TheSixthSense 10123151

TH E A RT OF L IFE SE RI E S
E d w ard H ow ard G riggs, E d itor
The S ix t h S e n se
IT S C ULT I ' AT I O N AND USE
C H ARLES H B RENT
m
.
m m m
”
Au rn on or w rrn G O D r u n. wow .
“ ” ”
a a. w rru G O D PRAYE R. arc.
NEW Y OR'
B . W H UEB SC H
I91
Cor mm c , 1911
’
BY B . W . HUEB SCH
First p rinting , Nove b e 1911 mr .
Second p rinting March . 1912 ,
Th ird p rin ting Ot

c ob er 1912
, .
t
Fou r h t
p rin in g . May , 1919
R
P INT D IN UE . 8 . A.
INTRO DU CTO RY NOTE
TH IS b ook was p lanned and pr omised to
the pu b lisher m o re th an three yea rs ag o .
E x acting duties ha v e c ompelled the writer

fr om time t o time t o d efer the c o mp l eti o n
o f his u nd ertaki ng . The d e l ay h as b een
pro fi tab l e in that it has afi orded opp o rtunity
f o r the stu dy o f recent w o rks on kindred
t opics whi ch in s om e resp ects h as m o d i fi e d
,
and in s ome en l arged the o rigina l concep
ti on o f the sub j ect in h an d A long oc ea n

.
v oyage at l a st has pr ovi d e d the quiet in

whi ch t o write out these th oughts .
SS Prinz E itel Friedrich,

.
Gulf o f A d en ,
8 'a nua ry ,
CO NTENTS
I N TRODU CTORY NOTE

TH E SI' TH SE N SE
I N RELATIO N TO H E ALTH
I N RE LATIO N TO TH OU G H T
IN RE LATIO N TO C H ARAC TE R
IN RE LATIO N TO RE LIG IO N
The Sixtb Se m e
CH A PTE R I
TH E SI' TH SE NSE
BY th e Si x th Sense I mean the Mysti c
Sense o r that inner p er c eptive fa culty
,
which distinguishes man from the highest
m
b e low him and allies him to the highest
a bove h i . SO d isti ncti ve among created
Obj ects is it o f man that it might no t in ,
aptly b e characterized as the Huma n

,
Sense It is used for n o one ex clusive

.
pu rp o se ; on th e contrary it is only und er

’
its operation that man s activities one and
,
al l b e co m e human In its nature it dif

, .
fers essentially from the b o dily sense s

th ough w e are justi fi ed in thinking o f it as
a sense b ecause its fun cti on is li ke them t o
, ,
p er cei v e and t o a ffo rd fo od fo r th ought .
The fi ve bodily sens es o riginally in the ,
fi rst stages o f ev oluti on were and in their

, , ,
u l tima te asp ec t are one sens e th e

,
I3
14 Th e Six th S ense
m
sens e O f t ou ch By means o f it p l ant
.
,
ollusc and w o rm re l ate the m selves to

the universe Of which they are a part .
By degrees the single sense in the ev olu

-
t ion ary pr oc ess fi n ds op p ortunity an d oc

,
c asion f or specialization Sight is ex .
traord inarily sensitized touch by m eans o f

which form and co lor are perceived and
.
,
the distant obj ect c om es b owing to ou r

feet ; the stars leaping a c ross spa c e are
, ,
converted into intimate friends and ,

’
earth s farthest horiz o n lies at ou r do o r .
Heari ng is touch l o calized and specia l

iz ed SO as to be ca p able Of p er c eiving the
vibrati o ns caused by the impa c t o f one
body upon another ; its enlarged c apacity
classi fies sound in such a way as to o ff e r
its mutations and subtleties for ou r u se
and pleasure as the weaver O fi ers his
threads to the l oom Sm ell is that sp e
.
cializ ation o f t ouch uniquely deli c ate su p

, ,
posed by Maeterlin ck to be S till in its ear

l ier stage o f devel opm ent in human k i nd ,
which responds to the stimulus Of those

otherwise intangible exhalations c a l le d
O dor. L astly taste is t o uch speciali z ed so
,
as t o discern the inner p roperties Of fo od
stu fi ; taste is the testing sense Mer e .
to u ch de term i nes the e x isten c e s p eciali zed

,
Th e Six th S ense 1
5
touch the chara cte r and niceties O f matter
m
o r the physica l uni v erse .
As indicative Of the unity Of the ani a l

senses and the coOp erativ e sym pathy b e
tween them it is noteworthy that when one
,
sense is impaired o r destroyed th e o thers ,
diligently endea vo r to supply its a b sence ,
the entire bo dy p laying the part as far as

p o ssi b le o f eye o r car Or both,
and ea c
,h
r em aining sense growing extra o rdinarily
acute SO as t o tak e on somewhat o f the
ch ara cter of the m ost nearly a ffi l iated or
the neighbor sense The blind an can
. m
alm o st see with cars and hands th e deaf ,
can almost hea r with eyes The sense s .
that are l e ft strain not with out a m easure

,
Of success to c onvey to the b rain impre s

,
si ons for whi ch they are n o t c o ngenitally

adapted .
The organic di ff eren c es in th e bo di ly

senses th en find a close unity in functiona l
, ,
similari ty all the senso ry nerves grouping

,
themselves under the h ead Of touch The .
M ystic Sense likewise fi rst c om es t o our

, ,
attention as a simp le fa culty Of percep

ti on b y which we gain co gnition Of that
department o f reality that transcends b od
ily touch and its sub divisions but study ,
r ev ea ls th at its u ni ty is ordere d c omplex ity ,

as in the c ase o f a ll dev eloped endow
m ents Bro adly sp ea king it is th e sense
.
which rel ates m an t o the spiritua l o r p sy

ch ic aspect o f reali ty It puts u s into t e
.
l ati o n with the spiritua l order o f w hich

w e are a p art It finds room f o r ex er
.
cise , gains its freed o m and reach es its

,
h ighest de v elopment in this sphere b e ,
ginning operati ons at the point where the

bodily senses are compelle d b y inherent
l imitations to h a l t It discerns the inner
.
m o st character use value O f the Obj ective

, , ,
and d ifi erentiates betwee n the human and
th e anima l esti m ate of things . I ndeed it

h as in it that which is not of this wor l d or
o rd er It soars beyo n d h uman and mun
.
d ane afi airs and steeps its wings in Di v ine

‘
altitudes where the thr o ne of Go d is set .
N o t only d o es it percei v e b ut it a l s o l ays

h ol d o f and appropriates that phase o f re
a l i ty whic h l ies b ey on d th e unai d ed rea ch ,
or eludes the gras p o f a ll the rest o f ou r

,
faculties in th eir happiest combina ti on and ,
t h erefore of any one of them independently .
It ta k es the m aterial gathered by physical

co ntact with the world of sight and s ound ,
and p resents it to the m ind for rationaliz

ing operati o ns More than that it comes
.
,
b ack f reighted with w ealth gathered in

Th e Six th S ense I7
exp l orati ons in regi ons where neither body

’
n or reas o n can tread converting li f e s dul l
,
p rose int o poetry and song .
The m ost alert and indispensable of en

d owments it is at once sociable with the
,
’
remainder o f m an s faculties externa l and ,
internal and j ea lously independent o f

,
them saving of human consciousness a lo ne .
m
In its higher stages o f devel opment it ac
cep ts suggestions fro all dictation fr om
,
none Its manner is courte ous and its

.
m ode Of ap p roach one of prom ptings and

h ints
. The sphere O f e very oth er f acu lty
is its sp h ere where it is content to p l ay the
m odest p art o f a h andmaiden never usurp ,
ing fun cti o ns alrea dy p rov i d ed fo r ai ,
though it h as a sp h ere o f its ow n whither

not e v e n reaso n c an f o llow It is sup p l e
m
.
enta ry to al l contradi ct o ry to none

, .
With ou t its ex ercise there can be no prog

ress or growth It has its origin in a
.
groping instin ct its final developme nt in

,
orderly activities capabl e o f increasingly

c l ear c l assi fication Body intell e ct char
.
, ,
acter m o ra l and r el igious are under its

, ,
influence and de p en d ent up o n its b eneficent

operati ons It p l ays upon th e body con
.
,
tri buting to its health and e ffi ciency ; it gi v es

w ings to the i ntel l ect ma king it creati ve
,
Th e Six th S ense
and p ro du cti v e , c a p abl e
fo rm u l ati ng of
hypotheses and venturing upon speculation ;

it converts the see m ingly impossible into
th e n o rmal bringing moral ideals w ithin
,
m
rea ch O f the wi ll w ith o ut which impr o ve
,
ent in character would b e a m atter of

chanc e ; it unfolds th e Di v ine t o the hu
m an and forms a nexus b etw een h ere and
b eyond now and to m o rrow finite and in
,
-
,
fi nite God and man It looks not only

, .
up but down making the nature outside

,
of us intelligib l e to the nature insi d e of us

and friendly with it I f it p eoples the .
stars it also makes a universe of th e atom

, .
It is mysterious re c ollecti v e emotional in

, , ,
tuitive sp eculative imaginative prophetic

, , , ,
m inatory expectant penetrative As it

, , .
m oves up or down with equal freedom so ,
it rea ches b ackward or forward is at ,
t ach ed or deta ch ed at will in its o p era ,
ti ons.
The Sixth Sense o r to be m o re accurate , , ,
the sec ond group of senses has its special ,
iz ed functi ons di ffi cu l t as it is to ana lyze

,
with accu racy th is mos t sp iritual endow

‘
ment o f human p ers onali ty the inner gi ft ,
O f touch It h as speciali z ations p aralle l

.
to those o f the b odily senses Sight hear .

,
ing and testi ng are its functions So clea r .

eyed is it that it can see with the nice ty of

an eye aided by th e m icroscope so sensitive ,
to voices that the lowest whispers impart

a message so critical as to test v alues with
,
a recisio n and swi ftness that surpass the

p
taste and smell whi ch tell us what is sw eet
and w hat unsavo ry .
I f it be argue d that I a m b ut dilating

on certain aspects o f mind I am not co n ,
cerne d to deny th at al l may b e c ompre

hended under th at c o nvenient bl anket word -
.
But they are as distinct fr om th e rationa l

izing media as from the wil l .
The nearest approa ch to a sat isfa ct o ry

sub stitute for th e term mystic sense in
“
terms of the reason is conc eptua l rea
”
son . It furnishes us w ith th e thought O f
a fa cu l ty which h as p r o creati v e or genera
tive properties capab le of bei ng fertili z e d
by interco urse w ith that wh ich is separate
f rom and higher than itself Its first ac
.
tiv ity is to lay itse l f over against th a t

which though parta ki ng o f its own na
,
ture is not itse l f It is n o t se l f ferti l i z ing

, .
-
and can c onc ei v e o r b eget o nly a fter h av

ing perceived and a p prehended 1
It has .
1 It i on ly p artia lly t rue to s y th a t concept follow

s a s
up o n p e rc ept Thei r actio n is simu l ta n eous mo r e
.
near ly tha n consec u tiv e C o nc ep tu a l ism as a com

