ,his medicine and it will cure thee4   
,he is as infallible as free2 without   
money and with certainty4 ,yield up the 
body1 soul and spirit to ,him that      
maketh all things new3 new heaven and   
new earth1 new love1 new joy1 new peace1
 new works1 a new life and              
conversation4#aja ,this is fine         
literature1 but it is more important to 
us to realize that it is also good      
psychology3 and that here we are given  
the key to those amazing regenerations  
of character which are the romance and  
glory of the religious life4 ,pascal's  
too celebrated saying1 that if you will 
take holy water regularly you will      
presently believe1 witnesses on another 
level to the same truth4  ,fears have   
been expressed that1 by such an         
application of the laws of suggestion to

 religious experience1 we shall reduce  
religion itself to a mere favourable    
subjectivism1 and identify faith with   
suggestibility4 ,but here the bearing of
 this series of facts on bodily health  
provides us with a useful analogy4      
,bodily health is no illusion4 ,it does 
not consist in merely thinking that we  
are well1 but is a real condition of    
well-being and of power2 depending on   
the state of our tissues and correct    
balance and working of our physical and 
psychical life4 ,and this correct and   
wholesome working will be furthered and 
steadied--or if broken may often be     
restored--by good suggestions2 it may be
 disturbed by bad suggestions2 because  
the controlling factor of life is mind1 
not chemistry1 and mind is plastic to   
ideas4 ,so too the life of the ,spirit  
is a concrete fact2 a real response to a
 real universe4 ,but this concrete life 
of faith1 with its growth and its       
experiences1 its richly various working 
of one principle in every aspect of     

existence1 its correspondences with the 
,eternal ,world1 its definitely         
ontological references1 is lived here   
and now2 in and through the self's      
psychic life1 and indeed his bodily life
 too--a truth which is embodied in      
sacramentalism4 ,therefore1 sharing as  
it does life's plastic character1 it too
 is amenable to suggestion and can be   
helped or hindered by it4 ,it is indeed 
characteristic of those in whom this    
life is dominant1 that they are capable 
of receiving and responding to the      
highest and most vivifying suggestions  
which the universe in its totality pours
 in on us4 ,this movement of response1  
often quietly overlooked1 is that which 
makes them not spiritual hedonists but  
men and women of prayer4 ,grace--to give
 these suggestions of ,spirit their     
conventional name--is perpetually       
beating in on us4 ,but if it is to be   
inwardly realized1 the ,divine          
suggestion must be transformed by man's 
will and love into an auto-suggestion2  

and this is what seems to happen in     
meditation and prayer4  ,everything     
indeed points to a very close connection
 between what might be called the       
mechanism of prayer and of suggestion4  
,to say this1 is in no way to minimize  
the transcendental character of prayer4 
,in both states there is a spontaneous  
or deliberate throwing open of the      
deeper mind to influences which1 fully  
accepted1 tend to realize themselves4   
,look at the directions given by all    
great teachers of prayer and            
contemplation2 and these two acts1      
rightly performed1 fuse one with the    
other1 they are two aspects of the      
single act of communion with ,god4 ,look
 at their insistence on a stilling and  
recollecting of the mind1 on surrender1 
a held passivity not merely limp but    
purposeful3 on the need of meek yielding
 to a greater inflowing power1 and its  
regenerating suggestions4 ,then compare 
this with the method by which           
health-giving suggestions are made to   

the bodily life4 ,in the deeps of the   
soul ,his word is spoken4 ,is not this  
an exact description of the inward work 
of the self-realizing idea of holiness1 
received in the prayer of quiet into the
 unconscious mind1 and there experienced
 as a transforming power8 ,i think that 
we may go even further than this1 and   
say that grace1 is1 in effect1 the      
direct suggestion of the spiritual      
affecting our soul's life4 ,as we are   
commonly docile to the countless        
hetero-suggestions1 some of them        
helpful1 some weakening1 some actually  
perverting1 which our environment is    
always making to us2 so we can and      
should be so spiritually suggestible    
that we can receive those given to us by
 all-penetrating ,divine life4 ,what is 
generally called sin1 especially in the 
forms of self-sufficiency1 lack of      
charity and the indulgence of the       
senses1 renders us recalcitrant to these
 living suggestions of the ,spirit4 ,the
 opposing qualities1 humility1 love and 

purity1 make us as we say accessible to 
grace4  ,son1 says the inward voice to  
,thomas  ,kempis1 ,my grace is precious1
 and suffereth not itself to be mingled 
with strange things nor earthly         
consolations4 ,wherefore it behoveth    
thee to cast away impediments to grace1 
if thou willest to receive the inpouring
 thereof4 ,ask for thyself a secret     
place1 love to dwell alone with thyself1
 seek confabulation of none other 444   
put the readiness for ,god before all   
other things1 for thou canst not both   
take heed to ,me and delight in things  
transitory4444 ,this grace is a light   
supernatural and a special gift of ,god1
 and a proper sign of the chosen        
children of ,god1 and the earnest of    
everlasting health2 for ,god lifteth up 
man from earthly things to love heavenly
 things1 and of him that is fleshly     
maketh a spiritual man4#ajb ,could we   
have a more vivid picture than this of  
the conditions of withdrawal and        
attention under which the psyche is most

 amenable to suggestion1 or of the      
inward transfiguration worked by a great
 self-realizing idea8 ,such             
transfiguration has literally on the    
physical plane caused the blind to see1 
the deaf to hear1 the dumb to speak3 and
 it seems to me that it is to be        
observed operating on highest levels in 
the work of salvation4 ,when further    
,kempis prays ,increase in me more      
grace1 that ,i may fulfil ,thy word and 
make perfect mine own health is he not  
describing the right balance to be      
sought between our surrender to the     
vivifying suggestions of grace and our  
appropriation and manly use of them8    
,this is no limp acquiescence and merely
 infantile dependence1 but another      
aspect of the vital balance between the 
indrawing and outgiving of power2 and   
one of the main functions of prayer is  
to promote in us that spiritually       
suggestible state in which1 as          
,dionysius the ,areopagite says1 we are 
receptive of ,god4  ,it is1 then1 worth 

our while from the point of view of the 
spiritual life to inquire into the      
conditions in which a suggestion is most
 likely to be received and realized by  
us4 ,these conditions1 as psychologists 
have so far defined them1 can be resumed
 under the three heads of quiescence1   
attention and feeling3 outstanding      
characteristics1 as ,i need not point   
out1 of the state of prayer1 all of     
which can be illustrated from the       
teaching and experience of the mystics4 
,first1 let us take ,quiescence4 ,in    
order fully to lay open the unconscious 
to the influence of suggested ideas1 the
 surface mind must be called in from its
 responses to the outer world1 or in    
religious language recollected1 till the
 hum of that world is hardly perceived  
by it4 ,the body must be relaxed1 making
 no demands on the machinery controlling
 the motor system2 and the conditions in
 general must be those of complete      
mental and bodily rest4 ,here is the    
psychological equivalent of that which  

spiritual writers call the ,quiet3 a    
state defined by one of them as a rest  
most busy4 ,those who are in this       
prayer1 says ,st4 ,teresa1 wish their   
bodies to remain motionless1 for it     
seems to them that at the least movement
 they will lose their sweet peace4#ajc  
,others say that in this state we stop  
the wheel of imagination1 leave all that
 we can think1 sink into our nothingness
 or our ground4 ,in ,ruysbroeck's       
phrase1 we are inwardly abiding in      
simplicity and stillness and utter      
peace2#ajd and this is man's state of   
maximum receptivity4 ,the best and      
noblest way in which thou mayst come    
into this work and life1 says ,meister  
,eckhart1 is by keeping silence and     
letting ,god work and speak 444 when we 
simply keep ourselves receptive we are  
more perfect than when at work4#aje     
,but this preparatory state of          
surrendered quiet must at once be       
qualified by the second point3          
,attention4 ,it is based upon the right 

use of the will1 and is not a limp      
yielding to anything or nothing4 ,it has
 an ordained deliberate aim1 is a       
behaviour-cycle directed to an end2 and 
this it is that marks out the real and  
fruitful quiet of the contemplative from
 the non-directed surrender of mere     
quietism4 ,nothing1 says ,st4 ,teresa1  
is learnt without a little pains4 ,for  
the love of ,god1 sisters1 account that 
care well employed that ye shall bestow 
on this thing4#ajf  ,the quieted mind   
must receive and hold1 yet without      
discursive thought1 the idea which it   
desires to realize2 and this idea must  
interest and be real for it1 so that    
attention is concentrated on it         
spontaneously4 ,the more completely the 
idea absorbs us1 the greater its        
transforming power3 when interest       
wavers1 the suggestion begins to lose   
ground4 ,in spite of her subsequent     
relapse into quietism ,madame ,guyon    
accurately described true quiet when she
 said1 ,our activity should consist in  

endeavouring to acquire and maintain    
such a state as may be most susceptible 
of divine impressions1 most flexible to 
all the operations of the ,eternal      
,word4#ajg ,such concentration can be   
improved by practice2 hence the value of
 regular meditation and contemplation to
 those who are in earnest about the     
spiritual life1 the quiet and steady    
holding in the mind of the thought which
 it is desired to realize4              
,psycho-therapists tell us that1 having 
achieved quiescence1 we should rapidly  
and rythmically1 but with intention1    
repeat the suggestion that we wish to   
realize2 and that the shorter1 simpler  
and more general this verbal formula1   
the more effective it will be4#ajh ,the 
spiritual aspect of this law was well   
understood by the medival mystics4 ,thus
 the author of ,the ,cloud of ,unknowing
 says to his disciple1 ,fill thy spirit 
with ghostly meaning of this word ,sin1 
and without any special beholding unto  
any kind of sin1 whether it be venial or

 deadly4 ,and cry thus ghostly ever upon
 one3 ,sin6 ,sin6 ,sin6 out6 out6 out6  
,this ghostly cry is better learned of  
,god by the proof than of any man by    
word4 ,for it is best when it is in pure
 spirit1 without special thought or any 
pronouncing of word4 ,on the same manner
 shalt thou do with this little word    
,god3 and mean ,god all1 and all ,god1  
so that nought work in thy wit and in   
thy will but only ,god4#aji ,here the   
directions are exact1 and such as any   
psychologist of the present day might   
give4 ,so too1 religious teachers       
informed by experience have always      
ascribed a special efficacy to short    
acts of prayer and aspiration3 phrases  
repeated or held in the mind1 which sum 
up and express the self's penitence1    
love1 faith or adoration1 and are really
 brief1 articulate suggestions parallel 
in type to those which ,baudouin        
recommends to us as conducive to bodily 
well-being4#aaj ,the repeated           
affirmation of ,julian of ,norwich ,all 

shall be well6 all shall be well6 all   
shall be well6#aaa fills all her        
revelations with its suggestion of      
joyous faith2 and countless generations 
of ,christians have thus applied to     
their soul's health those very methods  
by which we are now enthusiastically    
curing indigestion and cold in the head4
 ,the articulate repetition of such     
phrases increases their suggestive      
power2 for the unconscious is most      
easily reached by way of the ear4 ,this 
fact throws light on the immemorial     
insistence of all great religions on the
 peculiar value of vocal prayer1 whether
 this be the mantra of the ,hindu or the
 dikr of the ,moslem2 and explains the  
instinct which causes the ,catholic     
,church to require from her priests the 
verbal repetition1 not merely the silent
 reading of their daily office4 ,hence1 
too1 there is real educative value1 in  
such devotions as the rosary2 and the   
,protestant ,churches showed little     
psychological insight when they         

abandoned it4 ,such vain repetitions1   
however much the rational mind may      
dislike1 discredit or denounce them1    
have power to penetrate and modify the  
deeper psychic levels2 always provided  
that they conflict with no accepted     
belief1 are weighted with meaning and   
desire1 with the intent stretched       
towards ,god1 and are not allowed to    
become merely mechanical--the standing  
danger alike of all verbal suggestion   
and all vocal prayer4  ,here we touch   
the third character of effective        
suggestion3 ,feeling4 ,when the idea is 
charged with emotion1 it is far more    
likely to be realized4 ,war neuroses    
have taught us the dreadful potency of  
the emotional stimulus of fear2 but this
 power of feeling over the unconscious  
has its good side too4 ,here we find    
psychology justifying the often         
criticized emotional element of         
religion4 ,its function is to increase  
the energy of the idea4 ,the cool1      
judicious type of belief will never     

possess the life-changing power of a    
more fervid1 though perhaps less        
rational faith4 ,thus the state of      
corporate suggestibility generated in a 
revival and on which the success of that
 revival depends1 is closely related to 
the emotional character of the appeal   
which is made4 ,and1 on higher levels1  
we see that the transfigured lives and  
heroic energies of the great figures of 
,christian history all represent the    
realization of an idea of which the     
heart was an impassioned love of ,god1  
subduing to its purposes all the        
impulses and powers of the inner man1   
,if you would truly know how these      
things come to pass1 said ,st4          
,bonaventura1 ask it of desire not of   
intellect2 of the ardours of prayer1 not
 of the teaching of the schools4#aab    
,more and more psychology tends to      
endorse the truth of these words4       
,quiescence1 attention1 and emotional   
interest are then the conditions of     
successful suggestion4 ,we have further 

to notice two characteristics which have
 been described by the ,nancy school of 
psychologists2 and which are of some    
importance for those who wish to        
understand the mechanism of religious   
experience4 ,these have been called the 
law of ,unconscious ,teleology1 and the 
law of ,reversed ,effort4  ,the law of  
unconscious teleology means that when an
 end has been effectively suggested to  
it1 the unconscious mind will always    
tend to work towards its realization4   
,thus in psycho-therapeutics it is found
 that a general suggestion of good      
health made to the sick person is often 
enough4 ,the doctor may not himself know
 enough about the malady to suggest     
stage by stage the process of cure4 ,but
 he suggests that cure2 and the         
necessary changes and adjustments       
required for its realization are made   
unconsciously1 under the influence of   
the dynamic idea4 ,here the direction of
 ,the ,cloud of ,unknowing1 ,look that  
nothing live in thy working mind but a  

naked intent directed to                
,god#aac--suggesting as it does to the  
psyche the ontological ,object of       
faith--strikingly anticipates the last  
conclusions of science4 ,further1 a     
fervent belief in the end proposed1 a   
conviction of success1 is by no means   
essential4 ,far more important is a     
humble willingness to try the method1   
give it a chance4 ,that which reason may
 not grasp1 the deeper mind may seize   
upon and realize2 always provided that  
the intellect does not set up           
resistances4 ,this is found to be true  
in medical practice1 and religious      
teachers have always declared it to be  
true in the spiritual sphere2 holding   
obedience1 humility1 and a measure of   
resignation1 not spiritual vision1 to be
 the true requisites for the reception  
of grace1 the healing and renovation of 
the soul4 ,thus acquiescence in belief1 
and loyal and steady co-operation in the
 corporate religious life are often seen
 to work for good in those who submit to

 them2 though these may lack1 as they   
frequently say1 the spiritual sense4    
,and this happens1 not by magic1 but in 
conformity with psychological law4      
,this tendency of the unconscious self  
to realize without criticism a suggested
 end lays on religious teachers the     
obligation of forming a clear and vital 
conception of the spiritual ideals which
 they wish to suggest1 whether to       
themselves in their meditations or to   
others by their teaching3 to be sure    
that they are wholesome1 and really tend
 to fullness of life4 ,it should also   
compel each of us to scrutinize those   
religious thoughts and images which we  
receive and on which we allow our minds 
to dwell3 excluding those that are      
merely sentimental1 weak or otherwise   
unworthy1 and holding fast the noblest  
and most beautiful that we can find4    
,for these ideas1 however generalized1  
will set up profound changes in the mind
 that receives them4 ,thus the wrong    
conception of self-immolation will be   

faithfully worked out by the            
unconscious--and has been too often in  
the past--in terms of misery1 weakness1 
or disease4 ,we remember how the idea of
 herself as a victim of love worked     
physical destruction in ,thrse de       
,l',enfant ,jsus3 and we shall never    
perhaps know all the havoc wrought by   
the once fashionable doctrines of       
predestination and of the total         
depravity of human nature4 ,all this    
shows how necessary it is to put        
hopeful1 manly1 constructive conceptions
 before those whom we try to help or    
instruct2 constantly suggesting to them 
not the weak and sinful things that they
 are1 but the living and radiant things 
which they can become4  ,further1 this  
tendency of the received suggestion to  
work out its whole content for good or  
evil within the unconscious mind1 shows 
the importance which we ought to attach 
to the tone of a religions service1 and 
how close too many of our popular hymns 
are to what one might call psychological

 sin2 stressing as they do a childish   
weakness love of shelter and petting1 a 
neurotic shrinking from full human life1
 a morbid preoccupation with failure and
 guilt4 ,such hymns make devitalizing   
suggestions1 adverse to the health and  
energy of the spiritual life2 and are   
all the more powerful because they are  
sung collectively and in rhythm1 and are
 cast in an emotional mould4#aad ,there 
was some truth in the accusation of the 
,indian teacher ,ramakrishna1 that the  
books of the ,christians insisted too   
exclusively on sin4 ,he said1 ,he who   
repeats again and again ',i am bound6 ,i
 am bound6' remains in bondage4 ,he who 
repeats day and night ',i am a sinner6  
,i am a sinner6' becomes a sinner       
indeed4#aae  ,i go on to the law of     
,reversed ,effort2 a psychological      
discovery which seems to be of extreme  
importance for the spiritual life4      
,briefly this means1 that when any      
suggestion has entered the unconscious  
mind and there become active1 all our   

conscious and anxious resistances to it 
are not merely useless but actually tend
 to intensify it4 ,if it is to be       
dislodged1 this will not be accomplished
 by mere struggle but by the persuasive 
power of another and superior           
auto-suggestion4 ,further1 in respect of
 any habit that we seek to establish1   
the more desperate our struggle and     
sense of effort1 the smaller will be our
 success4 ,in small matters we have all 
experienced the working of this law3 in 
frustrated struggles to attend to that  
which does not interest us1 to check a  
tiresome cough1 to keep our balance when
 learning to ride a bicycle4 ,but it has
 also more important applications4 ,thus
 it indicates that a deliberate struggle
 to believe1 to overcome some moral     
weakness1 to keep attention fixed in    
prayer1 will tend to frustration3 for   
this anxious effort gives body to our   
imaginative difficulties and sense of   
helplessness1 fixing attention on the   
conflict1 not on the desired end4 ,true1

 if this end is to be achieved the will 
must be directed to it1 but only in the 
sense of giving steadfast direction to  
the desires and acts of the self1       
keeping attention orientated towards the
 goal4 ,the pull of imaginative desire1 
not the push of desperate effort1 serves
 us best4 ,st4 ,teresa well appreciated 
this law and applied it to her doctrine 
of prayer4 ,if your thought1 she says to
 her daughters1 runs after all the      
fooleries of the world1 laugh at it and 
leave it for a fool and continue in your
 quiet 444 if you seek by force of arms 
to bring it to you1 you lose the        
strength which you have against it4#aaf 
,this same principle is implicitly      
recognized by those theologians who     
declare that man can do nothing of      
himself1 that mere voluntary struggle is
 useless1 and regeneration comes by     
surrender to grace3 by yielding1 that   
is1 to the inner urge1 to those sources 
of power which flow in1 but are not     
dragged in4 ,indications of its truth   

meet us everywhere in spiritual         
literature4 ,thus ,jacob ,boehme says1  
,because thou strivest against that out 
of which thou art come1 thou breakest   
thyself off with thy own willing from   
,god's willing4#aag ,so too the constant
 invitations to let ,god work and speak1
 to surrender1 are all invitations to   
cease anxious strife and effort and give
 the ,divine suggestions their chance4  
,the law of reversed effort1 in fact1 is
 valid on every level of life2 and warns
 us against the error of making religion
 too grim and strenuous an affair4      
,certainly in all life of the ,spirit   
the will is active1 and must retain its 
conscious and steadfast orientation to  
,god4 ,heroic activity and moral effort 
must form an integral part of full human
 experience4 ,yet it is clearly possible
 to make too much of the process of     
wrestling evil4 ,an attention chiefly   
and anxiously concentrated on the       
struggle with sins and weaknesses1      
instead of on the eternal sources of    

happiness and power1 will offer the     
unconscious harmful suggestions of      
impotence and hence tend to frustration4
 ,the early ascetics1 who made elaborate
 preparations for dealing with          
temptations1 got as an inevitable result
 plenty of temptations with which to    
deal4 ,a sounder method is taught by the
 mystics4 ,when thoughts of sin press on
 thee1 says ,the ,cloud of ,unknowing1  
look over their shoulders seeking       
another thing1 the which thing is       
,god4#aah  ,these laws of suggestion1   
taken together1 all seem to point1 one  
way4 ,they exhibit the human self as    
living1 plastic1 changeful2 perpetually 
modified by the suggestions pouring in  
on it1 the experiences and intuitions to
 which it reacts4 ,every thought1       
prayer1 enthusiasm1 fear1 is of         
importance to it4 ,nothing leaves it as 
it was before4 ,the soul1 said ,boehme1 
stands both in heaven and in hell4 ,keep
 it perpetually busy at the window of   
the senses1 feed it with unlovely and   

materialistic ideas1 and those ideas    
will realize themselves4 ,give the      
contemplative faculty its chance1 let it
 breathe at least for a few moments of  
each day the spiritual atmosphere of    
faith1 hope and love1 and the spiritual 
life will at least in some measure be   
realized by it4  ,,footnotes3  ,footnote
 #he3 ,on all this1 cf4 ,j4 ,varendonck1
 ,the ,psychology of ,day-dreams4       
,footnote #hf3 ,jacob ,boehme3 ,the ,way
 to ,christ1 ,pt4 ,,iv4  ,footnote #hg3 
,patmore3 ,the ,rod1 the ,root and the  
,flower3 ,aurea ,dicta1 #ac4  ,footnote 
#hh3 ,ruysbroeck3 ,the ,book of the     
,,xii ,bguines1 ,cap4 #f4  ,footnote    
#hi3 ,the ,book of the ,,xii ,bguines1  
,cap4 #g4  ,footnote #ij3 ,the ,way of  
,perfection1 ,cap4 #bi4  ,footnote #ia3 
,the ,cloud of ,unknowing1 ,cap4 #ci4   
,footnote #ib3 ,ibid4  ,footnote #ic3   
,eternal ,life1 p4 #cif4  ,footnote #id3
 ,penn3 ,no ,cross1 ,no ,crown4         
,footnote #ie3 ,the ,book of the ,,xii  
,bguines1 ,cap1 #g4  ,footnote #if3 ,de 

,imit4 ,christi1 ,bk4 ,,iii1 ,cap4 ,i   
,footnote #ig3 ,streeter and ,appasamy3 
,the ,sadhu1 a ,study in ,mysticism and 
,practical ,religion1 ,pt4 ,v4          
,footnote #ih3      ,que frutti reducene
 de esta tua visione8     ,vita ordinata
 en onne nazione4  --,jacopone da ,todi3
 ,lauda #gi4  ,footnote #ii3 ,julian of 
,norwich3 ,revelations of ,divine ,love1
 ,caps4 #b1 #c1 #d4  ,footnote #ajj3    
,soeur ,thrse de l',enfant-,jsus1 ,cap4 
#h4  ,footnote #aja3 ,william ,penn3 ,no
 ,cross1 ,no ,crown4  ,footnote #ajb3   
,de ,imit4 ,christi1 ,bk4 ,,iii1 ,cap4  
#eh4  ,footnote #ajc3 ,way of           
,perfection1 ,cap4 #cc4  ,footnote #ajd3
 ,the ,book of the ,,xii ,bguines1 ,cap4
 #g4  ,footnote #aje3 ,meister ,eckhart1
 ,pred4 ,i4  ,footnote #ajf3 ,the ,way  
of ,perfection1 ,cap4 #bi4  ,footnote   
#ajg3 ,a ,short and ,easy ,method of    
,prayer1 ,cap4 #ba4  ,footnote #ajh3    
,baudouin3 ,suggestion and              
,auto-,suggestion1 ,pt4 ,,ii1 ,cap #f4  
,footnote #aji3 ,op4 cit4 ,cap4 #dj4    

,footnote #aaj3 ,baudouin3 ,suggestion  
and ,auto-,suggestion1 loc4 cit4        
,footnote #aaa3 ,revelations of ,divine 
,love1 ,cap4 #bg4  ,footnote #aab3 ,de  
,itinerario ,mentis in ,deo1 ,cap4 #g4  
,footnote #aac3 ,op4 cit41 ,cap4 #dc4   
,footnote #aad3 ,hymns of the ,weary    
,willie type3 e4g4      ,o ,paradise1 ,o
 ,paradise     ,who does not sigh for   
rest8  should never be sung in          
congregations where the average age is  
less than sixty4 ,equally unsuited to   
general use are those expressing        
disillusionment1 anxiety1 or impotence4 
,any popular hymnal will provide an     
abundance of examples4  ,footnote #aae3 
,quoted by ,pratt3 ,the ,religious      
,consciousness1 ,cap4 #g4  ,footnote    
#aaf3 ,the ,way of ,perfection1 ,cap4   
#ca4  ,footnote #aag3 ,the ,way to      
,christ1 ,pt4 ,,iv4  ,footnote #aah3    
,op4 cit41 ,cap4 #cb4     ,,chapter ,v  
,,institutional ,,religion ,,and ,,the  
,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit   ,so far1 in
 considering what psychology had to tell

 us about the conditions in which our   
spiritual life can develop1 and the     
mental machinery it can use1 we have    
been1 deliberately1 looking at men one  
by one4 ,we have left on one side all   
those questions which relate to the     
corporate aspect of the spiritual life1 
and its expression in religious         
institutions2 that is to say1 in        
churches and cults4 ,we have looked upon
 it as a personal growth and response2 a
 personal reception of1 and             
self-orientation to1 ,reality4 ,but we  
cannot get away from the fact that this 
regenerate life does most frequently    
appear in history associated with1 or   
creating for itself1 a special kind of  
institution4 ,although it is impossible 
to look upon it as the appearance of a  
favourable variation within the species1
 it is also just as possible to look    
upon it as the formation of a new herd  
or tribe4 ,where the variation appears1 
and in its sense of newness1 youth and  
vigour breaks away from the institution 

within which it has arisen1 it generally
 becomes the nucleus about which a new  
group is formed4 ,so that individualism 
and gregariousness are both represented 
in the full life of the ,spirit2 and    
however personal its achievement may    
seem to us1 it has also a definitely    
corporate and institutional aspect4  ,i 
now propose to take up this side of the 
subject1 and try to suggest one or two  
lines of thought which may help us to   
discover the meaning and worth of such  
societies and institutions4 ,for after  
all1 some explanation is needed of these
 often strange symbolic systems1 and    
often rigid mechanizations1 imposed on  
the free responses to ,eternal ,reality 
which we found to constitute the essence
 of religious experience4 ,any one who  
has known even such direct communion    
with the ,spirit as is possible to      
normal human nature must1 if he thinks  
out the implications of his own         
experience1 feel it to be inconsistent  
that this most universal of all acts    

should be associated by men with the    
most exclusive of all types of          
institution4 ,it is only because we are 
so accustomed to this--taking churches  
for granted1 even when we reject        
them--that we do not see how odd they   
really are3 how curious it is that men  
do not set up exclusive and mutually    
hostile clubs full of rules and         
regulations to enjoy the light of the   
sun in particular times and fashions1   
but do persistently set up such         
exclusives clubs full of rules and      
regulations1 so to enjoy the free       
,spirit of ,god4  ,when we look into    
history we see the life of the ,spirit1 
even from its crudest beginnings1       
closely associated with two movements4  
,first with the tendency to organize it 
in communities or churches1 living under
 special sanctions and rules4 ,next1    
with the tendency of its greatest1 most 
arresting personalities either to revolt
 from these organisms or to reform1     
rekindle them from within4 ,so that the 

institutional life of religion persists 
through or in spite of its own constant 
tendency to stiffen and lose fervour1   
and the secessions1 protests1 or        
renewals which are occasioned by its    
greatest sons4 ,thus our ,lord protested
 against ,jewish formalism2 many        
,catholic mystics1 and afterwards the   
best of the ,protestant reformers1      
against ,roman formalism2 ,george ,fox  
against one type of ,protestant         
formalism2 the ,oxford movement against 
another4 ,this constant antagonism of   
church and prophet1 of institutional    
authority and individual vision1 is not 
only true of ,christianity but of all   
great historical faiths4 ,in the middle 
ages ,kabir and ,nanak1 and in our own  
times the leaders of the ,brahmo ,samaj1
 break away from and denounce ceremonial
 ,hinduism3 again and again the great   
,sufis have led reforms within ,islam4  
,that which we are now concerned to     
discover is the necessity underlying    
this conflict3 the extent in which the  

institution on one hand serves the      
spiritual life1 and on the other cramps 
or opposes its free development4 ,it is 
a truism that all such institutions tend
 to degenerate1 to become mechanical1   
and to tyrannize4 ,are they then1 in    
spite of these adverse characters1 to be
 looked on as essential1 inevitable1 or 
merely desirable expressions of the     
spiritual life in man2 or can this      
spiritual life flourish in pure freedom8
  ,this question1 often put in the      
crucial form1 ,did ,jesus ,christ intend
 to form a ,church8 is well worth       
asking4 ,indeed1 it is of great pressing
 importance to those who now have the   
spiritual reconstruction of society at  
heart4 ,it means1 in practice3 can men  
best be saved1 regenerated1 one by one1 
by their direct responses to the action 
of the ,spirit2 or1 is the life of the  
,spirit best found and actualized       
through submission to tradition and     
contacts with other men--that is1 in a  
group or church8 ,and if in a group or  

church1 what should the character of    
this society be8 ,but we shall make no  
real movement towards solving this      
problem1 unless we abandon both the     
standpoint of authority1 and that of    
nave religious individualism2 and       
consent to look at it as a part of the  
general problem of human society1 in the
 light of history1 of psychology1 and of
 ethics4  ,i think we may say without   
exaggeration that the general modern    
judgment--not1 of course1 the clerical  
or orthodox judgment--is adverse to     
institutionalism2 at least as it now    
exists4 ,in spite of the enormous       
improvement which would certainly be    
visible1 were we to compare the average 
ecclesiastical attitude and average     
,church service in this country with    
those of a hundred years ago1 the sense 
that religion involves submission to the
 rules and discipline of a closed       
society--that definite spiritual gains  
are attached to spiritual               
incorporation--that church-going1 formal

 and corporate worship1 is a normal and 
necessary part of the routine of a good 
life3 all this has certainly ceased to  
be general amongst us4 ,if we include   
the whole population1 and not the pious 
fraction in our view1 this is true both 
of so-called ,catholic and so-called    
,protestant countries4 ,professor ,pratt
 has lately described #hj per cent4 of  
the population of the ,united ,states as
 being unchurched2 and all who worked   
among our soldiers at the front were    
struck by the paradox of the immense    
amount of natural religion existing     
among them1 combined with almost total  
alienation from religious institutions4 
,those1 too1 who study and care for the 
spiritual life seem most often to       
conceive it in the terms of ,william    
,james's well-known definition of       
religion as the feelings1 acts and      
experiences of individual men in their  
solitude1 so far as they apprehend      
themselves to stand in relation to      
whatever they may consider the          

