Page:The varieties of religious experience, a study in human nature.djvu/14

x  reality of a higher power, 274. Peace of mind, charity, 278. Equanimity, fortitude, etc., 284. Connection of this with relaxation, 289. Purity of life, 290. Asceticism, 296. Obedience, 310. Poverty, 315. The sentiments of democracy and of humanity, 324. General effects of higher excitements, 325.

LECTURES XIV AND XV

It must be tested by the human value of its fruits, 327. The reality of the God must, however, also be judged, 328. 'Unfit' religions get eliminated by 'experience,' 331. Empiricism is not skepticism, 332. Individual and tribal religion, 334. Loneliness of religious originators, 335. Corruption follows success, 337. Extravagances, 339. Excessive devoutness, as fanaticism, 340; as theopathic absorption, 343. Excessive purity, 348. Excessive charity, 355. The perfect man is adapted only to the perfect environment, 356. Saints are leavens, 357. Excesses of asceticism, 360. Asceticism symbolically stands for the heroic life, 363. Militarism and voluntary poverty as possible equivalents, 365. Pros and cons of the saintly character, 369. Saints versus 'strong' men, 371. Their social function must be considered, 374. Abstractly the saint is the highest type, but in the present environment it may fail, so we make ourselves saints at our peril, 375. The question of theological truth, 377.

LECTURES XVI AND XVII

Mysticism defined, 379. Four marks of mystic states, 380. They form a distinct region of consciousness, 382. Examples of their lower grades, 382. Mysticism and alcohol. 386. 'The anaesthetic revelation,' 387. Religious mysticism, 393. Aspects of Nature, 394. Consciousness of God, 396. 'Cosmic consciousness,' 398. Yoga, 400. Buddhistic mysticism, 401. Sufism, 402. Christian mystics, 406. Their sense of revelation, 408. Tonic effects of mystic states, 414. They describe by negatives, 416. Sense of union with the Absolute, 419. Mysticism and music, 420. Three conclusions, 422. (1) Mystical states carry authority for him who has them, 423. (2) But for no one else, 424. (3) Nevertheless, they break down the exclusive authority of rationalistic states, 427. They strengthen monistic and optimistic hypotheses, 428.