.
p l et e syste m c a n n o t p e rh a p s stand but in t or igin it .
I s
constant regar d fo r an Ob j e ctive and com

m u nication with it .
Th e operation o f th e Mysti c Se nse is

summ ed up in th e single wo rd fai th ,
whi ch is des cri b ed as the giv ing su b stance

to that whi ch is hop ed fo r the testing o f ,
things n o t see n 1
There is no ob je c ti o n to
.
letti ng the w ord faith c ov er th e wh ole

working o f th e Mystic Sense prov ided it ,
is not restricted to a se v ere ly re l igi ou s

meaning It is thus that it is comm o nly
.
underst o od or at any rate wh en a p p l ied in

,
other co nne cti o ns it is assumed t o b e th e

worki ng o f a difierent faculty from tha t
ex er c ise d in th e sphere O f religion In its .
distin cti v e ly re l igious meaning faith is th e ,
operati o n o f the Mysti c Sens e in its highest

empl oyment There is n o O ne fa culty tha t
.
m
is reserved ex clusive l y f o r r eligi ous em
ploy ent The fa ct is that religi ou s faith
.
is no m ore se p arate fr om the pro c esses o f

the Mystic Sense which a pp ropriate health
fo r the body hypotheses fo r th e m ind
, ,
working principles for the man o f a cti on ,
and ideals f o r the chara cter or i ndependent ,
of th em than th e act of physi ca l p er c ep

,
w as a h e a l thy reaction a ga in st b oth nomin al ism and

rea l ism as w e l l as a m ed ato r comb inin g th e good in
, i
both .
1
Heb xi : 1
. .
Th e Six th S ense 2 1
ti on which enables us to touch the stars is

, ,
separate from that use of the senso ry

nerv es whic h relates us to the book we
handle or independent Of it They are
, .
both the result Of a single faculty or group ,
o f faculties operating in d ifi erent altitudes

, .
Faith will be ac c epted in these pages as a

philosophic term Thus we speak o f .
scienti fic faith mora l faith and religious

, ,
f aith with e qual appropriatene ss meaning ,
the Mystic Sense operating respective ly in

the interests of the Scienti fic o f the m o ral , ,
and of the religious .
The Mystic Sense h as fo r its workshop

the upland s o f li fe in the rare fied atmos
p h ere o f ideas and ideals It is at once a .
’
super sense giving us a bird s eye view o f
- -
the universe which is not permitted at close

quarters and a sub sense bringing before
,
-
our attenti on the contents hidden beneath

the surface of th ings There are not tw o .
worl ds obj e c ti v e and subj ective resp ec

,
tiv ely but tw o aspects of one w o rld

,
things as they are in their ab solute and u l

timate being and things as they are rela
,
tiv ely or as apprehended by our c ognitive

pow e rs Our conc eption o f the truth is a
.
distorti o n o r fall s short of the truth and it ,
is ou r asp irat ion to bring about such a co

incidenc e as wil l make the r elati o n o f sub
j ect to Obj ect perfe c t We draw the
. thing
as we see it f or the G od of things as th ey
are now n o t to m o rrow only the sole di f
,
-
ference being th at t o morrow ou r painting

will be truer to the original and conse
quently m ore artisti c than now All Oh .
j ect iv e is immediately redu c ed by man b y ,
sub c ons c i ous o r c onsci ous process into sub ,
j ect iv e so
, that we may f o r th e sake of c on
v enience talk o f subj e c tive and O b j ective
p hases Of reality th e subj ecti v e b eing hu

,
man p artial progre ssi v e th e obj e cti v e b e

, , ,
ing divine abs o lute and fi nal

, , .
There is an obj e cti v e p hysi c a l wo rl d and

an o bj ecti v e p sychi c o r sp iritual world ,
the latter b eing immanent in the former ,
th oug h n o t limited by it so that every ma ,
t erial Obj e c t h as Spiritua l c ontents The .
spiritual is n o m o re an inside without an

outside than th e p hysi c al is an outside with
ou t an inside Each has its phase of t e
.
ality though in the u ltimate analysis th e

,
physical is dependent for its v a lue upon its

spiritua l cap aci ty The physical has a .
non sensible inside which to b e discerned

-
calls for distinctively human as distin

g u ish e d from mere animal p o wers Of per
cep tion . Dim ly in animal life there is a
terna l sub s tan c ean d form o f a m ateria l
obj ect an d th e clos er w e are to it the ,
greater th e di ffi cul ty for th e average char

acter to gain cogniti on o f its spiritual es
sence : How hardly shal l they that h ave
” 1
riches enter int o the ' ingdom o f God ,
Even those who pla c e an undue v aluati o n

up o n the material whether p o ssessed o f ,
wea l th or not have a like di ffi cu lty in pene

,
trating into the interna l realm whic h li es

beneath and around as w ell as above and
within the ex ternal 2
It is absurd for m en
.
to expect to sense the spiritual ex c e p t w ith

spiritua l faculties The physical world is
.
perceived by a sensory apparatus of the

same substance as that o f the physical
world ; th e spiritual w o rld is perc eived by
a sensory apparatus of the same sub stance
as that of the spiritual w o rl d There must .
be an inherent a ffi nity b etween the thing

apprehended and the o rgan apprehending .
Now the natura l m an re c eiveth not the

things of the Spirit of God ; for they are
f oo l ishness unto him ; and he cannot know
th em b e c ause th ey are spiritual ly p rov ed 8
.
1 Mk x zz g.
m
.
2 Mk z zz 2
2
m
. .
” or e: of: Mxera t rd Tov H rehp a ros

I xucbs
m
m
3 ‘ 'v
m
roii Oeofi ap le y e p a i rG ion a l h 6 6 :
-
. x o
,
81 1 t i d i 1 Cor ii, 14
‘
u ru u s ra xp n r a c , , ,
Rea l i ty is a term too O ften con fined to

t h at whi ch c an be expressed in terms of
bodily senses ; whereas it is that which has
ex istence in heaven above in the earth b e ,
n eath and in the w aters un d er th e earth

, ,
and which apart from hum an perception

,
m
though in a in imu m degree or passively
,
plays upon and s fi ects an and his uni m ,
verse but which reaches its highest p o ten

,
tiality manward when b y the volitional

,
operation of human faculties it is subj e e

tiv ely apprehended and fin ds permane nt
place in his c onsciousness Reality is that
.
which supports an d feeds th e subconscious

life by the pressure o f its mere ex istence
o r l aws of being but which is ca p able o f
,
bestowing l arger gi fts in p rop ort ion to the

degree in which it recei v es c onscious ad
m ission into the acti v ities o f persona l ex
p erience . It is a l aw o f spiritual o r
psychic as well as o f physical ex istence

, ,
that every part is related t o e v e ry other

part and influenced by it thr ough either at
tra ction or ener gy In the case o f inani
.
mate matter mere sp acial p r opinqui ty or

distan c e determines the m easure o f attrac
tion or energy o f obj e c t u p on Obj e c t b ut ,
where sentient beings are co n c erned the

rea ction o f co ns c i ous volition on environ
m ent the determining fa cto r regulating
is
th e degree o f influence re l eased .
The sear ch fo r the rea l in interna l p roc

esses canno t ignore the external C on .
v ersely the a ctiv ities o f the workaday

w orld cannot summari l y dismis s th e in
ter na l 1
. Th e p hysica l senses ha v e a m o d
est but indispe nsable part to play under the
primacy of the Mystic Sense The n o rmal .
use of the Mystic Sense does n o t make a

mystic The h ea lth ily deve l oped man is
.
mystica l th o ugh not a mystic His dom .
inating sens e is th at O f th e spirit not that ,
of the flesh A mystic technically de fined

.
, ,
is a specialist in the subj ective or internal ,
just as a c ol l ector is a specialist in the oh

j ect iv e o r e x ternal There . is no d a n ger
in either extrem e ex cept so far as its vo tary
adopts an exclusive attitude t oward its
seem ing Opp o site ( which really is its c om
plem ent ) or tow ard the b alance of hum an
thought and l i fe A deliberate an d p er
.
sistent use of th e Mysti c S ense without t e

spect for the ob jective w ou l d b e subv ersive
1 “ T ru e pr io r ity and superi o r ity l ies n t w ith on e ,
o
of these constitu ents against th e other b ut w ith the
tota l subj ecti v e —obj ecti ve intera ctio n o r r esul tant
,
w hich is superi or and indeed gi v es their p l ac e and

worth to th o s e i nte rdependent pa rts —' ON H OG BL S
,
My ti al E lem
” ’
.
vo l ii p 4
,
s c e t f R lig
n o e i on, .
,
. 1 1 .
Of all p r o gre ss and a reversion to chaos .
The progress o f thought consists in grad

u ally separating the series of obj ective and
universally valid from that of subjective ,
experiences In the measure that their

.
confusion prevails man is to all intents , ,
and purposes mad ; and it is this note of

,
insanity that characterizes medicine and t e

ligion in their early stages Dreams and .
reali ty are mi x ed u p ; subj ective connections

” 1
are ob j ectified I f th e Obj e ctive and th e
.
subje ctive may not be divorced and set at

odds against one another neither may they ,
be con fused Both errors would result in

.
disorder an d hopeless perplex ity .
The serious cru x is h ow in the realm ,
of the spiritu al and the physically intangi

ble to distingu ish between the rea l and
,
the seeming the true and the false This

, .
it is the function of the Mystic Sense to do

aided by the full complement of inner fac
u lties In a measure the Mystic Sense like
.
,
the bodily senses a cts automati c ally but , ,
like th em it n ee ds special training in order

to separate phantasm from reali ty to de ,
termine values and to gra d e and clas sify

,
ideals until they reveal themsel ves to be

ordered unity not less but more mysteri ous
,
R ad p 2 4
’ ’
I YERELL S Ch ri ti ity t th e C
‘
1 s an a ross o s, . 0 .
Th e Six th S ense
because m o re intel l igi bl e o r apprehensib le
by the whol e man Th e fi rst principle to
.
lay down is that no man can treat himse l f

as a unit or c redit the find ings of h is Mys
ti c Sense with a b s o lute or fi nal authority
until he h as tried them by s o me valid cor
po t ate test Neither S ight n o r hearing
.
, ,
nor touch used W ithout regard to the ex

,
p e rien ce of others and respect f o r it c an ,
f ail to lead us astray The conclusions of

.
the wisest and the competent register them

selves f rom age to age c o ming to us in ,
the shape o f b eneficent authority to p re

vent a man from rep eating work that has
already been done and w ell d one ' eri .
fication is not co ntemptu ous Of authority ,
th ough he fl ou ts auth o rity indeed w h o , ,
ignores it in a pr o cess of in d ividua l isti c ex

p e m
ri en ts . Pure individualis m at b est can
apprehend but a fragment o f reali ty and at
worst declines int o eccentri c i ty or even in
sani ty Those wh o are real ly educated
.
recognize their relation t o a social whole

and bring the results o f their sense percep
ti ons be fore accepting their verdict to be
, ,
tested by th e age l ong man wide exp eri

-
,
-
ences of humanity as formulat ed in the ac
cep ted conclusi o ns o f thei r generati o n an d
found in its institutions and cust o ms Uni .

v ersa l expe rience is neve r wh oll y b ut on ly

a p pr ox imate l y infallible yet accu rate ,
enough to be authoritativ e for co rre ctive

p urposes By respectfu l attenti on to it in
.
,
dividual judgment is checke d in possib l e

erro r and at the same time is given opp or
tu nity to o fl er its own c o ntribution to the
t ota l i ty of knowl edge a c ontribution whic h
,
may endorse m o dify o r enl arge that al