,divine4#aai  ,such a life of the       
,spirit--and the majority of educated   
men would probably accept this          
description of it--seems little if at   
all conditioned by ,church membership4  
,it speaks in secret to its ,father in  
secret2 and private devotion and        
self-discipline seem to be all it needs4
 ,yet looking at history1 we see that   
this conception1 this completeness of   
emphasis on first-hand solitary seeking1
 this one-by-one achievement of         
,eternity1 has not in fact proved truly 
fruitful in the past4 ,where it seems so
 to be fruitful1 the solitude is        
illusory4 ,each great regenerator and   
revealer of ,reality1 each              
,god-intoxicated soul achieving         
transcendence1 owes something to its    
predecessors and contemporaries4#abj    
,all great spiritual achievement1 like  
all great artistic achievement1 however 
spontaneous it may seem to be1 however  
much the fruit of a personal love and   
vision1 is firmly rooted in the racial  

past4 ,if fulfills rather than destroys2
 and unless its free movement towards   
novelty1 fresh levels of pure           
experience1 be thus balanced by the     
stability which is given us by our      
hoarded traditions and formed habits1 it
 will degenerate into eccentricity and  
fail of its full effect4 ,although      
nothing but first-hand discovery of and 
response to spiritual values is in the  
end of any use to us1 that discovery and
 that response are never quite such a   
single-handed affair as we like to      
suppose4 ,memory and environment1       
natural and cultural1 play their part4  
,and the next most natural and fruitful 
movement after such a personal discovery
 of abiding ,reality1 such a            
transfiguration of life1 is always back 
towards our fellow-men2 to learn more   
from them1 to unite with them1 to help  
them1--anyhow to reaffirm our solidarity
 with them4 ,the great men and women of 
the ,spirit1 then1 either use their new 
power and joy to restore existing       

institutions to fuller vitality1 as did 
the successive regenerators of the      
monastic life1 such as ,st4 ,bernard and
 ,st4 ,teresa and many ,sufi saints2 or 
they form new groups1 new organisms     
which they can animate1 as did ,st4     
,paul1 ,st4 ,francis1 ,kabir1 ,fox1     
,wesley1 ,booth4 ,one and all1 they feel
 that the full robust life of the       
,spirit demands some incarnation1 some  
place in history and social outlet1 and 
also some fixed discipline and          
tradition4  ,in fact1 not only the      
history of the soul1 but that of all    
full human achievement1 as studied in   
great creative personalities1 shows us  
that such achievement has always two    
sides4 7#a7 ,there is the solitary      
vision or revelation1 and personal work 
in accordance with that vision4 ,the    
religious man's direct experience of    
,god and his effort to correspond with  
it2 the artist's lonely and intense     
apprehension of beauty1 and hard        
translation of it2 the poet's dream and 

its difficult expression in speech2 the 
philosopher's intuition of reality1     
hammered into thought4 ,these are       
personal immediate experiences1 and no  
human soul will reach its full stature  
unless it can have the measure of       
freedom and withdrawal which they       
demand4 ,but 7#b7 there are the social  
and historical contacts which are made  
by all these creative types with the    
past and with the present2 all the big  
rich thick stream of human history and  
effort1 giving them1 however little they
 may recognize it1 the very initial     
concepts with which they go to their    
special contact with reality1 and which 
colour it2 supporting them and demanding
 from them again their contribution to  
the racial treasury1 and to the present 
too4 ,thus the artist1 as1 well as his  
solitary hours of contemplation and     
effort1 ought to have his times alike of
 humble study of the past and of        
intercourse with other living artists2  
and great and enduring art forms more   

often arise within a school1 than in    
complete independence of tradition4 ,it 
seems1 then1 that the advocates of      
corporate and personal religion are     
both1 in a measure1 right3 and that once
 again a middle path1 avoiding both     
extremes of simplification1 keeps       
nearest to the facts of life4 ,we have  
no reason for supposing that these      
principles1 which history shows us1 have
 ceased to be operative3 or that we can 
secure the best kind of spiritual       
progress for the race by breaking with  
the past and the institutions in which  
it is conserved4 ,institutions are in   
some sort needful if life's balance     
between stability and novelty1 and our  
links with history and our fellow-men1  
are to be preserved2 and if we are to   
achieve such a fullness both of         
individual and of corporate life on     
highest levels as history and psychology
 recommend to us4  ,the question of this
 institutional side of religion and what
 we should demand from it falls into two

 parts1 which will best be treated      
separately4 ,first1 that which concerns 
the character and usefulness of the     
group-organization or society3 the      
,church4 ,secondly1 that which relates  
to its peculiar practices3 the ,cult4   
,we must enquire under each head what   
are their necessary characters1 their   
essential gifts to the soul1 and what   
their dangers and limitations4  ,first1 
then1 the ,church4 ,what does a ,church 
really do for the ,god-desiring         
individual2 the soul that wants to live 
a full1 complete and real life1 which   
has felt in its solitude the presence   
and compulsion of ,eternal ,reality     
under one or other of the forms of      
religious experience8  ,i think we can  
say that the ,church or institution     
gives to its loyal members3--    7#a7   
,group-consciousness4    7#b7 ,religious
 union1 not only with its contemporaries
       but with the race1 that is with  
history4 ,this we may regard as an      
extension       into the past--and so an

 enrichment--of       that              
group-consciousness4    7#c7            
,discipline2 and with discipline a sort 
of       spiritual grit1 which carries  
our fluctuating       souls past and    
over the inevitably recurring           
periods of slackness1 and corrects      
subjectivism4    7#d7 ,it gives         
,culture1 handing on the discoveries    
of the saints4  ,in so far as the       
free-lance gets any of these four       
things1 he gets them ultimately1 though 
indirectly1 from some institutional     
source4  ,on the other hand the         
institution1 since it represents the    
element of stability in life1 does not  
give1 and must not be expected to give1 
direct spiritual experience2 or any     
onward push towards novelty1 freshness  
of discovery and interpretation in the  
spiritual sphere4 ,its dangers and      
limitations will abide in a certain     
dislike of such freshness of discovery2 
the tendency to exalt the corporate and 
stable and discount the mobile and      

individual4 ,its natural instinct will  
be for exclusivism1 the club-idea1      
conservatism and cosiness2 it will1 if  
left to itself1 revel in the middle-aged
 atmosphere and exhibit the middle-aged 
point of view4  ,we can now consider    
these points in greater detail3 and     
first that of the religious             
group-consciousness which a church      
should give its members4 ,this is of a  
special kind4 ,it is axiomatic that     
group-organization of some sort is a    
necessity of human life4 ,history showed
 us the tendency of all spiritual       
movements to embody themselves1 if not  
in churches at least in some group-form2
 the paradox of each successive revolt  
from a narrow or decadent               
institutionalism forming a group in its 
turn1 or perishing when its first       
fervour died4 ,but this social impulse1 
these spontaneous group-formations of   
master and disciples1 valuable though   
they may be1 do not fully exhibit all   
that is meant or done by a church4      

,true1 the ,church is or should be at   
each moment of its career such a living 
spiritual society or household of faith4
 ,it is1 essentially1 a community of    
persons1 who have or should have a      
common sentiment--belief in1 and        
reverence for1 their ,god--and a common 
defined aim1 the furtherance of the     
spiritual life under the special        
religious sanctions which they accept4  
,but every sect1 every religious order  
or guild1 every class-meeting1 might    
claim this much2 yet none of these can  
claim to be a church4  ,a church is far 
more than this4 ,in so far as it is     
truly alive1 it is a real organism1 as  
distinguished from a crowd or collection
 of persons with a common purpose4 ,it  
exhibits on the religious plane the     
ruling characters of such organized     
life3 that is to say1 the development of
 tradition and complex habits1 the      
differentiation of function1 the        
docility to leadership1 the conservation
 of values1 or carrying forward of the  

past into the present4 ,it is1 like the 
,state1 embodied history2 and as such   
lives with its own life1 a life         
transcending and embracing that of the  
individual souls of which it is built4  
,and here1 in its combined social and   
historic character1 lie the sources     
alike of its enormous importance for    
human life and of its inevitable        
defects4  ,professor ,mc,dougall1 in his
 discussion of national groups1#aba has 
laid down the conditions which are      
necessary to the development of such a  
true organic group life as is seen in a 
living church4 ,these are3 first1       
continuity of existence1 involving the  
development of a body of traditions1    
customs and practices--that is1 for     
religion1 a ,cultus4 ,next1 an          
authoritative organization through which
 custom and belief can be               
transmitted--that is1 a ,hierarchy1     
order of ministers1 or its equivalent4  
,third1 a conscious common interest1    
belief1 or idea--,creed4 ,last1 the     

existence of antagonistic groups or     
conditions1 developing loyalty or       
keenness4 ,these characters--continuity1
 authority1 common belief and           
loyalty--which are shown1 as he says1 in
 their completeness in a patriot army1  
are ,i think no less marked features of 
a living spiritual society4 ,plain      
examples are the primitive ,christian   
communities1 the great religious orders 
in their flourishing time1 the ,society 
of ,friends4 ,they are on the whole more
 fully evident in the ,catholic than in 
the ,protestant type of church4 ,but ,i 
think that we may look upon them1 in    
some form or another1 as essential to   
any institutional framework which shall 
really help the spiritual life in man4  
,we find ourselves1 then1 committed to  
the picture of a church or spiritual    
institution which is in essence         
,liturgic1 ,ecclesiastical1 ,dogmatic1  
and ,militant1 as best fulfilling the   
requirements of group psychology4 ,four 
decidedly indigestible morsels for the  

modern mind4 ,yet1 group-feeling demands
 common expression if it is to be lifted
 from notion to fact4 ,discipline       
requires some authority1 and some       
devotion to it4 ,culture involves a     
tradition handed on4 ,and these1 we     
said1 were the chief gifts which the    
institution had to give to its members4 
,we may therefore keep them in mind1 as 
representing actual values1 and warning 
us that neither history nor psychology  
encourages the belief that an amiable   
fluidity serves the highest purposes of 
life4 ,some common practice and custom1 
keeping the individual in line with the 
main tendencies of the group1 providing 
rails on which the instinctive life can 
run and machinery by which fruitful     
suggestions can be spread4 ,some real   
discipline and humbling submission to   
rule4 ,some traditional and theological 
standard4 ,some missionary effort and   
enthusiasm4 ,for these four things we   
must find place in any incorporation of 
the spiritual life which is to have its 

full effect upon the souls of men4 ,and 
as a matter of fact1 the periodical     
revolts against churches and            
ecclesiasticism1 are never against      
societies in which all these            
characteristics are still alive2 but    
against those which retain and          
exaggerate formal tradition and         
authority1 whilst they have lost zest   
and identity of aim4  ,a real ,church   
has therefore something to give to1 and 
something to demand from each of its    
members1 and there is a genuine loss for
 man in being unchurched4 ,because it   
endures through a perpetual process of  
discarding and renewal1 those members   
will share the richness and experience  
of a spiritual life far exceeding their 
own time-span2 a truth which is         
enshrined in the beautiful conception of
 the ,communion of ,saints4 ,they enter 
a group consciousness which reinforces  
their own in the extent to which they   
surrender to it2 which surrounds them   
with favourable suggestions and gives   

the precision of habit to their instinct
 for ,eternity4 ,the special atmosphere1
 the hoarded beauty1 the evocative yet  
often archaic symbolism1 of a ,gothic   
,cathedral1 with its constant           
reminiscences of past civilizations and 
old levels of culture1 its broken       
fragments and abandoned altars1 its     
conservation of eternal truths--the     
intimate union in it of the sublime and 
homely1 the successive and abiding      
aspects of reality--make it the most    
fitting of all images of the ,church1   
regarded as the spiritual institution of
 humanity4 ,and the perhaps undue       
conservatism commonly associated with   
,cathedral circles represents too the   
chief reproach which can be brought     
against churches--their tendency to     
preserve stability at the expense of    
novelty1 to crystallize1 to cling to    
habits and customs which no longer serve
 a useful end4 ,in this a church is like
 a home2 where old bits of furniture    
have a way of hanging on1 and old       

habits1 sometimes absurd1 endure4 ,yet  
both the home and the church can give   
something which is nowhere else         
obtainable by us1 and represent values  
which it is perilous to ignore4 ,when   
once the historical character of reality
 is fully grasped by us1 we see that    
some such organization through which    
achieved values are conserved and       
carried forward1 useful habits are      
learned and practised1 the direct       
intuitions of genius1 the prophet's     
revelation of reality are interpreted   
and handed on1 is essential to the      
spiritual continuity of the race2 and   
that definite churchmanship of some     
sort1 or its equivalent1 must be a      
factor in the spiritual reconstruction  
of society4 ,as1 other things being     
equal1 a baby benefits enormously by    
being born within the social framework  
rather than in the illusory freedom of  
pure nature2 so the growth of the soul  
is1 or should be1 helped and not        
hindered by the nurture it receives from

 the religious society in which it is   
born4 ,only indeed by attachment1 open  
or virtual1 through life or through     
literature1 to some such group can the  
new soul link itself with history1 and  
so participate in the hoarded spiritual 
values of humanity4 ,thus even a general
 survey of life inclines us at least to 
some appreciation of the principle laid 
down by ,baron von ,hgel in ,eternal    
,life--namely1 that souls who live an   
heroic spiritual life within great      
religious traditions and institutions1  
attain to a rare volume and vividness of
 religious insight1 conviction and      
reality#abb--seldom within reach of the 
contemplative1 however ardent1 who walks
 by himself4  ,history has given one    
reason for this2 psychology gives       
another4 ,these souls1 living it is true
 with intensity their own life towards  
,god1 share and are bathed in the group 
consciousness of their church2 as       
members of a family1 distinct in        
temperament1 share and are modified by  

the group consciousness of the home4    
,the mental process of the individual is
 profoundly affected when he thus thinks
 and acts as a member of a group4       
,suggestibility is then enormously      
increased2 and we know how much         
suggestion means to us4 ,moreover1      
suggestions emanating from the group    
always take priority of those of the    
outside world3 for man is a gregarious  
animal1 intensely sensitive to the      
mentality of the herd4#abc ,the ,mind of
 the ,church is therefore a real thing4 
,the individual easily takes colour from
 it and the tradition it embodies1 tends
 to imitate his fellow-members3 and each
 such deed and thought is a step taken  
in the formation of habit1 and leaves   
him other than he was before4  ,to say  
this is not to discredit                
church-membership as placing us at the  
mercy of emotional suggestion1 reducing 
spontaneity to custom1 and lessening the
 energy and responsibility of the       
individual soul towards ,god4 ,on the   

contrary1 right group suggestion        
reinforces1 stimulates1 does not        
stultify such individual action4 ,if the
 prayerful attitude of my fellow        
worshippers helps me to pray better1    
surely it is a very mean kind of conceit
 on my part which would prompt me to    
despise their help1 and refuse to       
acknowledge ,creative ,spirit acting on 
me through other men8 ,it is one of the 
most beautiful features of a real and   
living corporate religion1 that within  
it ordinary people at all levels help   
each other to be a little more          
supernatural than would have been alone4
 ,i do not now speak of individuals     
possessing special zeal and special     
aptitude2 though1 as the lives of the   
,saints assure us1 even the best of     
these fluctuate1 and need social support
 at times4 ,anyhow such persons of      
special spiritual aptitude1 as life is  
now1 are as rare as persons of special  
aptitude in other walks of life4 ,but   
that which we seek for the life of      

to-day and of the future1 is such a     
planning of it as shall give all men    
their spiritual chance4 ,and it is      
abundantly clear upon all levels of     
life1 that men are chiefly formed and   
changed by the power of suggestion1     
sympathy and imitation2 and only reach  
full development when assembled in      
groups1 giving full opportunity for the 
benevolent action of these forces4 ,so  
too in the life of the ,spirit1         
incorporation plays a part which nothing
 can replace4 ,goodness and devotion are
 more easily caught than taught2 by     
association in groups1 holy and strong  
souls--both living and dead--make their 
full gift to society1 weak1 undeveloped1
 and arrogant souls receive that of     
which they are in need4 ,on this point  
we may agree with a great ecclesiastical
 scholar of our own day that the more   
the educated and intellectual partake   
with sympathy of heart in the ordinary  
devotions and pious practices of the    
poor1 the higher will they rise in the  

religion of the ,spirit4#abd  ,yet this 
family life of the ideal religious      
institution1 with its reasonable and    
bracing discipline1 its gift of shelter1
 its care for tradition1 its            
habit-formation and group               
consciousness--all this is given1 as we 
may as well acknowledge1 at the price   
which is exacted by all family life2    
namely1 mutual accommodation and        
sacrifice1 place made for the childish1 
the dull1 the slow1 and the aged1 a     
toning-down of the somewhat imperious   
demands of the entirely efficient and   
clear-minded1 a tolerance of            
imperfection4 ,thus for these efficient 
and clear-minded members there is       
always1 in the church as in the family1 
a perpetual opportunity of humility1    
self-effacement1 gentle acceptance2 of  
exerting that love which must be joined 
to power and a sound mind if the full   
life of the ,spirit is to be lived4 ,in 
the realm of the supernatural this is a 
solid gain2 though not a gain which we  

are very quick to appreciate in our     
vigorous youth4 ,did we look upon the   
religious institution not as an end in  
itself1 but simply as fulfilling the    
function of a home--giving shelter and  
nurture1 opportunity of loyalty and     
mutual service on one hand1 conserving  
stability and good custom on the        
other--then1 we should better appreciate
 its gifts to us1 and be more merciful  
to its necessary defects4 ,we should be 
tolerant to its inevitable conservatism1
 its tendency to encourage dependence   
and obedience to distrust individual    
initiative4 ,we should no longer expect 
it to provide or specially to approve   
novelty and freedom1 to be in the van of
 life's forward thrust4 ,for this we    
must go not to the institution1 which is
 the vehicle of history2 but to the     
adventurous1 forward moving soul1 which 
is the vehicle of progress--to the      
prophet1 not to the priest4 ,these two  
great figures1 the ,keeper and the      
,revealer1 which are prominent in every 

historical religion1 represent the two  
halves of the fully-lived spiritual     
life4 ,the progress of man depends both 
on conserving and on exploring3 and any 
full incorporation of that life which   
will serve man's spiritual interests    
now1 must find place for both4  ,such an
 application of the institutional idea  
to present needs is required1 in fact1  
to fulfil at least four primary         
conditions3--  7#a7 ,it must give a     
social life that shall develop group    
consciousness in respect of our eternal 
interests and responsibilities3 using   
for this real discipline1 and the       
influences of liturgy and creed4  7#b7  
,yet it must not so standardize and     
socialize this life as to leave no room 
for personal freedom in the realm of    
,spirit3 for those experiences of men in
 their solitude which form the very     
heart of religion4  7#c7 ,it must not be
 so ring-fenced1 so exclusive1 so wholly
 conditioned by the past1 that the voice
 of the future1 that is of the prophet  

giving fresh expression to eternal      
truths1 cannot clearly be heard in it2  
not only from within its own borders but
 also from outside4 ,but  7#d7 ,on the  
other hand1 it must not be so           
contemptuous of the past and its        
priceless symbols that it breaks with   
tradition1 and so loses that very       
element of stability which it is its    
special province to preserve4  ,i go on 
now to the second aspect of             
institutional religion3 ,cultus4  ,we at
 once make the transition from ,church  
to ,cultus1 when we ask ourselves3 how  
does1 how can1 the ,church as an        
organized and enduring society do its   
special work of creating an atmosphere  
and imparting a secret8 ,how is the     
traditional deposit of spiritual        
experience handed on1 the individual    
drawn into the stream of spiritual      
history and held there8 ,remember1 the  
,church exists to foster and hand on1   
not merely the moral life1 the life of  
this-world perfection2 but the spiritual

 life in all its mystery and            
splendour--the life of more than        
this-world perfection1 the poetry of    
goodness1 the life that aims at ,god4   
,and this1 not only in elect souls1     
which might conceivably make and keep   
direct contacts without her help1 but in
 greater or less degree in the mass of  
men1 who do need help4 ,how is this     
done8 ,the answer can only be1 that it  
is mostly done through symbolic acts1   
and by means of suggestion and          
imitation4  ,all organized churches find
 themselves committed sooner or later to
 an organized cultus4 ,it may be        
rudimentary4 ,it may reach a high pitch 
of sthetic and symbolic perfection4 ,but
 even the successive rebels against dead
 ceremony are found as a rule to invent 
some ceremony in their turn4 ,they learn
 by experience the truth that men most  
easily form religious habits and tend1  
to have religious experiences when they 
are assembled in groups1 and caused to  
perform the same acts4 ,this is so      

because as we have already seen1 the    
human psyche is plastic to the          
suggestions made to it2 and this        
suggestibility is greatly increased when
 it is living a gregarious life as a    
member of a united congregation or      
flock1 and is engaged in performing     
corporate acts4 ,the soldiers' drill is 
essential to the solidarity of the army1
 and the religious service in some form 
is--apart from all other                
considerations--essential to the        
solidarity of the ,church4  ,we need not
 be afraid to acknowledge that from the 
point of view of the psychologist one   
prime reason of the value and need of   
religious ceremonies abides in this     
corporate suggestibility of man3 or that
 one of their chief works is the        
production in him of mobility of the    
threshold1 and hence of spiritual       
awareness of a generalized kind4 ,as the
 modern mother whispers beneficent      
suggestions into the ear of her sleeping
 child#abe so the ,church takes her     

children at their moment of least       
resistance1 and suggests to them all    
that she desires them to be4 ,it is     
interesting to note how perfectly       
adapted the rituals of historic         
,christianity are to this end1 of       
provoking the emergence of the intuitive
 mind and securing a state of maximum   
suggestibility4 ,the more complex and   
solemn the ritual1 the more archaic and 
universal the symbols it employs1 so    
much the more powerful--for those       
natures able to yield to it--the        
suggestion becomes4 ,music1 rhythmic    
chanting1 symbolic gesture1 the solemn  
periods of recited prayer1 are all      
contributory to this1 effect ,in        
churches of the ,catholic type every    
object that meets the eye1 every scent1 
every attitude that we are encouraged to
 assume1 gives us a push in the same    
direction if we let it do its rightful  
work4 ,for other temperaments the       
collective1 deliberate1 and really      
ceremonial silence of the ,quakers--the 

hush of the waiting mind1 the unforced  
attitude of expectation1 the abstraction
 from visual image--works to the same   
end4 ,in either case1 the aim is the    
production of a special                 
group-consciousness2 the reinforcing of 
languid or undeveloped individual       
feeling and aptitude by the suggestion  
of the crowd4 ,this1 and its result1 is 
seen of course in its crudest form in   
revivalism3 and on higher levels1 in    
such elaborate dramatic ceremonies as   
those which are a feature of the        
,catholic celebrations of ,holy ,week4  
,but the nice warm devotional feeling   
with which what is called a good        
congregation finishes the singing of a  
favourite hymn belongs to the same order
 of phenomena4 ,the rhythmic            
phrases--not as a rule very full of     
meaning or intellectual appeal--exercise
 a slightly hypnotic effect on the      
analyzing surface-mind2 and induce a    
condition of suggestibility open to all 
the influences of the place and of our  

fellow worshippers4 ,the authorized     
translation of ,ephesians v4 #ai3       
speaking to yourselves in psalms and    
hymns and spiritual songs1 whatever we  
may think of its accuracy does as it    
stands describe one of the chief        
functions of religious services of the  
hearty congregational sort4 ,we do speak
 to ourselves--our deeper1 and more     
plastic selves--in our psalms and hymns2
 so too in the common recitation1       
especially the chanting1 of a creed4 ,we
 administer through these rhythmic      
affirmations1 so long as we sing them   
with intention1 a powerful suggestion to
 ourselves and every one else within    
reach4 ,we gather up in them--or should 
do--the whole tendency of our worship   
and aspiration1 and in the very form in 
which it can most easily sink in4 ,this 
lays a considerable responsibility on   
those who choose psalms and hymns for   
congregational singing2 for these can as
 easily be the instruments of fanatical 
melancholy and devitalizing1 as of      

charitable life-giving and constructive 
ideas4  ,in saying all this ,i do not   
seek to discredit religious ceremony2   
either of the nave or of the            
sophisticated type4 ,on the contrary1 ,i
 think that in effecting this change in 
our mental tone and colour1 in prompting
 this emergence of a mood which1 in the 
mass of men1 is commonly suppressed1    
these ceremonies do their true work4    
,they should stimulate and give social  
expression to that mood of adoration    
which is the very heart of religion2    
helping those who cannot be devotional  
alone to participate in the common      
devotional feeling4 ,if1 then1 we desire
 to receive the gifts which corporate   
worship can most certainly make to us1  
we ought to yield ourselves without     
resistance or criticism to its          
influence2 as we yield ourselves to the 
influence of a great work of art4 ,that 
influence is able to tune us up1 at     
least to a fleeting awareness of        
spiritual reality2 and each such        

emergence of transcendental feeling is  
to the good4 ,it is true that the       
objects which immediately evoke this    
feeling will only be symbolic2 but after
 all1 our very best conceptions of ,god 
are bound to be that4 ,we do not1 or    
should not1 demand scientific truth of  
them4 ,their business is rather to give 
us poetry1 a concrete artistic intuition
 of reality1 and to place us in the mood
 of poetry4 ,the great thing is1 that by
 these corporate liturgic practices and 
surrenders1 we can prevent that terrible
 freezing up of the deep wells of our   
being which so easily comes to those who
 must lead an exacting material or      
intellectual life4 ,we keep ourselves   
supple2 the spiritual faculties are     
within reach1 and susceptible to        
education4  ,organized ceremonial       
religion insists upon it1 that at least 
for a certain time each day or week we  
shall attend to the things of the       
,spirit4 ,it offers us its suggestions1 
and shuts off as well as it can         

conflicting suggestions3 though1 human  
as we are1 the mere appearance of our   
neighbours is often enough to bring     
these in4 ,nothing is more certain than 
this3 first that we shall never know the
 spiritual world unless we give         
ourselves the chance of attending to it1
 clear a space for it in our busy lives2
 and next1 that it will not produce its 
real effect in us1 unless it penetrates 
below the conscious surface into the    
deeps of the instinctive mind1 and      
moulds this in accordance with the      
regnant idea4 ,if we are to receive the 
gifts of the cultus1 we on our part must
 bring to it at the very least what we  
bring to all great works of art that    
speak to us3 that is to say1 attention1 
surrender1 sympathetic emotion4         
,otherwise1 like all other works of art1
 it will remain external to us4 ,much of
 the perfectly sincere denunciation and 
dislike of religious ceremony which now 
finds frequent utterance comes from     
those who have failed thus to do their  

share4 ,they are like the hasty critics 
who dismiss some great work of art      
because it is not representative1 or    
historically accurate2 and so entirely  
miss the sthetic values which it was    
created to impart4  ,consider a picture 
of the ,madonna4 ,minds at different    
levels may find in this pure            
representation1 ,bible history1         
theology1 sthetic satisfaction1         
spiritual truth4 ,the peasant may see in
 it the portrait of the ,mother of ,god1
 the critic a phase in artistic         
evolution2 whilst the mystic may pass   
through it to new contacts with the     
,spirit of life4 ,we shall receive      
according to the measure of what we     
bring4 ,now consider the parallel case  
of some great dramatic liturgy1 rich    
with the meanings which history has     
poured into it4 ,take1 as an example    
which every one can examine for         
themselves1 the ,roman ,mass4 ,different
 levels of mind will find here magic1   
theology1 deep mystery1 the             

commemoration under archaic symbols of  
an event4 ,but above and beyond all     
these1 they can find the solemn         
incorporated emotion1 of the ,christian 
,church1 and a liturgic recapitulation  
of the movement of the human soul       
towards fullness of life3 through       
confession and reconciliation to        
adoration and intercession--that is1 to 
charity--and thence to direct communion 
with and feeding on the ,divine ,world4 
,to the mind which refuses to yield to  
it1 to move with its movement1 but      
remains in critical isolation1 the ,mass
 like all other ceremonies will seem    
external1 dead1 unreal2 lacking in      
religious content4 ,but if we do give   
ourselves completely and                
unselfconsciously to the movement of    
such a ceremony1 at the end of it we may
 not have learnt anything1 but we have  
lived something4 ,and when we remember  
that no experience of our devotional    
life is lost1 surely we may regard it as
 worth while to submit ourselves to an  

experience by which1 if only for a few  
minutes1 we are thus lifted to richer   
levels of life and brought into touch   
with higher values8 ,we have indeed only
 to observe the enrichment of life so   
often produced in those who thus dwell  
meekly and without inner conflict in the
 symbolic world of ceremonial religion1 
and accept its discipline and its gifts1
 to be led at least to a humble         
suspension of judgment as to its value4 
,a whole world of spiritual experience  
separates the humble little church mouse
 rising at six every morning to attend a
 service which she believes to be       
pleasing to a personal ,god1 from the   
philosopher who meditates on the        
,absolute in a comfortable armchair2 and
 no one will feel much doubt as to which
 side the advantage lies4  ,here we     
approach the next point4 ,the cultus1   
with its liturgy and its discipline1    
exists for and promotes the repetition  
of acts which are primarily the         
expression of man's instinct for ,god2  

and by these--or any other repeated     
acts--our ductile instinctive life is   
given a definite trend4 ,we know from   
,semon's researches#abf that the        
performance of any given act by a living
 creature influences all future         
performances of similar acts4 ,that is  
to say1 memory combines with each fresh 
stimulus to control our reaction to it4 
,in the case of living organisms1 says  
,bertrand ,russell1 practically         
everything that is distinctive both of  
their physical and mental behaviour is  
bound up with this persistent influence 
of the past3 and most actions and       
responses can only be brought under     
causal laws by including past           
occurrences in the history of the       
organism as part of the causes of the   
present response4#abg ,the phenomena of 
apperception1 in fact1 form only one    
aspect of a general law4 ,as that which 
we have perceived conditions what we can
 now perceive1 so that which we have    
done conditions what we shall do4 ,it   

therefore appears that in spite of angry
 youthful revolts or mature             
sophistications1 early religious        
training1 and especially repeated       
religious acts1 are likely to influence 
the whole of our future lives4 ,though  
all they meant to us seems dead or      
unreal1 they have retreated to the dark 
background of consciousness and there   
live on4 ,the tendency which they have  
given persists2 we never get away from  
them4 ,a church may often seem to lose  
her children1 as human parents do2 but  
in spite of themselves they retain her  
invisible seal1 and are her children    
still4 ,in nearly all conversions in    
middle life1 or dramatic returns from   
scepticism to traditional belief1 a     
large1 part is undoubtedly played by    
forgotten childish memories and early   
religious discipline1 surging up and    
contributing their part to the self's   
new apprehensions of ,reality4  ,if1    
then1 the cultus did nothing else1 it   
would do these two highly important     

things4 ,it would influence our whole   
present attitude by its suggestions1 and
 our whole future attitude through      
unconscious memory of the acts which it 
demands4 ,but it does more than this4   
,it has as perhaps its greatest function
 the providing of a concrete artistic   
expression for our spiritual            
perceptions1 adorations and desires4 ,it
 links the visible with the invisible1  
by translating transcendent fact into   
symbolic and even sensuous terms4 ,and  
for this reason men1 having bodies no   
less surely than spirits1 can never     
afford wholly to dispense with it4      
,hasty transcendentalists often forget  
this2 and set us spiritual standards to 
which the race1 so long as it is        
anchored to this planet and to the      
physical order1 cannot conform4  ,a     
convert from agnosticism with whom ,i   
was acquainted1 was once receiving      
religious instruction from a devout and 
simple-minded nun4 ,they were discussing
 the story of the ,annunciation1 which  

presented some difficulties to her4 ,at 
last she said to the nun1 ,well1 anyhow1
 ,i suppose that one is not obliged to  
believe that the ,blessed ,virgin was   
visited by a solid angel1 dressed in a  
white robe8 ,to this the nun replied    
doubtfully1 ,no1 dear1 perhaps not4 ,but
 still1 you know1 he would have to wear 
something4  ,now here1 as it seems to   
me1 we have a great theological truth in
 a few words4 ,the elusive contacts and 
subtle realities of the world of spirit 
have got to wear something1 if we are to
 grasp them at all4 ,moreover1 if the   
mass of men are to grasp them ever so   
little1 they must wear something which  
is easily recognized by the human eye   
and human heart2 more1 by the primitive1
 half-conscious folk-soul existing in   
each one of us1 stirring in the depths  
and reaching out in its own way towards 
,god4 ,it is a delicate matter to       
discuss religious symbols4 ,they are    
like our intimate friends3 though at the
 bottom of our hearts we may know that  

they are only human1 we hate other      
people to tell us so4 ,and1 even as the 
love of human beings in its most perfect
 state passes beyond its immediate      
object1 is transfigured1 and merged in  
the nature of all love2 so too1 the     
devotion which a purely symbolic figure 
calls forth from the ardently religious 
nature--whether this figure be the      
divine ,krishna of ,hinduism1 the       
,buddhist's ,mother of ,mercy1 the      
,sufi's ,beloved1 or those objects of   
traditional ,christian piety which are  
familiar to all of us--this devotion too
 passes beyond its immediate goal and   
the relative truth there embodied1 and  
is eternalized4 ,it is characteristic of
 the primitive mind that it finds a     
difficulty about universals1 and is most
 at home with particulars4 ,the success 
of ,christianity as a world-religion    
largely abides in the way in which it   
meets this need4 ,it is notorious that  
the person of ,jesus1 rather than the   
,absolute ,god1 is the object of average

