[Footnote 42: Everard, "Some Gospel Treasures Opened," p. 555]
[Footnote 43: _Canor Dulcor, Canor;_ cf. Rolle: "The Fire of Love," Bk. 1, Cap. 14]
[Footnote 44: Rolle: "The Mending of Life," Cap. XII.]
[Footnote 45: Benedetto Croce: "Theory and History of Historiography," trans. by Douglas Ainslie, p. 25.]
[Footnote 46: "Donne's Sermons," p. 236.]
[Footnote 47: B.H. Streeter, in "The Spirit," p. 349 _seq_.]
[Footnote 48: "Autobiography of Maharishi Devendranath Tagore," Cap. 23.]
[Footnote 49: R.A. Nicholson: "Studies in Islamic Mysticism," Cap. i.]
[Footnote 50: Baron von Hügel In the "Hibbert Journal," July, 1921.]
[Footnote 51: Ruysbroeck: "The Sparkling Stone," Cap. 10.]
[Footnote 52: Ruysbroeck: "The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage," Bk. II, Cap. 39.]
[Footnote 53: R. of St. Victor: "De Quatuor Gradibus Violentæ Charitatis" (Migne, Pat. Lat.) T. 196, Col. 1216.]
[Footnote 54: "Summa Contra Gentiles," Bk. III, Cap. 21.]
[Footnote 55: J.E. Shorthouse: "John Inglesant," Cap. 19.]
[Footnote 56: Cf. Delatte: "The Rule of St. Benedict"; and C. Butler: "Benedictine Monachism."]
[Footnote 57: R.A. Nicholson: "Studies in Islamic Mysticism," Cap. 1.]
[Footnote 58: "One Hundred Poems of Kabir," p. 44.]
[Footnote 59: Boehme: "Six Theosophic Points," p. 111.]
[Footnote 60: Cf. Von Hügel: "The Mystical Element of Religion," Vol. I, Pt. II.]
[Footnote 61: McGovern: "An Introduction to Mahãyãna Buddhism," p. 175.]
Having interrogated history in our attempt to discover the essential character of the life of the Spirit, wherever it is found, we are now to see what psychology has to tell us or hint to us of its nature; and of the relation in which it stands to the mechanism of our psychic life. It is hardly necessary to say that such an inquiry, fully carried out, would be a life-work. Moreover, it is an inquiry which we are not yet in a position to undertake. True, more and more material is daily becoming available for it: but many of the principles involved are, even yet, obscure. Therefore any conclusions at which we may arrive can only be tentative; 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 us, because they do give us an interpretation of inner experience with which we can deal. I need not emphasize the extent in which modern developments of psychology are affecting our conceptions of the spiritual life, and our reading of many religious phenomena on which our ancestors looked with awe. When we have eliminated the more heady exaggerations of the psycho-analysts, and the too-violent simplifications of the behaviourists, it remains true that many problems have lately been elucidated in an unexpected, and some in a helpful, sense. We are learning in particular to see in true proportion those abnormal states of trance and ecstasy which were once regarded as the essentials, but are now recognized as the by-products, of the mystical life. But a good deal that at first sight seems startling, and even disturbing to the religious mind, turns out on investigation to be no more than the re-labelling of old facts, which behind their new tickets remain unchanged. Perhaps no generation has ever been so much at the mercy of such labels as our own. 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 instinct. Opportunity of confession to a psychoanalyst is eagerly sought and gladly paid for, by troubled spirits who would never resort for the same purpose to a priest. The formulæ of auto-suggestion are freely used by those who repudiate vocal prayer and acts of faith with scorn. If, then, I use for the purpose of exposition some of those labels which are affected by the newest schools, I do so without any suggestion that they represent the only valid way of dealing with the psychic life of man. Indeed, I regard these labels as little more than exceedingly clever guesses at truth. But since they are now generally current and often suggestive, it is well that we should try to find a place for spiritual experience within the system which they represent; thus carrying through the principle on which we are working, that of interpreting the abiding facts of the spiritual life, so far as we can, in the language of the present day.