, ,
ready rea ch e d In this w ay only is so

.
ciety prese rv ed from bec o mi ng a mob o f .
eccentrics an d fanatics each w hir l ing in h is

,
own littl e c irc l e C ommerce art science

.
, , ,
l etters g overnment re l igi o n

, , in short
every departm e nt o f l ife y o u c an th ink o f
requires suc h a m o de o f p roc edure for the
p rote cti on o f rea l ity in its varie d anifes m
tations and for th e protection o f the indi
v idua l against h ims el f B u t in no c o ndi
.
m
ti ons is a s ocia l c h e cking o ff o f fi ndings
o re essentia l tha n in th e psych i c or spir
itu al rea lm . Mystical expe rience o rgan
i z es itsel f o r is consci ously o rganized in a
su ffi cient degree to give m
en th a t h ig h kin d
o f freed o m wh i c h c o mes t o u s w h en we act
w ith constant refe rence t o the fa ct that we

are members one o f an o th e r so that th e ,
experience o f th e hum an race is ours where

with to enrich ourse lves A mystic of the .
3 0 Th e Six th S ense
typ e o f St Theresa who cou l d hardly see
.
,
the Obj ective in her rush past form to reach

idea c ould not be distinguished from the
,
inmate o f a madhouse w h o insists that his

tinsel c rown is the diadem of a Napoleon ,
u n l ess she interpret ed her p ersonal exp eri
ence in relation to the spiritua l conscious

”
ness of Christendom O nce writes
.
,
this saint when I was holding in my hand

m
,
the cross of my rosary He took it fro ,
me into His own hand He returned it ;

m
.
but it was then four large stones inco p ar

ably more precious tha n diamonds : the
fiv e wounds w ere delineated on them with

the most admirable art He said to me .
that for th e future that cross would appear

so to me always and s o it did The pre
, .
ciou s stones were seen h owever only b y

, ,
” 1
myself . A m adman would have omit
ted the l ast sentence Her m ystical ex .
p er ien ce was individua l though it preserved

for its foundation a background o f uni
v ersa l experience It united her to her fel
.
lows instead of separating her from them

, .
The l aw of use is as applicable to the

Mysti c Sense as t o the rest of the gi fts an d
end owments which make up the complete
ness of human personality Its ex er cise .
1
' u oted by ' ON H UG EL vol ii p r8
, .
, . .
e l usi o n We agre e th a t mysticism is not ev eryth ing
.
in any o ne sou l b t som eth ing in ev e ry s ou l of man

, u .
Th e enti r e p assag e r eads as f o ll ow s :
Is there then str ictly sp eak ing such a thin g as a

, , ,
spec ific a lly distin ct se l f su th cing p ure ly Mystical

,
-
mode o f appreh ending Rea l ity ' I tak e it distinctly ,
n ot ; and th at a ll th e error s of the Exclu s iv e Mystic

proc e ed pr ec isely fro m th e co nt entio n th at Mystic is m
d oes constit ute s u ch an enti re ly separat e comp l ete ly ,
se lf suppo rt ed k ind of h uman experi enc e Th is d e

-
.
nia l d o es n ot of course m ean th at sou l d oes not

, ,
d ifi er q uite in d efi nite l y fr om so u l in th e amo u n t and ,
k ind of th e r ecol l ective intuiti ve d eeply emotiv e e l e , ,
ment p o ssessed and ex e rc ised by it concurr en tly o r

a l te r nate ly w ith oth er e l ements th e s ens e of th e ,
In fi nite w ith in and with out th e Finite sp r inging u p

in the s o u l o n occ asio n o f its co n ta ct w ith th e Co nt in
gent ; n o r again th at th es e mo r e o r les s congen ita l
, ,
d ifl erences and voc ati o n s a mo ngst so u l s c an n ot be

and are not still furthe r dev e loped by g r ace and
h e ro ism int o typ es of re l i giou s a p preh ens io n and l if e ,
s o str ik ingly di v e rgent as at fi r st s igh t to see m , , ,
h ard ly ev en s u pp lementa ry th e o n e to th e oth e r B ut .
it m e ans th a t in ev en th e mo st p ur e ly co ntingent
,
se e m ing s o u l an d in its a pp a r ent ly but Instituti o na l

,
and Histo ri c a l assents an d a cts th e r e e v e r i th ere ,

s,
can n ev er fai l to b e som e h o wev er imp l i c it h ow e v e r

, , , ,
s l igh t h ow ev e r inte rm ittent sens e and exp e rien c e of

, ,
the In fi n ite ev i d enc ed by at least some dissatisfact ion

,
w ith th e Finit e exc ept as this Finitu de is an occ as ion

,
for growth in a n d a p a rt exp ressi on of th at In finite

,
-
, ,
our true h om e An d aga in it m eans th at even th e

.
, , ,
most excl usiv ely mystic a l seemin g sou l ever dep en d s -
,
for th e fu l ness and h ea l thiness of eve n th e mo st
pu rel y mysti c a l o f its a cts and states as re a l ly u pon ,
its past and p r esent co ntacts w i th th e Co nting ent ,
Tempor a l a n d Sp ac ia l and w ith socia l fa cts and

, ,
e l ements as u po n its mov ement of co nc entr ati on

, ,
and the s ens e an d exp er ienc e evok ed o n occ asio n of ,
tho s e contacts o r of their memo ries of the In fi n ite ,
w ith in and arou n d thos e fi nitu d es an d itsel f .
O n ly th us d o es Mystic ism attain to its t ru e fu ll ,
dignity wh ich co nsists pr ec ise ly in being not eve ry

, ,
thing in any o n e soul b u t s ometh in g in ev e ry so u l

,
o f man ; an d in p resenti n g at its f u ll est th e amp l est ,
dev e lo pment amon g c e rtai n sp ecia l natur es w ith th e

,
h e l p o f c erta in spec ia l grac e s and he ro isms or w h at , ,
in s om e degre e an d f or m is p resent in e v e ry tru l y ,
h uman sou l and in su ch a so u l s ev e ry at a ll gen u in e

,
’
,
a n d comp l et e gra ce stim u l ated r el igi ous ac t and state

,
-
.
An d only thu s d o es it as Pa rtia l Mystic ism r etain

, ,
a l l the st r ength and esc a p e th e w ea knesses an d

dangers of wou l d b e Pu re Mystic ism as rega r ds th e
-
mode and ch aracte r o r Re l igi ou s Exp e r ienc e ' n ow l ,
edge an d Life
,
”
.
I f my interp r etation of th is w r ite r b e co rrect he ,
terms tha t a recoll ecti v e intu iti v e deep ly emoti v e , ,
e l emen t wh ic h I co n c ei v e to b e a mystic facu l ty or

”
sens e The fact that it pe rvades ev ery p a rt of h uma n

.
p e r son a l ity d o es not d is qu a l ify it f rom cl aiming th e

dign ity of a dist incti ve fa cu l ty It b ea r s a simi l a r .
r el at io n to th e h igher endowments of p er so na l ity

w hich th e ether b ea r s to l ight and to th e ca ll of
worl d to wo r l d Th e Mystic Sens e is th e en a b l ing
.
facu l ty w hich make s m an h u man Its p er v asiv en es s

,
.
d o es not detra ct fr om r athe r d o es it en hanc e its dis

, ,
Th e Six th S ense
tinctn ess
. To c a l l it an e l ement seems to c lothe it
in a v agu eness w hich its c hara c te r d o es n o t merit .
I f man w ere mere ly a phase of matte r w e cou l d

,
emp loy the te r m e l ement w ith p ro priety Th at w hich

can be o n l y an e l ement in a un iv er se at any rate m
.
m ,
ay
b e a f a c u l ty o r s en s e in a n
.
CHAPTER II
E
IN R LA ION TO T HEA LTH
THE RE is n o thing s o multip l e in its com
position and yet nothing so seemingly sim
,
ple so unit like a unity as normal person

-
—
, ,
ali ty a no rm al character englobed by a
norma l body Normality is the product

.
of a two fold force the true interrelation

-
between the organs o f the body and a sim

ila t interrelation betwee n the inner f acu l
ties culminating in a rhythmic interaction
,
between the tw o The normal m an acts

.
in the c ompleteness o f his manhood in all

that he does never adopting the rdle of
,
either mere machine or mere ghost In .
SO far as the inside and the outside of man
W ork as a unity the dignity of human per

,
son ality manifests itself ; any departure

from harmony approaches that dangerous
borderland beyo nd which lies disintegra
tion and disorder Dis ease is a lack of
.
rhythm a note in the sca l e ou t of tune

,
.
Health is harmony .
Up to the time that c onsciousness o f ex

35
istence awakens th e processes of l i fe op

,
crate under the stimulus and pr o tection of
the human and physical environment whic h

surround the infant With the immediate
.
e ffect of suitab le shelter and wholes ome

nourishment we are fairly conversant As .
to just what direct o r ind irect influe nce

psychic surroundings have upon the su b con
scious life of a baby we are not in a posi
,
tion to dogmatize though we can arrive

,
inferentially at c ertai n r ati o nal pr obabili

ties .
Apparently the infant and certainly the,
child is ex tra o rdinarily sensitive to subtle

,
forces Acting upon this suppositi o n the

.
Christian Church from the beginning by ,
a symb olic and sacramenta l act has aimed ,
to thrust children deep int o the bosom o f

G o d by the rite of baptism and claimed ,
for them not o nly a place but a place of

chief importance in the spiritual socie ty .
Instinctively the mother with ex quisite so,
licitude whispers her ideals for the future

,
o f her o ffspring int o the ears of the babe

at her breast talking as thoug h to one
,
whose consciousness were awake In this .
w ay Samuels have bee n raised to Israel .
At the close of each day the mother b ids

h er child Sl eep by si nging lu ll abies and
\
T h e Six th S ense 37
hanging mystic poppi es over wide awake -
eyes She speaks in the highest type o f

.
language in poetry adorned with song to

, ,
this little unconscious scrap of humanity .
In other words her mystic sense is pres s

ing upon the mystic sense of her child as
naturally and fittingly as her arms fold
the infant body and her lips touch its cheek .
U nless positive proof to the contrary is

adduced it is safe to believ e that it makes
,
’
a great di fference to the child s after li f e
o f what sort its psychic environment is dur
ing its first years on earth whether the ,
minds about it are healthy expressing ,
themselves h ealthily whether the tone of

,
family l ife is hopeful an d spiritual .
Though it c annot finally determine the

’
course that the child s li f e will tak e at any ,
rate it a ffords the best opportunity for

making it a w o rthy course My convi e .
tion is that the di fference between good

,
and bad psychi c environment for a baby

is the same as that between healthy and
unh ea lthy v egetable e nvironment f o r a
young plant An in fant abandoned by its
.
mother to the care of nurses and servants ,
be the provisi o n for its animal com fort and
m
safety what it may begins life with a min
,
i um of Opp o rtu ni ty Man is not born

.
m
er a ima l but man from the first bre ath
e n .
Therefore from the first breath he needs

’
man s surroundings In order that h is
.
latent char acter may have its best chanc e ,
he ought to be given th e m ost co ngenia l

human environment available If there is .
no c onsci ous se l f at any rate there is a

,
subconscious self struggling at a very early

,
moment by baby smiles and frets gropings ,
and b abblings to utter itself Psych ology .
seem s to have reached at l east this c o nclu

sion — that the subc o nscious is that it is ,
the fundamenta l part o f man that it is h is ,
m o st se nsitive self never relinquishing