 ,protestant devotion4 ,so too the      
,catholic peasant may find it easier to 
approach ,god through and in his special
 saint1 or even a special local form of 
the ,madonna4 ,this is the inevitable   
corollary of the psychic level at which 
he lives2 and to speak contemptuously of
 his superstition is wholly beside the  
point4 ,other great faiths have been    
compelled by experience to meet need of 
a particular object on which the        
primitive religious consciousness can   
fasten itself3 conspicuous examples     
being the development within ,buddhism  
of the cult of the ,great ,mother1 and  
within pore ,brahminism of ,krishna     
worship4 ,wherever it may be destined to
 end1 here it is that the life of the   
,spirit begins2 emerging very gently    
from our simplest human impulses and    
needs4 ,yet1 since the ,universal1 the  
,idea1 is manifested in each such       
particular1 we need not refuse to allow 
that the mass of men do thus enjoy--in a
 way that their psychic level makes     

natural to them--their own measure of   
communion with the ,creative ,spirit of 
,god2 and already live according to     
their measure a spiritual life4  ,these 
objects of religious cultus1 then1 and  
the whole symbolic faith-world which is 
built up of them1 with its angels and   
demons1 its sharply defined heaven and  
hell1 the ,divine personifications which
 embody certain attributes of ,god for  
us1 the purity and gentleness of the    
,mother1 the simplicity and infinite    
possibility of the ,child1 the divine   
self-giving of the ,cross2--more1 the   
,lamb1 the ,blood and the ,fire of the  
revivalists1 the oil and water1 bread   
and wine1 of a finished                 
,sacramentalism--all these may be       
regarded as the vestures placed by man1 
at one stage or another of his progress1
 on the freely-given but ineffable      
spiritual fact4 ,like other clothes1    
they have now become closely identified 
with that which wears them4 ,and we     
strip them off at our own peril3 for    

this proceeding1 grateful as it may be  
to our intellects1 may leave us face to 
face with a mystery which we dare not   
look at1 and cannot grasp4  ,so1 cultus 
has done a mighty thing for humanity1 in
 evolving and conserving the system of  
symbols through which the ,infinite and 
,eternal can be in some measure         
expressed4 ,the history of these symbols
 goes back1 as we now know1 to the      
infancy of the race1 and forward to the 
last productions of the religious       
imagination2 all of which bear the image
 of our past ,they are like coins1      
varying in beauty1 and often of slight  
intrinsic value2 but of enormous        
importance for our spiritual currency1  
because accepted as the representatives 
of a real wealth4 ,in its symbols1 the  
cultus preserves all the past levels of 
religious response achieved by the race2
 weaving them into the fabric of        
religion1 and carrying them forward into
 the present4 ,all the instinctive      
movements of the primitive mind2 its    

fear of the invisible1 its              
self-subjection1 its trust in ritual    
acts1 amulets1 spells1 sacrifices1 its  
tendency to localize ,deity in certain  
places or shrines1 to buy off the       
unknown1 to set up magicians and        
mediators1 are represented in it4 ,its  
function is racial more than individual4
 ,it is the art-work of the folk-soul in
 the religious sphere4 ,here man's      
inveterate creative faculty seizes on   
the raw material given him by           
religious-intuition1 and constructs from
 it significant shapes4 ,we             
misunderstand1 then1 the whole character
 of religious symbolism if we either    
demand rationality from it1 or try to   
adapt its imagery to the lucid and      
probably mistaken conclusions of the    
sophisticated1 modern mind4  ,we are    
learning to recognize these primitive   
and racial elements in popular religion1
 and to endure their presence with      
tolerance2 because they are necessary1  
and match a level of mental life which  

is still active in the race4 ,this more 
primitive life emerges to dominate all  
crowds--where the collective mental     
level is inevitably lower than that of  
the best individuals immersed in it--and
 still conditions many of our beliefs   
and deeds4 ,there is the propitiatory   
attitude to unseen ,divine powers2 which
 the primitive mind1 in defiance of     
theology1 insists on regarding as       
somehow hostile to us and wanting to be 
bought off4 ,there is the whole idea and
 apparatus of sacrifice2 even though no 
more than the big apples and vegetable  
marrows of the harvest festival be      
involved in it4 ,there is the continued 
belief in a ,deity who can and should be
 persuaded to change the weather1 or who
 punishes those who offend ,him by      
famine1 earthquake and pestilence4      
,vestigial relics of all these phases   
can still be discovered in the ,book of 
,common ,prayer4 ,there is further the  
undying vogue of the religious amulet4  
,there is the purely magical efficacy   

which some churches attribute to their  
sacraments1 rites1 shrines1 liturgic    
formul and religious objects2 others1 to
 the texts of their scriptures4#abh     
,these things1 and others like them1 are
 not only significant survivals from the
 past4 ,they also represent the         
religious side of something that        
continues active in us at present4      
,since1 then1 it should clearly be the  
object of all spiritual endeavor to win 
the whole man and not only his reason   
for ,god1 speaking to his instincts in  
language that they understand1 we should
 not too hurriedly despise or denounce  
these things4 ,far better that our      
primitive emotions1 with their vast     
store of potential energy1 should be won
 for spiritual interests on the only    
terms which they can grasp1 than that   
they should be left to spend themselves 
on lower objects4  ,if therefore the    
spiritual or the regenerate life is not 
likely to prosper without some          
incorporation in institutions1 some     

definite link with the past1 it seems   
also likely to need for its full        
working-out and propaganda the symbols  
and liturgy of a cultus4 ,here again1   
the right path will be that of          
fulfilment1 not of destruction2 a deeper
 investigation of the full meaning of   
cultus1 the values it conserves and the 
needs it must meet1 a clearer and       
humbler understanding of our human      
limitations4 ,we must also clearly      
realize as makers of the future1 that as
 the ,church has its special dangers of 
conservatism1 cosiness1 intolerance1 a  
checking of initiative1 the domestic    
tendency to enclose itself and shirk    
reality2 so the cultus has also its     
special dangers1 of which the chief are 
perhaps formalism1 magic1 and spiritual 
sloth4 ,receiving and conserving as it  
does all the successive deposits of     
racial experience1 it is the very home  
of magic3 of the archaic tendency to    
attribute words and deeds1 special power
 to a priestly caste1 and to make of    

itself the essential mediator between   
,creative ,spirit and the soul4         
,further1 using perpetually as it does  
and must symbols of the most archaic    
sort1 directly appealing to the latent  
primitive in each of us1 it offers us a 
perpetual temptation to fall back into  
something below our best possible4 ,the 
impulsive mind is inevitably            
conservative2 always at the mercy of    
memorized images4 ,hence its delighted  
self-yielding to traditional symbols1   
its uncritical emotionalism1 its easy   
slip-back into traditional and even     
archaic and self-contradictory beliefs3 
the way in which it pops out and enjoys 
itself at a service of the hearty       
congregational sort1 or may even lead   
its unresisting owner to the            
revivalists' penitent-bench4  ,but on   
the other hand1 ,creative ,spirit is not
 merely conservative4 ,the ,lord and    
,giver of ,life presses forward1 and    
perpetually brings novelty to birth2 and
 in so far as we are dedicated to ,him1 

we must not make an unconditional       
surrender to psychic indolence1 or to   
the pull-back of the religious past4 ,we
 may not1 as ,christians1 accept easy   
emotions in the place of heroic and     
difficult actualizations3 make external 
religion an excuse for dodging reality1 
immerse ourselves in an exquisite dream1
 or tolerate any real conflict between  
old cultus and actual living faith4 ,a  
most delicate discrimination is         
therefore demanded from us2 the striking
 of a balance between the rightful      
conservatism of the cultus and the      
rightful independence of the soul4 ,yet1
 this is not to justify even in the most
 advanced a wholesale iconoclasm4 ,time 
after time1 experience has proved that  
the attempt to approach ,god without    
means1 though it may seem to describe   
the rare and sacred moments of the      
personal life of the ,spirit1 is beyond 
the power of the mass of men2 and even  
those who do achieve it are1 as it were1
 most often supported from behind by    

religious history and the religious     
culture of their day4 ,i do not think it
 can be doubted that the right use of   
cultus does-increase religious          
sensitiveness4 ,therefore here the      
difficult task of the future must be to 
preserve and carry forward its essential
 elements1 all the symbolic             
significance1 all the incorporated      
emotion1 which make it one of man's     
greatest works of art2 whilst           
eliminating those features which are1 in
 the bad sense1 conventional and no     
longer answer to experience or          
communicate life4  ,were we truly       
reasonable human beings1 we should      
perhaps provide openly and as a matter  
of course within the ,christian frame   
widely different types of ceremonial    
religion1 suited to different levels of 
mind and different developments of the  
religious consciousness4 ,to some extent
 this is already done3 traditionalism   
and liberalism1 sacramentalism1         
revivalism1 quietism1 have each their   

existing cults4 ,but these varying types
 of church now appear as competitors1   
too often hostile2 not as the           
complementary and graded expressions of 
one life1 each having truth in the      
relative though none in the absolute    
sense4 ,did we more openly acknowledge  
the character of that life1 the historic
 ,churches would no longer invite the   
sophisticated to play down to their own 
primitive fantasies2 to sing meaningless
 hymns and recite vindictive psalms1 or 
lull themselves by the recitation of    
litany or rosary which1 admirable as the
 instruments of suggestion1 are         
inadequate expressions of the awakened  
spiritual life4 ,on the one hand1 they  
would not require the simple to express 
their corporate religious feeling in    
,elizabethan ,english or ,patristic     
,latin2 on the other1 expect the        
educated to accept at face-value symbols
 of which the unreal character is patent
 to them4 ,nor would they represent     
these activities as possessing absolute 

value in themselves4  ,to join in       
simplicity and without criticism in the 
common worship1 humbly receiving its    
good influences1 is one thing4 ,this is 
like the drill of the loyal soldier2    
welding him to his neighbours1 giving   
him the corporate spirit and forming in 
him the habits he needs4 ,but to stop   
short at that drill1 and tell the       
individual that drill is the essence of 
his life and all his duty1 is another   
thing altogether4 ,it confuses means and
 end2 destroys the balance between      
liberty and law4 ,if the religious      
institution is to do its real work in   
furthering the life of the ,spirit1 it  
must introduce a more rich variety into 
its methods2 and thus educate souls of  
every type not only to be members of the
 group but also to grow up to the full  
richness of the personal life4 ,it must 
offer them--as indeed ,catholicism does 
to some extent already--both easy       
emotion and difficult mystery2 both     
dramatic ceremony and ceremonial        

silence4 ,it must also give to them all 
its hoarded knowledge of the inner life 
of prayer and contemplation1 of the     
remaking of the moral nature on         
supernatural levels3 all the gold that  
there is in the deposit of faith4 ,and  
it must not be afraid to impart that    
knowledge in modern terms which all can 
understand4 ,all this it can and will do
 if its members sufficiently desire it3 
which means1 if those who care intensely
 for the life of the ,spirit accept     
their corporate responsibilities4 ,in   
the last resort1 criticism of the       
,church1 of ,christian institutionalism1
 is really criticism of ourselves4 ,were
 we more spiritually alive1 our         
spiritual homes would be the real       
nesting places of new life4 ,that which 
the ,church is to us is the result of   
all that we bring to1 and ask from1     
history3 the impact of our present and  
its past4  ,,footnotes3  ,footnote #aai3
 ,william ,james3 ,the ,varieties of    
,religious ,experience1 p4 #ca4         

,footnote #abj3 ,on this point compare  
,von ,hgel3 ,essays and ,addresses on   
the ,philosophy of ,religion1 pp4 #bcj  
et seq4  ,footnote #aba3 ,w4            
,mc,dougall3 ,the ,group ,mind1 ,cap4   
#c4  ,footnote #abb3 ,von ,hgel ,eternal
 ,life1 p4 #cgg4  ,footnote #abc3 ,cf4  
,trotter3 ,instincts of the ,herd in    
,peace and ,war4  ,footnote #abd3 ,dom  
,cuthbert ,butler in the ,hibbert       
,journal1 #aijf1 p4 #ejb4  ,footnote    
#abe3 ,baudouin3 ,suggestion and        
,auto-,suggestion1 ,cap4 ,,vii4         
,footnote #abf3 ,cf4 ,r4 ,semon3 ,die   
,mneme4  ,footnote #abg3 ,bertrand      
,russell3 ,the ,analysis of ,mind1 p4   
#gh4  ,footnote #abh3 ,a quaint example 
of this occurred in a recent revival1   
where the exclamation ,we believe in the
 ,word of ,god from cover to cover1     
,alleluia6 received the fervent reply1  
,and the covers too6     ,,chapter ,,vi 
,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit ,,in   
,,the ,,individual   ,in the last three 
chapters we have been concerned1 almost 

exclusively1 with those facts of psychic
 life and growth1 those instruments and 
mechanizations1 which bear upon or      
condition our spiritual life4 ,but these
 wanderings in the soul's workshops1 and
 these analyses of the forces that play 
on it1 give us far too cold or too      
technical a view of that richly various 
and dynamic thing1 the real regenerated 
life4 ,i wish now to come out of the    
workshop1 and try to see this spiritual 
life as the individual man may and      
should achieve it1 from another angle of
 approach4  ,what are we to regard as   
the heart of spirituality8 ,when we have
 eliminated the accidental characters   
with which varying traditions have      
endowed it1 what is it that still so    
definitely distinguishes its possessor  
from the best1 most moral citizen or    
devoted altruist8 ,why do the ,christian
 saint1 ,indian rishi1 ,buddhist arhat1 
,moslem ,sufi1 all seem to us at bottom 
men of one race1 living under different 
sanctions one life1 witnessing to one   

fact8 ,this life1 which they show in its
 various perfections1 includes it is    
true the ethical life1 but cannot be    
equated with it4 ,wherein do its        
differentia consist8 ,we are dealing    
with the most subtle of realities and   
have only the help of crude words1      
developed for other purposes than this4 
,but surely we come near to the truth1  
as history and experience show it to us1
 when we say again that the spiritual   
life in all its manifestations from     
smallest beginnings to unearthly triumph
 is simply the life that means ,god in  
all ,his richness1 immanent and         
transcendent3 the whole response to the 
,eternal and ,abiding of which any one  
man is capable1 expressed in and through
 his this-world life4 ,it requires then 
an objective vision or certitude1       
something to aim at2 and also a total   
integration of the self1 its dedication 
to that aim4 ,both terms1 vision and    
response1 are essential to it4  ,this   
definition may seem at first sight      

rather dull4 ,it suggests little of that
 poignant and unearthly beauty1 that    
heroism1 that immense attraction1 which 
really belong to the spiritual life4    
,here indeed we are dealing with poetry 
in action3 and we need not words but    
music to describe it as it really is4   
,yet all the forms1 all the various     
beauties and achievements of this life  
of the ,spirit1 can be resumed as the   
reactions of different temperaments to  
the one abiding and inexhaustibly       
satisfying ,object of their love4 ,it is
 the answer made by the whole supple1   
plastic self1 rational and instinctive1 
active and contemplative1 to any or all 
of those objective experiences of       
religion which we considered in the     
first chapter2 whether of an            
encompassing and transcendent ,reality1 
of a ,divine ,companionship or of       
,immanent ,spirit4 ,such a response we  
must believe to be itself divinely      
actuated4 ,fully made1 it is found on   
the one hand to call forth the most     

heroic1 most beautiful1 most tender     
qualities in human nature2 all that we  
call holiness1 the transfiguration of   
mere ethics by a supernatural           
loveliness1 breathing another air1      
satisfying another standard1 than those 
of the temporal world4 ,and on the other
 hand1 this response of the self is     
repaid by a new sensitiveness and       
receptivity1 a new influx of power4 ,to 
use theological language1 will is       
answered by grace3 and as the will's    
dedication rises towards completeness   
the more fully does new life flow in4   
,therefore it is plain that the smallest
 and humblest beginning of such a life  
in ourselves--and this inquiry is       
useless unless it be made to speak to   
our own condition--will entail not      
merely an addition to life1 but for us  
too a change in our whole scale of      
values1 a self-dedication4 ,for that    
which we are here shown as a possible   
human achievement is not a life of      
comfortable piety1 or the enjoyment of  

the delicious sensations of the armchair
 mystic4 ,we are offered1 it is true1 a 
new dower of life2 access to the full   
possibilities of human nature4 ,but only
 upon terms1 and these terms include new
 obligations in respect of that life2   
compelling us1 as it appears1 to        
perpetual hard and difficult choices1 a 
perpetual refusal to sink back into the 
next-best1 to slide along a gentle      
incline4 ,the spiritual life is not     
lived upon the heavenly hearth-rug1     
within safe distance from the ,fire of  
,love4 ,it demands1 indeed1 very often  
things so hard that seen from the       
hearth-rug they seem to us superhuman3  
immensely generous compassion1          
forbearance1 forgiveness1 gentleness1   
radiant purity1 self-forgetting zeal4   
,it means a complete conquest of life's 
perennial tendency to lag behind the    
best possible2 willing acceptance of    
hardship and pain4 ,and if we ask how   
this can be1 what it is that makes      
possible such enhancement of human will 

and of human courage1 the only answer   
seems to be that of the ,johannine      
,christ3 that it does consist in a more 
abundant life4  ,in the second chapter  
of this book1 we looked at the gradual  
unfolding of that life in its great     
historical representatives2 and we found
 its general line of development to lead
 through disillusion with the merely    
physical to conversion to the spiritual1
 and thence by way of hard moral        
conflicts and their resolution to a     
unification of character1 a full        
integration of the active and           
contemplative sides of life2 resulting  
in fresh power1 and a complete          
dedication1 to work within the new order
 and for the new ideals4 ,there was     
something of the penitent1 something of 
the contemplative1 and something of the 
apostle in every man or woman who thus  
grew to their full stature and realized 
all their latent possibilities4 ,but    
above all there was a fortitude1 an     
all-round power of tackling existence1  

which comes from complete indifference  
to personal suffering or personal       
success4 ,and further1 psychology showed
 us1 that those workings and            
readjustments which we saw preparing    
this life of the ,spirit1 were in line  
with those which prepare us for fullness
 of life on other levels3 that is to say
 the harnessing of the impulsive nature 
to the purposes chosen by consciousness1
 the resolving of conflicts1 the        
unification of the whole personality    
about one's dominant interest4 ,these   
readjustments were helped by the        
deliberate acceptance of the useful     
suggestions of religion1 the education  
of the foreconscious1 the formation of  
habits of charity and prayer4  ,the     
greatest and most real of living writers
 on this subject1 ,baron von ,hgel1 has 
given us another definition of the      
personal spiritual life which may       
fruitfully be compared with this4 ,it   
must and shall1 he says1 exhibit        
rightful contact with and renunciation  

of the ,particular and ,fleeting2 and   
with this ever seeks and finds the      
,eternal--deepening and incarnating     
within its own experience this          
transcendent ,otherness4#abi ,nothing   
which we are likely to achieve can go   
beyond this profound saying4 ,we see how
 many rich elements are contained in it3
 effort and growth1 a temper both social
 and ascetic1 a demand for and a        
receiving of power4 ,true1 to some      
extent it restates the position at which
 we arrived in the first chapter3 but we
 now wish to examine more thoroughly    
into that position and discover its     
practical applications4 ,let us then    
begin by unpacking it1 and examining its
 chief characters one by one4  ,if we do
 this1 we find that it demands of       
us3--7#a7 ,rightful contact with the    
,particular and ,fleeting4 ,that is1 a  
willing acceptance of all this-world    
tasks1 obligations1 relations1 and joys2
 in fact1 the ,active ,life of ,becoming
 in its completeness4  7#b7 ,but also1 a

 certain renunciation of that           
,particular and ,fleeting4 ,a refusal to
 get everything out of it that we can   
for ourselves1 to be possessive1 or     
attribute to it absolute worth4 ,this   
involves a sense of detachment or       
asceticism2 of further destiny and      
obligation for the soul than complete   
earthly happiness or here-and-now       
success4  7#c7 ,and with this ever--not 
merely in hours of devotion--to seek and
 find the ,eternal2 penetrating our     
wholesome this-world action through and 
through with the very spirit of         
contemplation4  7#d7 ,thus deepening and
 incarnating--bringing in1 giving body  
to1 and in some sense exhibiting by     
means of our own growing and changing   
experience--that transcendent           
,otherness1 the fact of the ,life of the
 ,spirit in the here-and-now4  ,the full
 life of the ,spirit1 then1 is once more
 declared to be active1 contemplative1  
ascetic and apostolic2 though nowadays  
we express these abiding human          

dispositions in other and less          
formidable terms4 ,if we translate them 
as work1 prayer1 self-discipline and    
social service they do not look quite so
 bad4 ,but even so1 what a tremendous   
programme to put before the ordinary    
human creature1 and how difficult it    
looks when thus arranged6 ,that balance 
to be discovered and held between due   
contact with this present living world  
of time1 and due renunciation of it4    
,that continual penetration of the      
time-world with the spirit of ,eternity4
  ,but now1 in accordance with the      
ruling idea which has occupied us in    
this book1 let us arrange these four    
demands in different order4 ,let us put 
number three first3 ever seeking and    
finding the ,eternal4 ,conceive1 at     
least1 that we do this really1 and in a 
practical way4 ,then we discover that1  
placed as we certainly are in a world of
 succession1 most of the seeking and    
finding has got to be done there2 that  
the times of pure abstraction in which  

we touch the non-successive and         
supersensual must be few4 ,hence it     
follows that the first and second       
demands are at once fully met2 for1 if  
we are indeed faithfully seeking and    
finding the ,eternal whilst living--as  
all sane men and women must do--in      
closest contact with the ,particular and
 ,fleeting1 our acceptances and our     
renunciations will be governed by this  
higher term of experience4 ,and further1
 the transcendent ,otherness1           
perpetually envisaged by us as alone    
giving the world of sense its beauty1   
reality and value1 will be incarnated   
and expressed by us in this sense-life1 
and thus ever more completely tasted and
 known4 ,it will be drawn by us1 as best
 we can1 and often at the cost of bitter
 struggle1 into the limitations of      
humanity2 entincturing our attitude and 
our actions4 ,and in the degree in which
 we thus appropriate it1 it will be     
given out by us again to other men4     
,all this1 of course1 says again that   

which men have been constantly told by  
those who sought to redeem them from    
their confusions1 and show them the way 
to fullness of life4 ,seek first the    
,kingdom of ,god1 said ,jesus1 and all  
the rest shall be added to you4 ,love1  
said ,st4 ,augustine1 and do what you   
like2 ,let nothing1 says ,thomas        
,kempis1 be great or high or acceptable 
to thee but purely ,god2#acj and ,kabir1
 ,open your eyes of love1 and see ,him  
who pervades this world6 consider it    
well1 and know that this is your own    
country4#aca ,our whole teaching1 says  
,boehme1 is nothing else than how man   
should kindle in himself ,god's         
light-world4#acb ,i do not say that such
 a presentation of it makes the personal
 spiritual life any easier3 nothing does
 that4 ,but it does make its central    
implicit rather clearer1 shows us at    
once its difficulty and its simplicity2 
since it depends on the consistent      
subordination of every impulse and every
 action to one regnant aim and          

interest--in other words1 the           
unification of the whole self round one 
centre1 the highest conceivable by man4 
,each of man's behaviour-cycles is      
always directed towards some end1 of    
which he may or may not be vividly      
conscious4 ,but in that perfect         
unification of the self which is        
characteristic of the life of ,spirit1  
all his behaviour is brought into one   
stream of purpose1 and directed towards 
one transcendent end4 ,and this         
simplification alone means for him a    
release from conflicting wishes1 and so 
a tremendous increase of power4  ,if    
then we admit this formula1 ever seeking
 and finding the ,eternal--which is of  
course another rendering of             
,ruysbroeck's aiming at ,god--as the    
prime character of a spiritual life1 the
 secret of human transcendence2 what are
 the agents by which it is done8  ,here1
 men and women of all times and all     
religions1 who have achieved this       
fullness of life1 agree in their answer3

 and by this answer we are at once taken
 away from dry philosophic conceptions  
and introduced into the very heart of   
human experience4 ,it is done1 they say1
 on man's part by ,love and ,prayer3 and
 these1 properly understood in their    
inexhaustible richness1 joy1 pain1      
dedication and noble simplicity1 cover  
the whole field of the spiritual life4  
,without them1 that life is impossible2 
with them1 if the self be true to their 
implications1 some measure of it cannot 
be escaped4 ,i said1 ,love and ,prayer  
properly understood3 not as two         
movements of emotional piety1 but as    
fundamental human dispositions1 as the  
typical attitude and action which       
control man's growth into greater       
reality4 ,since then they are of such   
primary importance to us1 it will be    
worth while at this stage to look into  
them a little more closely4  ,first1    
,love3 that over-worked and ill-used    
word1 often confused on the one hand    
with passion and on the other with      

amiability4 ,if we ask the most         
fashionable sort of psychologist what   
love is1 he says that it is the impulse 
urging us towards that end which is the 
fulfilment of any series of deeds or    
behaviour-cycle2 the psychic thread1 on 
which all the apparently separate       
actions making up that cycle are strung 
and united4 ,in this sense love need not
 be fully conscious1 reach the level of 
feeling2 but it must be an imperative1  
inward urge4 ,and if we ask those who   
have known and taught the life of the   
,spirit1 they too say that love is a    
passionate tendency1 an inward vital    
urge of the soul towards its            
,source2#acc which impels every living  
thing to pursue the most profound trend 
of its being1 reaches consciousness in  
the form of self-giving and of desire1  
and its only satisfying goal in ,god4   
,love is for them much more than its    
emotional manifestations4 ,it is the    
ultimate cause of the true activities of
 all active things--no less4 ,this      

definition1 which ,i take as a matter of
 fact from ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1#acd   
would be agreeable to the most modern   
psychologist2 he might give the hidden  
steersman of the psyche in its perpetual
 movement towards novelty a less        
beautiful and significant name4 ,this   
indwelling ,love1 says ,plotinus1 is no 
other than the ,spirit which1 as we are 
told1 walks with every being1 the       
affection dominant in each several      
nature4 ,it implants the characteristic 
desire2 the particular soul1 strained   
towards its own natural objects1 brings 
forth its own ,love1 the guiding spirit 
realizing its worth and the quality of  
its being4#ace  ,does not all this      
suggest to us once more1 that at        
whatever level it be experienced1 the   
psychic craving1 the urgent spirit      
within us pressing out to life1 is      
always one2 and that the sublimation of 
this vital craving1 its direction to    
,god1 is the essence of regeneration8   
,there1 in our instinctive              

nature--which1 as we know1 makes us the 
kind of animal we are--abides that power
 of loving which is1 really1 the power  
of living2 the cause of our actions1 the
 controlling factor in our perceptions1 
the force pressing us into any given    
type of experience1 turning aside for no
 obstacles but stimulated by them to a  
greater vigour4 ,each level of the      
universe makes solicitations to this    
power3 the worlds of sense1 of thought1 
of beauty1 and of action4 ,according to 
the degree of our development1 the trend
 of the conscious will1 is our response2
 and according to that response will be 
our life4 ,the world to which a man     
turns himself1 says ,boehme1 and in     
which he produces fruit1 the same is    
lord in him1 and this world becomes     
manifest in him4#acf  ,from all this it 
becomes clear what the love of ,god is2 
and what ,st4 ,augustine meant when he  
said that all virtue--and virtue after  
all means power not goodness--lay in the
 right ordering of love1 the conscious  

orientation of desire4 ,christians1 on  
the authority of their ,master1 declare 
that such love of ,god requires all that
 they have1 not only of feeling1 but    
also of intellect and of power2 since   
,he is to be loved with heart and mind  
and strength4 ,thought and action on    
highest levels are involved in it1 for  
it means1 not religious emotionalism1   
but the unflickering orientation of the 
whole self towards ,him1 ever seeking   
and finding the ,eternal2 the linking up
 of all behaviour on that string1 so    
that the apparently hard and always     
heroic choices which are demanded1 are  
made at last because they are           
inevitable4 ,it is true that this       
dominant interest will give to our lives
 a special emotional colour and a       
special kind of happiness2 but in this1 
as in the best1 deepest1 richest human  
love1 such feeling-tone and such        
happiness--though in some natures of    
great beauty and intensity--are only to 
be looked upon as secondary characters1 

and never to be aimed at4  ,when ,st4   
,teresa said that the real object of the
 spiritual marriage was the incessant   
production of work1 work1#acg ,i have no
 doubt that many of her nuns were       
disconcerted2 especially the type of    
ease-loving conservatives whom she and  
her intimates were accustomed to refer  
to as the pussy-cats4 ,but in this      
direct application to religious         
experience of ,st4 ,thomas' doctrine of 
love1 she set up an ideal of the        
spiritual life which is as valid at the 
present day in the entanglements of our 
social order1 as it was in the enclosed 
convents of sixteenth-century ,spain4   
,love1 we said1 is the cause of action4 
,it urges and directs our behaviour1    
conscious and involuntary1 towards an   
end4 ,the mother is irresistibly        
impelled to act towards her child's     
welfare1 the ambitious man towards      
success1 the artist towards expression  
of his vision4 ,all these are examples  
of behaviour1 love-driven towards ends4 

