Evelyn Underhill - Practical Mysticism

This little book, written during the last months of peace, goesto press in the first weeks of the great war. Many will feel thatin such a time of conflict and horror, when only the most ignorant,disloyal, or apathetic can hope for quietness of mind, a book whichdeals with that which is called the "contemplative" attitude toexistence is wholly out of place. So obvious, indeed, is this pointof view, that I had at first thought of postponing its publication.On the one hand, it seems as though the dreams of a spiritualrenaissance, which promised so fairly but a little time ago, hadperished 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 actionstruggle and endurance,practical sacrifices, difficult and long-continued effortratherthan towards the passive attitude of self-surrender which is allthat the practice of mysticism seems, at first sight, to demand.Moreover, that deep conviction of the dependence of all human worthupon eternal values, the immanence of the Divine Spirit within thehuman soul, which lies at the root of a mystical concept of life,is hard indeed to reconcile with much of the human history nowbeing poured red-hot from the cauldron of war. For all thesereasons, we are likely during the present crisis to witness arevolt from those superficially mystical notions which threatenedto become too popular during the immediate past.

Yet, the title deliberately chosen for this bookthat of"Practical" Mysticismmeans nothing if the attitude and thediscipline which it recommends be adapted to fair weather alone: ifthe principles for which it stands break down when subjected to thepressure of events, and cannot be reconciled with the sternerduties of the national life. To accept this position is to reducemysticism to the status of a spiritual plaything. On the contrary,if the experiences on which it is based have indeed thetranscendent value for humanity which the mystics claim for themifthey reveal to us a world of higher truth and greater reality thanthe world of concrete happenings in which we seem to beimmersedthen that value is increased rather than lessened whenconfronted by the overwhelming disharmonies and sufferings of thepresent time. It is significant that many of these experiences arereported to us from periods of war and distress: that the strongerthe forces of destruction appeared, the more intense grew thespiritual vision which opposed them. We learn from these recordsthat the mystical consciousness has the power of lifting those whopossess it to a plane of reality which no struggle, no cruelty, candisturb: of conferring a certitude which no catastrophe can wreck.Yet it does not wrap its initiates in a selfish and otherworldlycalm, isolate them from the pain and effort of the common life.Rather, it gives them renewed vitality; administering to the humanspirit notas some supposea soothing draught, but the mostpowerful of stimulants. Stayed upon eternal realities, that spiritwill be far better able to endure and profit by the sterndiscipline which the race is now called to undergo, than those whoare wholly at the mercy of events; better able to discern the realfrom the illusory issues, and to pronounce judgment on the newproblems, new difficulties, new fields of activity now disclosed.Perhaps it is worth while to remind ourselves that the two womenwho have left the deepest mark upon the military history of Franceand EnglandJoan of Arc and Florence Nightingaleboth acted undermystical compulsion. So, too, did one of the noblest of modernsoldiers, General Gordon. Their national value was directlyconnected with their deep spiritual consciousness: their intenselypractical energies were the flowers of a contemplative life.

We are often told, that in the critical periods of history it isthe national soul which counts: that "where there is no vision, thepeople perish." No nation is truly defeated which retains itsspiritual self-possession. No nation is truly victorious which doesnot emerge with soul unstained. If this be so, it becomes a part oftrue patriotism to keep the spiritual life, both of the individualcitizen and of the social group, active and vigorous; its vision ofrealities unsullied by the entangled interests and passions of thetime. This is a task in which all may do their part. The spirituallife is not a special career, involving abstraction from the worldof things. It is a part of every man's life; and until he hasrealised it he is not a complete human being, has not entered intopossession of all his powers. It is therefore the function of apractical mysticism to increase, not diminish, the totalefficiency, the wisdom and steadfastness, of those who try topractise it. It will help them to enter, more completely than everbefore, into the life of the group to which they belong. It willteach them to see the world in a truer proportion, discerningeternal beauty beyond and beneath apparent ruthlessness. It willeducate them in a charity free from all taint of sentimentalism; itwill confer on them an unconquerable hope; and assure them thatstill, even in the hour of greatest desolation, "There lives thedearest freshness deep down things." As a contribution, then, tothese purposes, this little book is now published. It is addressedneither to the learned nor to the devout, who are already inpossession of a wide literature dealing from many points of viewwith the experiences and philosophy of the mystics. Such readersare warned that they will find here nothing but the re-statement ofelementary and familiar propositions, and invitations to adiscipline immemorially old. Far from presuming to instruct thoseto whom first-hand information is both accessible and palatable, Iwrite only for the larger class which, repelled by the formidableappearance of more elaborate works on the subject, would yet liketo know what is meant by mysticism, and what it has to offer to theaverage man: how it helps to solve his problems, how it harmoniseswith the duties and ideals of his active life. For this reason, Ipresuppose in my readers no knowledge whatever of the subject,either upon the philosophic, religious, or historical side. Nor,since I wish my appeal to be general, do I urge the special claimof any one theological system, any one metaphysical school. I havemerely attempted to put the view of the universe and man's place init which is common to all mystics in plain and untechnicallanguage: and to suggest the practical conditions under whichordinary persons may participate in their experience. Therefore theabnormal states of consciousness which sometimes appear inconnection with mystical genius are not discussed: my businessbeing confined to the description of a faculty which all menpossess in a greater or less degree.

The reality and importance of this faculty are considered in thefirst three chapters. In the fourth and fifth is described thepreliminary training of attention necessary for its use; in thesixth, the general self-discipline and attitude toward life whichit involves. The seventh, eighth, and ninth chapters treat in anelementary way of the three great forms of contemplation; and inthe tenth, the practical value of the life in which they have beenactualised is examined. Those kind enough to attempt the perusal ofthe book are begged to read the first sections with some attentionbefore passing to the latter part.

E. U.

September 12, 1914.

Those who are interested in that special attitude towards theuniverse which is now loosely called "mystical," find themselvesbeset by a multitude of persons who are constantly askingsome withreal fervour, some with curiosity, and some with disdain"What