,
that w hich it grasps and grasping eve ry

thing that touches it .
Psychi c forces may influence m ightily

the sub consci ous l ife o f an infant and pro
,
m o te healthy chara cter but have they any

,
e ffect on physica l well being ' The reply

w ould seem to be that i f at any time in,
the span o f a l ifetime they w o rk b enefi

cently in this direction it is probable that
,
they do s o from the outset It would be .
sheer waste of time to adduce arguments

to prove that healthy minds conduce di
rectly t o healthy physique Th e d iflicu lty
.
is to find the l imit of such influence so vast ,
is it Physi ca l we ll being h owever is not

.
-
, ,
with physi c a l sp l endor o r count muscl e su f
ficient in itself Man by virtue of h is man
.
h oo d can never live according to merely

animal l aws His animal nature itself is
.
u ltimately weakened if he does In pro .
portion as he has fine physique he must de

v ol op a fine m ind and character If n o t u n
.
,
restrained passion and ruin stare him in th e

face The body fi nds its full meaning
.
and so its possibiliti es o nly when the soul

,
has discovered itsel f and claimed its l ib

erty . It is then alone that a whole army
of anx ieties and fears is scattered leaving ,
the body free and joyously adventurous ,
ready to identify its movements with those

of the soul Consequently it is not illogi
.
cal or untru e to say that the first requisite

for physical efliciency o f a child is to in
sure that whatever its subconscious l ife is
ab l e to drink in S hould be sweet who le ,
s ome and str o ng The tone of domestic

, .
’
life the character of the child s attendants
, ,
the whole expanse o f human bosom on

which it lies and from which it receives
nourishment ought to be as near what one
,
would wish it to be if from the fi rst the

l ittle b abe had a conscious as wel l as a su b
c ons c i ous self and were a m o rally resp onsi
,
bl e and not a mere non m o ra l agent -

.
Th e Six th S ense
There can b e a healthy domestic environ
ment for the keen eyed deep seeing child
-
,
-
only when it has been preceded by a simi

lar environment for the baby What the .
tone was for the purely subconscious it ,
will be for the conscious li f e when it

awakes Therefore even though parents
.
are skeptical of their influence up on in f ant

subconsciousness they cannot dispense with
,
attention to its character if they hope to

bring bene ficial pressure to bear on the
’
child s conscious life From the fi rst they
.
must learn to d eal with a baby as a moral

being impressionable beyond obs ervation
, .
’
When we tu rn t o man s conscious li f e
and the relation b etw een hea lth of body
and a healthy consciousness we are o n more
dem o nstrable gr ound Experience h as
.
proved that our externa l and internal fac

u lties work in sympathy with one another .
I f the body is distressed the inner con ,
sciou sness droops ; if the inner c o nscious
ness becomes morbid or out o f sorts the ,
body though not always actually falling ill

, ,
l oses in e ffi ciency Y et let it b e added

.
, ,
the body is less abl e to bear psychic illness

than the inner s elf to bear physica l i l l ness .
The b ody can never tu rn psychic su ffering

into nerve and muscle but the psychic na
,
ture can weave malady into genius thro ugh
the powerful operation o f th e Mystic Sense .
To be healthy is a c ommendable ambi

tion Being in good h ealth ou r desire is
.
,
to become as immune as may be to disease ,
or being ill t o give ourselves the best chance

of re co very Health is preserv ed by keep
.
ing body and mind in close relation to

health giving p r o cesses It is not our c on
-
.
cern to discuss in thi s co nnection questions

o f diet sanitati on hygien e ex ercise and
, , ,
similar aids to the promoti o n of health .
Their value is o f th e first order and may

not b e ignored or discounted But just .
now we are c oncerned with another part
of human nature which has much to do in

determining ou r c onditi on o f body the
sense which furnishes u s with idea l s .
The obj ective o f an idea l is found in

the idea flowing fr o m the mind of God .
It is as real to the Mysti c Sense as a flower

is to sight an d smell An ideal is the re .
’
fl ection o f God s idea and is dist o rted or
true according as th e sense which perceive s
ideas is healthy o r diseased The Mystic .
Sense relates us to ideas and enables us to ,
touch test see and hear them as truly as our

, , ,
b odily senses enable us to t ouch test see , ,
and hear the world of matter form and ,

Th e Six th S ense
sound A healthy ideal is a ' italizing
.
force an unhealthy ideal is an invitati on to

,
disease Ideals are su bj ectified ideas

. .
In the c ourse o f the development of that

most experimental o f all sci ences medicine , ,
not only has dosing been reduced to a min

imum but also the natural recuperative
,
powers of the patient have been discovered

and are relied upon The physician tries .
’
to open for the sick do ors into na ture s
, ,
healthiest rooms The patient being .
placed in a ' italizing environment is ex

p ected by the use o f his will and Mystic
Sense t o respond to it The physician .
alone can do b ut ha l f the work The will .

,
and not only the willingness to live a mys , ,
tical laying hold of the idea of health is ,
in all cases a valuabl e in some an indis ,
pensable factor in th e process of r ocov

,
ery The suggestion o f health predisposes

.
to health ; the suggestion o f disease is

provocative o f disease Medicine may be .
both a material curati ve and a sa crament

of hea l th .
The habit o f o ur day has b een su ch as to

create in u s a marked pathological con
sciou sness The v ery process which by
.
, .
slow degrees has been driving disease to

,
the wall has pro duced in us a sensitivenes s

,
Th e Six th S ense
to the idea o f disease th at is inimi c a l to
health The discovery o f the causes of
.
disease has peopled the imagination ev en ,
of those who have never looked thr ough

a microscope w ith an army of hostile germs
,
to the obscuration o f those superior infl u

ences which co nduce to w ell being u ntil we
-
have become chronically nervous o f the

hidden perils which bese t our pa th In .
c
signi ficant pains are c onstrued int o the

symptoms of the last disease discussed in
the papers or the advertisement o f a pro
p rie ta ry nostru m M .omentary fl u ctu a
tions in h ealth send us tripping w ith anx

ious bro w to the doctor Dabbling in p a
.
th ology is an undesirab l e o ccupati o n es ,
p ec ia lly for the young The

. wrappers of
patent medi c ines l et a lo ne the medicines
,
th emselves ha v e c aused m o re ago ny than

,
p eace of min d and have been m o re provo ca

tive of disease than O f health Happily .
w e are emerging from the patent medicine

stage.
A therapeuti c consci ousness ought t o be

th e norma l conscious ness The f o rces
.
whi ch make fo r life are in ex cess o f th o se

which ma ke for death The universe .
wou l d go into steady decl ine were not the

do minant for ces salutary and life wou l d
,
fl icke r out l i ke the wick of a ca ndle gut
tered in its sock et . There is an inex h au sti
ble fund o f v itali ty o pen t o man and w e
are competent to draw upon it so that we
shal l receive a max imum rather th an a min
imum Part o f the functi o n of science is
.
to put man into such a relation to th e

nature outside of him as t o place the w hole
s o me and remedial at h is disposa l pre ,
venting disease by immunizi ng him from it .
It is the common l a w s of health which are

the m ost importan t With the curious in
.
c o nsistency which c haracterizes m any h u

m an beings w e frequently see
, men adh er
ing t o s o me v ig o r ous regimen o f se co ndary

o r d o ubtfu l imp o r ta nc e w hi l e al l the time
,
they are fl agrantl y dis obeying some pri

m a ry law o f heal th Th e uni ty between
.
th e o uter and the in ne r necessitates not o nly

an i nte l ligen t and s c ienti fic treatment but
al s o that w hich is mystica l and m o re or

l ess mysterious Prayer which is at o n c e
.
,
an appea l t o the S our c e o f Life t o l et l oose

sa vi ng h ea lth in ou r directi o n and an Open
ing u p o f our b eing for the re c eption O f
hi dd en an d unknown aid is a higher f o rm
,
o f p sy c hi c e ff o rt tha n eith er suggestion or
auto sugges ti on in tha t it includes both

-
th ough not p reclu d ing th e co ncurrent u se

Th e Six th S ense
of either Aut o suggestion l ooks only f or
.
-
s elf induced b ene fit to the patient by ap

-
plication to an impersonal ideal ; prayer

does no t think merely to apprehend a pas
sive o r indi fferent remedy but also to be ,
apprehended by healthful forceful Person ,
ality like but superior to our own A

, .
prayer to the ether wou l d have in its reflex

e ffect a tota l ly di fferent influence on the
petitioner from a prayer to what was con
ceiv ed to be a personal God Similarly .
the quali ty of the virtue whi ch is the result

o f mere ethica l culture is as di ff erent from
that which is the product of corresp ond

’
ence with the Christian s God as c otton
is fr o m l inen N o r is it that God is ina c
.
tive unti l we pray He is operating t o the

.
uttermost that ou r listless or passive or

antagonisti c personality will allow The .
highest personality can do his best to

the obj ect O f h is love only when the latter .
adopts a responsive and co operative atti -
‘
tude The feeble spot in much if not
.
,
m o st prayer is that it as ks without impor

, ,
tu n ity or importunes without ap p rop riat

,
ing The Mystic Sen se mu st reach up until

.
it feels the hand containing the gift and ,
take the gi ft as its own Auto suggestion

.
-
is a lame term indicating the appli cation o f

Th e Six th S ense
b y being cheerful hope by being h o peful
,
c almness by being calm h ealthy indedness m ,
m
,
b y b eing h ealthy inded This is the work

.
o f the Mysti c Sense living in the rea l m o f
vigor even when the body is in distress .
When the Mysti c Sense g o es exp l oring in

high altitudes it never c omes back empty
handed Even when it fails to return with
.
health of body it holds in its grasp health

,
o f mind A bl ithe spirit in a feeble b o dy

.
can accomplish more than a sluggish spirit
m
in a robust body There are two kinds
.
of h ealthy indedness temperamental

and acquired The latter is the most pow
.
erfu l and may be had by anyone who culti
vates his Mystic Sense .
Th e ex tent t o which th e Mystic Sense

works toward a cure canno t be formulated .
It varies with c onditions O f this we can.
be assured It is a lways salutary fre

.
,
quently indispensable Diseases caused or

induced by an abuse or morbid use of the
imagination cannot be banished with out
the aid o f the Mysti c Sense as the chie f
agent The imaginati o n must b e cu red
.
b efore the sickness can b e cured and there ,
m
are instances whe n the cure o f the imagina
ti if th e cu re of th e d ise ase That is.
n one the less a disease the seat of which

,
is in the psychic rather than in the physical

,
part o f self
.
Two things remai n to b e said First .