,and religious experience discloses to  
us a greater more inclusive end1 and    
this vital power of love as capable of  
being used on the highest levels1       
regenerated1 directed to eternal        
interests2 subordinating behaviour1     
inspiring suffering1 unifying the whole 
self and its activities1 mobilizing them
 for this transcendental achievement4   
,this generous love1 to go back to the  
quotation from ,baron von ,hgel which   
opened our inquiry1 will indeed cause   
the behaviour it controls to exhibit    
both rightful contact with and          
renunciation of the particular and      
fleeting2 because in and through this   
series of linked deeds it is uniting    
with itself all human activities1 and in
 and through them is seeking and finding
 its eternal end4 ,so1 in that rightful 
bringing-in of novelty which is the     
business of the fully living soul1 the  
most powerful agent is love1 understood 
as the controlling factor of behaviour1 
the sublimation and union of will and   

desire4 ,let love1 says ,boehme1 be the 
life of thy nature4 ,it killeth thee    
not1 but quickeneth thee according to   
its life1 and then thou livest1 yet not 
to thy own will but to its will3 for thy
 will becometh its will1 and then thou  
art dead to thyself but alive to        
,god4#ach ,there is the true1 solid and 
for us most fruitful doctrine of divine 
union1 unconnected with any rapture1    
trance1 ecstasy or abnormal state of    
mind3 a union organic1 conscious1 and   
dynamic with the ,creative ,spirit of   
,life4  ,if we now go on to ask how1    
specially1 we shall achieve this union  
in such degree as is possible to each   
one of us2 the answer must be1 that it  
will be done by ,prayer4 ,if the seeking
 of the ,eternal is actuated by love1   
the finding of it is achieved through   
prayer4 ,prayer1 in fact--understood as 
a life or state1 not an act or an       
asking--is the beginning1 middle and end
 of all that we are now considering4 ,as
 the social self can only be developed  

by contact with society1 so the         
spiritual self can only be developed by 
contact with the spiritual world4 ,and  
such humble yet ardent contact with the 
spiritual world--opening up to its      
suggestions our impulses1 our reveries1 
our feelings1 our most secret           
dispositions as well as our mere        
thoughts-is the essence of prayer1      
understood in its widest sense4 ,no more
 than surrender or love can prayer be   
reduced to one act4 ,those who seek to  
sublimate it into pure contemplation are
 as limited at one end of the scale1 as 
those who reduce it to articulate       
petition are at the other4 ,it contains 
in itself a rich variety of human       
reactions and experiences4 ,it opens the
 door upon an unwalled world1 in which  
the self truly lives and therefore makes
 widely various responses to its        
infinitely varying stimuli4 ,into that  
world the self takes1 or should take1   
its special needs1 aptitudes and        
longings1 and matches them against its  

apprehension of ,eternal ,truth4 ,in    
this meeting of the human heart with all
 that it can apprehend of ,reality1 not 
adoration alone but unbounded           
contrition1 not humble dependence alone 
but joy1 peace and power1 not rapture   
alone but mysterious darkness1 must be  
woven into the fabric of love4 ,in this 
world the soul may sometimes wander as  
if in pastures1 sometimes is poised     
breathless and intent4 ,sometimes it is 
fed by beauty1 sometimes by most        
difficult truth1 and experiences the    
extremes of riches and destitution1     
darkness and light4 ,it is not1 says    
,plotinus1 by crushing the ,divine into 
a unity but by displaying its           
exuberance1 as the ,supreme ,himself has
 displayed it1 that we show knowledge of
 the might of ,god4#aci  ,thus1 by that 
instinctive and warmly devoted direction
 of its behaviour which is love1 and    
that willed attention to and communion  
with the spiritual world which is       
prayer1 all the powers of the self are  

united and turned towards the seeking   
and finding of the ,eternal4 ,it is by  
complete obedience to this exacting     
love1 doing difficult and unselfish     
things1 giving up easy and comfortable  
things--in fact by living1 living hard  
on the highest levels--that men more and
 more deeply feel1 experience1 and enter
 into their spiritual life4 ,this is a  
fact which must seem rather awkward to  
those who put forward pathological      
explanations of it4 ,and on the other   
hand it is only by constant contacts    
with and recourse to the energizing life
 of ,spirit1 that this hard vocation can
 be fulfilled4 ,such a power of         
reference to ,reality1 of transcending  
the world of succession and its values1 
can be cultivated by us2 and this       
education of our inborn aptitude is a   
chief function of the discipline of     
prayer4 ,true1 it is only in times of   
recollection or of great emotion that   
this profound contact is fully present  
to consciousness4 ,yet1 once fully      

achieved and its obligations accepted by
 us1 it continues as a grave melody     
within our busy outward acts3 and we    
must by right direction of our deepest  
instincts so find and feel the ,eternal 
all the time1 if indeed we are to       
actualize and incarnate it all the time4
 ,from this truth of experience1        
religion has deduced the doctrine of    
grace1 and the general conception of man
 as able to do nothing of himself4 ,this
 need hardly surprise us4 ,for equally  
on the physical plane man can do nothing
 of himself1 if he be cut off from his  
physical sources of power3 from food to 
eat1 and air to breathe4 ,therefore the 
fact that his spiritual life too is     
dependent upon the life-giving          
atmosphere that penetrates him1 and the 
heavenly food which he receives1 makes  
no fracture in his experience4 ,thus we 
are brought back by another path to the 
fundamental need for him1 in some form1 
of the balanced active and contemplative
 life4  ,in spite of this1 many people  

seem to take it for granted that if a   
man believes in and desires to live a   
spiritual life1 he can live it in utter 
independence of spiritual food4 ,he     
believes in ,god1 loves his neighbour1  
wants to do good1 and just goes ahead4  
,the result of this is that the life of 
the ,god-fearing citizen or the ,social 
,christian1 as now conceived and        
practised1 is generally the starved     
life4 ,it leaves no time for the        
silence1 the withdrawal1 the quiet      
attention to the spiritual1 which is    
essential if it is to develop all its   
powers4 ,yet the literature of the      
,spirit is full of warnings on this     
subject4 ,taste and see that the ,lord  
is sweet4 ,they that wait upon the ,lord
 shall renew their strength4 ,in        
quietness and confidence shall be your  
strength4 ,these are practical          
statements2 addressed1 not to           
specialists but to ordinary men and     
women1 with a normal psycho-physical    
make-up4 ,they are literally true now1  

or can be if we choose4 ,they do not    
involve any peculiar training1 or       
unnatural effort4 ,a sliding scale goes 
from the simplest prayer-experience of  
the ordinary man to that complete       
self-loss and complete self-finding1    
which is called the transforming union  
of the saint2 and somewhere in this     
series1 every human soul can find a     
place4  ,if this balanced life is to be 
ours1 if we are to receive what ,st4    
,augustine called the food of the       
full-grown1 to find and feel the        
,eternal1 we must give time and place to
 it in our lives4 ,i emphasize this1    
because its realization seems to me to  
be a desperate modern need2 a need      
exhibited supremely in our languid and  
ineffectual spirituality1 but also felt 
in the too busy1 too entirely active and
 hurried lives of the artist1 the       
reformer and the teacher4 ,st4 ,john of 
the ,cross says in one of his letters3  
,what is wanting is not writing or      
talking--there is more than enough of   

that--but1 silence and action4 ,for     
silence joined to action produces       
recollection1 and gives the spirit a    
marvellous strength4 ,such recollection1
 such a gathering up of our interior    
forces and retreat of consciousness to  
its ground1 is the preparation of all   
great endeavour1 whatever its apparent  
object may be4 ,until we realize that it
 is better1 more useful1 more productive
 of strength1 to spend1 let us say1 the 
odd ten minutes in the morning in       
feeling and finding the ,eternal than in
 flicking the newspaper--that this will 
send us off to the day's work properly  
orientated1 gathered together1          
recollected1 and really endowed with new
 power of dealing with circumstance--we 
have not begun to live the life of the  
,spirit1 or grasped the practical       
connection between such a daily         
discipline and the power of doing our   
best work1 whatever it may be4  ,i will 
illustrate this from a living example3  
that of the ,sadhu ,sundar ,singh4 ,no  

one1 ,i suppose1 who came into personal 
contact with the ,sadhu1 doubted that   
they were in the presence of a person   
who was living1 in the full sense1 the  
spiritual life4 ,even those who could   
not accept the symbols in which he      
described his experience and asked      
others to share it1 acknowledged that   
there had been worked in him a great    
transformation2 that the sense of the   
abiding and eternal went with him       
everywhere1 and flowed out from him1 to 
calm and to correct our feverish lives4 
,he fully satisfies in his own person   
the demands of ,baron von ,hgel's       
definition3 both contact with and       
renunciation of the ,particular and     
,fleeting1 seeking and finding of the   
,eternal1 incarnating within his own    
experience that transcendent ,otherness4
 ,now the ,sadhu has discovered for     
himself and practises as the condition  
of his extraordinary activity1 power and
 endurance1 just that balance of life   
which ,st4 ,benedict's rule ordained4   

,he is a wandering missionary1          
constantly undertaking great journeys1  
enduring hardship and danger1 and       
practising the absolute poverty of ,st4 
,francis4 ,he is perfectly healthy1     
strong1 extraordinarily attractive1 full
 of power4 ,but this power he is careful
 to nourish4 ,his irreducible minimum is
 two hours spent in meditation and      
wordless communication with ,god at the 
beginning of each day4 ,he prefers three
 or four hours when work permits2 and a 
long period of prayer and meditation    
always precedes his public address4 ,if 
forced to curtail or hurry these hours  
of prayer1 he feels restless and        
unhappy1 and his efficiency is reduced4 
,prayer1 he says1 is as important as    
breathing2 and we never say we have no  
time to breathe4#adj  ,all this has been
 explained away by critics of the       
muscular ,christian sort1 who say that  
the ,sadhu's ,christianity is of a      
typically ,eastern kind4 ,but this is   
simply not true4 ,it were much better to

 acknowledge that we1 more and more1 are
 tending to develop a typically ,western
 kind of ,christianity1 marked by the   
,western emphasis on doing and ,western 
contempt for being2 and that if we go   
sufficiently far on this path we shall  
find ourselves cut off from our source4 
,the ,sadhu's ,christianity is fully    
,christian2 that is to say1 it is whole 
and complete4 ,the power in which he    
does his works is that in which ,st4    
,paul carried through his heroic        
missionary career1 ,st4 ,benedict formed
 a spiritual family that transformed    
,european culture1 ,wesley made the     
world his parish1 ,elizabeth ,fry faced 
the ,newgate criminals4 ,it is idle to  
talk of the revival of a personal       
spiritual life among ourselves1 or of a 
spiritual regeneration of society--for  
this can only come through the          
individual remaking of each of its      
members--unless we are willing1 at the  
sacrifice of some personal convenience1 
to make a place and time for these acts 

of recollection2 this willing and       
loving--and even more fruitful1 the more
 willing and loving--communion with1    
response to ,reality1 to ,god4 ,it is   
true that a fully lived spiritual life  
involves far more than this4 ,but this  
is the only condition on which it will  
exist at all4  ,love then1 which is a   
willed tendency to ,god2 prayer1 which  
is willed communion with and experience 
of ,him2 are the two prime essentials in
 the personal life of the ,spirit4 ,they
 represent1 of course1 only our side of 
it and our obligation4 ,this love is the
 outflowing response to another         
inflowing love1 and this prayer the     
appropriation of a transcendental energy
 and grace4 ,as the ,german ,theology   
reminds us1 ,i cannot do the work       
without ,god1 and ,god may not or will  
not without me4#ada ,and by these acts  
alone1 faithfully carried through1 all  
their costly demands fulfilled1 all     
their gifts and applications accepted   
without resistance and applied to each  

aspect of life1 human nature can grow up
 to its full stature1 and obtain access 
to all its sources of power4  ,yet this 
personal inward life of love and prayer 
shall not be too solitary4 ,as it needs 
links with cultus and so with the lives 
of its fellows1 it also needs links with
 history and so with the living past4   
,these links are chiefly made by the    
individual through his reading2 and such
 reading--such access to humanity's     
hoarded culture and experience--has     
always been declared alike by ,christian
 and non-,christian asceticism to be one
 of the proper helps of the spiritual   
life4 ,though ,hffding perhaps          
exaggerates when he reminds us that     
medival art always depicts the saints as
 deeply absorbed in their books1 and    
suggests that such brooding study       
directly induces contemplative          
states1#adb yet it is true that the soul
 gains greatly from such communion with1
 and meek learning from1 its cultural   
background4 ,ever more and more as it   

advances1 it will discover within that  
background the records of those very    
experiences which it must now so        
poignantly relive2 and which seem to it1
 as his own experience seems to every   
lover1 unique4 ,there it can find1      
without any betrayal of its secret1 the 
wholesome assurance of its own          
normality2 standards of comparison2     
companionship1 alike in its hours of    
penitence1 of light1 and of deprivation4
 ,yet such fruitful communion with the  
past is not the privilege of an         
aristocratic culture4 ,it is seen in its
 perfection in many simple ,christians  
who have found in the ,bible all the    
spiritual food they need4 ,the great    
literature of the ,spirit tells its     
secrets to those alone who thus meet it 
on its own ground4 ,not only the works  
of ,thomas  ,kempis1 of ,ruysbroeck1 or 
of ,st4 ,teresa1 but also the ,biblical 
writers--and especially1 perhaps1 the   
,psalms and the ,gospels--are read      
wholly anew by us at each stage of our  

advance4 ,comparative study of ,hindu   
and ,moslem writers proves that this is 
equally true of the great literatures of
 other faiths4#adc ,beginners may find  
in all these infinite stimulus1         
interest1 and beauty4 ,but to the mature
 soul they become road-books1 of which  
experience proves the astonishing       
exactitude2 giving it descriptions which
 it can recognize and directions that it
 needs1 and constituting a steady check 
upon individualism4  ,now let us look at
 the emergence of this life which we    
have been considering1 and at the       
typical path which it will or may       
follow1 in an ordinary man or woman of  
our own day4 ,not a saint or genius1    
reaching heroic levels2 but a member of 
that solid wholesome spiritual          
population which ought to fill the      
streets of the ,city of ,god4 ,we       
noticed when we were studying its       
appearance in history1 that often this  
life begins in a sort of restlessness1 a
 feeling that there is something more in

 existence1 some absolute meaning1 some 
more searching obligation1 that we have 
not reached4 ,this dissatisfaction1 this
 uncertainty and hunger1 may show itself
 in many different forms4 ,it may speak 
first to the intellect1 to the moral    
nature1 to the social conscience1 even  
to the artistic faculty2 or1 directly1  
to the heart4 ,anyhow1 its abiding      
quality is a sense of contraction1 of   
limitation2 a feeling of something more 
that we could stretch out to1 and       
achieve1 and be4 ,its impulsion is      
always in one direction2 to a finding of
 some wider and more enduring reality1  
some objective for the self's life and  
love4 ,it is a seeking of the ,eternal1 
in some form4 ,i allow that thanks to   
the fog in which we live muffled1 such a
 first seeking1 and above all such a    
finding of the ,eternal is not for us a 
very easy thing4 ,the sense of quest1 of
 disillusion1 of something lacking1 is  
more common among modern men than its   
resolution in discovery4 ,nevertheless  

the quest does mean that there is a     
solution3 and that those who are        
persevering must find it in the end4    
,the world into which our desire is     
truly turned1 is somehow revealed to us4
 ,the revelation1 always partial and    
relative1 is of course conditioned by   
our capacity1 the character of our      
longing and the experiences of our past4
 ,in spiritual matters we behold that   
which we are3 here following1 on higher 
levels1 the laws which govern sthetic   
apprehension4  ,so1 dissatisfied with   
its world-view and realizing that it is 
incomplete1 the self seeks at first     
hand1 though not always with clear      
consciousness of its nature1 the        
,reality which is the object of         
religion4 ,when it finds this ,reality1 
the discovery1 however partial1 is for  
it the overwhelming revelation of an    
objective ,fact2 and it is swept by a   
love and awe which it did not know      
itself to possess4 ,and now it sees2    
dimly1 yet in a sufficiently            

disconcerting way1 the ,pattern in the  
,mount2 the rich complex of existence as
 it were transmuted1 full of charity and
 beauty1 governed by another series of  
adjustments4 ,life looks different to   
it4 ,as ,fox said1 ,creation gives out  
another smell than before4#add ,there is
 only one thing more disconcerting than 
this1 and that is seeing the pattern    
actualized in a fellow human being3     
living face to face with human sanctity1
 in its great simplicity and            
supernatural love1 joy1 peace4 ,for1    
when we glimpse ,eternal ,beauty in the 
universe1 we can say with the hero of   
,callista1 ,it is beyond me6 ,but1 when 
we see it transfiguring human character1
 we know that it is not beyond the power
 of the race4 ,it is here1 to be had4   
,its existence as a form of life creates
 a standard1 and lays an obligation on  
us all4  ,suppose then that the self1   
urged by this new pressure1 accepts the 
obligation and measures itself by the   
standard4 ,it then becomes apparent that

 this ,fact which it sought for and has 
seen is not merely added to its old     
universe1 as in medival pictures        
,paradise with its circles over-arches  
the earth4 ,this ,reality is            
all-penetrating and has transfigured    
each aspect of the self's old world4 ,it
 now has a new and most exacting scale  
of values1 which demand from it a new   
series of adjustments2 ask it--and with 
authority--to change its life4  ,what   
next8 ,the next thing1 probably1 is that
 the self finds itself in rather a tight
 place4 ,it is wedged into a physical   
order that makes innumerable calls on   
it1 and innumerable suggestions to it3  
which has for years monopolized its     
field of consciousness and set up habits
 of response to its claims4 ,it has to  
make some kind of a break with this     
order1 or at least with its many        
attachments thereto2 and stretch to the 
wider span demanded by the new and      
larger world4 ,and further1 it is in    
possession of a complex psychic life1   

containing many insubordinate elements1 
many awkward bequests from a primitive  
past4 ,that psychic life has just       
received the powerful and direct        
suggestion of the ,spirit2 and for the  
moment1 it is subdued to that           
suggestion4 ,but soon it begins to      
experience the inevitable conflict      
between old habits1 and new             
demands--between a life lived in the    
particular and in the universal         
spirit--and only through complete       
resolution of that conflict will it     
develop its full power4 ,so the self    
quickly realizes that the theologian's  
war between ,nature and ,grace is a     
picturesque way of stating a real       
situation2 and further that the demand  
of all religions for a change of        
heart--that is1 of the deep instinctive 
nature--is the first condition of a     
spiritual life4 ,and hence1 that its    
hands are fairly full4 ,it is true that 
an immense joy and hope come with it to 
this business of tackling imperfection1 

of adjusting itself to the newly found  
centre of life4 ,it knows that it is    
committed to the forward movement of a  
,power1 which may be slow but which     
nothing can gainsay4 ,nevertheless the  
first thing that power demands from it  
is courage2 and the next an unremitting 
vigorous effort4 ,it will never again be
 able to sink back cosily into its      
racial past4 ,consciousness of          
disharmony and incompleteness now brings
 the obligation to mend the disharmony  
and achieve a fresh synthesis4  ,this is
 felt with a special sharpness in the   
moral life1 where the irreconcilable    
demands of natural self-interest and of 
,spirit assume their most intractable   
shape4 ,old habits and paths of         
discharge which have almost become      
automatic must now1 it seems1 be        
abandoned4 ,new paths1 in spite of      
resistances1 must be made4 ,thus it is  
that temptation1 hard conflict1 and     
bewildering perplexities usher in the   
life of the ,spirit4 ,these are largely 

the results of our biological past      
continuing into our fluctuating         
half-made present2 and they point       
towards a psychic stability1 an inner   
unity we have not yet attained4  ,this  
realization of ourselves as we truly    
are--emerging with difficulty from our  
animal origin1 tinctured through and    
through with the self-regarding         
tendencies and habits it has imprinted  
on us--this realization or              
self-knowledge1 is ,humility2 the only  
soil in which the spiritual life can    
germinate4 ,and modern man with his     
great horizons1 his ever clearer vision 
of his own close kinship with life's    
origin1 his small place in the          
time-stream1 in the universe1 in ,god's 
hand1 the relative character of his best
 knowledge and achievement1 is surely   
everywhere being persuaded to this royal
 virtue4 ,recognition of this his true  
creaturely status1 with its             
obligations--the only process of pain   
and struggle needed if the demands of   

generous love are ever to be fulfilled  
in him and his many-levelled nature is  
to be purified and harmonized and       
develop all its powers--this is         
,repentance4 ,he shows not only his     
sincerity1 but his manliness and courage
 by his acceptance of all that such     
repentance entails on him2 for the      
healthy soul1 like the healthy body1    
welcomes some trial and roughness and is
 well able to bear the pains of         
education4 ,psychologists regard such an
 education1 harmonizing the rational or 
ideal with the instinctive life--the    
change of heart which leaves the whole  
self working together without inner     
conflict towards one objective--as the  
very condition of a full and healthy    
life4 ,but it can only be achieved in   
its perfection by the complete surrender
 of heart and mind to a third term1     
transcending alike the impulsive and the
 rational4 ,the life of the ,spirit in  
its supreme authority1 and its          
identification with the highest         

interests of the race1 does this3       
harnessing man's fiery energies to the  
service of the ,light4  ,therefore1 in  
the rich1 new life on which the self    
enters1 one strand must be that of      
repentance1 catharsis1 self-conquest2 a 
complete contrition which is the earnest
 of complete generosity1 uncalculated   
response4 ,and1 dealing as we are now   
with average human nature1 we can safely
 say that the need for such ever-renewed
 self-scrutiny and self-purgation will  
never in this life be left behind4 ,for 
sin is a fact1 though a fact which we do
 not understand2 and now it appears and 
must evermore remain an offence against 
love1 hostile to this intense new       
attraction1 and marring the self's      
willed tendency towards it4  ,the next  
strand we may perhaps call that of      
,recollection3 for the recognizing and  
the cure of imperfection depends on the 
compensating search for the ,perfect and
 its enthronement as the supreme object 
of our thought and love4 ,the self1     

then1 soon begins to feel a strong      
impulsion to some type of inward        
withdrawal and concentration1 some kind 
of prayer2 though it may not use this   
name or recognize the character of its  
mood4 ,as it yields to this strange new 
drawing1 such recollection grows easier4
 ,it finds that there is a veritable    
inner world1 not merely of phantasy1 but
 of profound heart-searching experience2
 where the soul is in touch with another
 order of realities and knows itself to 
be an inheritor of ,eternal ,life4 ,here
 unique things happen4 ,a power is at   
work1 and new apprehensions are born4   
,and now for the first time the self    
discovers itself to be striking a       
balance between this inner and the outer
 life1 and in its own small way--but    
still1 most fruitfully--enriching action
 with the fruits of contemplation4 ,if  
it will give to the learning of this new
 art--to the disciplining and refining  
of this affective thought--even a       
fraction of the diligence which it gives

 to the learning of a new game1 it will 
find itself repaid by a progressive     
purity of vision1 a progressive sense of
 assurance1 an ever-increasing delicacy 
of moral discrimination and demand4     
,psychologists1 as we have seen1 divide 
men into introverts and extroverts2 but 
as a matter of fact we must regard both 
these extreme types as defective4 ,a    
whole man should be supple in his       
reactions both to the inner and to the  
outer world4  ,the third strand in the  
life of the ,spirit1 for this normal    
self which we are considering2 must be  
the disposition of complete ,surrender4 
,more and more advancing in this inner  
life1 it will feel the imperative       
attraction of ,reality1 of ,god2 and it 
must respond to this attraction with all
 the courage and generosity of which it 
is capable4 ,i am trying to use the     
simplest and the most general language1 
and to avoid emotional imagery3 though  
it is here1 in telling of this          
perpetually renewed act of self-giving  

and dedication1 that spiritual writers  
most often have recourse to the language
 of the heart4 ,it is indeed in a spirit
 of intensest and humble adoration that 
generous souls yield themselves to the  
drawing of that mysterious ,beauty and  
unchanging ,love1 with all that it      
entails4 ,but the form which the impulse
 to surrender takes will vary with the  
psychic make-up of the individual4 ,to  
some it will come as a sense of         
vocation1 a making-over of the will to  
the purposes of the ,kingdom2 a type of 
consecration which may not be overtly   
religious1 but may be concerned with the
 self-forgetting quest of social        
excellence1 of beauty1 or of truth4 ,by 
some it will be felt as an illumination 
of the mind1 which now discerns once for
 all true values1 and accepting these1  
must uphold and strive for them in the  
teeth of all opportunism4 ,by some--and 
these are the most blessed--as a        
breaking and re-making of the heart4    
,whatever the form it takes1 the extent 

in which the self experiences the peace1
 joy and power of living at the level of
 ,spirit will depend on the completeness
 and singlemindedness of this1 its      
supreme act of self-simplification4 ,any
 reserves1 anything in its make-up which
 sets up resistances--and this means    
generally any form of egotism--will mar 
the harmony of the process4 ,and on the 
other hand1 such a real simplification  
of the self's life as is here           
demanded--uniting on one object1 the    
intellect1 will and feeling too often   
split among contradictory               
attractions--is itself productive of    
inner harmony and increased power3      
productive too of that noble endurance  
which counts no pain too much in the    
service of ,reality4  ,here then we come
 to the fact1 valid for every level of  
spiritual life1 which lies behind all   
the declarations concerning surrender1  
self-loss1 dying to live1 dedication1   
made by writers on this theme4 ,all     
involve a relaxing of tension1 letting  

ourselves go without reluctance in the  
direction in which we are most          
profoundly drawn2 a cessation of our    
struggles with the tide1 our kicks      
against the pricks that spur us on4 ,the
 inward aim of the self is towards      
unification with a larger life2 a       
mergence with ,reality which it may     
describe under various contradictory    
symbols1 or may not be able to describe 
at all1 but which it feels to be the    
fulfilment of existence4 ,it has        
learnt--though this knowledge may not   
have passed beyond the stage of         
feeling--that the universe is one simple
 texture1 in which all things have their
 explanation and their place4 ,combing  
out the confusions which enmesh it1     
losing its sham and separate life and   
finding its true life there1 it will    
know what to love and how to act4 ,the  
goal of this process1 which has been    
called entrance into the freedom of the 
,will of ,god1 is the state described by
 the writer of the ,german ,theology    

when he said ,i would fain be to the    
,eternal ,goodness what his own hand is 
to a man4#ade ,for such a declaration   
not only means a willed and skilful     
working for ,god1 a practical siding    
with ,perfection1 becoming its living   
tool1 but also close union with1 and    
sharing of1 the vital energy of the     
spiritual order3 a feeding on and using 
of its power1 its very life blood2      
complete docility to its inward         
direction1 abolition of separate desire4
 ,the surrender is therefore made not in
 order that we may become limp pietists1
 but in order that we may receive more  
energy and do better work3 by a humble  
self-subjection more perfectly helping  
forward the thrust of the ,spirit and   
the primal human business of incarnating
 the ,eternal here and now4 ,its        
justification is in the arduous but     
untiring1 various but harmonious1       
activities that flow from it3 the       
enhancement of life which it entails4   
,it gives us access to our real sources 

of power2 that we may take from them    
and1 spending generously1 be energized  
anew4  ,so the cord on which those      
events which make up the personal life  
of the ,spirit are to be strung is      
completed1 and we see that it consists  
of four strands4 ,two are dispositions  
of the self2 ,penitence and ,surrender4 
,two are activities2 inward             
,recollection and outward ,work4 ,all   
four make stern demands on its fortitude
 and goodwill4 ,and each gives strength 
to the rest3 for they are not to be     
regarded as separate and successive     
states1 a discrete series through which 
we must pass one by one1 leaving        
penitence behind us when we reach       
surrendered love2 but as the variable   
yet enduring and inseparable aspects of 
one rich life1 phases in one complete   
and vital effort to respond more and    
more closely to ,reality4  ,nothing1    
perhaps1 is less monotonous than the    
personal life of the ,spirit4 ,in its   
humility and joyous love1 its adoration 

and its industry1 it may find           
self-expression in any one of the       
countless activities of the world of    
time4 ,it is both romantic and austere1 
both adventurous and holy4 ,full of     
fluctuation and unearthly colour1 it yet
 has its dark patches as well as its    
light4 ,since perfect proof of the      
supersensual is beyond the span of human
 consciousness1 the element of risk can 
never be eliminated3 we are obliged in  
the end to trust the universe and live  
by faith4 ,therefore the awakened soul  
must often suffer perplexity1 share to  
the utmost the stress and anguish of the
 physical order2 and1 chained as it is  
to a consciousness accustomed to respond
 to that order1 must still be content   
with flashes of understanding and       
willing to bear long periods of         
destitution when the light is veiled4   
,the further it advances the more bitter
 will these periods of destitution seem 
to it4 ,it is not from the real men and 
women of the ,spirit that we hear soft  

things about the comfort of faith4 ,for 
the true life of faith gives everything 
worth having and takes everything worth 
offering3 with unrelenting blows it     
welds the self into the stuff of the    
universe1 subduing it to the universal  
purpose1 doing away with the flame of   
separation4 ,though joy and inward peace
 even in desolation are dominant marks  
of those who have grown up into it1     
still it offers to none a succession of 
supersensual delights4 ,the life of the 
,spirit involves the sublimation of that
 pleasure-pain rhythm which is          
characteristic of normal consciousness1 
and if for it pleasure becomes joy1 pain
 becomes the ,cross4 ,toil1 abnegation1 
sacrifice1 are therefore of its essence2
 but these are not felt as a heavy      
burden1 because they are the expression 
of love4 ,it entails a willed tension   
and choice1 a noble power of refusal1   
which are not entirely covered by being 
in tune with the ,infinite4 ,as our life
 comes to maturity we discover to our   

confusion that human ears can pick up   
from the ,infinite many incompatible    
tunes1 but cannot hear the whole        
symphony4 ,and the melody confided to   
our care1 the one which we alone perhaps
 can contribute and which taxes our     
powers to the full1 has in it not only  
the notes of triumph but the notes of   
pain4 ,the distinctive mark therefore is
 not happiness but vocation3 work       
demanded and power given1 but given only
 on condition that we spend it and      
ourselves on others without stint4      
,these propositions1 of course1 are     
easily illustrated from history3 but we 
can also illustrate them in our own     
persons if we choose4  ,should we choose
 this1 and should life of the ,spirit be
 achieved by us--and it will only be    
done through daily discipline and       
attention to the ,spiritual1 a sacrifice
 of comfort to its interests1 following 
up the intuition which sets us on the   
path--what benefits may we as ordinary  
men expect it to bring to us and to the 

community that we serve8 ,it will       
certainly bring into life new zest and  
new meaning2 a widening of the horizon  
and consciousness of security2 a fresh  
sense of joys to be had and of work to  
be done4 ,the real spiritual            
consciousness is positive and           
constructive in type3 it does not look  
back on the past sins and mistakes of   
the individual or of the community1 but 
in its other-world faith and this-world 
charity is inspired by a forward-moving 
spirit of hope4 ,seeking alone the      
honour of ,eternal ,beauty1 and because 
of its invulnerable sense of security1  
it is adventurous4 ,the spiritual man   
and woman can afford to take desperate  
chances1 and live dangerously in the    
interests of their ideals2 being        
delivered from the many unreal fears and
 anxieties which commonly torment us1   
and knowing the unimportance of         
possessions and of so-called success4   
,the joy which waits on disinterested   
love and the confidence which follows   

surrender1 cannot fail them4 ,moreover1 
the inward harmony and assurance1 the   
consciousness of access to that ,spirit 
who is in a literal sense health's      
eternal spring means a healing of       
nervous miseries1 and invigoration of   
the usually ill-treated mind and body1  
and so an all-round increase in         
happiness and power4  ,the fruit of the 
,spirit is love1 joy1 peace1 long       
suffering1 gentleness1 goodness1 faith1 
meekness1 temperance4 ,this1 said ,st4  
,paul1 who knew by experience the worlds
 of grace and of nature1 is what a      
complete man ought to be like4 ,compare 
this picture of an equable and fully    
harmonized personality with that of a   
characteristic neurasthenic1 a bored    
sensualist1 or an embittered worker1    
concentrated on the struggle for a      
material advantage3 and consider that   
the central difference between these    
types of human success and human failure
 abides in the presence or absence of a 
spiritual conception of life4 ,we do not

 yet know the limits of the upgrowth    
into power and happiness which complete 
and practical surrender to this         
conception can work in us2 or what its  
general triumph might do for the        
transformation of the world4 ,and it may
 even be that beyond the joy and renewal
 which come from self-conquest and      
unification1 a level of spiritual life  
most certainly open to all who will     
really work for it2 and beyond that     
deeper insight1 more widespreading love1
 and perfection of adjustment to the    
here-and-now which we recognize and     
reverence as the privilege of the pure  
in heart--beyond all these1 it may be   
that life still reserves for man another
 secret and another level of            
consciousness2 a closer identification  
with ,reality1 such as eye hath not     
seen1 or ear heard4  ,and note1 that    
this spiritual life which we have here  
considered is not an aristocratic life4 
,it is a life of which the fundamentals 
are given by the simplest kinds of      

traditional piety1 and have been        
exhibited over and over again by the    
simplest souls4 ,an unconditional       
self-surrender to the ,divine ,will1    
under whatever symbols it may be thought
 of2 for we know that the very crudest  
of symbols is often strong enough to    
make a bridge between the heart and the 
,eternal1 and so be a vehicle of the    
,spirit of ,life4 ,a little silence and 
leisure4 ,a great deal of faithfulness1 
kindness1 and courage4 ,all this is     
within the reach of anyone who cares    
enough for it to pay the price4         
,,footnotes3  ,footnote #abi3 ,this     
doctrine is fully worked out in the last
 two sections of ,eternal ,life4        
,footnote #acj3 ,de ,imit4 ,christi1    
,bk4 ,,ii1 ,cap4 #f4  ,footnote #aca3   
,six ,theosophic ,points1 p4 #ge4       
,footnote #acb3 ,one ,hundred ,poems of 
,kabir1 p4 #gh4  ,footnote #acc3 ,cl4   
,ruysbroeck3 ,the ,mirror of ,eternal   
,salvation1 ,cap4 ,,viii  ,footnote     
#acd3 ,in ,librum ,b4 ,dionysii de      

