The Varieties of Religious Experience

First-rate study of spirituality documents and discusses a variety of religious states of consciousness, covering the meaning of the term "divine," reality of the unseen, religion of healthy-mindedness, sick soul, more.

First-rate study of spirituality documents and discusses a variety of religious states of consciousness, covering the meaning of the term "divine," reality of the unseen, religion of healthy-mindedness, sick soul, divided self and process of its unification, conversion, saintliness, and mysticism. Studded with richly concrete examples; a classic of its genre.

LECTURE I RELIGION AND NEUROLOGY "Introduction: the course is not anthropological, but deals with personal documents" Questions of fact and questions of value "In point of fact, the religious are often neurotic" "Criticism of medical materialism, which condemns religion on that account" Theory that religion has a sexual origin but by the value of their refuted All states of mind are neurally conditioned Their significance must be tested not by their origin but by the value of their fruits Three criteria of value ; origin useless as a criterion Advantages of the psychopathic temperament when a superior intellect goes with it Especially for the religious lifeLECTURE II CIRCUMSCRIPTION OF THE TOPIC Futility of simple definitions of religion No one specific 'religious sentiment' Institutional and personal religion We confine ourselves to the personal branch Definition of religion for the purpose of these lectures Meaning of the term 'divine' The divine is what prompts solemn reactions Impossible to make our definitions sharp We must study the more extreme cases Two ways of accepting the universe Religion is more enthusiastic than philosophy Its characteristic is enthusiasm in solemn emotion Its ability to overcome unhappiness Need of such a faculty from the biological point of viewLECTURE III THE REALITY OF THE UNSEEN Precepts versus abstract concepts Influence of the latter on belief Kant's theological Ideas We have a sense of reality other than that given by the special senses Examples of 'sense of presence' The feeling of unreality Sense of a divine presence : examples Mystical experiences : examples Other cases of sense of God's presence Convincingness of unreasoned experience Inferiority of rationalism in establishing belief Either enthusiasm or solemnity may preponderate in the religious attitude of individualsLECTURES IV AND V THE RELIGION OF HEALTHY-MINDEDNESS Happiness is man's chief concern Once-born' and 'twice-born' characters Walt Whitman Mixed nature of Greek feeling Systematic healthy-mindedness Its reasonableness Liberal Christianity shows it Optimism as encouraged by Popular Science The 'Mind-cure' movement Its creed Cases Its doctrine of evil Its analogy to Lutheran theology Salvation by relaxation Its methods : suggestion mediation recollection' verification Diversity of possible schemes of adaptation to the universe APPENDIX: Two mind-cure casesLECTURES VI AND VII THE SICK SOUL Healthy-mindedness and repentance Essential pluralism of the healthy-minded philosophy Morbid-mindedness?its two degrees The pain-threshold varies in individuals Insecurity of natural goods "Failure, or vain success of every life" Pessimism of all pure naturalism Hopelessness of Greek and Roman view Pathological unhappiness Anhedonia' Querulous melancholy Vital zest is a pure gift Loss of it makes physical world look different Tolstoy Bunyan Alline Morbid fear Such cases need a supernatural religion for relief Antagonism of healthy-mindedness and morbidness The problem of evil cannot be escaped"LECTURE VIII THE DIVIDED SELF, AND THE PROCESS OF ITS UNIFICATION" Heterogeneous personality Character gradually attains unity Examples of divided self The unity attained need not be religious Counter conversion' cases Other cases Gradual and sudden unification Tolstoy's recovery Bunyan'sLECTURE IX CONVERSION Case of Stephen Bradley The psychology of characterchanges Emotional excitements make new centres of personal energy Schematic ways of representing this Starbuck likens conversion to normal moral ripening Leuba's ideas Seemingly unconvertible persons Two types of conversion Subconscious incubation of motives Self-surrender Its importance in religious history CasesLECTURE X CONVERSION?concluded Cases of sudden conversion Is suddenness essential? "No, it depends on psychological idiosyncrasy" "Proved existence of transmarginal, or subliminal, consciousness" Automatisms' Instantaneous conversions seem due to the possession of an active subconscious self by the subject "The value of conversion depends not on the process, but on the fruits" These are not superior in sudden conversion Professor Coe's views Sanctification as a result Our psychological account does not exclude direct presence of the Deity Sense of higher control Relations of the emotional 