,
our day is laying a dangerous accent o n

the value of mere physical li fe in man It .
tends to foster physical sel f consciousness

-
and is an aspect of degrading materialism .
All the e fforts being put forth in the direc
m
tion of ma king it possible for the physic
ally feeb l e to surv ive are dangerous u
, ,
less followed u p by commensurate e fforts

to make them fit as characters M ere ex .
m
istence and mere longevi ty are fa l se gods .
It is hap ly justi fiab le fo r en o f l ow

b reed who honestly think this l ife th e only
,
one to grasp at a l l its available gi fts and

, ,
struggle to retain it o n any terms for as

long a period as m ay b e But n o t so
.
among th ose wh o have risen to a knowl

edge o f the meaning of immortality even ,
in its lesser aspects of the perpetuation of

,
the nation and the race and the persistence

m
,
’
o f a man s work and influ ence among en
after he himself has vanished For such .
there is a higher good than mere li fe beside ,
which mere s u rvival looks cheap and wort h

less
.
A ma n must l i v e w e j u stify ,
Low shift and trick to treason hi gh ,
A l itt l e vote fo r a l itt l e gol d

To a wh ol e senate bought and sol d ,
B y that se l f e v iden t rep l y

-
.
B ut is it so ' P ray te ll me why

Life at suc h cost you ha v e to buy '
In wha t re l igi o n w ere yo u tol d
A man must l i v e '
There are times when a man must die ,
Imagine f o r a b att l e c ry
,
-
Fr o m s ol diers w ith a s w o rd t o h ol d
, ,
Fr o m s ol diers w ith the fl ag unr oll ed

, ,
This cow ard s whine this l iar s l ie

’ ’
Am
, ,
an must l i v e ' 1
There is however a ty pe of heroism

, ,
w hich is not as uncomm o n as it seems to be

for it is hidden the type to which ' ip
ling refers when h e says :
If you c a n fo rc e your heart a n d ner v e a n d sinew
To se rv e your turn lo ng after they are gone ,
And so hol d o n when there is nothing i n yo u

,
Exc ept the w i ll whi ch says t o them : H ol d

on ' i
and o nce more we quote from another

writer
Let us for one thing never forget that
, ,
1 C H ARLOTrE P ER ' INS STETSON S In this

’
ou r World .
physical health is not the true end o f h u

man li f e but only one of its most impo rtant
,
m eans and conditions Death may

.
and should be risked the slow but certain ,
undermining of the physical health may be

laudably embarked on i f only the mind ,
and character are not damaged and if the ,
end to be attained is found to be necessary

o r seriously help ful and unattainable by,
” 1
other m eans .
Sec o ndly specia l and mystica l means of

,
promoting or regaining health must have

as a background the accumulated knowl
edge and scienti fic skill of the day I f .
there are individua l ex ceptions here and

there they go t o prove the rule We can
,
.
no more ignore the history of medical and

chemical science the findings o f the micro
,
scope and laboratory without disaster than, ,
we can cut our country O ff from the tradi

tions laws and customs o f ye sterday with
,
out similar results O n the other hand.

,
it is at least equal folly to flout or dis

credit the mystical experience o f the ages .
Human life individually and corporately

, ,
is a unity and due reco gnition must be

,
g iven to all that go es to m ake it u

p .
1 Th e My stical El e ment o f Rel ig ion

, vol . 11, pp .
5 7,
CHAP TER III
IN R LA E TION To TH O UG HT
TH E mind includes the Mystic Sens e in
somewhat a similar way to th e manner in
which the body includes the physical senses .
But the Mysti c Sense can be indeed must ,
be considered as a distinct f aculty having

,
a peculiar function in the formation o f that

product o f the mind called thought which ,
“
is the e ffort to win over facts to ideas ,
” 1
or to adjust ideas to facts The Mys .
tic Sense can and does operate when the

rationalizing fa culty is reverently silent ,
and by its operation prepares new material

for pure r eason t o consider .
There is no speci fically intell ectual or

gan It is the whole man which ap p re
.
hends knowledge just as it is the whole

man and not an ex clusively religious part
of him which apprehends and is ap p re
,
hended b y eternities and infinities It is .
popularly supp o sed that scien c e and math

1
ROY CE ’
S Th e World a nd th e Ind iv id u a l . irst
F
Series p , .
58 .
emi at cs call for the ex ercise of one set of
faculties and philosophy and religion an
,
other Whereas the truth is that the sam e

.
faculties are used for all alike in pretty

much the same relation to one another .
The Mysti c Sense is as indispensable to sci

ence as it is to piety Its me thod o f opera
.
tion is precisely the same in the one sphere

as in the other .
We c an best appreciate the imp o rtant

part the Mystic Sense plays in science b y a
survey of the f oundations o f accepted sci
entific fact The whole b ody of our
.
knowledge conc erning the material uni

verse is constructed upon a few u l timates ,
chief am ong them being the ether and the

atom The physica l senses so busy in that
.
,
w orksh op o f science the l ab oratory c ease

, ,
to be imp o rtant when we deal with these

fundam enta ls The discoverer o f ether
.
never perceived it by touch taste sm ell , , ,
sight or hearing Newto n postulated it b e

.
cause he said it was a ne c essity e x actly as ,
we postulate the ex istence of G o d How .
could there be attractio n across the meas

u reless spaces whic h separate worlds if
there were not some inta ngi b le substan c e '
The ether was therefore disco vered t o o r
der by the Mystic Sense and a ccepted b e
54 . Th e Six th S ense
cause it p r o ve d a g oo d working hypothesis .
We are s ol em nly t old by physi c ists that it is

“ ” “ ”
an e l asti c s ol id a pervasive fluid a , ,
“ ”
tenu ous su b stance And yet when w e .
chase this elusive s om ething int o a c o rner

”
we find it to be that whi ch undulates a
’
form of m oti o n well s o is a field m o use ' ,
Again the atomic theory first c o nceived ,
b y the Gree ks was restated b y Dalton m o re

,
than years later w h o brough t it ,
down from the clouds to the laborat o ry

”
and fa ct o ry But neither Dalton nor
.
any o ne else ever t ouched an atom saw an ,
atom heard an ato m sme l t an ato m or

, , ,
tasted an atom ultimate of matter that it

,
is The physicist cl aims however

. that , ,
though he cannot handle o r see them the ,
atoms and molecules are as real as the ice

crystals in the cirrhus clouds that h e c a nnot
reac h as rea l as th e unseen members of
a m eteoric swarm wh o se death gl ow is lo st
in the sunshine or which sweep p ast u s
,
unentangled in the night that the atom s

are in fa ct not m erely helps to puzzle d
” 1
mathematicians b ut physical realities
, .
All this may be so Neverthe l ess both the .
ether and the ato m are so little m ateria l

1 See MACI IE S
‘
-
’
Science,
a dmira bl e volu m e on this entire topic
m
m M atter a nd I
.
ortality , an
philosophe rs expl o ring the unseen which
, ,
fi rst des c ried it on the h o riz o n as the sailor

at the masthead spies the distant land .
Darwin was the helmsman wh o steered the

ship t o p ort He rationalized it and ap
.
plied it as a working hypothesis It is in .
structive to note that Darwin began his

career with a rather acute sense of the mys
tica l He had a kee n appetite for poetry
.
,
’
and pictures and the music in ' ing s Col
,
“
lege Chapel gave him intense pleasure ,
so that his backbone would sometime s

” 1
shiver . He even began preparati o n for
Holy O rders In l ater life the interests
.
that meant s o much to him in youth died .
” “
My mind he says , seems to have b e
,
come a kind of machine for finding genera l

laws out of l arge collections o f facts but ,
why this should hav e caused the atrophy

of that part o f the brain alone o n whic h ,
the higher tastes depend I cannot conceive, .
A man with a mind more highly organized

o r better constitu ted than mine would not , ,
I suppose have thus su ffered ; and i f I had

,
to live my l ife again I would have made

,
a ru l e to read some p o etry and listen to

some music at l east o n c e a w ee k ; fo r per
’
1 D ARW IN S A u tobiog raphy .
h aps th e parts of my b rai n now atrophied
w ould thus have been kep t active through
use The l oss of these tastes is a loss of
.
happiness and may possibly be injurious

,
t o the intellect an d more probably to the

,
m o ral character by enfeebling the emo ,

”
tional part of our nature It would be .
more accurate perhaps to explain this loss

, , ,
not by atrophy but by too narrow special

iz ation His Mystic Sense and power ful
.
imaginati o n were not dea d They were .
centred o n a singl e object Having de .
v el op ed his Mystic Sense in one or all the

ways open to him a man may aba ndon its ,
use in every direction but one Christian .
worship p o e try musi c prepare t h e Mystic

, ,
Se nse for that daring creation o f hypoth

eses chara cteristic o f Darw in Without .
his power of hypothesis he c ould nev er have

become more than a mere collector of the
j ackda w o rder He is his own best wit
.
ness to the truth of this assertion He .
says I have steadi ly en d ea vored to keep

,
my mind free so as to give up any hy

p ot h esis however
, much beloved ( and I
cannot resist forming one on every sub
j )
ec t as
, soon
”
as facts are shown to be
opp osite to it a dd ing that he c oul d not
,
remember a singl e first formed hyp oth
esis which had not after a time to be given
”
up or m o di fied .
It is one of the chief functi ons of the

Mystic Sense to present hyp otheses With .
out hypothesi s the reason is a shorn Sam

son A g o a l must be postulated otherwise
.
,
the wood cou l d not be seen for the trees ,
and the intelle ct would be hopelessly lost

in a tangle o f underbrush and smothered
by the weight O f its own l earning While .
theo ry is aimless and impotent without ex

p er i en ta m
l c heck e x per iment is dead with
,
out some theory passing bey o nd the l imits '
of ascertaine d knowledge to control it i .
Here as in all p arts of natural knowledge

, ,
the immediate p resumption is strongly in

favor o f the simplest hyp o thesis ; the main
support the unfailing clue of physica l sci
, ,
m
ence is the p rinciple that nature being a ,
rationa l cos os phen o mena are relate d on

,
the whole in the manner that conceptu al

” 1
reason wou l d anticipate Generalization
.
of a tentative character precedes and

gives a starting point f or induction H y .
p o th es is is more often the child of intuitive

1 Si 'OSE PH LAR MOR in h i W i l de L ect ur e ( 9 8 )
r s 1 0
q uote d by Si OLI' ER LODG E i n Rea n a d B elief p

r so p n , .
1 72 .
p rocesses which capture thought by quic k
assault than o f slower and more analyzable
f orc es .First comes hypothesis then the ,
accumulation o f data finally when all , ,
available evidence is in rejection and the

m
,
adoption o f fresh hypothesis or odifica ,
tion o r veri fication

, A bundle of dis .
“
connected f acts is only the raw material for

an investigation : their mere c o llecti on is
the very earliest stage in the pr o cess ; and
even while collecting them there is nearly
always some system some place some idea , ,
” 1
under trial The spiritual contents of
.
the physical unive rse are in part evolution , , ,
the ether the atom and such like They

, .
bear material names but they are ideas out , ,
o f reach o f o ur sensory nerves and capable ,
of being perceived first dimly and then ,
clearly only through the Mystic Sense

, .
They form the allegorical department of

scienti fic thought and are to the reality as
,
the Apocalypse is to the ' ingdom of

Heaven .
It would be without special gain how ,
ever ea sy to multiply illustrations o f the

,
p rincely place which the Mystic Sense holds

in scienti fic research Let us therefore .
, ,
turn for a moment to mathematics with its

1
Reason and B elief, p . 1 81 .
array o f imperturbable digits and p r o sai c
facts No sooner does the mathematician
.
begin to move than he finds it necessary

,
t o call to his aid the sel f same f aculty -
which furnishes the physicist with his ethe r

and atoms and enables the worshi pp er to
,
p ray Else h o w could he ex lore the fourth

.
dimension and de fine a inc as having

,
length without br eadth o r a plane su ,
p e rfi cies as having only leng th and breadth ,
mm
or a point as h aving no parts ' It
is not astonishing th at the ath e ati
”
cian , Lewis Carroll was th e auth o r of
,
those most delicious imaginative wor ks