,divinis ,nominibus commentaria4        
,footnote #ace3 ,ennead ,,iii4 #e1 #d4  
,footnote #acf3 ,boehme3 ,six           
,theosophic ,points1 p4 #ge4  ,footnote 
#acg3 ,the ,interior ,castle2 ,seventh  
,habitation1 ,cap4 ,,iv4  ,footnote     
#ach3 ,boehme2 ,the ,way to ,christ1    
,pt4 ,,iv4  ,footnote #aci3 ,ennead     
,,ii4 #i4 #i4  ,footnote #adj3 ,streeter
 and ,appasamy3 ,the ,sadhu1 pp4 #ih1   
#ajj et seq41 #bac4  ,footnote #ada3    
,theologia ,germanica1 ,cap4 ,,iii4     
,footnote #adb3 ,hffding1 ,the          
,philosophy of ,religion1 ,,iii1 ,b4    
,footnote #adc3 ,there are1 for         
instance1 several striking instances in 
the ,autobiography of the ,maharishi    
,devendranath ,tagore4  ,footnote #add3 
,fox's ,journal1 ,vol4 ,i1 ,cap4 #b4    
,footnote #ade3 ,theologia ,germanica1  
,cap4 #aj4     ,,chapter ,,vii  ,,the   
,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit ,,and        
,,education   ,in the past six chapters 
we have been considering in the main our
 own position1 and how1 here in the     

present1 we as adults may actualize and 
help on the spiritual life in ourselves4
 ,but our best hope of giving ,spirit   
its rightful1 full expression within the
 time-world lies in the future4 ,it is  
towards that1 that those who really care
 must work4 ,anything which we can do   
towards persuading into better shape our
 own deformed characters1 compelling our
 recalcitrant energy into fresh         
channels1 is little in comparison with  
what might be achieved in the plastic   
growing psychic life of children did we 
appreciate our full opportunity and the 
importance of using it4 ,this is why ,i 
propose now to consider one or two      
points in the relation of education to  
the spiritual life4  ,since it is always
 well1 in a discussion of this kind1 to 
be quite clear about the content of the 
words with which we deal1 ,i will say at
 once1 that by ,education ,i mean that  
deliberate adjustment of the whole      
environment of a growing creature1 which
 surrounds it with the most favourable  

influences and educes all its powers2   
giving it the most helpful conditions   
for its full growth and development4    
,education should be the complete       
preparation of the young thing for      
fullness of life2 involving the         
evolution and the balanced training of  
all its faculties1 bodily1 mental and   
spiritual4 ,it should train and refine  
senses1 instincts1 intellect1 will and  
feeling2 giving a world-view based on   
real facts and real values and          
encouraging active correspondence       
therewith4 ,thus the educationist1 if he
 be convinced1 as ,i think most of us   
must be1 that all isn't quite right with
 the world of mankind1 has the priceless
 opportunity of beginning the remaking  
of humanity from the right end4 ,in the 
child he has a little1 supple thing1    
which can be made into a vital1         
spiritual thing2 and nothing again will 
count so much for it as what happens in 
these its earliest years4 ,to start life
 straight is the secret of inward       

happiness3 and to a great extent1 the   
secret of health and power4  ,that      
conception of man upon which we have    
been working1 and which regards his     
psychic life on all its levels as the   
manifold expressions of one single      
energy or urge in the depths of his     
being1 a life-force seeking fulfilment1 
has obvious and important applications  
in the educational sphere4 ,it indicates
 that the fundamental business of       
education is to deal with this urgent   
and untempered craving1 discipline it1  
and direct it towards interests of      
permanent value3 helping it to establish
 useful habits1 removing obstacles in   
its path1 blocking the side channels    
down which it might run4 ,especially is 
it the task of such education1 gradually
 to disclose to the growing psyche those
 spiritual correspondences for which the
 religious man and the idealist must    
hold that man's spirit was made4 ,such  
an education as this has little in      
common with the mere crude imparting of 

facts4 ,it represents rather the careful
 and loving induction of the growing    
human creature into the rich world of   
experience2 the help we give it in the  
great business of adjusting itself to   
reality4 ,it operates by means of the   
moulding influences of environment1 the 
creation of habit4 ,suggestion1 not     
statement1 is its most potent           
instrument2 and such suggestion begins  
for good or ill at the very dawn of     
consciousness4 ,therefore the child     
whose infancy is not surrounded by      
persons of true outlook is handicapped  
from the start2 and the training in this
 respect of the parents of the future is
 one of the greatest services we can    
render to the race4  ,we are beginning  
to learn the overwhelming importance of 
infantile impressions3 how a forgotten  
babyish fear or grief may develop       
underground1 and produce at last an     
unrecognizable growth poisoning the body
 and the mind of the adult4 ,but here   
good is at least as potent as ill4 ,what

 terror1 a hideous sight1 an unloving   
nurture may do for evil2 a happy        
impression1 a beautiful sight1 a loving 
nurture will do for good4 ,moreover1 we 
can bury good seed in the unconscious   
minds of children and reasonably look   
forward to the fruit4 ,babyish prayers1 
simple hymns1 trace whilst the mind is  
ductile the paths in which feelings     
shall afterwards tend to flow2 and it is
 only in maturity that we realize our   
psychological debt to these early and   
perhaps afterwards abandoned beliefs and
 deeds4 ,so the veritable education of  
the ,spirit begins at once1 in the      
cradle1 and its chief means will be the 
surroundings within which that childish 
spirit first develops its little        
awareness of the universe2 the appeals  
which are made to its instincts1 the    
stimulations of its life of sense4 ,the 
first factor of this education is the   
family3 the second the society within   
which that family is formed4  ,though we
 no longer suppose it to possess innate 

ideas1 the baby has most surely innate  
powers1 inclinations and curiosities1   
and is reaching out in every direction  
towards life4 ,it is brimming with will 
power1 ready to push hard into          
experience4 ,the environment in which it
 is placed and the responses which the  
outer world makes to it--and these      
surroundings and responses in the long  
run are largely of our choosing and     
making--represent either the helping or 
thwarting of its tendencies1 and the sum
 total of the directions in which its   
powers can be exercised and its demands 
satisfied3 the possibilities1 in fact1  
which life puts before it4 ,we1 as      
individuals and as a community1 control 
and form part of this environment4      
,under the first head1 we play by       
influence or demeanour a certain part in
 the education of every child whom we   
meet4 ,under the second head1 by        
acquiescence in the social order1 we    
accept responsibility for the state of  
life in which it is born4 ,the child's  

first intimations of the spiritual must 
and can only come to it through the     
incarnation of ,spirit in its home and  
the world that it knows4 ,what1 then1   
are we doing about this8 ,it means that 
the influences which shape the men and  
women of the future will be as wholesome
 and as spiritual as we ourselves are3  
no more1 no less4 ,tone1 atmosphere are 
the things which really matter2 and     
these are provided by the group-mind1   
and reflect its spiritual state4  ,the  
child's whole educational opportunity is
 contained in two factors2 the          
personality it brings and the           
environment it gets4 ,generations of    
educationists have disputed their       
relative importance3 but neither party  
can deny that the most fortunate nature1
 given wrongful or insufficient nurture1
 will hardly emerge unharmed4 ,even     
great inborn powers atrophy if left     
unused1 and exceptional ability in any  
direction may easily remain undeveloped 
if the environment be sufficiently      

unfavourable3 a result too often        
achieved in the domain of the spiritual 
life4 ,we must have opportunity and     
encouragement to try our powers and     
inclinations1 be helped to understand   
their nature and the way to use them1   
unless we are to begin again1 each one  
of us1 in the ,stone ,age of the soul4  
,so too1 even small powers may be       
developed to an astonishing degree by   
suitable surroundings and wise          
education--witness the results obtained 
by the expert training of defective     
children--and all this is as applicable 
to the spiritual as to the mental and   
bodily life4 ,that life is quick to     
respond to the demands made on it3 to   
take every opportunity of expression    
that comes its way4 ,if you make the    
right appeal to any human faculty1 that 
faculty will respond1 and begin to grow4
 ,thus it is that the slow quiet        
pressure of tradition1 first in the home
 and then in the school1 shapes the     
child during his most malleable years4  

,we1 therefore1 are surely bound to     
watch and criticize the environment1 the
 tradition1 the customs we are          
instrumental in providing for the infant
 future3 to ask ourselves whether we are
 sure the tradition is right1 the       
conventions we hand on useful1 the ideal
 we hold up complete4 ,the child1       
whatever his powers1 cannot react to    
something which is not there2 he can't  
digest food that is not given to him1   
use faculties for which no objective is 
provided4 ,hence the great              
responsibility of our generation1 as to 
providing a complete1 balanced          
environment now1 a fully-rounded        
opportunity of response to life         
physical1 mental and spiritual1 for the 
generation preparing to succeed us4     
,such education as this has been called 
a preparation for citizenship4 ,but this
 conception is too narrow1 unless the   
citizenship be that of the ,city of     
,god2 and the adjustments involved be   
those of the spirit1 as well as of the  

body and the mind4  ,herbert ,spencer1  
whom one would hardly accuse of being a 
spiritual philosopher1 was accustomed to
 group the essentials of a right        
education under four heads3#adf  ,first1
 he said1 we must teach                 
self-preservation in all senses3 how to 
keep the body and the mind healthy and  
efficient1 how to be self-supporting1   
how to protect oneself against external 
dangers and encroachments4  ,next1 we   
must train the growing creature in its  
duties towards the life of the future3  
parenthood and its responsibilities1    
understood in the widest sense4         
,thirdly2 we must prepare it to take its
 place in the present as a member of the
 social order into which it is born4    
,last3 we must hand on to it all those  
refinements of life which the past has  
given to us--the hoarded culture of the 
race4  ,only if we do these four things 
thoroughly can we dare to call ourselves
 educators in the full sense of the     
word4  ,now1 turning to the spiritual   

interests of the child3--and unless we  
are crass materialists we must believe  
these interests to exist1 and to be     
paramount--what are we doing to further 
them in these four fundamental          
directions8 ,first1 does the average    
good education train our young people in
 spiritual self-preservation8 ,does it  
send them out equipped with the means of
 living a full and efficient spiritual  
life8 ,does it furnish them with a      
health-giving type of religion2 that is1
 a solid hold on eternal realities1 a   
view of the universe capable of         
withstanding hostile criticism1 of      
supporting them in times of difficulty  
and of stress8 ,secondly1 does it give  
them a spiritual outlook in respect of  
their racial duties1 fit them in due    
time to be parents of other souls8 ,does
 it train them to regard humanity1 and  
their own place in the human            
life-stream1 from this point of view8   
,this point is of special importance1 in
 view of the fact that racial and       

biological knowledge on lower levels is 
now so generally in the possession of   
boys and girls2 and is bound to produce 
a distorted conception of life1 unless  
the spirit be studied by them with at   
least the same respectful attention that
 is given to the flesh4 ,thirdly1 what  
does our education do towards preparing 
them to solve the problems of social and
 economic life in a spiritual sense--our
 only reasonable chance of extracting   
the next generation from the social     
muddle in which we are plunged to-day8  
,last1 to what extent do we try to      
introduce our pupils into a full        
enjoyment of their spiritual            
inheritance1 the culture and tradition  
of the past8  ,i do not deny that there 
are educators--chiefly perhaps educators
 of girls--who can give favourable      
answers to all these questions4 ,but    
they are exceptional1 the proportion of 
the child population whom they influence
 is small1 and frequently their         
proceedings are looked upon--not without

 some justice--as eccentric4 ,if then in
 all these departments our standard type
 of education stops short of the        
spiritual level1 are not we             
self-convicted as at best theoretical   
believers in the worth and destiny of   
the human soul8  ,consider the facts4   
,outside the walls of definitely        
religious institutions--where methods   
are not always adjusted to the common   
stuff and needs of contemporary human   
life--it does not seem to occur to many 
educationists to give the education of  
the child's soul the same expert        
delicate attention so lavishly bestowed 
on the body and the intellect4 ,by      
expert delicate attention ,i do not mean
 persistent religious instruction2 but a
 skilled and loving care for the growing
 spirit1 inspired by deep conviction and
 helped by all the psychological        
knowledge we possess4 ,if we look at the
 efforts of organized religion we are   
bound to admit that in thousands of     
rural parishes1 and in many towns too1  

it is still possible to grow from       
infancy to old age as a member of church
 or chapel without once receiving any   
first-hand teaching on the powers and   
needs of the soul or the technique of   
prayer2 or obtaining any more help in   
the great religious difficulties of     
adolescence than a general invitation to
 believe1 and trust ,god4               
,morality--that is to say correctness of
 response to our neighbour and our      
temporal surroundings--is often well    
taught4 ,spirituality--correctness of   
response to ,god and our eternal        
surroundings--is most often ignored4 ,a 
peculiar ,british bashfulness seems to  
stand in the way of it4 ,it is felt that
 we show better taste in leaving the    
essentials of the soul's development to 
chance1 even that such development is   
not wholly desirable or manly3 that the 
atrophy of one aspect of man's          
made-trinity is best4 ,i have heard one 
eminent ecclesiastic maintain that      
regular and punctual attendance at      

morning service in a mood of            
non-comprehending loyalty was the best  
sort of spiritual experience for the    
average ,englishman4 ,is not that a     
statement which should make the         
,christian teachers who are responsible 
for the average ,englishman1 feel a     
little bit uncomfortable about the type 
which they have produced8 ,i do not     
suggest that education should encourage 
a feverish religiosity2 but that it     
ought to produce balanced men and women1
 whose faculties are fully alert and    
responsive to all levels of life4 ,as it
 is1 we train ,boy ,scouts and ,girl    
,guides in the principles of honour and 
chivalry4 ,our ,bible-classes minister  
to the hungry spirit much information   
about the journeys of ,st4 ,paul 7with  
maps74 ,but the pupils are seldom       
invited or assisted to taste1 and see   
that the ,lord is sweet4  ,now this     
indifference means1 of course1 that we  
do not as educators1 as controllers of  
the racial future1 really believe in the

 spiritual foundations of our           
personality as thoroughly and           
practically we believe in its mental and
 physical manifestations4 ,whatever the 
philosophy or religion we profess may   
be1 it remains for us in the realm of   
idea1 not in the realm of fact4 ,in     
practice1 we do not aim at the          
achievement of a spiritual type of      
consciousness as the crown of human     
culture4 ,the best that most education  
does for our children is only what the  
devil did for ,christ4 ,it takes them up
 to the top of a high mountain and shows
 them all the kingdoms of this world2   
the kingdom of history1 the kingdom of  
letters1 the kingdom of beauty1 the     
kingdom of science4 ,it is a splendid   
vision1 but unfortunately fugitive3 and 
since the spirit is not fugitive1 it    
demands an objective that is permanent4 
,if we do not give it such an objective1
 one of two things must happen to it4   
,either it will be restless and         
dissatisfied1 and throw the whole life  

out of key2 or it will become dormant   
for lack of use1 and so the whole life  
will be impoverished1 its best promise  
unfulfilled4 ,one line leads to the     
neurotic1 the other to the average      
sensual man1 and ,i think it will be    
agreed that modern life produces a good 
crop of both these kind of defectives4  
,but if we believe that the permanent   
objective of the spirit is ,god--if ,he 
be indeed for us the ,fountain of ,life 
and the sum of ,reality--can we         
acquiesce in these forms of loss8       
,surely it ought to be our first aim1 to
 make the sense of ,his universal       
presence and transcendent worth1 and of 
the self's responsibility to ,him1      
dominant for the plastic youthful       
consciousness confided to our care3 to  
introduce that consciousness into a     
world which is really a theocracy and   
encourage its aptitude for generous     
love8 ,if educationists do not view such
 a proposal with favour1 this shows how 
miserable and distorted our common      

conception of ,god has become2 and how  
small a part it really plays in our     
practical life4 ,most of us scramble    
through that practical life1 and are    
prepared to let our children scramble   
too1 without any clear notions of that  
hygiene of the soul which has been      
studied for centuries by experts2 and   
few look upon this branch of            
self-knowledge as something that all men
 may possess who will submit to         
education and work for its achievement4 
,thus we have degenerated from the      
medival standpoint2 for then at least   
the necessity of spiritual education was
 understood and accepted1 and the       
current psychology was in harmony with  
it4 ,but now there is little attempt to 
deepen and enlarge the spiritual        
faculties1 none to encourage their free 
and natural development in the young1 or
 their application to any richer world  
of experience than the circle of pious  
images with which religious education   
generally deals4 ,the result of this is 

seen in the rawness1 shallowness and    
ignorance which characterize the        
attitude of many young adults to        
religion4 ,their beliefs and their      
scepticism alike are often the          
acceptance or rejection of the obsolete4
 ,if they be agnostics1 the dogmas which
 they reject are frequently theological 
caricatures4 ,if they be believers1 both
 their religious conceptions and their  
prayers are found on investigation still
 to be of an infantile kind1 totally    
unrelated to the interests and outlook  
of modern men4  ,two facts emerge from  
the experience of all educationists4    
,the first is1 that children are        
naturally receptive and responsive2 the 
second1 that adolescents are naturally  
idealistic4 ,in both stages1 the young  
human creature is full of interests and 
curiosities asking to be satisfied1 of  
energies demanding expression2 and here1
 in their budding1 thrusting life--for  
which we1 by our choice of surroundings 
and influence1 may provide the          

objective--is the raw material out of   
which the spiritual humanity of the     
future might be made4 ,the child has    
already within it the living seed       
wherein all human possibilities are     
contained2 our part is to give the right
 soil1 the shelter1 and the             
watering-can4 ,spiritual education      
therefore does not consist in putting   
into the child something which it has   
not2 but in educing and sublimating that
 which it has--in establishing habits1  
fostering a trend of growth which shall 
serve it well in later years4 ,already1 
all the dynamic instincts are present1  
at least in germ2 asking for an outlet4 
,the will and the emotions1 ductile as  
they will never be again1 are ready to  
make full and ungraduated response to   
any genuine appeal to enthusiasm4 ,the  
imagination will accept the food we     
give1 if we give it in the right way4   
,what an opportunity6 ,nowhere else do  
we come into such direct contact with   
the plastic stuff of life2 never again  

shall we have at our disposal such a    
fund of emotional energy4  ,in the      
child's dreams and fantasies1 in its    
eager hero-worship--later1 in the       
adolescent's fervid friendships or      
devoted loyalty to an adored leader--we 
see the search of the living growing    
creature for more life and love1 for an 
enduring object of devotion4 ,do we     
always manage or even try to give it    
that enduring object1 in a form it can  
accept8 ,yet the responsibility of      
providing such a presentation of belief 
as shall evoke the spontaneous reactions
 of faith and love--for no compulsory   
idealism ever succeeds--is definitely   
laid on the parent and the teacher4 ,it 
is in the enthusiastic imitation of a   
beloved leader that the child or        
adolescent learns best4 ,were the       
spiritual life the most real of facts to
 us1 did we believe in it as we         
variously believe in athletics1 physical
 science or the arts1 surely we should  
spare no effort to turn to its purposes 

these priceless qualities of youth8     
,were the mind's communion with the     
,spirit of ,god generally regarded as   
its natural privilege and therefore the 
first condition of its happiness and    
health1 the general method and tone of  
modern education would inevitably differ
 considerably from that which we usually
 see3 and if the life of the ,spirit is 
to come to fruition1 here is one of the 
points at which reformation must begin4 
,when we look at the ordinary practice  
of modern civilized ,europe1 we cannot  
claim that any noticeable proportion of 
our young people are taught during their
 docile and impressionable years the    
nature and discipline of their spiritual
 faculties1 in the open and common-sense
 way in which they are taught languages1
 science1 music or gymnastics4 ,yet it  
is surely a central duty of the educator
 to deepen and enrich to the fullest    
extent possible his pupil's apprehension
 of the universe2 and must not all such 
apprehension move towards the discovery 

of that universe as a spiritual fact8   
,again1 in how many schools is the      
period of religious and idealistic      
enthusiasm which so commonly occurs in  
adolescence wisely used1 skilfully      
trained1 and made the foundation of an  
enduring spiritual life8 ,here is the   
period in which the relation of master  
and pupil is or may be most intimate and
 most fruitful2 and can be made to serve
 the highest interests of life4 ,yet1 no
 great proportion of those set apart to 
teach young people seem to realize and  
use this privilege4  ,i am aware that   
much which ,i am going to advocate will 
sound fantastic2 and that the changes   
involved may seem at first sight        
impossible to accomplish4 ,it is true   
that if these changes are to be useful1 
they must be gradual4 ,the policy of the
 clean sweep is one which both history  
and psychology condemn4 ,but it does    
seem to me a good thing to envisage     
clearly1 if we can1 the ideal towards   
which our changes should lead4 ,a garden

 city is not ,utopia4 ,still1 it is an  
advance upon the ,victorian type of     
suburb and slum2 and we should not have 
got it if some men had not believed in  
,utopia1 and tried to make a beginning  
here and now4 ,already in education some
 few have tried to make such a beginning
 and have proved that it is possible if 
we believe in it enough3 for faith can  
move even that mountainous thing1 the   
,british parental mind4  ,our task--and 
,i believe our most real hope for the   
future--is1 as we have already allowed1 
to make the idea of ,god dominant for   
the plastic youthful consciousness3 and 
not only this1 but to harmonize that    
conception1 first with our teachings    
about the physical and mental sides of  
life1 and next with the child's own     
social activities1 training body1 mind  
and spirit together that they may take  
each their part in the development of a 
whole man1 fully responsive to a        
universe which is at bottom a spiritual 
fact4 ,such training to be complete     

must1 as we have seen1 begin in the     
nursery and be given by the atmosphere  
and opportunities of the home4 ,it will 
include the instilling of childish      
habits of prayer and the fostering of   
simple expressions of reverence1        
admiration and love4 ,the subconscious  
knowledge implicit in such practice must
 form the foundation1 and only where it 
is present will doctrine and principle  
have any real meaning for the child4    
,prayer must come before theology1 and  
kindness1 tenderness and helpfulness    
before ethics4  ,but we have now to     
consider the child of school age1       
coming--too often without this1 the only
 adequate preparation--into the         
teacher's hands4 ,how is he to be dealt 
with1 and the opportunities which he    
presents used best8  ,when ,i see a     
right man1 said ,jacob ,boehme1 there ,i
 see three worlds standing4 ,since our  
aim should be to make right men and     
evoke in them not merely a departmental 
piety but a robust and intelligent      

spirituality1 we ought to explain in    
simple ways to these older children     
something at least of that view of human
 nature on which our training is based4 
,the religious instruction given in most
 schools is divided1 in varying         
proportions1 between historical or      
doctrinal teaching and ethical teaching4
 ,now a solid hold both on history and  
on morals is a great need2 but these are
 only realized in their full importance 
and enter completely into life when they
 are seen within the spiritual          
atmosphere1 and already even in         
childhood1 and supremely in youth1 this 
atmosphere can be evoked4 ,it does not  
seem to occur to most teachers that     
religion contains anything beyond or    
within the two departments of historical
 creed and of morals3 that1 for         
instance1 the greatest utterances of    
,st4 ,john and ,st4 ,paul deal with     
neither1 but with attainable levels of  
human life1 in which a new and fuller   
kind of experience was offered to       

mankind4 ,yet surely they ought at least
 to attempt to tell their pupils about  
this4 ,i do not see how ,christians at  
any rate can escape the obligation1 or  
shuffle out of it by saying that they do
 not know how it can be done4 ,indeed1  
all who are not thorough-going          
materialists must regard the study of   
the spiritual life as in the truest     
sense a department of biology2 and any  
account of man which fails to describe  
it1 as incomplete4 ,where the science of
 the body is studied1 the science of the
 soul should be studied too4 ,therefore1
 in the upper forms at least1 the       
psychology of religious experience in   
its widest sense1 as a normal part of   
all full human existence1 and the       
connection of that experience with      
practical life1 as it is seen in        
history1 should be taught4 ,if it is    
done properly it will hold the pupil's  
interest1 for it can be made to appeal  
to those same mental qualities of       
wonder1 curiosity and exploration which 

draw so many boys and girls to physical 
science4 ,but there should be no        
encouragement of introspection1 none of 
the false mystery or so-called reverence
 with which these subjects are sometimes
 surrounded1 and above all no spirit of 
exclusivism4  ,the pupil should be led  
to see his own religion as a part of the
 universal tendency of life to ,god4    
,this need not involve any reduction of 
the claims made on him by his own church
 or creed2 but the emphasis should      
always be on the likeness rather than   
the differences of the great religions  
of the world4 ,moreover1 higher         
education cannot be regarded as complete
 unless the mind be furnished with some 
rationale of its own deepest            
experiences1 and a harmony be           
established between impulse and thought4
 ,advanced pupils should1 then1 be given
 a simple and general philosophy of     
religion1 plainly stated in language    
which relates it with the current       
philosophy of life4 ,this is no counsel 

of perfection4 ,it has been done1 and   
can be done again4 ,it is said of       
,edward ,caird1 that he placed his      
pupils from the beginning at a point of 
view whence the life of mankind could be
 contemplated as one movement1 single   
though infinitely varied1 unerring      
though wandering1 significant yet       
mysterious1 secure and self-enriching   
although tragical4 ,there was a general 
sense of the spiritual nature of reality
 and of the rule of mind1 though what   
was meant by spirit or mind was hardly  
asked4 ,there was a hope and faith that 
outstripped all save the vaguest        
understanding but which evoked a glad   
response that somehow ,god was immanent 
in the world and in the history of all  
mankind1 making it sane4 ,and the effect
 of this teaching on the students was   
that they received the doctrine with    
enthusiasm1 and forgot themselves in the
 sense of their partnership in a        
universal enterprise4#a ,such teaching  
as this is a real preparation for       

citizenship1 an introduction to the     
enduring values of the world4  #a ,jones
 and ,muirhead3 ,life and ,philosophy of
 ,edward ,caird1 pp4 #fd1 #fe4  ,every  
human being1 as we know1 inevitably     
tends to emphasize some aspects of that 
world1 and to ignore others3 to build up
 for himself a relative universe4 ,the  
choices which determine the universe of 
maturity are often made in youth2 then  
the foundations are laid of that        
apperceiving mass which is to condition 
all the man's contacts with reality4 ,we
 ought1 therefore1 to show the universe 
to our young people from such an angle  
and in such a light1 that they tend     
quite simply and without any            
objectionable intensity to select1      
emphasize and be interested in its      
spiritual aspect4 ,for this purpose we  
must never try to force our own reading 
of that universe upon them2 but respect 
on the one hand their often extreme     
sensitiveness and on the other the      
infinitely various angles of approach   

proper to our infinitely various souls4 
,we should place food before them and   
leave them to browse4 ,only those who   
have tried this experiment know what    
such an enlargement of the horizon and  
enrichment of knowledge means to the    
eager1 adolescent mind3 how prompt is   
the response to any appeal which we make
 to its nascent sense of mystery4 ,yet  
whole schools of thought on these       
subjects are cheerfully ignored by the  
majority of our educationists2 hence the
 unintelligent and indeed babyish view  
of religion which is harboured by many  
adults1 even of the intellectual class4 
,though the spiritual life has its roots
 in the heart not in the head1 and will 
never be brought about by merely        
academic knowledge2 yet1 its beginnings 
in adolescence are often lost1 because  
young people are completely ignorant of 
the meaning of their own experiences1   
and the universal character of those    
needs and responses which they dimly    
feel stirring within them4 ,they are too

 shy to ask1 and no one ever tells them 
about it in a business-like and         
unembarrassing way4 ,this infant        
mortality in the spiritual realm ought  
not to be possible4 ,experience of ,god 
is the greatest of the rights of man1   
and should not be left to become the    
casual discovery of the few4 ,therefore 
prayer ought to be regarded as a        
universal human activity1 and its nature
 and difficulties should be taught1 but 
always in the sense of intercourse      
rather than of mere petition3 keeping in
 mind the doctrine of the mystics that  
prayer in itself properly is not else   
but a devout intent directed unto       
,god4#adg ,we teach concentration for   
the purposes of study2 but too seldom   
think of applying it to the purposes of 
prayer4 ,yet real prayer is a difficult 
art2 which1 like other ways of          
approaching ,perfect ,beauty1 only      
discloses its secrets to those who win  
them by humble training and hard work4  
,shall we not try to find some method of

 showing our adolescents their way into 
this world1 lying at our doors and      
offered to us without money and without 
price8  ,again1 many teachers and       
parents waste the religious instinct and
 emotional vigour which are often so    
marked in adolescence1 by allowing them 
to fritter themselves upon symbols which
 cannot stand against hostile criticism3
 for instance1 some of1 the more        
sentimental and anthropomorphic aspects 
of ,christian devotion4 ,did we educate 
those instincts1 show the growing       
creature their meaning1 and give them an
 objective which did not conflict with  
the objectives of the developing        
intellect and the will1 we should turn  
their passion into power1 and lay the   
foundations of a real spiritual life4   
,we must remember that a good deal of   
adolescent emotion is diverted by the   
conditions of school-life from its      
obvious and natural objective4 ,this is 
so much energy set free for other uses4 
,we know how it emerges in hero-worship 

or in ardent friendships2 how it        
reinforces the social instinct and      
produces the team-spirit1 the intense   
devotion to the interests of his own    
gang or group which is rightly prominent
 in the life of many boys4 ,the teacher 
has to reckon with this funded energy   
and enthusiasm1 and use it to further   
the highest interests of the growing    
child4 ,by this ,i do not mean that he  
is to encourage an abnormal or emotional
 concentration on spiritual things4     
,most of the impulses of youth are      
wholesome1 and subserve direct ends4    
,therefore1 it is not by taking away    
love1 self-sacrifice1 admiration1       
curiosity1 from their natural objects   
that we shall serve the best interests  
of spirituality3 but1 by enlarging the  
range over which these impulses         
work--impulses1 indeed1 which no human  
object can wholly satisfy1 save in a    
sacramental sense4 ,two such natural    
tendencies1 specially prominent in      
childhood1 are peculiarly at the        

disposal of the religious teacher3 and  
should be used by him to the full4 ,it  
is in the sublimation of the instinct of
 comradeship that the social and        
corporate side of the spiritual life    
takes its rise1 and in closest          
connection with this impulse that all   
works of charity should be suggested and
 performed4 ,and on the individual side1
 all that is best1 safest and sweetest  
in the religious instinct of the child  
can be related to a similar enlargement 
of the instinct of filial trust and     
dependence4 ,the educator is therefore  
working within the two most fundamental 
childish qualities1 qualities provoked  
and fostered by all right family life1  
with its relation of love to parents1   
brothers1 sisters and friends2 and may  
gently lead out these two mighty        
impulses to a fulfilment which1 at      
maturity1 embrace ,god and the whole    
world4 ,the wise teacher1 then1 must    
work with the instincts1 not against    
them3 encouraging all kindly social     

feelings1 all vigorous self-expression1 
wonder1 trustfulness1 love4 ,recognizing
 the paramount importance of            
emotion--for without emotional colour no
 idea can be actual to us1 and no deed  
thoroughly and vigorously performed--yet
 he must always be on his guard against 
blocking the natural channels of human  
feeling1 and giving them the opportunity
 of exploding under pious disguises in  
the religious sphere4  ,here it is that 
the danger of too emotional a type of   
religious training comes in4            
,sentimentalism of all kinds is         
dangerous and objectionable1 especially 
in the education of girls1 whom it      
excites and debilitates4 ,boys are more 
often merely alienated by it4 ,in both  
cases1 the method of presentation which 
regards the spiritual life simply as a  
normal aspect of full human life is     
best4 ,no artificial barrier should be  
set up between the sacred and the       
profane4 ,the passion for truth and the 
passion for ,god should be treated as   

one3 and that pursuit of knowledge for  
its own sake1 those adventurous         
explorations of the mind1 in which the  
more intelligent type of adolescent     
loves to try his growing powers1 ought  
to be encouraged in the spiritual sphere
 as elsewhere4 ,the results of research 
into religious origins should be        
explained without reservation1 and no   
intellectual difficulty should be       
dodged4 ,the putting-off method of      
meeting awkward questions1 now generally
 recognized as dangerous in matters of  
natural history1 is just as dangerous in
 the religious sphere4 ,no teacher who  
is afraid to state his own position with
 perfect candour should ever be allowed 
to undertake this side of education2 nor
 any in whom there is a marked cleavage 
between the standard of conduct and the 
standard of thought4 ,the healthy       
adolescent is prompt to perceive        
inconsistency and unsparing in its      
condemnation4  ,moreover1 a most careful
 discrimination is daily becoming more  

necessary1 in the teaching of           
traditional religion of a supernatural  
and non-empirical type4 ,many of its    
elements must no doubt be retained by   
us1 for the child-mind demands firm     
outlines and examples and imagery drawn 
from the world of sense4 ,yet grave     
dangers are attached to it4 ,on1 the one
 hand an exclusive reliance on tradition
 paves the way for the disillusion which
 is so often experienced towards the end
 of adolescence1 when it frequently     
causes a violent reaction to            
materialism4 ,on the other hand it      
exposes us to a risk which we           
particularly want to avoid3 that of     
reducing the child's nascent spiritual  
life to the dream level1 to a fantasy in
 which it satisfies wishes that outward 
life leaves unfulfilled4 ,many pious    
people1 especially those who tell us    
that their religion is a comfort to     
them1 go through life in a spiritual    
day-dream of this kind4 ,concrete life  
has starved them of love1 of beauty1 of 

interest--it has given them no synthesis
 which satisfies the passionate human   
search for meaning--and they have found 
all this in a dream-world1 made from the
 materials of conventional piety4 ,if   
religion is thus allowed to become a    
ready-made day-dream it will certainly  
interest adolescents of a certain sort4 
,the naturally introverted type will    
become meditative2 whilst their         
opposites1 the extroverted or active    
type1 will probably tend to be          
ritualistic4 ,but here again we are     
missing the essence of spiritual life4  
,our aim should be to induce1 in a      
wholesome way1 that sense of the        
spiritual in daily experience which the 
old writers called the consciousness of 
the of ,god4 ,the monastic training in  
spirituality1 slowly evolved under      
pressure of experience1 nearly always   
did this4 ,it has bequeathed to us a    
funded wisdom of which we make little   
use2 and this1 reinterpreted in the     
light of psychological knowledge1 might 

