andthisexplainsthepassionateloyaltyofreligiouspersonseverywheretotheminutestdetailsoftheirsowidelydifferingcreeds。Takingcreedsandfaith-statetogether，asforming“religions。”andtreatingtheseaspurelysubjectivephenomena，withoutregardtothequestionoftheir“truth。”weareobliged，onaccountoftheirextraordinaryinfluenceuponactionandendurance，toclassthemamongstthemostimportantbiologicalfunctionsofmankind。TheirstimulantandanaestheticeffectissogreatthatProfessorLeuba，inarecentarticle，goessofarastosaythatsolongasmencanUSEtheirGod，theycareverylittlewhoheis，orevenwhetherheisatall。“Thetruthofthemattercanbeput。”saysLeuba，“inthisway：GODISNOT
KNOWN，HEISNOTUNDERSTOOD；HEISUSED——sometimesasmeat-purveyor，sometimesasmoralsupport，sometimesasfriend，sometimesasanobjectoflove。Ifheproveshimselfuseful，thereligiousconsciousnessasksfornomorethanthat。DoesGodreallyexist？Howdoesheexist？Whatishe？aresomanyirrelevantquestions。NotGod，butlife，morelife，alarger，richer，moresatisfyinglife，is，inthelastanalysis，theendofreligion。Theloveoflife，atanyandeverylevelofdevelopment，isthereligiousimpulse。”
CompareLeuba：Loc。cit。，pp。346-349。
TheContentsofReligiousConsciousness，inTheMonist，xi。
Loc。cit。，pp。abridged。See，also，thiswriter’sextraordinarilytruecriticismofthenotionthatreligionprimarilyseekstosolvetheintellectualmysteryoftheworld。ComparewhatW。Bendersays(inhisWesenderReligion，Bonn，1888，pp。85，38)：“NotthequestionaboutGod，andnottheinquiryintotheoriginandpurposeoftheworldisreligion，butthequestionaboutMan。Allreligiousviewsoflifeareanthropocentric。”“Religionisthatactivityofthehumanimpulsetowardsself-preservationbymeansofwhichManseekstocarryhisessentialvitalpurposesthroughagainsttheadversepressureoftheworldbyraisinghimselffreelytowardstheworld’sorderingandgoverningpowerswhenthelimitsofhisownstrengtharereached。”Thewholebookislittlemorethanadevelopmentofthesewords。
Atthispurelysubjectiverating，therefore，Religionmustbeconsideredvindicatedinacertainwayfromtheattacksofhercritics。Itwouldseemthatshecannotbeamereanachronismandsurvival，butmustexertapermanentfunction，whethershebewithorwithoutintellectualcontent，andwhether，ifshehaveany，itbetrueorfalse。
Wemustnextpassbeyondthepointofviewofmerelysubjectiveutility，andmakeinquiryintotheintellectualcontentitself。
First，isthere，underallthediscrepanciesofthecreeds，acommonnucleustowhichtheybeartheirtestimonyunanimously？
Andsecond，oughtwetoconsiderthetestimonytrue？
Iwilltakeupthefirstquestionfirst，andansweritimmediatelyintheaffirmative。Thewarringgodsandformulasofthevariousreligionsdoindeedcanceleachother，butthereisacertainuniformdeliveranceinwhichreligionsallappeartomeet。Itconsistsoftwoparts：——
1。Anuneasiness；and2。Itssolution。
1。Theuneasiness，reducedtoitssimplestterms，isasensethatthereisSOMETHINGWRONGABOUTUSaswenaturallystand。
2。ThesolutionisasensethatWEARESAVEDFROMTHEWRONGNESS
bymakingproperconnectionwiththehigherpowers。
Inthosemoredevelopedmindswhichalonewearestudying，thewrongnesstakesamoralcharacter，andthesalvationtakesamysticaltinge。Ithinkweshallkeepwellwithinthelimitsofwhatiscommontoallsuchmindsifweformulatetheessenceoftheirreligiousexperienceintermslikethese：——
Theindividual，sofarashesuffersfromhiswrongnessandcriticisesit，istothatextentconsciouslybeyondit，andinatleastpossibletouchwithsomethinghigher，ifanythinghigherexist。Alongwiththewrongpartthereisthusabetterpartofhim，eventhoughitmaybebutamosthelplessgerm。Withwhichpartheshouldidentifyhisrealbeingisbynomeansobviousatthisstage；butwhenstage2(thestageofsolutionorsalvation)
arrives，themanidentifieshisrealbeingwiththegerminalhigherpartofhimself；anddoessointhefollowingway。HebecomesconsciousthatthishigherpartisconterminousandcontinuouswithaMOREofthesamequality，whichisoperativeintheuniverseoutsideofhim，andwhichhecankeepinworkingtouchwith，andinafashiongetonboardofandsavehimselfwhenallhislowerbeinghasgonetopiecesinthewreck。