“
of immortal f ame Alice in Won
,
“
d erland and Thr o ugh the L oo king
”
Glass .His v o cation prepared and
trained him for his avocati o n and his avo ,
cation gave him new e ffi ciency in h is voca

tion That which made him able to write
.
the story o f dreamland equipped him as an

able sch o lar — the use in proper relati o n
to his other mental gi fts of the Mysti c
Sense Simila rly it is not surprising but
.
,
to be expected that Bacon Pasteur and , ,
' elvin were each in his own degree re

, ,
ligiou s men They are the no rm al men o f

.
s c ien c e La Pl ace Huxl ey and Hae ck e l

, , ,
b eing eccentrics and deve l oped in a l op

sided w ay .
Invention to turn to the departme nt o f

,
practica l science relates the same story

, .
Long be fore men saw they dreamed The , .
l ocomotive was a vision before it w as a

fact ; the aero plan e b ega n as an idea sting ,
ing men into adventurous experiment b e ,
fore it s p read its wings above the earth

men talked acr o ss vast spa ces in thought
b efore the earliest c able ticked its message ,
or the wireless system enthrall ed us by its

w izardry The Mystic Sense is prophetic
.
'
and sees t o morrow as though it w ere to

-
day dimly first an d then with increasing

,
c l earness . With o ut much dim ap p re

h ension no clear perceptio n ; nothi ng is
,
” 1
more cer tain than this .
Still once more when we turn to litera ,
ture the Mystic Se nse is a pole star His -

.
tory is a museum of the cu rios o f yesterday ,
1 Th e My ti l El ms caent f R el ig i n vo l p 2 65
o e o , . 11, . .
The autho r q u otes ' ANT w e c an b e mediate ly

consc i ous of an apprehensi o n as to which w e ha v e no
distin ct consc iousness The fi e l d of our ob scure
.
” “
app rehensio ns that i apprehension s and impres

,
-
s,
si ons of w hich w e are n t direct l y con sc i o us a l th ou gh
o ,
w e c an co ncl ude w ithou t doub t that w e ha v e them

s
is im m
u e
e b l e w h e r eas cl ear app r eh ensi o ns co n
easu r a
u
,
tit t b t a v ery few po i n ts w ith in th e comp l e te ex

te nt f o ur m enta l l f e
”
o 1 .
62 Th e S ix th S ense
'
a pile O f bones a series of occurrences a

, ,
collection o f bald fac ts as cold and bare

as a heap o f p ebbles until the Mystic Sense ,
enters the sterile valley and brings with it

the breath o f life An idi o t with a mem.
ory can collect past f acts as easily as a wee

toddler can collect shells o n the sea shore
and to as g o od p urpose But it needs a
m
.
an who however vast his stock of in for

,
mation possesses a developed Mystic Sense

,
t o classi fy facts and reveal their insides

m
.
Facts never tell the truth to an u ni ag

in ativ e mind There is a higher form of
.
accuracy and a deeper presentation of real

ity than a bare statement Figures and .
pr o se take n alo ne are blind guides

, , .
In normal childhood the Mystic Sense

gets admir able training through the poetry
and imaginative literature that belongs to
the nursery in every nation It is justly .
’
considered improper t o c on fine a child s
education to the multipli c ation table sci ,
ent ific statement religious dogma and the

, ,
memorizing of historic fact The kinder .
garten be its merits or de fects what they

,
may is an endeavor to rouse the young

,
mind to accurate observation and calcula

ti on thr o ugh the imagin ative f aculty Al
legory fable and multiplied illustratio n
, ,
of th e
Mysti c Sense which runs wild unless ,
disciplined w as born earlier than m o re

,
s ober o ffspring of the mind Poetry is the .
p arent o f prose The habit o f the nurse ry

.
or schoolroom is the repro ducti o n on a

small scale of the method o f history
first p o etry the n pr o se
, He ru les a na .
tion who furnishes it with songs There .
is no firmer foundation for national life

than a great legendary epic or a garland of
folk songs The better i f not the larger
.
, ,
part o f the O ld Testament is poetic .
Even the historical b ooks do not pretend

to be history as Gibb o n and Green are his
tory Legend and history had not been
.
distinguished fr o m one another in those

days Legend is usually elab o rately col
.
ored interpretati o n of fact where the ac

tual o ccurrence has been l ost in the interp re
tation t o such an ex te nt that it c an never be
,
r ecovered o r can only be gu essed at By .
subjective process somewhat akin to refl ec

,
tion or digestion the objecti v e gains a new

,
and transfigu red self apart fr o m and in

dependent it may be O f the original oh
, ,
j ect. Thus l egend is over su b j ectifi ed his -
tory The outside is ignored f o r the sake

.
of the inside .
Poetry and wholesome fiction must find

Th e Six th Sense 65
permanent p lace in the life o f a n o rma l

man Do not de lude yourse l f into thin k
.
ing that your chief or only guides in life

are lo gic and sense perception They are .
not Intuition and sentiment l ead you

.
twice for every once these oth ers d o It is .
so much m ore comfortable not to say h on

,
est and reasonable to acknowl edge f rankly

,
the primacy of y our l eaders than to follow,
them and preten d al l the whi l e that you are

following other guides which is a species
,
of disloyalty Scientist inve ntor mathe

m , ,
.
atician man of l etters alike are not quite

, ,
true t o fact when they claim th at pure rea

son and an ex c l usive p rocess o f induction
contro l their menta l Operati ons I woul d .
raise th e question whether there is any suc h

thing as the ex c lus ively inductive meth o d .
Is it not truer t o spea k o f th e deductive

inductive th an o f the indu c tive ' The
Mysti c Se nse with its adventu r ous and
,
sometimes blu ndering progress holds so i , m

portant a place that without it logic and
inducti o n woul d be as grist w ithout a mi ll .
“ ”
To reach knowl e dge b y p u re r eas o n is
as imp o ssible as t o reach the sun w ith a
step l ad d er Even supp o si ng it were p o s
.
sible t o b ring bare reason over against b a l d

fa ct the result wou l d reach o nly a degree
,
beyon d th e achiev ement of a pig that

c ounts or a j ackdaw that gathers a store
,
of glittering ob j ects .
I h a v e heard scrupul o us people complain

of the e ffe c t of fairy lore nursery f ables
, ,
and imagi native traditions like that o f

Santa Claus up o n child l i fe It may be a
, .
question to c onsider but it is dealing with a

,
mote rather than with a beam Cheap .
current literature and the psychologically

,
false story whic h is ch ara cteristi c o f many

,
of our magazines are far more o f an in

m
,
jury t o heart and mind than the i ag

inativ e ex cesses of th e nursery The Oh .
j ection to th e latter is not in the substance ,
b ut in the unnecessary attempts to deceive

and to confuse obj ective and subj ective in
the c hild mind Santa Claus is a harmless
.
c reature v iewed as the Spirit of Ch ristrn as .
Whe n he is turned int o a chim ney god to

whom written or spoken prayers are O f
f ered it is a no ther matter
,
Wh o can with
.
’
stand the pathos O f the little sister s death ,
resulting from her petition before the fi re
place for a new toy for her baby brother '

The flames took her and turned her into a
burnt sacri fice to Santa Claus .
Supply is usually responsive to demand

and the amount o f imaginative litera tu re
and versi fying in the j ourna l s of the day is

a fair indication o f the a pp etite for that
which stimu l ates the Mystic Se nse in let
ters Als o its hectic character is indica
.
tive of the wi l d state o f the psychic life

of the readers The normal is c ounted
.
uninteresting and th e abnormal in inci

, ,
dent an d characte r is portrayed A , .
steady diet o f suc h reading l ea v es unhealthy

blotches i ndel ible and dis fi guring on hu
, ,
man li fe Even in more seri o us literature

.
th e story o f the abnorma l may be given

too great p rominen ce ' aluable as the
.
’
late Professor James s ' arieties of Reli
g io ns E xp erie nce m ay be it has the fault
,
o f studying the abnorma l as though it were
th e ordina ry l eaving the great stretches

,
o f healthy re l igious ex perie nce pra c tically
u ntouched If a p hysiologist were to gi v e

.
h is main attention to men w ith one green

and one brown eye or with the heart on
,
the right instead of the l eft side or some ,
kindred peculiarities the sum total of his

,
m
research would not contribute muc h to our
knowledge o f the norma l an .
To c o ncl ude : every man who respects

his mind b e his vocation what it may has
, ,
nee d to guard his Mysti c Sense from de

m
file ent and a fford it opportunity f or de
,
v elop m entIn what is tech ni c a lly known
.
as educati o n great str ess is laid on pr o

portion and subj ect matte r Th is is no .
less a ne c essi ty in maturer l ife than it is

in y outh The same resu l t ensues upon
.
reading a nyth ing th at c omes t o hand that ,
ensues u p on eating anything that c omes

to ha nd SO imp ortant a th i ng is it not
.
,
only that w e s h ould b e abl e t o c reate hy

p o th eses but
, also that o u r h ypotheses
should be s ound that we must furnish our
,
m
Mystic Se nse wit h th e same safegu ards
and sti u l us th at w e affo r d ou r p hysi c al
senses .
IN RE LATI O N TO C HARA CTER
G OOD c haracter is the reaction up o n the
whole sel f caused by the Mystic Sense
as a habit ' isioning and the will cl aim ,
ing the ex cellent It is the result on per

, .
son ality of a sustained e ff ort to transcend
the ex isting relation to life and its condi

tions a state of chronic dissatisfaction with
m
,
the progress and achievement o f the o

ment which makes the good mediocre by
,
contrasti ng it with the superior and cov

’
eting the best conceiva b le as man s right
and heritage .
The Mystic Sense is always finding a

more ex cellent way Ex cepting whe n .
taught to play casuistical tricks it does not ,
look f or the conventionally proper or rest ,
comfortably in it 1
It l au nches out into
.
1 “
Th e w ea l th y cl ass in Rom e and a ll ov er Ita l y
b egan to confo rm t th t c o nv entio na l code of pro
o a
p ety by w h h the h seem a lw ays d e t ed in the

O
rt 1c r1c s 1n ,
pro gress of c i v i l i ation to b ecome mo re an d mo r e

z ,
ens l a v ed ti ll fi na ll y they lo st a ll fee l ing for what is

,
seri o us and gen u ine in l ife The new generati on fo l

.
69
that n ob l e freedom whi c h fr om a group ,
of proba bi l ities selects that whic h is ,
farthest removed fr o m suspi c i o n of self

ish co nsiderati o ns and p romises ulti
mately the best s ocial r esu lts O n the .
other hand it is not disre gardful o f the ac

cep ted code O f morals This it takes as .
its fou ndati on individu al izing it for per

,
s ona l u se and b oldly submitting proposi

,
tions for improvement t o th e social con

science for approval m odi fi cation or , ,
rej e c tion Su ch appr oval m o di fic ation or

.
, ,
rej ection is never a purely formal matter

regi stered in the dictu m o f a tribunal but
rat h er the culminatio n of a pro c ess akin ,
,
in the m o ral spher e to th at whi ch is ,
termed natura l se l e ction in the p hysica l

sphere .
low ed th eir exa mp l e w ith a l a c rity and preac hed the ,

new con v enti o ns w ith a p a i o nate vehemenc e which ss
must ha v e b een high ' ex aspe r ating to th o se of their
seni o rs w ho w er e sti ll atta ched to the simp l ic ity of
p rimiti v e manners Am o ngst th ose w h o p rot ested
.
against this dev e lopment there w as h ow e v e r o ne , ,

prominent fi gure of th e you nger age M arcus Po rc ius ,
C at o a man o f ri ch and n obl e fa m i l y and a d e

