Você está na página 1de 50
 
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Practical Mysticism, by EvelynUnderhill
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and withalmost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away orre-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License includedwith this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org
Title: Practical MysticismA Little Book for Normal PeopleAuthor: Evelyn UnderhillRelease Date: June 8, 2007 [eBook #21774]Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: ISO-8859-1***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL MYSTICISM***
E-text prepared by Ruth Hartruthhart@twilightoracle.com
Transcriber's note:
In the original book, the Table of Contents was located after the Preface, but I have placed it at the beginningof the text for this online version.
PRACTICAL MYSTICISM
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Practical Mysticism, by Evelyn Underhill1
 
BY
EVELYN UNDERHILL
Author of "Mysticism," "The Mystic Way," "Immanence: A Book of Verses.""If the doors of perception were cleansed,everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.For man has closed himself up,till he sees all things through the narrow chinks of his cavern."WILLIAM BLAKENEW YORKE.P. DUTTON & COMPANY681 FIFTH AVENUECopyright 1915 byE.P. Dutton & CompanyTO THE UNSEEN FUTURE
CONTENTS
 Preface viiI. What is Mysticism 1II. The World of Reality 13III. The Preparation of the Mystic 21IV. Meditation and Recollection 56V. Self-Adjustment 29VI. Love and Will 74VII. The First Form of Contemplation 87VIII. The Second Form of Contemplation 105The Project Gutenberg eBook of Practical Mysticism, by Evelyn UnderhillBY2
 
XI. The Third Form of Contemplation 126X. The Mystical Life 148PREFACEThis little book, written during the last months of peace, goes to press in the first weeks of the great war.Many will feel that in such a time of conflict and horror, when only the most ignorant, disloyal, or apatheticcan hope for quietness of mind, a book which deals with that which is called the "contemplative" attitude toexistence is wholly out of place. So obvious, indeed, is this point of view, that I had at first thought of postponing its publication. On the one hand, it seems as though the dreams of a spiritual renaissance, whichpromised so fairly but a little time ago, had perished in the sudden explosion of brute force. On the other hand,the thoughts of the English race are now turned, and rightly, towards the most concrete forms of action--struggle and endurance, practical sacrifices, difficult and long-continued effort--rather than towardsthe passive attitude of self-surrender which is all that the practice of mysticism seems, at first sight, todemand. Moreover, that deep conviction of the dependence of all human worth upon eternal values, theimmanence of the Divine Spirit within the human soul, which lies at the root of a mystical concept of life, ishard indeed to reconcile with much of the human history now being poured red-hot from the cauldron of war.For all these reasons, we are likely during the present crisis to witness a revolt from those superficiallymystical notions which threatened to become too popular during the immediate past.Yet, the title deliberately chosen for this book--that of "Practical" Mysticism--means nothing if the attitudeand the discipline which it recommends be adapted to fair weather alone: if the principles for which it standsbreak down when subjected to the pressure of events, and cannot be reconciled with the sterner duties of thenational life. To accept this position is to reduce mysticism to the status of a spiritual plaything. On thecontrary, if the experiences on which it is based have indeed the transcendent value for humanity which themystics claim for them--if they reveal to us a world of higher truth and greater reality than the world of concrete happenings in which we seem to be immersed--then that value is increased rather than lessened whenconfronted by the overwhelming disharmonies and sufferings of the present time. It is significant that many of these experiences are reported to us from periods of war and distress: that the stronger the forces of destruction appeared, the more intense grew the spiritual vision which opposed them. We learn from theserecords that the mystical consciousness has the power of lifting those who possess it to a plane of realitywhich no struggle, no cruelty, can disturb: of conferring a certitude which no catastrophe can wreck. Yet itdoes not wrap its initiates in a selfish and otherworldly calm, isolate them from the pain and effort of thecommon life. Rather, it gives them renewed vitality; administering to the human spirit not--as somesuppose--a soothing draught, but the most powerful of stimulants. Stayed upon eternal realities, that spirit willbe far better able to endure and profit by the stern discipline which the race is now called to undergo, thanthose who are wholly at the mercy of events; better able to discern the real from the illusory issues, and topronounce judgment on the new problems, new difficulties, new fields of activity now disclosed. Perhaps it isworth while to remind ourselves that the two women who have left the deepest mark upon the military historyof France and England--Joan of Arc and Florence Nightingale--both acted under mystical compulsion. So,too, did one of the noblest of modern soldiers, General Gordon. Their national value was directly connectedwith their deep spiritual consciousness: their intensely practical energies were the flowers of a contemplativelife.We are often told, that in the critical periods of history it is the national soul which counts: that "where there isno vision, the people perish." No nation is truly defeated which retains its spiritual self-possession. No nationThe Project Gutenberg eBook of Practical Mysticism, by Evelyn UnderhillCONTENTS3

Recompense a sua curiosidade

Tudo o que você quer ler.
A qualquer hora. Em qualquer lugar. Em qualquer dispositivo.
Sem compromisso. Cancele quando quiser.
576648e32a3d8b82ca71961b7a986505