Rememberthatforsomemenitarrivessuddenly，forothersgradually，whilstothersagainpracticallyenjoyitalltheirlife。
Itseemstomethatallthephenomenaareaccuratelydescribableintheseverysimplegeneralterms。Theyallowforthedividedselfandthestruggle；theyinvolvethechangeofpersonalcentreandthesurrenderofthelowerself；theyexpresstheappearanceofexteriorityofthehelpingpowerandyetaccountforoursenseofunionwithit；[351]andtheyfullyjustifyourfeelingsofsecurityandjoy。Thereisprobablynoautobiographicdocument，amongallthosewhichIhavequoted，towhichthedescriptionwillnotwellapply。Oneneedonlyaddsuchspecificdetailsaswilladaptittovarioustheologiesandvariouspersonaltemperaments，andonewillthenhavethevariousexperiencesreconstructedintheirindividualforms。
Thepracticaldifficultiesare：1，to“realizethereality“ofone’shigherpart；2，toidentifyone’sselfwithitexclusively；and3，toidentifyitwithalltherestofidealbeing。”Whenmysticalactivityisatitsheight，wefindconsciousnesspossessedbythesenseofabeingatonceEXCESSIVE
andIDENTICALwiththeself：greatenoughtobeGod；interiorenoughtobeME。The“objectivity“ofitoughtinthatcasetobecalledrather，orexceedingness。”ReCeJac：Essaisurlesfondementsdelaconsciencemystique，
Sofar，however，asthisanalysisgoes，theexperiencesareonlypsychologicalphenomena。Theypossess，itistrue，enormousbiologicalworth。Spiritualstrengthreallyincreasesinthesubjectwhenhehasthem，anewlifeopensforhim，andtheyseemtohimaplaceofconfluxwheretheforcesoftwouniversesmeet；
andyetthismaybenothingbuthissubjectivewayoffeelingthings，amoodofhisownfancy，inspiteoftheeffectsproduced。Inowturntomysecondquestion：Whatistheobjective“truth“oftheircontent？[352]
Theword“truth“isheretakentomeansomethingadditionaltobarevalueforlife，althoughthenaturalpropensityofmanistobelievethatwhateverhasgreatvalueforlifeistherebycertifiedastrue。
Thepartofthecontentconcerningwhichthequestionoftruthmostpertinentlyarisesisthat“MOREofthesamequality“withwhichourownhigherselfappearsintheexperiencetocomeintoharmoniousworkingrelation。Issucha“more“merelyourownnotion，ordoesitreallyexist？Ifso，inwhatshapedoesitexist？Doesitact，aswellasexist？Andinwhatformshouldweconceiveofthat“union“withitofwhichreligiousgeniusesaresoconvinced？
Itisinansweringthesequestionsthatthevarioustheologiesperformtheirtheoreticwork，andthattheirdivergenciesmostcometolight。Theyallagreethatthe“more“reallyexists；
thoughsomeofthemholdittoexistintheshapeofapersonalgodorgods，whileothersaresatisfiedtoconceiveitasastreamofidealtendencyembeddedintheeternalstructureoftheworld。Theyallagree，moreover，thatitactsaswellasexists，andthatsomethingreallyiseffectedforthebetterwhenyouthrowyourlifeintoitshands。Itiswhentheytreatoftheexperienceof“union“withitthattheirspeculativedifferencesappearmostclearly。Overthispointpantheismandtheism，natureandsecondbirth，worksandgraceandkarma，immortalityandreincarnation，rationalismandmysticism，carryoninveteratedisputes。
AttheendofmylectureonPhilosophy[353]Iheldoutthenotionthatanimpartialscienceofreligionsmightsiftoutfromthemidstoftheirdiscrepanciesacommonbodyofdoctrinewhichshemightalsoformulateintermstowhichphysicalscienceneednotobject。This，Isaid，shemightadoptasherownreconcilinghypothesis，andrecommenditforgeneralbelief。I
alsosaidthatinmylastlectureIshouldhavetotrymyownhandatframingsuchanhypothesis。
Thetimehasnowcomeforthisattempt。Whosays“hypothesis“
renouncestheambitiontobecoerciveinhisarguments。ThemostIcandois，accordingly，tooffersomethingthatmayfitthefactssoeasilythatyourscientificlogicwillfindnoplausiblepretextforvetoingyourimpulsetowelcomeitastrue。
The“more。”aswecalledit，andthemeaningofour“union“withit，formthenucleusofourinquiry。Intowhatdefinitedescriptioncanthesewordsbetranslated，andforwhatdefinitefactsdotheystand？Itwouldneverdoforustoplaceourselvesoffhandatthepositionofaparticulartheology，theChristiantheology，forexample，andproceedimmediatelytodefinethe“more“asJehovah，andthe“union“ashisimputationtousoftherighteousnessofChrist。Thatwouldbeunfairtootherreligions，and，fromourpresentstandpointatleast，wouldbeanover-belief。
