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The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-day By: Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) |
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AND THE LIFE OF TO DAY BY EVELYN UNDERHILL Author of "MYSTICISM," "THE ESSENTIALS OF MYSTICISM," etc. NEW YORK E.P. DUTTON & COMPANY 681 FIFTH AVENUE
Copyright, 1922. BY E.P. DUTTON & COMPANY All rights reserved
IN MEMORIAM E.R.B.
PREFACE
This book owes its origin to the fact that in the autumn of 1921 the
authorities of Manchester College, Oxford invited me to deliver the
inaugural course of a lectureship in religion newly established under
the will of the late Professor Upton. No conditions being attached to
this appointment, it seemed a suitable opportunity to discuss, so far as
possible in the language of the moment, some of the implicits which I
believe to underlie human effort and achievement in the domain of the
spiritual life. The material gathered for this purpose has now been
added to, revised, and to some extent re written, in order to make it
appropriate to the purposes of the reader rather than the hearer. As the
object of the book is strictly practical, a special attempt has been
made to bring the classic experiences of the spiritual life into line
with the conclusions of modern psychology, and in particular, to suggest
some of the directions in which recent psychological research may cast
light on the standard problems of the religious consciousness. This
subject is still in its infancy; but it is destined, I am sure, in the
near future to exercise a transforming influence on the study of
spiritual experience, and may even prove to be the starting point of a
new apologetic. 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 life, or who are
offended by the resulting demonstrations of continuity between our most
homely and most lofty reactions to the universe, might take to
themselves the plain words of Thomas à Kempis: "Thou art a man and not
God, thou art flesh and no angel." Since my subject is not the splendor of historic sanctity but the normal
life of the Spirit, as it may be and is lived in the here and now, I
have done my best to describe the character and meaning of this life in
the ordinary terms of present day thought, and with little or no use of
the technical language of mysticism. For the same reason, no attention
has been given to those abnormal experiences and states of
consciousness, which, too often regarded as specially "mystical," are
now recognized by all competent students as representing the unfortunate
accidents rather than the abiding substance of spirituality. Readers of
these pages will find nothing about trances, Ecstasies and other rare
psychic phenomena; which sometimes indicate holiness, and sometimes only
disease. For information on these matters they must go to larger and
more technical works. My aim here is the more general one, of indicating
first the characteristic experiences discoverable within all great
religions which justify or are fundamental to the spiritual life, and
the way in which these experiences may be accommodated to the
world view of the modern man: and next, the nature of that spiritual
life as it appears in human history. 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 suggestion. These investigations
have a practical interest for every man who desires to be the "captain
of his soul." The relation in which institutional religion does or
should stand to the spiritual life is also in part a matter for
psychology; which is here called upon to deal with the religious aspect
of the social instincts, and the problems surrounding symbols and cults.
These chapters lead up to a discussion of the personal aspect of the
spiritual life, its curve of growth, characters and activities; and a
further section suggests some ways in which educationists might promote
the up springing of this life in the young... Continue reading book >>
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