,i believe cast a great deal of light on
 the fundamental problems of spiritual  
education4 ,we could if we chose take   
many hints from it1 as regards the      
disciplining of the attention1 the      
correct use of suggestion1 the teaching 
of meditation1 the sublimation and      
direction to an assigned end of the     
natural impulse to reverie2 above all1  
the education of the moral life4 ,for   
character-building as understood by     
these old specialists was the most      
practical of arts4  ,further1 in all    
this teaching1 those inward activities  
and responses to which we can give      
generally the name of prayer1 and those 
outward activities and deeds of service 
to which we can give the name of work1  
ought to be trained together and never  
dissociated4 ,they are the complementary
 and balanced expressions of one spirit 
of life3 and must be given together1    
under appropriately simple forms4       
,concrete application of the child's    
energies1 aptitudes and ideals must from

 the first run side by side with the    
teaching of principle4 ,young people    
therefore should constantly be          
encouraged to face as practical and     
interesting facts1 not as formul1 those 
reactions to eternal and this-world     
reality which used to be called our duty
 to ,god and our neighbour2 and do      
concrete things proper to a real citizen
 of a really theocratic world4 ,they    
must be made to realize that nothing is 
truly ours until we have expressed it in
 our deeds4 ,moreover1 these deeds      
should not be easy4 ,they should involve
 effort and self-sacrifice2 and also    
some drudgery1 which is worse4 ,the     
spiritual life is only valued by those  
on whom it makes genuine demands4       
,almost any kind of service will do1    
which calls for attention1 time and hard
 work4 ,though voluntary1 it must not be
 casual3 but1 once undertaken1 should be
 regarded as an honourable obligation4  
,the ,boy ,scouts and ,girl ,guides have
 shown us how wide a choice of possible 

good deeds is offered by every          
community3 and such a banding together  
of young people for corporate acts of   
service is strongly to be commended4 ,it
 encourages unselfish comradeship1      
satisfies that gang-instinct which is a 
well-known character of adolescence1 and
 should leave no opening for            
self-consciousness1 rivalry1 and vanity 
in well-doing or in abnegation4  ,wise  
educators find that a combined system of
 organized games in which the social    
instinct can be expressed and developed1
 and of independent constructive work1  
in which the creative impulse can find  
satisfaction1 best meets the corporate  
and creative needs of adolescence1      
favours the right development of        
character1 and produces a harmonized    
life4 ,on the level of the spiritual    
life too this principle is valid2 and1  
guided by it1 we should seek to give    
young people both corporate and personal
 work and experience4 ,on the one hand1 
gregariousness is at its strongest in   

the healthy adolescent1 the force of    
public opinion is more intensely felt   
than at any other time of life1 that    
priceless quality the spirit of         
comradeship is most easily educed4 ,we  
must therefore seek to give the         
spiritual life a vigorous corporate     
character2 to make it good form for the 
school1 and to use the team-spirit in   
the choir and the guild as well as in   
the cricket field4 ,by an extension of  
this principle and under the influence  
of a suitable teacher1 the school-mob   
may be transformed into a co-operative  
society animated by one joyous and      
unselfish spirit3 all the great powers  
of social suggestion being freely used  
for the highest ends4 ,thus we may      
introduce the pupil1 at his most plastic
 age1 into a spiritual-social order and 
let him grow within it1 developing those
 qualities and skills on which it makes 
demands4 ,the religious exercises1      
whatever they are1 should be in common1 
in order to develop the mass            

consciousness of the school and weld it 
into a real group4 ,music1 songs1       
processions1 etc41 produce a feeling of 
unity1 and encourage spiritual          
contagion4 ,services of an appropriate  
kind1 if there be a chapel1 or the      
opening of school with prayer and a hymn
 7which ought always to be followed by a
 short silence7 provide a natural       
expression for corporate religious      
feeling3 and remember that to give a    
feeling opportunity of voluntary        
expression is commonly to educe and     
affirm it4 ,as regards active work1     
whilst school charities are an obvious  
field in which unselfish energies may be
 spent1 many other openings will be     
found by enthusiastic teachers1 and by  
the pupils whom their enthusiasm has    
inspired4  ,on the other hand1 the      
spare-time occupations of the           
adolescent2 the independent and         
self-chosen work1 often most arduous and
 always absorbing1 of making1 planning1 
learning about things--and most of us   

can still remember how desperately      
important these seemed to us1 whether   
our taste was for making engines1       
writing poetry1 or collecting           
moths--these are of the greatest        
importance for his development4 ,they   
give him something really his own1      
exercise his powers1 train his          
attention1 feed his creative instinct4  
,they counteract those mechanical and   
conventional reactions to the world1    
which are induced by the merely         
traditional type of education1 either of
 manners or of mind4 ,and here1 in the  
prudent encouragement of a personal     
interest in and dealing with the actual 
problems of conduct and even of         
belief--the most difficult of the       
educator's tasks--we guard against the  
merely acquiescent attitude of much     
adult piety1 and foster from the        
beginning a vigorous personal interest1 
a first-hand contact with higher        
realities4  ,the heroic aspect of       
history may well form the second line in

 this attempt to capture education and  
use it in the interests of the spiritual
 life4 ,by it we can best link up the   
actual and the ideal1 and demonstrate   
the single character of human greatness2
 whether it be exhibited1 in the        
physical or the supersensual sphere4    
,such a demonstration is most important2
 for so long as the spiritual life is   
regarded as merely a departmental thing1
 and its full development as a matter   
for specialists or saints1 it will never
 produce its full effect in human       
affairs4 ,we must exhibit it as the full
 flower of that ,reality which inspires 
all human life4 ,all kinds of skill1    
said ,tauler1 are gifts of the ,holy    
,ghost1 and he might have said1 all     
kinds of beauty and all kinds of courage
 too4  ,the heroic makes a direct appeal
 to lads and girls1 and is by far the   
safest way of approach to their         
emotions4 ,the chivalrous1 the noble1   
the desperately brave1 attract the      
adolescent far more than passive        

goodness4 ,that strong instinct of      
subjection1 of homage1 which he shows in
 his hero-worship1 is a most valuable   
tool in the hands of the teacher who is 
seeking to lead him into greater        
fullness of life4 ,yet the range over   
which we seek material for his          
admiration is often deplorably narrow4  
,we have behind us a great spiritual    
history1 which shows the highest        
faculties of the soul in action3 the    
power and the happiness they bring4 ,do 
we take enough notice of it8 ,what about
 our ,english saints8 ,i mean the real  
saints1 not the official ones4 ,not ,st4
 ,george and ,st4 ,alban1 about whom we 
know practically nothing3 but1 for      
instance1 ,lancelot ,andrewes1 ,john    
,wesley1 ,elizabeth ,fry1 about whom we 
know a great deal4 ,children1 who find  
difficulty in general ideas1 learn best 
from particular instances4 ,yet boys and
 girls who can give a coherent account  
of such stimulating personalities as    
,julius ,caesar1 ,william the           

,conqueror1 ,henry ,,viii4 and his      
wives1 or ,napoleon--none of whom have  
so very much to tell us that bears on   
the permanent interests of the soul--do 
not as a rule possess any vivid idea1   
say1 of ,gautama1 ,st4 ,benedict1       
,gregory the ,great1 ,st4 ,catherine of 
,siena1 ,st4 ,francis ,xavier1 ,george  
,fox1 ,st4 ,vincent de ,paul and his    
friends3 persons at least as            
significant1 and far better worth       
meeting1 than the military commanders   
and political adventurers of their time4
 ,the stories of the early ,buddhists1  
the ,sufi saints1 ,st4 ,francis of      
,assisi1 ,st4 ,ignatius1 the early      
,quakers1 the ,african missionaries1 are
 full of things which can be made to    
interest even a young child4 ,the       
legends which have grown up round some  
of them satisfy the instinct that draws 
it to fairy tales4 ,they help it to     
dream well2 and give to the developing  
mind food which it could assimilate in  
no other way4 ,older boys and girls1    

could they be given some idea of the    
spiritual heroes of ,christendom as real
 men and women1 without the nauseous    
note of piety which generally infects   
their biographies1 would find much to   
delight them3 romance of the best sort1 
because concerned with the highest      
values1 and stories of endurance and    
courage such as always appeal to them4  
,these people were not objectionable    
pietists4 ,they were persons of fullest 
vitality and immense natural attraction2
 the pick of the race4 ,we know that1 by
 the numbers who left all to follow     
them4 ,ought we not to introduce our    
pupils to them2 not as stuffed          
specimens1 but as vivid human beings8   
,something might be done to create the  
right atmosphere for this1 on the lines 
suggested by ,dr4 ,hayward in that      
splendid little book ,the ,lesson in    
,appreciation4 ,all that he says there  
about sthetics1 is applicable to any    
lesson dealing with the higher values of
 life4 ,in this way1 young people would 

be made to realize the spiritual life2  
not as something abnormal and more or   
less conventionalized1 but as a golden  
thread running right through human      
history1 and making demands on just     
those dynamic qualities which they feel 
themselves to possess4 ,the adolescent  
is naturally vigorous and combative1 and
 wants1 above all else1 something worth 
fighting for4 ,this1 too often1 his     
teachers forget to provide4  ,the study 
of nature1 and of sthetics--including   
poetry--gives us yet another way of     
approach4 ,the child should be          
introduced to these great worlds of life
 and of beauty1 and encouraged but never
 forced to feed on the best they        
contain4 ,by implication1 but never by  
any method savouring of uplift1 these   
subjects should be related with that    
sense of the spiritual and of its       
immanence in creation1 which ought to   
inspire the teacher2 and with which it  
is his duty to infect his pupils if he  
can4 ,children may1 very early1 be      

taught or rather induced to look at     
natural things with that quietness1     
attention1 and delight which are the    
beginnings of contemplation1 and the    
conditions1 under which nature reveals  
her real secrets to us4 ,the child is a 
natural pagan1 and often the first      
appeal to its nascent spiritual faculty 
is best made through its instinctive joy
 in the life of animals and flowers1 the
 clouds and the winds4 ,here it may     
learn very easily that wonder and       
adoration1 which are the gateways to the
 presence of ,god4 ,in simple forms of  
verse1 music1 and rhythmical movement it
 can be encouraged--as the ,salvation   
,army has discovered--to give this happy
 adoration a natural1 dramatic1 and     
rhythmic expression3 for the young      
child1 as we know1 reproduces the mental
 condition of the primitive1 and        
primitive forms of worship will suit it 
best4  ,it need hardly be said that     
education of the type we have been      
considering demands great gifts in the  

teacher3 simplicity1 enthusiasm1        
sympathy1 and also a vigorous sense of  
humour1 keeping him sharply aware of the
 narrow line that divides the priggish  
from the ideal4 ,this education ought to
 inspire1 but it ought not to replace1  
the fullest and most expert training of 
the body and mind2 for the spirit needs 
a perfectly balanced machine1 through   
which to express its life in the        
physical world4 ,the actual additions to
 curriculum which it demands may be few3
 it is the attitude1 the spirit1 which  
must be changed4 ,specifically moral    
education1 the building of character1   
will of course form an essential part of
 it3 in fact must be present within it  
from the first4 ,but this comes best    
without observation1 and will be found  
to depend chiefly on the character of   
the teacher1 the love1 admiration and   
imitation he evokes1 the ethical tone he
 gives4 ,childhood is of all ages the   
one most open to suggestion1 and in this
 fact the educator finds at once his    

best opportunity and greatest           
responsibility4  ,ruysbroeck has        
described to us the three outstanding   
moral dispositions in respect of ,god1  
of man1 and of the conduct of life1     
which mark the true man or woman of the 
,spirit2 and it is in the childhood that
 the tendency to these qualities must be
 acquired4 ,first1 he says1--,i         
paraphrase1 since the old terms of moral
 theology are no longer vivid to        
us--there comes an attitude of reverent 
love1 of adoration1 towards all that is 
holy1 beautiful1 or true4 ,and next1    
from this1 there grows up an attitude   
towards other men1 governed by those    
qualities which are the essence of      
courtesy3 patience1 gentleness1         
kindness1 and sympathy4 ,these keep us  
both supple and generous in our         
responses to our social environment4    
,last1 our creative energies are        
transfigured by an energetic love1 an   
inward eagerness for every kind of work1
 which makes impossible all slackness   

and dullness of heart1 and will impel us
 to live to the utmost the active life  
of service for which we are born4#adh   
,but these moral qualities cannot be    
taught2 they are learned by imitation   
and infection1 and developed by         
opportunity of action4 ,the best agent  
of their propagation is an attractive   
personality in which they are dominant2 
for we know the universal tendency of   
young people to imitate those whom they 
admire4 ,the relation between parent and
 child or master and pupil is therefore 
the central factor in any scheme of     
education which seeks to further the    
spiritual life4 ,only those who have    
already become real can communicate the 
knowledge of ,reality4 ,it is from the  
sportsman that we catch the spirit of   
fair-play1 from the humble that we learn
 humility4 ,the artist shows us beauty1 
the saint shows us ,god4 ,it should     
therefore be the business of those in   
authority to search out and give scope  
to those who possess and are able to    

impart this triumphing spiritual life4  
,a head-master who makes his boys live  
at their highest level and act on their 
noblest impulses1 because he does it    
himself1 is a person of supreme value to
 the ,state4 ,it would be well if we    
cleared our minds of cant1 and          
acknowledged that such a man alone is   
truly able to educate2 since the        
spiritual life is infectious1 but cannot
 be propagated by artificial means4     
,finally1 we have to remember that any  
attempt towards the education of the    
spirit--and such an attempt must surely 
be made by all who accept spiritual     
values as central for life--can only    
safely be undertaken with full knowledge
 of its special dangers and             
difficulties4 ,these dangers and        
difficulties are connected with the     
instinctive and intellectual life of the
 child and the adolescent1 who are      
growing1 and growing unevenly1 during   
the whole period of training4 ,they are 
supple as regards other forces than     

those which we bring to bear on them2   
open to suggestion from many different  
levels of life4  ,our greatest          
difficulty abides in the fact that1 as  
we have seen1 a vigorous spiritual life 
must give scope to the emotions4 ,it is 
above all the heart rather than the mind
 which must be won for ,god4 ,yet1 the  
greatest care must be exercised to      
ensure that the appeal to the emotions  
is free from all possibility of appeal  
to latent and uncomprehended natural    
instincts4 ,this peril1 to which current
 psychology gives perhaps too much      
attention1 is nevertheless real4 ,candid
 students of religious history are bound
 to acknowledge the unfortunate part    
which it has often played in the past4  
,these natural instincts fall into two  
great classes3 those relating to        
self-preservation and those relating to 
the preservation of the race4 ,the note 
of fear1 the exaggerated longing for    
shelter and protection1 the childish    
attitude of mere clinging dependence1   

fostered by religion of a certain type1 
are all oblique expressions of the      
instinct of self-preservation3 and the  
rather feverish devotional moods and    
exuberant emotional expressions with    
which we are all familiar have1 equally1
 a natural origin4 ,our task in the     
training of young people is to evoke    
enthusiasm1 courage and love1 without   
appealing to either of these sources of 
excitement4 ,generally speaking1 it is  
safe to say that for this reason all    
sentimental and many anthropomorphic    
religious ideas are bad for lads and    
girls4 ,these have1 indeed1 no part in  
that austere yet ardent love of ,god    
which inspires the real spiritual life4 
,our aim ought to be1 to teach and      
impress the reality of ,spirit1 its     
regnancy in human life1 whilst the mind 
is alert and supple3 and so to teach and
 impress it1 that it is woven into the  
stuff of the mental and moral life and  
cannot seriously be injured by the      
hostile criticisms of the rationalist4  

,remember1 that the prime object of     
education is the moulding of the        
unconscious and instinctive nature1 the 
home of habit4 ,if we can give this the 
desired tendency and tone of feeling1 we
 can trust the rational mind to find    
good reasons with which to reinforce its
 attitudes and preferences4 ,so it is   
not so much the specific belief1 as the 
whole spiritual attitude to existence   
which we seek to affirm2 and this will  
be done on the whole more effectively by
 the generalized suggestions which come 
to the pupil from his own surroundings1 
and the lives of those whom he admires1 
than by the limited and special         
suggestions of a creed4 ,it is found    
that the less any desired motive is     
bound up with particular acts1 persons1 
or ideas1 the greater is the chance of  
its being universalized and made good   
for life all round4 ,i do not intend by 
this statement to criticize any         
particular presentation of religion4    
,nevertheless1 educators ought to       

remember that a religion which is first 
entirely bound up with narrow and       
childish theological ideas1 and is then 
presented as true in the absolute sense1
 is bound to break down under greater   
knowledge or hostile criticism2 and may 
then involve the disappearance of the   
religious impulse as a whole1 at least  
for a long period4  ,did we know our    
business1 we ought surely to be able to 
ensure in our young people a steady and 
harmonious spiritual growth4 ,the       
conversion or psychic convulsion which  
is sometimes regarded as an essential   
preliminary of any vivid awakening of   
the spiritual consciousness1 is really a
 tribute exacted by our wrong           
educational methods4 ,it is a proof that
 we have allowed the plastic creature   
confided to us to harden in the wrong   
shape4 ,but if1 side by side and in     
simplest language1 we teach the         
conceptions3 first1 of ,god as the      
transcendent yet indwelling ,spirit of  
love1 of beauty and of power2 next1 of  

man's constant dependence on ,him and   
possible contact with ,his nature in    
that arduous and loving act of attention
 which is the essence of prayer2 last1  
of unselfish work and fellowship as the 
necessary expressions of all human      
ideals--then1 ,i think1 we may hope to  
lay the foundations of a balanced and a 
wholesome life1 in which man's various  
faculties work together for good1 and   
his vigorous instinctive life is        
directed to the highest ends4           
,,footnotes3  ,footnote #adf3 ,spencer3 
,education1 ,cap4 #a4  ,footnote #adg3  
,the ,cloud of ,unknowing1 ,cap4 #ci4   
,footnote #adh3 ,ruysbroeck3 ,the       
,adornment of the ,spiritual ,marriage1 
,bk4 ,i1 ,caps4 #ab-bd4     ,,chapter   
,,viii  ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,spirit
 ,,and ,,the ,,social ,,order   ,we have
 come to the last chapter of this book2 
and ,i am conscious that those who have 
had the patience to follow its argument 
from the beginning1 may now feel a      
certain sense of incompleteness4 ,they  

will observe that1 though many things   
have been said about the life of the    
,spirit1 not a great deal seems to have 
been said1 at any rate directly1 about  
the second half of the title--the life  
of to-day--and especially about those   
very important aspects of our modern    
active life which are resumed in the    
word ,social4 ,this avoidance has been1 
at least in part1 intentional4 ,we have 
witnessed in this century a violent     
revulsion from the individualistic type 
of religion2 a revulsion which parallels
 upon-its own levels1 and indeed is a   
part of1 the revolt from ,victorian     
individualism in political economic     
life4 ,those who come much into contact 
with students1 and with the younger and 
more vigorous clergy1 are aware how far 
this revolt has proceeded3 how          
completely1 in the minds of those young 
people who are interested in religion1  
the ,social ,gospel now overpowers all  
other aspects of the spiritual life4    
,again and again we are assured by the  

most earnest among them that in their   
view religion is a social activity1 and 
service is its proper expression3 that  
all valid knowledge of ,god is social1  
and ,he is chiefly known in mankind3    
that the use of prayer is mainly social1
 in that it improves us for service1    
otherwise it must be condemned as a     
merely selfish activity3 finally1 that  
the true meaning and value of suffering 
are social too4 ,a visitor to a recent  
,swanwick ,conference of the ,student   
,christian ,movement has publicly       
expressed his regret that some students 
still seemed to be concerned with the   
problems of their own spiritual life2   
and were not prepared to let that look  
after itself1 whilst they started       
straight off to work for the social     
realization of the ,kingdom of ,god4    
,when a great truth becomes exaggerated 
to this extent1 and is held to the      
exclusion of its compensating opposite1 
it is in a fair way to becoming a lie4  
,and we have here1 ,i think1 a real     

confusion of ideas which will1 if       
allowed to continue1 react unfavourably 
upon the religion of the future2 because
 it gives away the most sacred          
conviction of the idealist1 the belief  
in the absolute character of spiritual  
values1 and in the effort to win them as
 the great activity of man4 ,social     
service1 since it is one form of such an
 effort1 a bringing in of more order1   
beauty1 joy1 is a fundamental duty--the 
fundamental duty--of the active life4   
,man does not truly love the ,perfect   
until he is driven thus to seek its     
incarnation in the world of time4 ,no   
one doubts this4 ,all spiritual teachers
 have said it1 in one way or another1   
for centuries4 ,the mere fact that they 
feel impelled to teach at all1 instead  
of saying ,my secret to myself--which is
 so much easier and pleasanter to the   
natural contemplative--is a guarantee of
 the claim to service which they feel   
that love lays upon them4 ,but this does
 not make such service of man1 however  

devoted1 either the same thing as the   
search for1 response to1 intercourse    
with ,god2 or1 a sufficient substitute  
for these specifically spiritual acts4  
,plainly1 we are called upon to strive  
with all our power to bring in the      
,kingdom2 that is1 to incarnate in the  
time world the highest spiritual values 
which we have known4 ,but our ability to
 do this is strictly dependent on those 
values being known1 at least by some of 
us1 at first-hand2 and for this         
first-hand perception1 as we have seen1 
the soul must have a measure of solitude
 and silence4 ,therefore1 if the        
swing-over to a purely social           
interpretation of religion be allowed to
 continue unchecked1 the result can only
 be an impoverishment of our spiritual  
life2 quite as far-reaching and as      
regrettable as that which follows from  
an unbridled individualism4 ,without the
 inner life of prayer and-meditation1   
lived for its own sake and for no       
utilitarian motive1 neither our         

judgments upon the social order nor our 
active social service will be perfectly 
performed2 because they will not be the 
channel of ,creative ,spirit expressing 
itself through us in the world of       
to-day4  ,christ1 it is true1 gives     
nobody any encouragement for supposing  
that a merely self-cultivating sort of  
spirituality1 keeping the home fires    
burning and so on1 is anybody's main    
job4 ,the main job confided to ,his     
friends is the preaching of the ,gospel4
 ,that is1 spreading ,reality1 teaching 
it1 inserting it into existence2 by     
prayers1 words1 acts1 and also if need  
be by manual work1 and always under the 
conditions and symbolisms of our        
contemporary world4 ,but since we can   
only give others that which we already  
possess1 this presupposes that we have  
got something of ,reality as a living1  
burning fire in ourselves4 ,the soul's  
two activities of reception and donation
 must be held in balance1 or impotence  
and unreality will result4 ,it is only  

out of the heart of his own experience  
that man really helps his neighbour3 and
 thus there is an ultimate social value 
in the most secret responses of the soul
 to grace4 ,no one1 for instance1 can   
help others to repentance who has not   
known it at first-hand4 ,therefore we   
have to keep the home fires burning1    
because they are the fires which raise  
the steam that does the work3 and we do 
this mostly by the fuel with which we   
feed them1 though partly too by giving  
free access to currents of fresh air    
from the outer world4  ,we cannot read  
,st4 ,paul's letters with sympathy and  
escape the conviction that in the midst 
of his great missionary efforts he was  
profoundly concerned too with the       
problems of his own inner life4 ,the    
little bits of self-revelation that     
break into the epistles and1 threaded   
together1 show us the curve of his      
growth1 also show us how much1 lay      
behind them1 how intense1 and how       
exacting was the inward travail that    

accompanied his outward deeds4 ,here he 
is representative of the true apostolic 
type4 ,it is because ,st4 ,augustine is 
the man of the ,confessions that he is  
also the creator of ,the ,city of ,god4 
,the regenerative work of ,st4 ,francis 
was accompanied by an unremitting life  
of penitence and recollection4 ,fox and 
,wesley1 abounding in labours1 yet never
 relaxed the tension of their soul's    
effort to correspond with a transcendent
 ,reality4 ,these and many other        
examples warn us that only by such a    
sustained and double movement can the   
man of the ,spirit actualize all his    
possibilities and do his real work4 ,he 
must1 says ,ruysbroeck1 both ascend and 
descend with love4#adi ,on any other    
basis he misses the richness of that    
fully integrated human existence        
swinging between the unseen and the seen
 in which the social and individual1    
incorporated and solitary responses to  
the demands of ,spirit are fully carried
 through4 ,instead1 he exhibits         

restriction and lack balance4 ,this in  
the end must react as unfavourably on   
the social as on the personal side of   
life3 since the place and influence of  
the spiritual life in the social order  
will depend entirely on its place in the
 individual consciousness of which that 
social order will be built1 the extent  
in which loyalty to the one ,spirit     
governs their reactions to common daily 
experience4  ,here then1 as in so much  
else1 the ideal is not an arbitrary     
choice but a struck balance4 ,first1 a  
personal contact with ,eternal ,reality1
 deepening1 illuminating and enlarging  
all of our experience of fact1 all our  
responses to it3 that is1 faith4 ,next1 
the fullest possible sense of our       
membership of and duty towards the      
social organism1 a completely rich1     
various1 heroic1 self-giving1 social    
life3 that is1 charity4 ,the            
dissociation of these two sides of human
 experience is fatal to that divine hope
 which should crown and unite them2 and 

which represents the human instinct for 
novelty in a sublimated form4  ,it is of
 course true that social groups may be  
regenerated4 ,the success of such       
group-formations as the primitive       
,franciscans1 the ,friends of ,god1 the 
,quakers1 the ,salvation ,army1         
demonstrates this4 ,but groups1 in the  
last resort1 consist of individuals1 who
 must each be regenerated one by one2   
whose outlook1 if they are to be whole  
men1 must include in its span abiding   
values as well as the stream of time1   
and who1 for the full development of    
this their two-fold destiny1 require    
each a measure both of solitude and of  
association4 ,hence it follows1 that the
 final answer to the repeated question3 
,does ,god save men1 does ,spirit work  
towards the regeneration of humanity    
7the same thing71 one by one1 or in     
groups8 is this3 that the proposed      
alternative is illusory4 ,we cannot say 
that the ,divine action in the world as 
we know it1 is either merely social or  

merely individual2 but both4 ,and the   
next question--a highly practical       
question--is1 ,how both8 ,for the answer
 to this1 if we can find it1 will give  
us at last a formula by which we can    
true up our own effort toward           
completeness of self-expression in the  
here-and-now4  ,how1 then1 are groups of
 men moved up to higher spiritual       
levels2 helped to such an actual        
possession of power and love and a sound
 mind as shall transfigure and perfect  
their lives8 ,for this1 more than all   
else1 is what we now want to achieve4 ,i
 speak in generalities1 and of average  
human nature1 not of these specially    
sensitive or gifted individuals who are 
themselves the revealers of ,reality to 
their fellow-men4  ,history suggests1 ,i
 think1 that this group-regeneration is 
effected in the last resort through a   
special sublimation of the              
herd-instinct2 that is1 the full and    
willing use on spiritual levels of the  
characters which are inherent in human  

gregariousness4#aej ,we have looked at  
some of these characters in past        
chapters4 ,our study of them suggests1  
that the first stage in any social      
regeneration is likely to be brought    
about by the instinctive rallying of    
individuals about a natural leader1     
strong enough to compel and direct them2
 and whose appeal is to the impulsive   
life1 to an acknowledged of             
unacknowledged lack or craving1 not to  
the faculty of deliberate choice4 ,this 
leader1 then1 must offer new life and   
love1 not intellectual solutions4 ,he   
must be able to share with his flock his
 own ardour and apprehension of         
,reality2 and evoke from them the       
profound human impulse to imitation4    
,they will catch his enthusiasm1 and    
thus receive the suggestions of his     
teaching and of his life4 ,this first   
stage1 supremely illustrated in the     
disciples of ,christ1 and again in the  
groups who gathered round such men as   
,st4 ,francis1 ,fox1 or ,booth1 is      

re-experienced in a lesser way in every 
successful revival3 and each genuine    
restoration of the life of ,spirit1     
whether its declared aim be social or   
religious1 has a certain revivalistic   
character4 ,we must therefore keep an   
eye on these principles of discipleship 
and contagion1 as likely to govern any  
future spiritualization of our own      
social life2 looking for the beginnings 
of true reconstruction1 not to the      
general dissemination of suitable       
doctrines1 but to the living burning    
influence of an ardent soul4 ,and ,i may
 add here1 as the corollary of this     
conclusion1 first that the evoking and  
fostering of such ardour is in itself a 
piece of social service of the highest  
value1 and next that it makes every     
individual socially responsible for the 
due sharing of even the small measure of
 ardour1 certitude or power he or she   
has received4 ,we are to be conductors  
of the ,divine energy2 not to insulate  
it4 ,there is of course nothing new in  

all this3 but there is nothing new      
fundamentally in the spiritual life1    
save in ,st4 ,augustine's sense of the  
eternal youth and freshness of all      
beauty4#aea ,the only novelty which we  
can safely introduce will be in the     
terms in which we describe it2 the      
perpetual new exhibition of it within   
the time-world1 the fresh and various   
applications which we can give to its   
abiding laws1 in the special            
circumstances and opportunities of our  
own day4  ,but the influence of the     
crowd-compeller1 the leader1 whether in 
the crude form of the revivalist or in  
the more penetrating and enduring form  
of the creative mystic or religious     
founder1 the loyalty and imitation of   
the disciple1 the corporate and         
generalized enthusiasm of the group can 
only be the first educative phase in any
 veritable incarnation of ,spirit upon  
earth4 ,each member of the herd is now  
committed to the fullest personal       
living-out of the new life he has       

received4 ,only in so far as the first  
stage of suggestion and imitation is    
carried over to the next stage of       
personal actualization1 can we say that 
there is any real promotion of spiritual
 life3 any hope that this life will work
 a true renovation of the group into    
which it has been inserted and achieve  
the social phase4  ,if1 then1 it does   
achieve the social phase what stages may
 we expect it to pass through1 and by   
what special characters will it be      
graced8  ,let us look back for a moment 
at some of our conclusions about the    
individual life4 ,we said that this     
life1 if fully lived1 exhibited the four
 characters of work and contemplation1  
self-discipline and service3 deepening  
and incarnating within its own various  
this-world experience its other-world   
apprehensions of ,eternity1 of ,god4    
,its temper should thus be both social  
and ascetic4 ,it should be doubly based1
 on humility and on given power4 ,now   
the social order--more exactly1 the     

social organism--in which ,spirit is    
really to triumph1 can only be built up 
of individuals who do with a greater or 
less perfection and intensity exhibit   
these characters1 some upon independent 
levels of creative freedom1 some on     
those of discipleship3 for here all men 
are not equal1 and it is humbug to      
pretend that they are4 ,this social     
order1 being so built of regenerate     
units1 would be dominated by these same 
implicits of the regenerate             
consciousness2 and would tend to solve  
in their light the special problems of  
community life4 ,and this unity of aim  
would really make of it one body2 the   
body of a fully socialized and fully    
spiritualized humanity1 which perhaps we
 might without presumption describe as  
indeed the son of ,god4  ,the life of   
such a social organism1 its growth1 its 
cycle of corporate behaviour1 would be  
strung on that same fourfold cord which 
combined the desires and deeds of the   
regenerate self into a series3 namely1  