'faith-state' to intellectual beliefs Leuba quoted Characteristics of the faith-state : sense of truth ; the world appears new Sensory and motor automatisms Permanency of conversions"LECTURES XI, XII, AND XIII SAINTLINESS" Sainte-Beuve on the State of Grace Types of character as due to the balance of impulses and inhibitions Sovereigh excitements Irascibility Effects of higher excitement in general The saintly life is ruled by spiritual excitement This may annul sensual impulses permanently Probable subconscious influences involved Mechanical scheme for representing permanent alteration in character Characteristics of saintliness Sense of reality of a higher power "Peace of mind, charity" "Equanimity, fortitude, etc." Connection of this with relaxation Purity of life Asceticism Obedience Poverty The sentiments of democracy and of humanity General effects of higher excitementsLECTURES XIV AND XV THE VALUE OF SAINTLINESS It must be tested by the human value of its fruits "The reality of the God must, however, also be judged" Unfit' religions get eliminated by 'experience' Empiricism is not skepticism Individual and tribal religion Loneliness of religious originators Corruption follows success Extravagances "Excessive devoutness, as fanaticism as theopathic absorption" Excessive purity Excessive charity The perfect man is adapted only to the perfect environment Saints are leavens Excesses of asceticism Asceticism symbolically stands for the heroic life Militarism and voluntary poverty as possible equivalents Pros and cons of the saintly character Saints versus 'strong' men Their social function must be considered "Abstractly the saint is the highest type, but in the present environment it may fail, so we make ourselves saints at our peril" The question of theological truthLECTURES XVI AND XVII MYSTICISM Mysticism defined Four marks of mystic states They form a distinct region of consciousness Examples of their lower grades Mysticism and alcohol The anæsthetic revelation' Religious mysticism Aspects of Nature Consciousness of God Cosmic consciousness' Yoga Buddhistic mysticism Suf Christian mystics Their sense of revelation Tonic effects of mystic states They describe by negatives Sense of union with the Absolute Mysticism and music Three conclusions (1) Mystical states carry authority for him who has them (2) But for no one else (3) "Nevertheless, they break down the exclusive authority of rationalistic states" They strengthen monistic and optimistic hypothesesLECTURE XVIII PHILOSOPHY "Primacy of feeling in religion, philosophy being a secondary function" Intellectualism professes to escape subjective standards in her theological constructions Dogmatic theology' Criticism of its account of God's attributes Pragmatism' as a test of the value of conceptions God's metaphysical attributes have no practical significance His moral attributes are proved by bad arguments ; collapse of systematic theology Does transcendental idealism fare better? Its principles Quotations from John Caird "They are good as restatements of religious experience, but uncoercive as reasoned proof" What philosophy can do for religion by transforming herself into 'science of religions'LECTURE XIX OTHER CHARACTERISTICS Æsthetic elements in religion Contrast of Catholicism and Protestantism Sacrifice and Confession Prayer Religion holds that spiritual work is really effected in prayer Three degrees of opinion as to what is effected First degree Second degree Third degree "Automatisms, their frequency among religious leaders" Jewish cases Mohammed Joseph Smith Religion and the subconscious region in generalLECTURE XX CONCLUSIONS Summary of religious characteristics Men's religions need not be identical "The science of religions' can only suggest, not proclaim, a religious creed" Is religion a 'survival' of primitive thought? Modern science rules out the concept of personality Anthropomorphism and belief in the personal characterized pre-scientific thought "Personal forces are real, in spite of this" "Scientific objects are abstractions, only individualized experiences are concrete" Religion holds by the concrete Primarily religion is a biological reaction Its simplest terms are an uneasiness and a deliverance ; description of the deliverance Question of the reality of the higher power The author's hypotheses: 1. The subconscious self as intermediating between nature and the higher region 2. "The higher region, or 'God'" 3. He produces real effects in naturePOSTSCRIPT Philosophic position of the present work defined as piecemeal supernaturalism Criticism of universalistic supernaturalism Different principles must occasion differences in fact What differences in fact can God's existence occasion? The question of immorality Question of God's uniqueness and infinity : religious experience does not settle this question in the affirmative The pluralistic hypothesis is more conformed to common senseINDEX