Wemustbeginbyusinglessparticularizedterms；and，sinceoneofthedutiesofthescienceofreligionsistokeepreligioninconnectionwiththerestofscience，weshalldowelltoseekfirstofallawayofdescribingthe“more。”whichpsychologistsmayalsorecognizeasreal。Thesubconsciousselfisnowadaysawell-accreditedpsychologicalentity；andIbelievethatinitwehaveexactlythemediatingtermrequired。Apartfromallreligiousconsiderations，thereisactuallyandliterallymorelifeinourtotalsoulthanweareatanytimeawareof。Theexplorationofthetransmarginalfieldhashardlyyetbeenseriouslyundertaken，butwhatMr。Myerssaidin1892inhisessayontheSubliminalConsciousness[354]isastrueaswhenitwasfirstwritten：“Eachofusisinrealityanabidingpsychicalentityfarmoreextensivethanheknows——anindividualitywhichcanneverexpressitselfcompletelythroughanycorporealmanifestation。TheSelfmanifeststhroughtheorganism；butthereisalwayssomepartoftheSelfunmanifested；
andalways，asitseems，somepoweroforganicexpressioninabeyanceorreserve。”Muchofthecontentofthislargerbackgroundagainstwhichourconsciousbeingstandsoutinreliefisinsignificant。Imperfectmemories，sillyjingles，inhibitivetimidities，“dissolutive“phenomenaofvarioussorts，asMyerscallsthem，entersintoitforalargepart。Butinitmanyoftheperformancesofgeniusseemalsotohavetheirorigin；andinourstudyofconversion，ofmysticalexperiences，andofprayer，wehaveseenhowstrikingapartinvasionsfromthisregionplayinthereligiouslife。
ProceedingsoftheSocietyforPsychicalResearch，vol。
vii。p。ForafullstatementofMr。Myers’sviews，Imayrefertohisposthumouswork，“HumanPersonalityintheLightofRecentResearch。”whichisalreadyannouncedbyMessrs。
Longmans，Green&Co。asbeinginpress。Mr。Myersforthefirsttimeproposedasageneralpsychologicalproblemtheexplorationofthesubliminalregionofconsciousnessthroughoutitswholeextent，andmadethefirstmethodicalstepsinitstopographybytreatingasanaturalseriesamassofsubliminalfactshithertoconsideredonlyascuriousisolatedfactsandsubjectingthemtoasystematizednomenclature。Howimportantthisexplorationwillprove，futureworkuponthepathwhichMyershasopenedcanaloneshow。comparemypaper：“FredericMyers’sservicestoPsychology。”inthesaidProceedings，partxlii。，May，
Comparetheinventorygivenaboveonpp。andalsowhatissaidofthesubconsciousselfonpp。
Letmethenpropose，asanhypothesis，thatwhateveritmaybeonitsFARTHERside，the“more“withwhichinreligiousexperiencewefeelourselvesconnectedisonitsHITHERsidethesubconsciouscontinuationofourconsciouslife。Startingthuswitharecognizedpsychologicalfactasourbasis，weseemtopreserveacontactwith“science“whichtheordinarytheologianlacks。Atthesametimethetheologian’scontentionthatthereligiousmanismovedbyanexternalpowerisvindicated，foritisoneofthepeculiaritiesofinvasionsfromthesubconsciousregiontotakeonobjectiveappearances，andtosuggesttotheSubjectanexternalcontrol。Inthereligiouslifethecontrolisfeltas“higher“；butsinceonourhypothesisitisprimarilythehigherfacultiesofourownhiddenmindwhicharecontrolling，thesenseofunionwiththepowerbeyondusisasenseofsomething，notmerelyapparently，butliterallytrue。
Thisdoorwayintothesubjectseemstomethebestoneforascienceofreligions，foritmediatesbetweenanumberofdifferentpointsofview。Yetitisonlyadoorway，anddifficultiespresentthemselvesassoonaswestepthroughit，andaskhowfarourtransmarginalconsciousnesscarriesusifwefollowitonitsremoterside。Heretheover-beliefsbegin：
heremysticismandtheconversion-raptureandVedantismandtranscendentalidealismbringintheirmonisticinterpretations[356]andtellusthatthefiniteselfrejoinstheabsoluteself，foritwasalwaysonewithGodandidenticalwiththesouloftheworld。[357]Heretheprophetsofallthedifferentreligionscomewiththeirvisions，voices，raptures，andotheropenings，supposedbyeachtoauthenticatehisownpeculiarfaith。