, ,
scend ant of Cat o the C ens or His puritan spirit . re

vo lt d against the ty r anny o f fashi o n to w hi ch the
e
gol den th o f Rome w ish d t o ma k e him co nf o rm ;
ou e
he w d w a lk in the streets w ith ou t sh o es o r tuni c
on ,
to a cc ustom himse lf as h e said on ly to bl ush at thin s

, ,
wh ich w ere shamefu l in themse lv es and n ot mere y

by con v enti on — FERRER G t
,
R mvol i pp 3 5 3 6
’
. d D li fOS rea ness an ec ne o
o e, .
, . 1 ,
1 .
a cter is thus bound up c l ose ly with individ
ual p ersonality and is never abstract as ,
morality is in the science of ethics Char .
acter is c reated and disclosed by that p h ase
m
of experience in which th e Mysti c Sense is
busied in photographing ideals on the fil
mon o polized by the actual t o the disco m
fitu re and obli teration o f the latter .
Better to morrows are o btruded o n p oor

-
to days partly by virtue of the fact that

-
,
th e M y stic Sense is naturally in constant

c onta ct with the ideally best sensing and ,
appropriating it just as the body without ,
c onscious e ffort on our part senses and ap

,
p p
ro riate s light and air and
, partly b e
cau se either feebly o r vig o r ously m ost

, ,
men claim f o r themselves b y deliberate

volition a larger life than th at whi ch is .
The possessi o n of character is the sole

justi ficati o n of self respect Self respect
-
.
-
ensues upon the growth of c haracter and ,
is to c h aracter what perfume is to the

flower It is due to the consciousness o f
.
having within ourselves that which is

worthy n o t mere mora l a c quies c ence b ut
something we h ave made pe cu liarl y ou r
own by active e ff o rt It is a high f orm
.
of th e c onsci ousness w hich inspires an in

v entor wh en he has c o nstru c ted a p i ec e
of mechanism Se l f respect is a witness
.
-
to our h av ing b een individualized and is

'
indi ff erent to ex ternal possessions o r aught

that is our own by virtu e of favor and
chance rather than by merit Se l f respect .
-
runs int o sel f conceit and stagnation when

-
it rests content with that w hich is It .
never d a w dles in its movements nor l oa f s

o n the street co rners Sel f respect b e .
-
c omes se l f contempt an d self abasement

’
- -
w hen our attenti o n is turne d from our cher

ish ed i d ea l s and actual progress and fix ed ,
upon our defects and f ailures Penitence .
is not a bar b u t a necessity to character
m
and its fragrant efllu ence se l f respe ct
m
-
, .
Character ca l ls for and exp ects co u
na l respe c t in the same degree that it re

ceiv es se l f respe ct Reputation sh ould
-
.
be commensurate with character It is .
p ossible for men to ha ve the unmerited

respect of their fellows w ithout having
self respe c t This is due to the p ractice
-
.
of deceit conscious or unconscious which

, ,
enab l es them to simulate character and
m
h ave appearance w ithout co rresponding re
a l ity To the an o f character it is as
.
,
truly a p ain to b e o verestimated as to be

underestimated He can a ff o rd to l ose
.
h is reputation th ough he can nev er be

,
ex empt from the k een pain involved In .
the pro cess O f achieving character the ,
great frequently if not always have to , ,
endure the withholding of respect on the

part of the community Seldom do es a .
man ma ke a contribution to progress with

out being temporarily at least discredited
by th ose W hom most O f all he is aiming
to bene fit Self respect towers at such mo
.
-
ments A man of character will trust him

.
self when all men doubt him but make al
l owance for their doubting too ; he will ,
wait and not be tired by waiting or being ,

’
lied about won t deal in lies or being
, ,
’
hated won t give way to hating 1
.
Ideals become tas ks and tasks become

character in social ex perience A tal .
”
ent says Goethe
, shapes itse l f in still
,
ness but a character in the tumult of the

,
” “
world That which would have t e
.
mained o nl y a quality in ( our Lord ) if ,
He had stayed in the desert becomes a ,

”
li f e when He goes forth into the world .
’
The ultimate test of a man s worth is his
character and not his degree of morality
-
his power o f volitional reaction upon
m
environment obj ective and subj ective
, .
Every an at some time during his ca

’
1
' IPLING S If
reer, most men for a considerable por
tion o f it and many from beginning to end
, ,
— covets character Those who fail to

.
claim it for themselves seldom fail to ad

mire it in others Frequently they put as
m
.
uch e ff ort into pretending they have it as

would win f o r them the real thing They .
m
pay the price of gold for tinsel Character .
h as com ercial value and sometimes

men are hone st according to law solely
because it is pol itic or polite accord,
ing to social requirement because it pays .
But th e honesty and courtesy of such

men are not virtues They are hand .
maidens o f covetousness They contrib .
ute no thing to sel f respect They have no

-
.
moral content and serve only to ai d in bol

,
stering up a vicious characteristic How .
ever it is a tribute to the kingliness of

,
character that either f or its market value

,
or because of its inherent worth men ,
clothe themse lves in its appearance when

they do not see k the substance .
The substance may be had by every

man M an not only is but also acknow l ,
edges himself to be responsible f or what

,
he is He makes the confession when h e

.
keeps his worst self from the public gaze

even though it promises him no spe cia l
gain The extrem e t o which th e sens e o f
.
personal responsibility and accountability

goes is evidenced by the fa ct that though ,
h we fi it di ficu l t to believe
m
f or o t ers n d f
in the closing o f the possibility of self i -
provement and ultimate loss fix ed and final ,
many perhaps most of us think and act in

, ,
o u r ow n case as though w e at least shall
be held strictly accountable for our char

acter and reap as we live I f we had no .
responsibility for what we were and did ,
there would be no room fo r shame were ,
we to be publicly known to be ex actly what

’
we are Rob Henley s poem of its de
.
fiant note and we are in the presence of

sober fact
It matte r s not h ow str ait th e gate ,
H ow cha r ged w ith punishments the sc ro ll

I am the Maste r of my fate
I am th e C a ptain of my s ou l .
Character l ike fruit gets rich flavor

, ,
th rou gh li v in g in a clim ate o f e x tremes

which give robustness by threatening very
e x istence The s tory o f the transgression
.
of Adam and his consort is illustrative

rather than singular The temptation set
.
was the very stifl est to which human li f e ,
being what it is could be subj ected

,
— a
demand for sel f discipline and obedience

-
t o mysterious l a w It is inte resting that
.
the first recorded strain put upon the hu

man w ill w as not to do rather than to do .
Seemingly it was the limitati on O f free

dom the restricti on of ch o ice th e nar
, ,
rowing of experience In n o o ther condi

’
ti ons could m an have had a chance to

gai n character Had ou r first human an
.
cestors won their day with o ut l apse every ,
succeeding generation would have had to

do the same Y ou cann o t inherit char
.
a cter Y ou must win it Temptation is

. .
never eliminated from huma n life as we ,
know it Its c onquest in one fo rm opens

.
the door to its appearance in another form .
Our earliest human a ncest o rs having

known the higher chose th e l ower But .
this did not eithe r in their ow n case or in

,
that of their O ff spring through a thousand

generations close the door to the attain
,
m ent of character Huma n l ife begins in

.
c o nditions which threaten character and

therefore becomes eligible f or character .
The c omplaint that there are those in the

w o rld who be cause of hopeless environ
,
ment never have an opp o rtu nity finds

, ,
‘
sympathetic ech o in every heart b ut it does ,
not absolve us fr o m responsib i l i ty t o ou r

own opportuni ty .
Much is made of heredi ty by those wh o
kn ow littl e or no thing of the controversies
which gather about the study of its opera
ti on The popular interp retation presses
.
hard upon its thorns and fo rgets even the

ex istence o f its blossoms The sins o f .
the fathers are visited up o n the childr en

”
unt o the third and fourth generation is ,
the dominating thought which by ex clu ,
sive conside rati o n diseases the mind o f

,
many a man until his wh o le imaginative

nature is emp l oyed in the service of some
congenital o r supposed co ngenital weak
,
m
ness to mak e h i its victim In this w ay
,
m
.
fatalism is induced F atalis is a disease.
of th e Mystic Sense which substitutes ac

quiescence f or reaction It is th e straw
committing itse l f to the river not the oars ,
man using the current t o his own adv an

tage Acquiescence is t oo tame a virtue
.
f or man if indeed it b e a virtue at al l

, .
Whatever credit we give to heredity

fo r endowing us with the tendencies o f our
evil forbears we must give it equal credit
,
f or endowing us with those of our good

fo rb ears I f you are determine d t o be
.
fatalistic be so f airly recognizing the p o s

, ,
sibl e transmission o f every kind o f ten
deney Consci ou s acceptance of gifts of

.
in three sh o r t sentences When w e know
.
more certainly the mechanism by which

heredity Operates we shall be be tter able
by eugenics and physiological o r mechan
ical p r oc esses to combat its evi l s and fo ster
its be ne fits In the meantime there is n o
.
call fo r us to stand idle I f man were .
mere animal it would be a nother matter ,
but he is not His Mysti c Sense which

.
,
links him to a sup erior order has steadily ,
di ff erentiated him from all belo w him It

m
.
has enabled h i to transcend e nvironment .
By mea ns o f it he can acquire c haracter

even i f th e l aws o f transmissi on Should
forb i d him t o pass it on to his o ff spring
by co ngenital endowment It is a finer .
and stronger thing to imp ro v e steadily the

traditi on o f family or ra c e by a series of
suc c essive pers o nal c onquests an d achieve
ments than to gain ex empti on fr o m evil
tendencies b y the more or l ess mechanical
pro cess of procreation Rel ease from
.
temptati o n is not necessari l y a bene fit and ,
is never as produ ctive of chara cter as the

gift o f abili ty to defeat it Frequently .
m
al l that is needed is inspirati on mystical ,
and human to enable a an t o r ise ab ove

,
his evi l inheritance and ha b it Evil tra

diti on is as rea l and destru cti v e a phase o f
Th e Six th S ense 8I
he redi ty as inborn wea kness whereas on ,
the o ther hand nob lesse ob lig e It is .
rather the tradition of the family trait o f

intemperance than a transmitted physical
pe culiari ty that keeps the line of drunkards
unbr o ken Children must not b e all owed
.
to supp ose that the y can be ex cused from

struggle Being prepared for all tempts
.
tions as a normal pa rt of ex perience they

are least l i k ely to become victims of any :
b eing made expectant o f all virtues they ,
may perchance glean some .
Our environment is our o pportunity ,
particularly in those spots where it is u n

congenial and threatening To chafe and .
fret is to increase the ini m i c al p ossibilities

of di ffi cul ty To thin k of it ex cept w ith
.
the intention o f mastering it is weakening

and depressing To rem ov e it w ith ou r
.
own hands rather than have another re

move it if it b e m ov eable or should it be
, , ,
imm o veable to weave it as material into

,
ou r scheme o f l i fe using its rough threads

,
to th e last strand is to achieve character

, .
A man must either fi t his burden to h is

b ack or his back to his burden if he de ,
sires to remain man They are rare ex .
cep tions in mankind who have n o t c apaci ty
f o r so doing i f not b y themse l ves at any