,penitence1 ,surrender1 ,recollection1  
and ,work4 ,it would be actuated first  
by a real social repentance4 ,that is1  
by a turning from that constant         
capitulation to its past1 to animal and 
savage impulse1 the power of which our  
generation at least knows only too well2
 and by the complementary effort to     
unify vigorous instinctive action and   
social conscience4 ,i think every one   
can find for themselves some sphere1    
national1 racial1 industrial1 financial1
 in which social penitence could work2  
and the constant corporate fall-back    
into sin1 which we now disguise as human
 nature1 or sometimes--even more        
insincerely--as economic and political  
necessity1 might be faced and called by 
its true name4 ,such a social           
penitence--such a corporate realization 
of the mess that we have made of        
things--is as much a direct movement of 
the ,spirit1 and as great an essential  
of regeneration1 as any individual      
movement of the broken and contrite     

heart4  ,could a quick social           
conscience1 aware of obligations to     
,reality which do not end with making   
this world a comfortable place--though  
we have not even managed that for the   
majority of men--feel quite at ease1    
say1 after an unflinching survey of our 
present system of ,state punishment8 ,or
 after reading the unvarnished record of
 our dealings with the problem of       
,indian immigration into ,africa8 ,or   
after considering the inner nature of   
international diplomacy and finance8 ,or
 even1 to come nearer home1 after a     
stroll through ,hoxton3 the sort of     
place1 it is true1 which we have not    
exactly made on purpose but which has   
made itself because we have not1 as a   
community1 exercised our undoubted      
powers of choice and action in an       
intelligent and loving way4 ,can we     
justify the peculiar characteristics of 
,hoxton3 congratulate ourselves on the  
amount of light1 air and beauty which   
its inhabitants enjoy1 the sort of      

children that are reared in it1 as the  
best we can do towards furthering the   
racial aim8 ,it is a monument of        
stupidity no less than of meanness4 ,yet
 the conception of ,god which the whole 
religious experience of growing man     
presses on us1 suggests that both       
intelligence and love ought to          
characterize ,his ideal for human life4 
,look then at these1 and all the other  
things of the same kind4 ,look at our   
attitude towards prostitution1 at the   
drink traffic1 at the ugliness and      
injustice of the many institutions which
 we allow to endure4 ,look at them in   
the ,universal ,spirit2 and then        
consider1 whether a searching corporate 
repentance is not really the inevitable 
preliminary of a social and spiritual   
advance4 ,all these things have happened
 because we have as a body consistently 
fallen below our best possible1 lacked  
courage to incarnate our vision in the  
political sphere4 ,instead1 we have1    
acted on the crowd level1 swayed by     

unsublimated instincts of acquisition1  
disguised lust1 self-preservation1      
self-assertion1 and ignoble fear3 and   
such a fall-back is the very essence of 
social sin4  ,we have made many plans   
and elevations2 but we have not really  
tried to build ,jerusalem either in our 
own hearts or in ,england's pleasant    
land4 ,blake thought that the           
preliminary of such a building up of the
 harmonious social order must be the    
building up or harmonizing of men1 of   
each man2 and when this essential work  
was really done1 ,heaven's ,countenance 
,divine would suddenly declare itself   
among the dark ,satanic mills4#aeb ,what
 was wrong with man1 and ultimately     
therefore with society1 was the cleavage
 between his ,spectre or energetic      
intelligence1 and ,emanation or loving  
imagination4 ,divided1 they only        
tormented one another4 ,united1 they    
were the material of divine humanity4   
,now the complementary affirmative      
movement which shall balance and        

complete true social penitence will be  
just such a unification and dedication  
of society's best energies and noblest  
ideals1 now commonly separated4 ,the    
,spectre is attending to economics3 the 
,emanation is dreaming of ,utopia4 ,we  
want to see them united1 for from this  
union alone will come the social aspect 
for surrender4 ,that is to say1 a       
single-minded1 unselfish yielding to    
those good social impulses which we all 
feel from time to time1 and might take  
more seriously did1 we realize them as  
the impulsions of holy and creative     
,spirit pressing us towards novelty1    
giving us our chance2 our small         
actualization of the universal tendency 
to the ,divine4 ,as it is1 we do feel a 
little uncomfortable when these         
stirrings reach us2 but commonly console
 ourselves with the thought that their  
realization is at present outside the   
sphere of practical politics4 ,yet the  
obligation of response to those         
stirrings is laid on all who feel them2 

and unless some will first make this    
venture of faith1 our possible future   
will never be achieved4 ,christ was born
 among those who expected the ,kingdom  
of ,god4 ,the favouring atmosphere of   
,his childhood is suggested by these    
words4 ,it is our business to prepare1  
so far as we may1 a favourable          
atmosphere and environment for the      
children who will make the future3 and  
this environment is not anything        
mysterious1 it is simply ourselves4 ,the
 men and women who are now coming to    
maturity1 still supple to experience and
 capable of enthusiastic and            
disinterested choice--that is1 of       
surrender in the noblest sense--will    
have great opportunities of influencing 
those who are younger than themselves4  
,the torch is being offered to them2 and
 it is of vital importance to the unborn
 future that they should grasp and hand 
it on1 without worrying about whether   
their fingers are going to be burnt4 ,if
 they do grasp it1 they may prove to be 

the bringers in of a new world1 a fresh 
and vigorous social order1 which is     
based upon true values1 controlled by a 
spiritual conception of life2 a world in
 which this factor is as freely         
acknowledged by all normal persons1 as  
is the movement of the earth round the  
sun4  ,i do not speak here of fantastic 
dreams about ,utopias1 or of the        
coloured pictures of the apocalyptic    
imagination2 but of a concrete genuine  
possibility1 at which clear-sighted     
persons have hinted again and again4    
,consider our racial past4 ,look at the 
,piltdown skull3 reconstruct the person 
or creature whose brain that skull      
contained1 and actualize the directions 
in which his imperious instincts1 his   
vaguely conscious will and desire1 were 
pressing into life4 ,they too were      
expressions of ,creative ,spirit2 and   
there is perfect continuity between his 
vital impulse and our own4 ,now1        
consider one of the better achievements 
of civilization2 say the life of a      

,university1 with its devotion to       
disinterested learning1 its conservation
 of old beauty and quest of new truth4  
,even if we take its lowest common      
measure1 the transfiguration of desire  
is considerable4 ,yet in the things of  
the ,spirit we must surely acknowledge  
ourselves still to be primitive men2 and
 no one can say that it yet appears what
 we shall be4 ,all really depends on the
 direction in which human society       
decides to push into experience1 the    
surrender which it makes to the         
impulsion of the ,spirit2 how its       
tendency to novelty is employed1 the    
sort of complex habits which are formed 
by it1 as more and more crude social    
instinct is lifted up into conscious    
intention1 and given the precision of   
thought4  ,in our regenerate society1   
then1 if we ever get it1 the balanced   
moods of ,repentance of our racial past 
and ,surrender to our spiritual calling1
 the pull-forward of the ,spirit of     
,life even in its most austere difficult

 demands1 will control us2 as being the 
socialized extensions of these same     
attitudes of the individual soul4 ,and  
they will press the community to those  
same balanced expressions of its        
instinct for reality1 which completed   
the individual life3 that is to say1 to 
,recollection and ,work4 ,in the        
furnishing of a frame for the regular   
social exercise of recollection--the    
gathering in of the corporate mind and  
its direction to eternal values1 the    
abiding foundations of existence2 the   
consideration of all its problems in    
silence and peace2 the dramatic and     
sacramental expression of its unity and 
of its dependence on the higher powers  
of life--in all this1 the institutional 
religion of the future will perhaps find
 its true sphere of action1 and take its
 rightful place in the socialized life  
of the ,spirit4  ,finally1 the work     
which is done by a community of which   
the inner life is controlled by these   
three factors will be the concrete      

expression of these factors in the      
time-world2 and will perpetuate and hand
 on all that is noble1 stable and       
reasonable in human discovery and       
tradition1 whether in the sphere of     
conduct1 of thought1 of creation1 of    
manual labour1 or the control of nature1
 whilst remaining supple towards the    
demands and gifts of novelty4 ,new value
 will be given to craftsmanship and a   
sense of dedication--now almost         
unknown--to those who direct it4        
,consider the effect of this attitude on
 worker1 trader1 designer1 employer3 how
 many questions would then answer       
themselves1 how many sore places would  
be healed4  ,it is not necessary1 in    
order to take sides with this possible  
new order and work for it1 that we      
should commit ourselves to any one party
 or scheme of social reform4 ,still less
 is it necessary to suppose such reform 
the only field in which the active and  
social side of the spiritual life is to 
be lived4 ,repentance1 surrender1       

recollection and industry can do their  
transfiguring work in art1 science1     
craftsmanship1 scholarship1 and play3   
making all these things more            
representative of reality1 nearer our   
own best possible1 and so more vivid and
 worth while4 ,if ,tauler was right1 and
 all kinds of skill are gifts of the    
,holy ,ghost--a proposition which no    
thorough-going theist can refuse--then  
will not a reference back on the part of
 the worker to that fontal source of    
power make for humility and perfection  
in all work8 ,personally ,i am not at   
all afraid to recognize a spiritual     
element in all good craftsmanship1 in   
the delighted and diligent creation of  
the fine potter1 smith or carpenter1 in 
the well-tended garden and beehive1 the 
perfectly adjusted home2 for do not all 
these help the explication of the one   
,spirit of ,life in the diversity of    
,his gifts8  ,the full life of the      
,spirit must be more rich and various in
 its expression than any life that we   

have yet known1 and find place for every
 worthy and delightful activity4 ,it    
does not in the least mean a bloodless  
goodness2 a refusal of fun and          
everlasting fuss about uplift4 ,but it  
does mean looking at and judging each   
problem in a particular light1 and      
acting on that judgment without fear4   
,were this principle established1 and   
society poised on this centre1 reforms  
would follow its application almost     
automatically2 specific evils would     
retreat4 ,new knowledge of beauty would 
reveal the ugliness of many             
satisfactions which we now offer to     
ourselves1 and new love the defective   
character of many of our social         
relations4 ,certain things would        
therefore leave off happening1 would go2
 because the direction of desire had    
changed4 ,i do not wish to              
particularize1 for this only means      
blurring the issue by putting forward   
one's own pet reforms4 ,but ,i cannot   
help pointing out that we shall never   

get spiritual values out of a society   
harried and tormented by economic       
pressure1 or men and women whose whole  
attention is given up to the daily task 
of keeping alive4 ,this is not a        
political statement3 it is a plain fact 
that we must face4 ,though the          
courageous lives of the poor1 their     
patient endurance of insecurity may     
reveal a nobility that shames us1 it    
still remains true that these lives do  
not represent the most favourable       
conditions of the soul4 ,it is not      
poverty that matters2 but strain and the
 presence of anxiety and fear1 the      
impossibility of detachment4 ,therefore 
this oppression at least would have to  
be lightened1 before the social         
conscience could be at ease4 ,moreover  
as society advances along this way1     
every--even the most subtle--kind of    
cruelty and exploitation of             
self-advantage obtained to the detriment
 of other individuals1 must tend to be  
eliminated2 because here the drag-back  

of the past will be more and more       
completely conquered1 its instincts     
fully sublimated1 and no one will care  
to do those things any more4 ,bringing  
new feelings and more real concepts to  
our contact with our environment1 we    
shall1 in accordance with the law of    
apperception1 see this environment in a 
different way2 and so obtain from it a  
fresh series of experiences4 ,the scale 
of pain and pleasure will be altered4   
,we shall feel a searching              
responsibility about the way in which   
our money is made1 and about any        
disadvantages to others which our       
amusements or comforts may involve4     
,here1 perhaps1 it is well to register a
 protest against the curious but        
prevalent notion that any such          
concentrated effort for the             
spiritualization of society must tend to
 work itself out in the direction of a  
maudlin humanitarianism1 a soft and     
sentimental reading of life4 ,this idea 
merely advertises once more the fact    

that we still have a very mean and      
imperfect conception of ,god1 and have  
made the mistake of setting up a        
water-tight bulkhead2 between ,his      
revelation1 in nature and ,his discovery
 in the life of prayer4 ,it shows a     
failure to appreciate the stern1 heroic 
aspect of ,reality2 the element of      
austerity in all genuine religion1 the  
distinction between love and            
sentimentalism1 the rightful place of   
risk1 effort1 even suffering1 in all    
full achievement and all joy4 ,if we are
 surrendered in love to the purposes of 
the ,spirit1 we are committed to the    
bringing out of the best possible in    
life2 and this is a hard business1      
involving a quite definite social       
struggle with evil and atavism1 in which
 some one is likely to be hurt4 ,but    
surely that manly spirit of adventure   
which has driven men to the ,north ,pole
 and the desert1 and made them battle   
with delight against apparently         
impossible odds1 can here find its      

appropriate sublimation8  ,if anyone who
 has followed these arguments1 and now  
desires to bring them from idea into    
practice1 asks3 ,what next8 the answer  
simply is--,begin4 ,begin with          
ourselves2 and if possible1 do not begin
 in solitude4 ,the basal principles of  
all collective life1 says ,mc,dougall1  
are sympathetic contagion1 mass         
suggestion1 imitation3#aec and again and
 again the history of spiritual         
experience illustrates this law1 that   
its propagation is most often by way of 
discipleship and the corporate life1 not
 by the intensive culture of purely     
solitary effort4 ,it is for those who   
believe in the spiritual life to take   
full advantage now of this social       
suggestibility of man2 though without   
any detraction from the prime importance
 of the personal spiritual life4        
,therefore1 join up with somebody1 find 
fellowship2 whether it be in a church or
 society1 or among a few like-minded    
friends4 ,draw together for mutual      

support1 and face those imperatives of  
prayer and work which we have seen to be
 the condition of the fullest living-out
 of our existence4 ,fix and keep a      
reasonably balanced daily rule4 ,accept 
leadership where you find it--give it1  
if you feel the impulse and the         
strength4 ,do not wait for some grand   
opportunity1 and whilst you are waiting 
stiffen in the wrong shape4 ,the great  
opportunity may not be for us1 but for  
the generation whose path we now        
prepare3 and we do our best towards such
 preparation1 if we begin in a small and
 humble way the incorporation of our    
hopes and desires as for instance       
,wesley and the ,oxford ,methodists did4
 ,they sought merely to put their own   
deeply felt ideas into action quite     
simply and without fuss2 and we know how
 far the resulting impulse spread4 ,the 
,bab movement in the ,east1 the         
,salvation ,army at home1 show us this  
principle still operative2 what a little
 flock dominated by a suitable          

herd-leader and swayed by love and      
adoration can do--and these1 like       
,christianity itself1 began as small and
 inconspicuous groups4 ,it may be that  
our hope for the future depends on the  
formation of such groups--hives of the  
,spirit--in which the worker of every   
grade1 the thinker1 the artist1 might   
each have their place3 obtaining from   
incorporation the herd-advantages of    
mutual protection and unity of aim1 and 
forming nuclei to which others could    
adhere4  ,such a small group--and ,i am 
now thinking of something quite         
practical1 say to begin with a          
study-circle1 or a company of           
like-minded friends with a definite rule
 of life--may not seem to the outward   
eye very impressive4 ,regarded as a     
unit1 it will even tend to be inferior  
to its best members3 but it will be     
superior to the weakest1 and with its   
leader will possess a dynamic character 
and reproductive power which he could   
never have exhibited alone4 ,it should  

form a compact organization1 both       
fervent and business-like2 and might    
take as its ideal a combination of the  
characteristic temper of the            
contemplative order1 with that of active
 and intelligent ,christianity as seen  
in the best type of social settlement4  
,this double character of inwardness and
 practicality seems to me to be         
essential to its success2 and           
incorporation will certainly help it to 
be maintained4 ,the rule should be      
simple and unostentatious1 and need     
indeed be little more than the heavenly 
rule of faith1 hope1 and charity4 ,this 
will involve first the realization of   
man's true life within a spiritual      
world-order1 his utter dependence upon  
its realities and powers of communion   
with them2 next his infinite            
possibilities of recovery and           
advancement2 last his duty of love to   
all other selves and things4 ,this      
triple law would be applied without     
shirking to every problem of existence2 

and the corporate spirit would be       
encouraged by meetings1 by associated   
prayer1 and specially ,i hope by the    
practice of corporate silence4 ,such a  
group would never permit the intrusion  
of the controversial element1 but would 
be based on mutual trust2 and the fact  
that all the members shared             
substantially the same view of human    
life1 strove though in differing ways   
for the same ideals1 were filled by the 
same enthusiasms1 would allow the       
problems and experiences of the ,spirit 
to be accepted as real1 and discussed   
with frankness and simplicity4 ,thus    
oases of prayer and clear thinking might
 be created in our social wilderness1   
gradually developing such power and     
group-consciousness as we see in really 
living religious bodies4 ,the group     
would probably make some definite piece 
of social work1 or some definite        
question1 specially its own4 ,seeking to
 judge the problem this presented in the
 ,universal ,spirit1 it would work      

towards a solution1 using for this      
purpose both heart and head4 ,it would  
strive in regard to the special province
 chosen and solution reached to make its
 weight felt1 either locally or         
nationally1 in a way the individual     
could never hope to do2 and might       
reasonably hope that its conclusions and
 its actions would exceed in balance and
 sanity those which any one of the      
members could have achieved alone4  ,i  
think that these groups would develop   
their own discipline1 not borrow its    
details from the past3 for they would   
soon find that some drill was necessary 
to them1 and that luxury1 idleness1     
self-indulgence and indifference to the 
common-good were in conflict with the   
inner spirit of the herd4 ,they would   
inevitably come to practise that sane   
asceticism1 not incompatible with gaiety
 of heart1 which consists in            
concentration on the real1 and quiet    
avoidance of the attractive sham4       
,plainness and simplicity do help the   

spiritual life1 and these are more easy 
and wholesome when practised in common  
than when they are displayed by         
individuals in defiance of the social   
order that surrounds them4 ,the         
differences of temperament and of       
spiritual level in the group members    
would prevent monotony2 and insure that 
variety of reaction to the life of the  
,spirit which we so much wish to        
preserve4 ,those whose chief gift was   
for action would thus be directly       
supported by those natural              
contemplatives who might1 if they       
remained in solitude1 find it difficult 
to make their special gift serve their  
fellows as it must4 ,group-consciousness
 would cause the spreading and          
equalization of that spiritual          
sensitiveness which is1 as a matter of  
fact1 very unequally distributed amongst
 men4 ,and in the backing up of the     
predominantly active workers by the     
organized prayerful will of the group1  
all the real values of intercession     

would be obtained3 for this has really  
nothing to do with trying to persuade   
,god to do specific acts1 it is a       
particular way of exerting love1 and    
thus of reaching and using spiritual    
power4  ,this incorporation1 as ,i see  
it1 would be made for the express       
purpose of getting driving force with   
which to act directly upon life4 ,for   
spirituality1 as we have seen all along1
 must not be a lovely fluid notion or a 
merely self-regarding education2 but an 
education for action1 for the insertion 
of eternal values into the time-world1  
in conformity with the incarnational    
philosophy which justifies it4 ,such    
action--such ,insertion--depends on     
constant recourse to the sources of     
spiritual power4 ,at present we tend to 
starve our possible centres of          
regeneration1 or let them starve        
themselves1 by our encouragement of the 
active at the expense of the            
contemplative life2 and till this is    
mended1 we shall get nothing really     

done4 ,forgetting ,st4 ,teresa's        
warning1 that to give our ,lord a       
perfect service1 ,martha and ,mary must 
combine1#aed we represent the service of
 man as being itself an attention to    
,god2 and thus drain our best workers of
 their energies1 and leave them no      
leisure for taking in ,fresh supplies4  
,often they are wearied and confused by 
the multiplicity in which they must     
struggle2 and they are not taught and   
encouraged to seek the healing          
experience of unity4 ,hence even our    
noblest teachers often show painful     
signs of spiritual exhaustion1 and tend 
to relapse into the formal repetition of
 a message which was once a burning     
fire4  ,the continued force of any      
regenerative movement depends above all 
else on continued vivid contact with the
 ,divine order1 for the problems of the 
reformer are only really understood and 
seen in true proportion in its light4   
,such contact is not always easy3 it is 
a form of work4 ,after a time the weary 

and discouraged will need the support of
 discipline if they are to do it4       
,therefore definite role of silence and 
withdrawal--perhaps an extension of that
 system of periodical retreats which is 
one of the most hopeful features of     
contemporary religious life--is         
essential to any group-scheme for the   
general and social furtherance of the   
spiritual life4 ,it is not to be denied 
for a moment1 that countless good men   
and women who love the world in the     
divine and not in the self-regarding    
sense1 are busy all their lives long in 
forwarding the purposes of the ,spirit3 
which is acting through them1 as truly  
as through the conscious prophets and   
regenerators of the race4 ,but1 to      
return for a moment to psychological    
language1 whilst the ,divine impulsion  
remains for us below the threshold1 it  
is not doing all that it could for us   
nor we all that we could do for it2 for 
we are not completely unified4 ,we can  
by appropriate education bring up that  

imperative yet dim impulsion to         
conscious realization1 and wittingly    
dedicate to its uses our heart1 mind and
 will2 and such realization in its most 
perfect form appears to be the          
psychological equivalent of the state   
which is described by spiritual writers1
 in their own special language1 as union
 with ,god4  ,i have been at some pains 
to avoid the use of this special        
language of the mystics2 but now perhaps
 we may remind ourselves that1 by the   
declaration of all who have achieved it1
 the mature spiritual life is such a    
condition of completed harmony--such a  
theopathetic state4 ,therefore here     
to-day1 in the worst confusions of our  
social scramble1 no less that in the    
,indian forest or the medival cloister1 
man's really religious method and       
self-expression must be harmonious with 
a life-process of which this is the     
recognized if distant goal3 and in all  
the work of restatement1 this abiding   
objective must be kept in view4 ,such   

union1 such full identification with the
 ,divine purpose1 must be a social as   
well as an individual expression of full
 life4 ,it cannot be satisfied by the   
mere picking out of crumbs of perfection
 from the welter1 but must mean in the  
end that the real interests of society  
are indentical with the interests of    
,creative ,spirit1 in so far as these   
are felt and known by man2 the          
interests1 that is1 of a love that is   
energy and an energy that is love4      
,towards this identification1 the willed
 tendency of each truly awakened        
individual must steadfastly be set2 and 
also the corporate desire of each group1
 as expressed in its prayer and work4   
,for the whole secret of life lies in   
directed desire4  ,a wide-spreading love
 to all in common1 says ,ruysbroeck in a
 celebrated passage1 is the authentic   
mark of a truly spiritual man4#aee ,in  
this phrase is concealed the link       
between the social and personal aspects 
of the spiritual life4 ,it means that   

our passional nature with its cravings  
and ardours1 instead of making          
self-centred whirlpools1 flows out in   
streams of charity and power towards all
 life4 ,and we observe too that the     
,ninth ,perfection of the ,buddhist is  
such a state of active charity4 ,in his 
loving1 sympathizing1 joyful and        
steadfast mind he will recognize himself
 in all things1 and will shed warmth and
 light on the world in all directions   
out of his great1 deep1 unbounded       
heart4#aef  ,let this1 then1 be the     
teleological objective on which the will
 and the desire of individual and group 
are set3 and let us ask what it         
involves1 and how it is achieved4 ,it   
involves all the ardour1 tenderness and 
idealism of the lover1 spent not on one 
chosen object but on all living things4 
,thus it means an immense widening of   
the arc of human sympathy2 and this it  
is not possible to do properly1 unless  
we have found the centre of the circle  
first4 ,the glaring defect of current   

religion--,i mean the vigorous kind1 not
 the kind that is responsible for empty 
churches--is that it spends so much time
 in running round the arc1 and rather   
takes the centre for granted4 ,we see a 
great deal of love in generous-minded   
people1 but also a good many gaps in it 
which reference to the centre might help
 us to find and to mend4 ,some          
,christian people seem to have a        
difficulty about loving reactionaries1  
and some about loving revolutionaries4  
,and in institutional religion there are
 people of real ardour1 called by those 
beautiful names ,catholic and           
,evangelical1 who do not seem able to   
see each other in the light of this     
wide-spreading love4 ,yet they would    
meet at the centre4 ,and it is at the   
centre that the real life of the ,spirit
 aims first2 thence flowing out to the  
circumference--even to its most harsh1  
dark1 difficult and rugged limits--in   
unbroken streams of generous love4      
,such love is creative4 ,it does not    

flow along the easy paths1 spending     
itself on the attractive4 ,it cuts new  
channels1 goes where it is needed1 and  
has as its special vocation--a vocation 
identical with that of the great        
artist--the loving of the unlovely into 
lovableness4 ,thus does it participate  
according to its measure in the work of 
,divine incarnation4 ,this does not mean
 a maudlin optimism1 or any other kind  
of sentimentality2 for as we delve more 
deeply into life1 we always leave       
sentimentality behind4 ,but it does mean
 a love which is based on a deep        
understanding of man's slow struggles   
and of the unequal movements of life1   
and is expressed in both arduous and    
highly skillful actions4 ,it means      
taking the grimy1 degraded1 misshapen1  
and trying to get them right2 because we
 feel that essentially they can be      
right4 ,and further1 of course1 it means
 getting behind them to the conditions  
that control their wrongness2 and       
getting these right if we can4 ,consider

 what human society would be if each of 
its members--not merely occasional      
philanthropists1 idealists or saints1   
but financiers1 politicians1 traders1   
employers1 employed--had this quality of
 spreading a creative love3 if the whole
 impulse of life in every man and woman 
were towards such a harmony1 first with 
,god1 and then with all other things and
 souls4 ,there is nothing unnatural in  
this conception4 ,it only means that our
 vital energy would flow in its real    
channel at last4 ,where then would be   
our most heart-searching social         
problems8 ,the social order then would  
really be an order2 tallying with ,st4  
,augustine's definition of a virtuous   
life as the ordering of love4  ,what    
about the master and the worker in such 
a possibly regenerated social order8    
,consider alone the immense release of  
energy for work needing to be done1 if  
the civil wars of civilized man could   
cease and be replaced by that other     
mental fight1 for the upbuilding of     

