Let it be stated clearly that mysticism is an a-rational type of experience, and in some degree common to all men.It is an intuitive, self-evident, self-recognized knowledge which comes fitfully to man. It should not be confounded with the instinctive and immediate knowledge possessed by animals and used by them in their adaptations to environment.The average man seldom pays enough attention to his slight mystical experiences to profit or learn from them. Yet his need for them is evidenced by his incessant seeking for the thrills, sensations, uplifts, and so on, which he organizes for himself in so many ways--the religious way being only one of them. In fact, the failure of religion--in the West, at any rate--to teach true mysticism, and its overlaying of the deeply mystic nature of its teachings with a pseudo-rationalism and an unsound historicity may be the root cause for driving people to seek for things greater than they feel their individual selves to be in the many sensation-giving activities in the world today.
About This Quote
About Paul Brunton
Paul Brunton was a 19th-century British philosopher, author of spiritual books, journalist and traveler. Paul Brunton is the pen name and later the real name of Hyman Raphael Hurst, a British philosopher, author of spiritual books, journalist and traveler. He is best known as one of the early popularizers of Neo-Hindu spiritualism in western esotericism, notably via his bestselling A Search in Secret India (1934) which has been translated into over 20 languages. Read more on Wikipedia →
Themes
- Religion — Exploring belief systems, worship, and spiritual practice