,jerusalem3 how the impulse of ,creative
 ,spirit1 surely working in humanity1   
would find the way made clear4 ,would   
not this1 at last1 actualize the        
,pauline dream1 of each single citizen  
as a member of the ,body of ,christ8 ,it
 is because we are not thus attuned to  
life1 and surrendered to it1 that our   
social confusion arises2 the conflict of
 impulse within society simply mirrors  
the conflict of impulse within each     
individual mind4  ,we know that some of 
the greatest movements of history1      
veritable transformations of the        
group-mind1 can be traced back to a tiny
 beginning in the faithful spiritual    
experience and response of some one man1
 his contact with the centre which      
started the ripples of creative love4   
,if1 then1 we could elevate such        
universalized individuals into the      
position of herd-leaders1 spread their  
secret1 persuade society first to       
imitate them1 and then to share their   
point of view1 the real and sane1       

because love-impelled social revolution 
might begin4 ,it will begin1 when more  
and ever more people find themselves    
unable to participate in1 or reap       
advantage from1 the things which        
conflict with love3 when tender emotion 
in man is so universalized1 that it     
controls the instincts of               
acquisitiveness and of self-assertion4  
,there are already for each of us some  
things in which we cannot participate1  
because they conflict too flagrantly    
with some aspect of our love1 either for
 truth1 or for justice1 or for humanity1
 or for ,god2 and these things each     
individual1 according to his own level  
of realization1 is bound to oppose      
without compromise4 ,most of us have    
enough widespreading love to be--for    
instance--quite free from temptation to 
be cruel1 at any rate directly1 to      
children or to animals4 ,i say nothing  
about the indirect tortures which our   
sloth and insensitiveness still permit4 
,were these first flickers made ardent1 

and did they control all our reactions  
to life--and there is nothing abnormal1 
no break in continuity involved in this1
 only a reasonable growth--then1 new    
paths of social discharge would have    
been made for-our chief desires and     
impulses2 and along these they would    
tend more and more to flow freely and   
easily1 establishing new social-habits1 
unhampered by solicitations from our    
savage past4 ,to us already1 on the     
whole1 these solicitations are less     
insistent than they were to the men of  
earlier centuries4 ,we see their gradual
 defeat in slave emancipation1 factory  
acts1 increased religious tolerance1    
every movement towards social justice1  
every increase of the arc over which our
 obligations to other men obtain4 ,they 
must now disguise themselves as         
patriotic or economic necessities1 if we
 are to listen to them3 as1 in the      
,freudian dream1 our hidden unworthy    
wishes slip through into consciousness  
in a symbolic form4 ,but when their     

energy has been fully sublimated1 the   
social action will no longer be a       
conflict but a harmony4 ,then we shall  
live the life of ,spirit2 and from this 
life will flow all love-inspired reform4
  ,yet we are1 above all1 to avoid the  
conclusion that the spiritual life1 in  
its social expression1 shall necessarily
 push us towards mere change2 that      
novelty contains everything1 and        
stability nothing1 of the will of the   
,spirit for the race4 ,surely our aim   
shall be this3 that religious           
sensitiveness shall spread1 as our      
discovery of religion in the universe   
spreads1 so that at last every man's    
reaction to the whole of experience     
shall be entinctured with ,reality1     
coloured by this dominant feeling-tone4 
,spirit would then work from within     
outwards1 and all life personal and     
social1 mental and physical1 would be   
moulded by its inspiring power4 ,and in 
looking here for our best hope of       
development1 we remain safely within    

history2 and do not strive for any      
desperate pulling down or false         
simplification of our complex existence1
 such as has wrecked many attempts to   
spiritualize society in the past4       
,consider the way by which we have come4
 ,we found in man an instinct for a     
spiritual ,reality4 ,a single1 concrete1
 objective ,fact1 transcending yet      
informing his universe1 compels his     
adoration1 and is apperceived by him in 
three main ways4 ,first1 as the very    
,being1 ,heart and ,meaning of that     
universe1 the universal of all          
universals1 next as a ,presence         
including and exceeding the best that   
personality can mean to him1 last as an 
indwelling and energizing ,life4 ,we saw
 in history the persistent emergence of 
a human type so fully aware of this     
,reality as to subdue to its interests  
all the activities of life2 ever seeking
 to incarnate its abiding values in the 
world of time4 ,and further1 psychology 
suggested to us1 even in its tentative  

new findings1 its exploration of our    
strange mental deeps1 reason for holding
 such surrender to the purposes of the  
,spirit to represent the condition of   
man's fullest psychic health1 and access
 to his real sources of power4 ,we found
 in the universal existence of religious
 institutions further evidence of this  
profound human need of spirituality4 ,we
 saw there the often sharp and          
sky-piercing intensity of the individual
 aptitude for ,reality enveloped1       
tempered and made wholesome by the      
social influences of the cultus and the 
group3 made too1 available for the      
community by the symbolisms that cultus 
had preserved4 ,so that gradually the   
life of the ,spirit emerged for us as   
something most actual1 not archaic3 a   
perennial possibility of newness1 of    
regeneration1 a widening of our span of 
pain and joy4 ,a human fact1 completing 
and most closely linked with those other
 human facts1 the vocation to service1  
to beauty1 to truth4 ,a fact1 then1     

which must control our view of personal 
self-discipline1 of education1 and of   
social effort3 since it refers to the   
abiding ,reality which alone gives all  
these their meaning and worth1 and which
 man1 consciously or unconsciously1 must
 pursue4  ,and last1 if we ask as a     
summing up of the whole matter3 ,why man
 is thus to seek the ,eternal1 through1 
behind and within the ever-fleeting8    
,the answer is that he cannot1 as a     
matter of fact1 help doing it sooner or 
later3 for his heart is never at rest1  
till it finds itself there4 ,but he     
often wastes a great deal of time before
 he realizes this4 ,and perhaps we may  
find the reason why man--each man--is   
thus pressed towards some measure of    
union with ,reality1 in the fact that   
his conscious will thus only becomes an 
agent of the veritable purposes of life3
 of that ,power which1 in and through   
mankind1 conserves and slowly presses   
towards realization the noblest         
aspirations of each soul4 ,this power   

and push we may call if we like in the  
language of realism the tendency of our 
space-time universe towards deity2 or in
 the language of religion1 the working  
of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and since1 so far
 as we know1 it is only in man that life
 becomes self-conscious1 and ever more  
and more self-conscious1 with the       
deepening and widening of his love and  
his thought2 so it is only in man that  
it can dedicate the will and desire     
which are life's central qualities to   
the furtherance of this ,divine creative
 aim4  ,,footnotes3  ,footnote #adi3    
,the ,mirror of ,eternal ,salvation1    
,cap4 #g4  ,footnote #aej3 ,a good      
general discussion in ,tansley3 ,the    
,new ,psychology and its ,relation to   
,life1 ,caps4 #ai1 #bj4  ,footnote #aea3
 ,aug4 ,conf41 ,bk4 ,x1 ,cap4 #bg4      
,footnote #aeb3 ,blake2 ,jerusalem4     
,footnote #aec3 ,social ,psychology1    
,cap4 i4  ,footnote #aed3 ,the ,interior
 ,castle3 ,sleuth ,habitation1 ,cap4    
,,iv4  ,footnote #aee3 ,the ,adornment  

of the ,spiritual ,marriage1 ,bk4 ,,ii1 
,cap4 #dd4  ,footnote #aef3 ,warren3    
,buddhism in ,translations1 p4 #bh4     
,,principal ,,works ,,used ,,or ,,cited4
   ,s4 ,alexander4 ,space1 ,time1 and   
,deity4 ,london1 #aibj4  ,blessed       
,angela of ,foligno4 ,book of ,divine   
,consolations 7,new ,medival ,library74 
,london1 #aijh4  ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas4 
,summa ,contra ,gentiles 7,of ,god and  
,his ,creatures71 trans4 by ,j4         
,rickaby1 ,london1 #aije4  ,st4         
,augustine4 ,confessions1 trans4 by     
,rev4 ,c4 ,bigg4 ,london1 #ahih4        
,venerable ,augustine ,baker4 ,holy     
,wisdom1 or ,directions for the ,prayer 
of ,contemplation4 ,london1 #aijh4      
,charles ,baudouin4 ,suggestion et      
,auto-suggestion4 ,paris1 #aibj4        
,harold ,begbie4 ,william ,booth1       
,founder of the ,salvation ,army4       
,london1 #aibj4  ,william ,blake4       
,poetical ,works1 with ,variorum        
,readings by ,j4 ,sampson1 ,oxford1     
#aije4  --,jerusalem1 edited by         

,e4,r4,d4 ,maclagan and ,a4,e4,b4       
,russell4 ,london1 #aijd4  ,jacob       
,boehme4 ,the ,aurora1 trans4 by ,j4    
,sparrow1 ,london1 #aiad4  --,six       
,theosophic ,points1 trans4 by ,j4,r4   
,earle1 ,london1 #aiai4  --,the ,way to 
,christ4 ,london1 #aiaa4  ,st4          
,bonaventura4 ,opera ,omnia4 ,paris1    
#ahfd-ga4  ,bernard ,bosanquet4 ,what   
,religion ,is4 ,london1 #aibj4  ,dan    
,cuthbert ,butler4 ,benedictine         
,monachism4 ,london1 #aiai4  ,st4       
,catherine of ,siena4 ,the ,divine      
,dialogue1 trans4 by ,algar ,thorold4   
,london1 #ahif4  ,the ,cloud of         
,unknowing1 edited from ,b4,m4 ,harl1   
#fgd1 with an ,introduction by ,evelyn  
,underhill4 ,london1 #aiab4  ,g4,a4     
,coe4 ,a ,social ,theory of ,religious  
,education4 ,new ,york1 #aibj4          
,benedetto ,croce4 sthetic1 or the      
,science of ,expression1 trans4 by ,d4  
,ainslie4 ,london1 #aiji4  --,theory and
 ,history of ,historiography1 trans4 by 
,d4 ,ainslie4 ,london1 #aiba4  ,dante   

,alighieri4 ,tutte le ,opere4 ,rived4   
nel testo da ,dr4 ,e4 ,moore4 ,oxford1  
#ahid4  ,abbot ,delatte4 ,the           
,benedictine ,rule4 ,eng4 trans4        
,london1 #aiba4  ,john ,donne4 ,sermons3
 ,selected ,passages1 with an ,essay by 
,l4 ,pearsall ,smith4 ,oxford1 #aiai4   
,meister ,eckhart4 ,schriften und       
,predigten aus dem                      
,mittelhochsdeutschen4 ,ubersetzt und   
herausgegeben von ,buttner4 ,leipzig1   
#aijc4  ,john ,everard4 ,some ,gospel   
,treasures ,opened4 ,london1 #afec4     
,george ,fox4 ,journal1 edited from the 
,,mss4 by ,n4 ,penney4 ,cambridge1      
#aiaa4  ,elizabeth ,fry4 ,memoir with   
,extracts from her ,journals and        
,letters1 edited by two of her          
,daughters1 #bnd4 ed4 ,london1 #ahdh4   
,edmund ,gardner4 ,st4 ,catherine of    
,siena4 ,london1 #aijg4  ,gabriela      
,cunninghame ,graham4 ,st4 ,teresa1 her 
,life and ,times4 ,london1 #ahid4       
,viscount ,haldane4 ,the ,reign of      
,relativity4 ,london1 #aiba4  ,j4,o4    

,hannay4 ,the ,spirit and ,origin of    
,christian ,monasticism4 ,london1 #aijc4
  ,f4,h4 ,hayward4 ,the ,lesson in      
,appreciation4 ,new ,york1 #aiae4       
,f4,h4 ,hayward and ,a4 ,freeman4 ,the  
,spiritual ,foundations of              
,reconstruction4 ,london1 #aiai4        
,violet ,hodgkin4 ,a ,book of ,quarter  
,saints4 ,london1 #aiah4  ,harold       
,hffding4 ,the ,philosophy of ,religion4
 ,london1 #aijf4  ,edmond ,holmes4 ,what
 ,is and ,what ,might ,be4 ,london1     
#aiaa4  --,give me the ,young1 ,london1 
#aiba4  ,baron ,fredrick von ,hgel4 ,the
 ,mystical ,element of ,religion4       
,london1 #aijh4  --,eternal ,life3 ,a   
,study of its ,implications and         
,applications4 ,london1 #aiab4          
--,essays and ,addresses on the         
,philosophy of ,religion4 ,london1      
#aiba4  ,jacopone da ,todi4 ,le ,laude1 
secondo la stampa fiorentino del #adij4 
,a cura di ,g4 ,ferri4 ,bari1 #aiae4    
,william ,james4 ,the ,varieties of     
,religious ,experience4 ,london1 #aijb4 

,william ,james4 ,the ,will to ,believe 
and other ,essays4 ,london1 #ahig4      
--,principles of ,psychology4 ,london1  
#aija4  ,st4 ,john of the ,cross4 ,the  
,ascent of ,mount ,carmel1 trans4 by    
,david ,lewis4 ,london1 #aijf4  --,the  
,dark ,night of the ,soul1 trans4 by    
,david ,lewis4 ,london1 #aijh4  ,sir    
,henry ,jones and ,j4,h4 ,muirhead4 ,the
 ,life and ,philosophy of ,edward       
,caird4 ,glasgow1 #aiba4  ,rufus ,jones4
 ,studies in ,mystical ,religion4       
,london1 #aiji4  --,spiritual ,reformers
 in the ,sixteenth and ,seventeenth     
,centuries4 ,london1 #aiad4  ,julian of 
,norwich4 ,revelations of ,divine ,love1
 edited by ,grace ,warrack4 ,london1    
#aija4  ,c4,g4 ,jung4 ,the ,psychology  
of the ,unconscious4 ,london1 #aiaf4    
,kabir4 ,one ,hundred ,poems1 edited by 
,rabindranath ,tagore and ,evelyn       
,underhill4 ,london1 #aiae4  ,thomas    
,kempis4 ,the ,imitation of ,christ3 the
 ,earliest ,english ,translation        
7,everyman's ,library74 ,london1 n4d4   

,s4 ,kettlewell4 ,thomas  ,kempis and   
the ,brothers of the ,common ,life4     
,london1 #ahhb4  ,william ,law4 ,liberal
 and ,mystical ,writings1 edited by ,w4 
,scott ,palmer4 ,london1 #aijh4  ,w4,p4 
,livingstone4 ,mary ,slessor of         
,calabar4 ,london1 #aiah4  ,journal     
,spirituel de ,lucie-,christine4 ,paris1
 #aiab4  ,w4 ,mc,dougall4 ,an           
,introduction to ,social ,psychology1   
#ith ed4 ,london1 #aiae4  --,the ,group 
,mind4 ,cambridge1 #aibj4  ,w4,m4       
,mc,govern4 ,an ,introduction to ,mahyna
 ,buddhism4 ,london1 #aiba4  ,mechthild 
of ,magdeburg4 ,das ,fliessende ,licht  
der ,gottheit4 ,regensburg1 #ahfi4      
,reynold ,nicholson4 ,selected ,poems   
from the ,divni1 ,shamsi ,tabriz4       
,cambridge1 #ahih4  --,studies in       
,islamic ,mysticism4 ,cambridge1 #aiba4 
,j4,h4 ,overton4 ,john ,wesley4 ,london1
 #ahia4  ,william ,penn4 ,no ,cross1 ,no
 ,crown4 ,london1 #ahea4  ,plotinus4    
,the ,ethical ,treatises1 trans4 from   
the ,greek by ,stephen ,mackenna4       

,london1 #aiag4  ,plotinus4 ,the        
,physical and ,psychical ,treatises1    
trans4 from the ,greek by ,stephen      
,mackenna4 ,london1 #aiba4  ,j4,b4      
,pratt4 ,the ,religious ,consciousness2 
a ,psychological ,study4 ,new ,york1    
#aiba4  ,richard of ,st4 ,victor4 ,opera
 ,omnia4 ,migne1 ,pat ,lat41 t4 #aif4   
,w4,h4,r4 ,rivers4 ,instinct and the    
,unconscious1 ,cambridge1 #aibj4        
,richard ,rolle of ,hampole4 ,the ,fire 
of ,love and ,mending of ,life1         
,englished by ,r4 ,misyn 7,e4,e4,t4,s4  
#ajf74,london1 #ahif4  ,bertrand        
,russell4 ,the ,analysis of ,mind1      
,london1 #aiba4  ,john ,ruysbroeck4 ,the
 ,adornment of the ,spiritual ,marriage1
 the ,book of ,truth1 and the ,sparkling
 ,stone1 trans4 from the ,flemish by    
,c4,a4 ,wynschenk ,dom4 ,london1 #aiaf4 
--,the ,book of the ,,xii ,bguines1     
trans4 by ,john ,francis4 ,london1      
#aiac4  ,r4 ,semon4 ,die ,mneme1 #bnd   
ed4 ,leipzig1 #aijh4  ,herbert ,spencer4
 ,education3 ,intellectual1 ,moral1 and 

,physical ,london1 #ahfa4  ,b4,h4       
,streeter and ,a4,j4 ,appasamy4 ,the    
,sadhu3 a ,study in ,mysticism and      
,practical ,religion4 ,london1 #aiba4   
,b4,h4 ,streeter4 7edited by74 ,the     
,spirit3 ,god and ,his ,relation to     
,man4 ,london1 #aiai4  ,blessed ,henry  
,suso4 ,life1 by-,himself1 trans4 by    
,t4,f4 ,knox4 ,london1 #aiac4           
,devendranath ,tagore4 ,autobiography1  
trans4 by ,s4 ,tagore and ,i4 ,devi1    
,london1 #aiad4  ,a4,g4 ,tansley4 ,the  
,new ,psychology and its ,relation to   
,life ,london1 #aibj4  ,st4 ,teresa4    
,the ,life of ,st4 ,teresa written by   
,herself1 trans4 by ,d1 ,lewis4 ,london1
 #aijd4  --,the ,interior ,castle1      
trans4 by the ,benedictines of          
,stanbrook1 #bnd ed4 ,london1 #aiab4    
--,the ,way of ,perfection1 ed4 by      
,e4,r4 ,waller4 ,london1 #aijb4         
,theologia ,germanica1 ed4 by ,susanna  
,winkworth1 #dth ed4 ,london1 #aijg4    
,soeur ,thrse de l',enfant-,jsus3       
,histoire d'une ,ame4 ,paris1 #aiaa4    

,francis ,thompson4 ,st4 ,ignatius      
,loyola4 ,london1 #aiji4  ,w4,f4        
,trotter4 ,instincts of the ,herd in    
,peace and ,war1 #crd ed4 ,london1      
#aiag4  ,miguel da ,unamuno4 ,the       
,tragic ,sense of ,life in ,men and in  
,peoples1 ,eng4 trans4 ,london1 #aiba4  
,evelyn ,underhill4 ,jacopone da ,todi1 
,poet and ,mystic4 ,london1 #aiai4      
,c4,b4 ,upton4 ,the ,bases of ,religious
 ,belief4 ,london1 #ahid4  ,j4          
,varendonck4 ,the ,psychology of        
,day-,dreams4 ,london1 #aiba4  ,h4,c4   
,warren4 ,buddhism in ,translations4    
,cambridge1 ,mass41 #aijj4  ,john       
,wesley4 ,journal1 from original ,,mss4 
,standard edition1 vols #a-h4 ,london1  
#aiji-af4     ,,index    ,abreaction1   
#aji    ,abu ,said1 #af    ,adolescence1
 #bdj seq4    ,alexander1 ,s4 #bf       
,angela of ,foligno1 ,blessed1 #ii1 #acj
    ,apperception1 #agi1 #bhd           
,aquinas1 ,st4 ,thomas1 #bf1 #eh1 #bjj  
,asceticism1 #fi1 #hi1 #bhh             
,augustine1 ,st41 #h1 #ac1 #bg1 #fj1    

#aih1 #bjb1 #bjh1 #bgj1 #bgc1 #bie      
,autistic thought1 #aab1 #aag1 seq4     
,auto ,suggestion see ,suggestion       
,baudouin1 ,c41 #add1 #agc    ,benedict1
 ,st4 #dh1 #fd1 seq41 #fh1 #baj         
,benedictine ,order1 #eb1 #fa1 #fd1 seq4
    ,bernard1 ,st4 #eb    ,bhakti       
,marga1 #ah1 #ba    ,bible-reading1 #bab
    ,blake1 ,w41 #aa1 #cc1 #df1 #ga1    
#bgg    ,boehme1 ,jacob1 #d1 #cc1 #ee1  
#gj1 #hd1 #hf1 #hi1 #aah1 #aej1 seq41   
#aih1 #bja1   #bjd1 #bdd                
,bonaventura1 ,st41 #adf    ,booth1     
,general1 #ed1 #ei1 #fc1 #if            
,bosanquet1 ,bernard #f    ,brahmo      
,samaj1 #aee    ,brothers of ,common    
,life1 #eb    ,buddhism1 #gb1 #ahb1     
#beh1 #bib    ,butler1 ,dom ,c41 #fe1   
#afi     ,caird1 ,edward1 #bdf          
,catherine of ,genoa1 ,st41 #ee1 #fg1   
#gj1 #ga    ,catherine of ,siena1 ,st41 
#fh1 #ga1 #hg1 #abh    ,christianity1   
,primitive1 #ef1 #afd    ,church1 #aee1 
seq4     essentials of1 #afd1 seq41 #aga
     future1 #ahh1 #bha     gifts of1   

#afa     limitations1 #agj    ,cloud of 
,unknowing1 ,the1 #hg1 #if1 #ajd1 seq41 
#aaj1 #abc1 #adc1 #ade1 #adf1   #adg1   
#aea1 #bdh    ,complex1 #ajh1 seq4      
,conflict1 ,psychic1 #ha1 #hh1 #ajj1    
#ajc1 #baf1 seq4    ,consciousness1     
#aaf1 seq4     group1 #afb1 seq41 #bhh1 
seq4     spiritual1 #bai1 #bbe          
,contemplation1 #ag1 #aba1 seq41 #ach1  
seq41 #bab1 #bai in children1 #bfj      
,conversion1 #fh1 #ge1 #hi1 #ic1 #ajc1  
#bfe    ,croce1 ,benedetto1 #da1 #dc    
,cultus1 #aga1 seq4     ,dante1 #i      
,delatte1 ,abbot1 #fe    ,dionysius1 the
 ,areopagite1 #i1 #ada    ,discipleship1
 #eh1 #bga1 seq4    ,donne1 ,john1 #af1 
#df     ,eckhart1 ,master1 #i1 #adb     
,education1 #ajb1 seq41 #agg seq4       
factors of1 #bca1 seq4     ,spencer on1 
#bcd     ,spiritual1 #agi1 #bjf1 #bbh1  
seq41 #bdc1 seq41 #bea1 #bfd     dangers
 of1 #bej1 seq41 #bfb    ,emotion1      
,religious1 #ah1 #ii1 #ade1 #bej1 #bfc  
,eternal ,life1 #c1 #dh1 #aie1 #bga     
,everard1 ,john1 #ce1 #dj     ,fox1     

,george1 #h1 #de1 #ei1 #fb1 #fg1 #if1   
#aji1 #aee1 #bae1 #bgj1 #bgc    ,francis
 of ,assisi1 ,st41 #dg1 #ed1 #ei1 #fa1  
#fc1 #fg1 #bgj1 #bgc    ,friends of     
,god1 #fc1 #bga    ,fry1 ,elizabeth1    
#ee1 #fc1 #baj     ,gardner1 ,edmund1   
#hg    ,god1 ,experience of1 #g seq41   
#gd1 #abg1 #bad1 #bch1 seq41 #beb1 #bge1
 #bih     personality of1 #i1 seq41 #ag 
seq4    ,grace1 #ach1 seq41 #bjf1 #baa  
,groot1 ,gerard1 #fh    ,groups1 #fa1   
#bga1 #bhe1 seq4    ,guyon1 ,madame1    
#adc     ,habit1 #he1 #ij1 #ajb1 #agb   
,hadfield1 ,j4,a41 #ajj    ,haldane1    
,viscount1 #bh    ,hayward1 ,f4,h41 #bei
    ,hinduism1 #ah1 #ba1 #de1 #ea1 #aee1
 #ahb    ,history and spiritual life1   
#ch1 seq41 #bab     in education1 #bef1 
seq4    ,hffding1 ,h41 #bd1 #bab        
,hgel1 ,baron1 ,f4 von1 #b1 #bi1 #eb1   
#gj1 #abe1 #bji     on spiritual life1  
#aie1 seq4    ,humility1 #aji1 #bag1    
#bge1 #bhb    ,hymns1 #adh1 #agc1 seq4  
,ignatius1 ,loyola1 ,st41 #fa1 #fh1 #ie 
,instinct1 #gf1 #gh1 seq41 #ij1 seq41   

#ajb1 #bfc     herd1 #bgb     in        
children1 #bdi    ,intercession1 #bhi   
,introversion1 #aba    ,isaiah1 #ab     
,jacopone da ,todi1 #ab1 #ee1 #fh1 #ij1 
#ic1 #ajg1 #aca    ,james1 ,william1    
#aeg    ,jerome1 ,st41 #aed    ,jesus   
,christ1 #ag1 #dj1 #dg1 #ea1 #ef1 #ei1  
#fa1 #aef1 #ahb1 #aih1 #bjb1 #bfh1      
#bgc1 #bgi    ,joan of ,arc1 ,st41 #ie  
,john ,inglesant1 #fa    ,john1 ,st41   
#ajg1 #bdd    ,john of the ,cross1 ,st41
 #abh1 #bjh    ,julian of ,norwich1 #bj1
 #hg1 #ace1 #add     ,kabir1 #e1 #aa1   
#gj1 #aee1 #aih     ,lawrence1 ,brother1
 #ee    ,law1 ,william1 #bg1 #ij1 #ia   
,liturgy1 see ,cultus    ,livingstone1  
,w4,p41 #if    ,love1 #ij1 #ig1 #ajd1   
#baa1 #bdd1 seq41 #bib1 seq4            
defined1 #bjj1 seq4    ,lucie1          
,christine1 #ad     ,mass1 ,the1 #agg   
,mc,dougall1 ,w41 #afc1 #bhe            
,mc,govern1 ,w4,m41 #gb    ,mechthild of
 ,magdeburg1 ,st41 #hi1 #abi    ,memory1
 #agi1 seq4    ,methodists1 #ae1 #ec1   
#bhf    ,mind1 analysis of1 #gf1 seq4   

foreconscious1 #aag1 seq4               
instinctive1 #hi1 seq41 #acg1 seq4      
primitive1 #hb1 #ii1 #ajd1 #aha1 seq4   
rational1 #ajj1 seq4     unconscious1   
#aad1 seq41 #ada1 seq41 #bcj1 #bfd      
,motive1 #hd1 #aji    ,mystical         
,experience1 #ii1 #ajg1 #aac     ,nanak1
 #aee    ,nicholson1 ,reynold1 #aa1 #af1
 #ah1 #ea1 #gj     ,pascal1 #acg        
,patmore1 ,coventry1 #aai    ,paul1     
,st41 #ac1 #eb1 #ee1 #fc1 #fh1 #ha1 #hc1
 #ie1 #acf1 #baj1 #bdd1 #bfi    ,penn1  
,william1 #cf1 #abe1 #acg    ,plotinus1 
#b1 #e1 #aa1 #ah1 #bi1 #cg1 #gg1 #bja1  
#bje    ,pratt1 ,j4,b41 #bj1 #adi1 #aeg 
,prayer #eb1 #ajh1 #aac1 #abj1 seq41    
#aii1 #bjd1 seq41 #baa1 #bec1 #bfe1 seq4
     ,childrens'1 #bbi1 #bdc            
corporate1 #afi1 #bhf     distractions  
in1 #abf1 #adi     education in1 #ajb1  
#bdh     of quiet1 #abd1 #ada     ,sadhu
 on1 #bji     short act1 #add     and   
suggestion #ach1 seq4     vocal1 #add   
and work1 #bec    ,psyche1 ,the1 #gg1   
seq41 #ajc1 #aaf1 #bcj    ,purgation1   

#fi1 #gf1 #ij1 #ajh1 seq41 #bah         
,quakers1 #fc1 #afd1 #agd1 #beh         
,ramakrishna1 #adi    ,recollection1    
#abc1 seq41 #aci1 #bjh1 #bai1 seq4      
corporate1 #bha    ,regeneration1 #ae1  
#hi1 #id   corporate1 #bga1 seq41 #bic1 
seq4    ,religious ceremonies1 #agc1    
seq41 #ahh     education1 #agi1 seq4    
institutions1 #aed1 seq41 #bha     magic
 #ahe1 seq4     orders1 #fj             
,repentance1 #ajh1 seq41 #bah1 #bfi     
social1 #bge1 seq4    ,reverie1 #aag1   
#abb1 seq4    ,richard of ,st4 ,victor1 
#ee1 #eh    ,rolle1 ,richard1 #da1 seq41
 #fg    ,rosary1 #add    ,russell1      
,bertrand1 #ajb1 #agi    ,ruysbroeck1   
#ag1 #ag1 #ea1 #ed1 seq41 #ajf1 #abj1   
seq41 #abf1 #adb1 #aii1 #bab1   #bfa1   
#bgj1 #bib     ,sacrifice1 #ahe         
,sadhu1 ,sundar1 ,singh1 #fh1 #acj1 #bji
    ,saints1 #da1 #beg    ,salvation1   
#gf1 #hi1 seq4    ,salvation ,army1 #dh1
 #ia1 #bfj1 #bhf    ,semon1 ,r41 #agi   
,sin1 #gf1 #ha1 #he1 seq41 #aji1 #adi1  
#bah     corporate1 #bgf    ,sins1      

,seven ,deadly1 #ic    ,slessor1 ,mary1 
#ed1 seq41 #if    ,social reform1 #bhb1 
seq41 #bif     service1 #bfg1 seq4      
,spencer1 ,herbert1 #bcd    ,spirit of  
,power1 #ac1 #eb1 #fb1 #bbb1 #bij       
,spiritual ,life     in adolescence1    
#bdg1 seq4     characters of1 #bb1 seq41
 #cb1 #dc1 #ed1 #eh1 #fd1 #gf1 #if1     
seq41     #aeh1 seq41 #aib1 seq41 #bba1 
seq41 #bfa1 #bfi1 #bgd1 seq41 #bhc1     
#bib1 #bih     contagious1 #ef1 seq41   
#gb1 #afi1 #bfa1 #bgc1 #bhe1 seq41 #bie 
corporate1 #eh1 #aec1 seq41 #afh1 #bej1 
#bed1 #bge1 seq41 #bhe1 seq4     dangers
 of #ii1 seq41 #bfc     development of1 
#fg1 seq41 #ajh1 #bac1 seq4     and     
education1 #bbh1 seq4     and history1  
#ch1 seq41 #aei1 seq41 #bab     and     
institutions #aeh1 seq4     personal1   
#aia1 seq41 #bej1 seq41 #bef1 #bfh1 #bgd
     and prayer1 #bjd1 seq4     and1    
psychology1 #gf1 seq41 #aie1 seq4       
and reading1 #baa     social1 aspect of1
 #bff1 seq4     and work1 #bbb1 #bec1   
#bef1 #bhb    ,spiritual ,type1 #ea1    

#aib1 seq41 #bbf    ,stigmata1 #acd     
,streeter1 ,b4,h41 #dg1 #acj            
,sublimation1 #ia1 #if1 seq41 #aaj1     
#bja4 #big    ,sufis1 #aa1 #af1 #ah1    
#ea1 #ei1 #gj1 #aee1 #beh               
,suggestion1 #ge1 #ajc1 #acb1 seq41 #afg
   and faith1 #acg     laws of1 #ada1   
seq4     in worship1 #adh1 #agc1 seq4   
,surrender1 #bbj1 #bii    ,symbols1     
#abg1 seq41 #agc1 seq41 #ahj1 seq4      
,tagore1 ,maharerhi ,devendranath1 #ac1 
#ad1 #ea1 #fg1 #bac    ,tansley1 ,c41   
#bgb    ,tauler1 #beg1 #bhb    ,teresa1 
,st1 #dg1 #ed1 #fa1 #fi1 #ga1 #hh1 #ie1 
#abc1 #adb1 #aej1 #bjb1 #bab1 #bij      
,theologia1 ,germanica1 #baa1 #bbb      
,thrse de l',enfant1 ,jsus1 ,vnrable1   
#acg1 #adh    ,thomas  ,kempis1 #dh1    
#hc1 #abh1 #aci1 #aih1 #bab    ,trinity1
 ,doctrine of1 #ad    ,trotter1 ,w4,f41 
#afh     ,unamuno1 ,don ,m4 de1 #aj1 #he
    ,unification1 #ih1 seq41 #aaj1 #aie1
 #aih1 #bba1 #bbg1 #bgh    ,union with  
,god1 #fg1 #gb1 #bjd1 #bia1 #bii        
,upton1 ,t41 #aj     ,varendonck1 ,j41  

#aag    ,vincent de ,paul1 ,st4 #ee     
,virtues1 ,evangelical1 #id    ,visions1
 #abi1 seq4    ,vocation1 #bbj1 #bbe1   
#bid1 #cjj     ,wesley1 ,john1 #ec1 #ee1
 #fb1 #ga1 #baj1 #bgj    ,work1 #bbb1   
#bec1 #bhb    ,worship1 #age1 #bee1 #bfj