, ,
m
rate in a sy pathetic social setting A .
burdened li f e by the free u se of th e Mysti c

Sense may become a privileged life In .
trodu ce fearlessn ess and ex perimental curi

osity into hardship and you get romance
,
which keeps the wings of life moving and

mounting and m akes the world o f men
,
around lo o k up in aspiring wonder .
Th e r e is n o storm e b ut th is
O f yo u r ow n e C w ard ise
o
Th at br a v es yo u o ut ;
Y ou a r e the st m or e that m ock s
Y o u r se l v es ; yo u are the rock s

Of yo u r ow n s d o u bt
B e s id es this fea r e o f dange r th er s
’
,
dange r h ere ;
An d h e th at here fea r es dange r d o es ,
se rv e his feare
” 1
.
The Mystic Sense has an inner ear .
Through it conscience delive rs its message

by means of which we come to know and
understand the meaning of ought and
ought not Ready response to conscien ce
.
is to be covet ed above all things e specially ,
where conscience has been trained and

illumined A friend once wrote me a few
.
,
days before his death that he had come,
to see that what pretended to be education

1 CRASH AW .
Th e S ix th S ense 83
was no education at all unl ess it included

'
the development o f conscience But mere .
knowledge of right and wrong ought and ,
ought not does not impart good ness To

,
.
be aware that vice injures and virtue

bl esses is desir able but i n su ffi ci ent There .
is not less vice among those who know

than ther e is among those who do not
know ethics other things being equ al ex
, ,
cep ting wh ere education is conceived t o
be something more than th e imp arting of

i n formation .
Sometimes nations and individuals covet

character without being ready to pay the
who l e price for it They give admirable
.
facilities for the development O f certain

phases of training e ssential to character ,
but ex clude that deciding factor which de

termines whether or not they may be
woven into character Influences from .
other sources may come in to repair wil

ful neglect but i f not the trai ning goes
, , ,
for nothing so far as character is con

cerned Public schools can never give
.
ch aracter its be st opportunity without a

practical recognition of r eligion Purely .
s ecular education the imp arting of lea rn

,
ing including the science of ethics without ,
religion in church and home to supplement

it is a doubtful b lessing at best The cur

, .
rent idea o f secular education is not new

.
.
During the French Revolution its leaders

m apped out what appeared to be a satis
fact ory programme o f instruction It was .
desired to have moral training fi rst with ,
out religion or with the W o rship of

”
Re ason then with a minimum of reli
,
gion The priests were su ffered to c ontinue

.
as being at any rate moral policemen but ,
m
Danton p l anned to supplant them b y of
m
fi cie rs d e o rale All e x periments
. were
“
of no avail La orale .
p p
o u l aire
’
ch erch e encore it was pathet ,
“ ’
ically c omplained an p o int d, app n i
”
solid e Then c am e freedom t o w o rship
.
,
and later the Concordat reintroduced th e

old religious o rder partial l y it is true b e, , ,
cau se the people could or would not live

without it b ut largely fo r the sake o f
,
m ora ls .
I f re l igi o n without m o rali ty b e comes

superstitious sentiment m o rality w ith out ,
religion becomes for the average man ln

operative ethics and ultimately a pitiless
judge There is no more oppressive ty
.
rant than a h igh ethical c o de with a w ill ,
untrained uninspi red and help l ess t o re

, ,
sp ond It becomes a m o cking and crue l

.
Nemesis viewing with indi fference its

writhing victims The Chinese Classi c s
.
are preserved by the wonderful nation wh o

produced them as a literary treasure in
,
stead o f as a pra ctical code of condu ct

the sure f ate o f the Bible apart fro m th e
Christian Church .
It is t o o late in the d ay to pretend tha t

morality and religion are synonym ous ,
however intimate the ir relationship o r th at ,
the end of religion is t o make men goo d .
Righteousness which is the Christian term

,
for morali ty is to b e had only in part by

'
the practice of embracing th e ex cellent and

b ath ing ou r mysti c self in the fountain o f
ideals The type o f righteousne ss thu s
.
created can never b e aught than se l f con -
scious l ike an o verdressed woman or a

, ,
gaudy painting Th e Mystic Sense must

.
occupy itself in still higher altitudes .
Having come from God and being partak er

o f His nature it must aspire to Him
, .
The end of li fe is religion and th e end ,
O f religion is to know God The pur

est type of righteousness experienced
,
or conceiva b le is created b y our having as

,
ou r dominant ambition to know th e only
God and Je sus Christ whom He hath s ent .
The net result is Christian Character .

IN RE LATION TO RE LIGIO N
TH E o peration of the Mysti c Sense in re

lati on t o re l igion is comm only c alled faith .
Conv ersely faith under another nam e is

,
tha t o perati on o f the Mystic Sense whi ch

pr om ote s h ealth o f bo dy which a ffords a
,
starting p o int fo r all inte l lectual scienti fic , ,
and oth er p ro ducti v e pursuits w hich l eads ,
chara cter from strength t o Strength The .
m
sub j e cti v e conditions unde r which and th e ,
spheres in which th e Mystic Sense is e

,
ployed di ff er B u t the faculty itse l f an d

m , .
its odas op erand i are always the same .
Jus t as the sense o f bo dily S ight which

views the dirt b eneath ou r feet is th e sam e
sense whi ch contemplates the blue S ky so ,
the inne r sense o f sight which per c ei ves

an ele ctro n an i d ea l or a h ypothesis is th e
, ,
sam e sense which sees G o d It is as p o ssi .
ble t o see God as to see a hyp o thesis and ,
as possib l e ( not m o re and pr ob ab ly l ess ) ,
to see a hyp othesis as t o see G o d 1

.
1
A hypoth esis re e ive p a ssiv el y our quest : God
c s
m v es t meet u s
o o .
is left behind not unlike the phot ograph of
the flower retained on th e retina of the
eye and revived by act of memory and
will But the visualizing h as nothing to
.
t o tho se of the body sa v ing o n ly the sense of s ight

, .
Thus :
Sou l . I c a nnot of thy mus ic r igh tly say
Wh ether I h ea r o r touch or taste th ton es
, , e .
H ow comes it then
That I am hea r ing sti ll and taste an d , ,
to u ch
Y t n ot a g l imm
,
e er of that p r inc e ly sense

W h i h b inds ideas i n o ne and ma k es them
c ,
liv e '
N t o uch nor taste n or h ea r ing h ast th ou
or ,
n ow ;
Th o u l i v est i a wo r l d of signs and typ es
n ,
The p r esentati o n of mo st holy truths ,
Li vi n g and stro ng w hich now enco mp ass ,
thee .
A disembo died s o u l th o u h ast by r ight ,
N co nv erse w ith aught b eside thyse l f ;

o
B t l est s o stern a s ol itude sh o u l d lo ad
u ,
And b rea k thy b eing in mercy a r e vou ch ,

safed
So me low er m easu r es o f perc eptio n ,
Wh ic h seem to thee as th ough th ro ugh ,
channe l s b rought ,
Th ro ugh ear o r n e rv es or pa l ate w hich

, , ,
a r e gon e .
How , e v en n ow th e consummated Sai nts ,
See Go d in hea v e n I may n o t exp l i c ate ; ,
Mean wh i l e l et it suffi c e thee t o p o ssess

,
Su ch means o f co n v erse as are granted thee ,
Tho ugh ti ll th at B eatifi c ' isi on th ou art

, ,
bl ind .
”
The idea u nder l yin g th e B eatific ' is ion is th e com

p lete app r eh ens io n of Go d by th e c om p l et e an m .
do with p hysi cal sense perceptio n and th e ,
part o f th e personali ty thus impresse d is

spiritual To characterize ta ctual sensa
.
tion of the body as real n ecessitates a like

characterization of th e tactual sensation of
the spirit I f it be argued that in th e
.
latter relationship there is no certainty as

to what is p h antasm and what reali ty let ,
it be remembered that th e h istory of sci

ence is largely a series of correctio ns of
imperfect sense records A highly devel .
oped power o f Ob serv ation with ability for

Si ht i ch o sen t o den ot e this bl iss b ec aus e it is a
s
g
prt n elyc o rd inating sense and our Lo rd sp ok e of
co -
the heritag e of the u re in hea rt as b eing th e v isi o n

of God a heritage l t it be n oted how eve r for n ow
, e , ,
and not mere ly fo r hereafte r It seems reas ona bl e t o

.
suppo s e that our pow ers of perc eptio n afte r death w i ll

b e tho se mystic p ow ers whic h w e enj oy and use now ,
tho ugh then they w i ll b e ra p id ly d ev e lop e d as being

o u r on ly perc epti v e pow ers .
This sugge sts th e in v estigation in p rogress o f

psychic p hen om ena by sc ientifi c m eth ds Th e e o . r
su l t may l ead to an inc rease o f o u r knowl edg e t e
ga r ding th e natur e of su ch phen omena B u t I d o n ot .
see h ow if commun ic ati o n w i th th e depa rted b e pos

,
sibl e at a ll we c an expect t o r ea ch and be rea ched

, ,
by them exc ept through th e Mystic Sense Th e ih

,
.
voc ati on f Saints seems t o me mo re in l in e w ith

o
w hat is pr ob a bl e than some of the experiments of the

day D isembo died spirits presuma bly approximate
.
the natur e of Go d and c an appro ac h o r b e ap

p ro ach ed o n l y after a pure l y sp r itu a l or mysti c1a l
fashi on exc ept ing in th o se rare psych o physic a l in
,
-
stan c es w hich are themse lv es c ontingent up on a

high l y d ev e loped mystic a l chara cte r an d exp er ienc e .
accurate registration an d c orre l ation is th e
distinguishing feature of culture The .
M ystic Sense like the bodily senses is ca

, ,
pa hle of increasingly accurate perception

by skilful and dis c iplined use It takes .
its beginnings in groping s like th e awk

’
ward j erks o f a baby s l imbs and develops
,
into ordered and reliable movement by

ex ercise and experiment which include s mis
,
takes and the pro fit a cc ruing to the exp eri

e nce Superstition bears the same relation
.
to faith that a false scienti fic h ypoth

esis bears to ascertained fact Th e Mys .
ti c Sense in its infant working c atches a

distorte d view of the ideal as when Dar
,
win propounde d his conception of heredity

by pange nesis an d leads us astray in
,
scien ce ; in like manner in religion a

glimpse through a mist o f ignorance an d
,
mo ral de ficiency of th e Absolute ev entu

, ,
ates in superstition Both are ne cessa ry

.
stages in the training o f the Mystic Sense .
Similarly to th e way in which the theory

of pangenesis stimulated discussion and
research so as to aid th e Mystic Sense to a
more a c curate perception of the true hy
p o th esis of th e manner o f h eredity the ,
superstitions of th e nations conceived in

sincerity c ru de and even repulsive though
,
they be h ave contributed to the c omplete

,
knowledge of God and H is chara cter

which forms our most valuable heritage .
It is not hazardous to say that the ideals

and hypothe ses which are still waiting for
the cognition o f the Mystic Sense transcend
gloriously those thus far appreh ended .
This means that science is in its in fancy .
It is equally true to assert that religion ,
so far from having fallen into decline is ,
but gird ing itself to scale heights impatient

to feel the tread of human feet That .
which is good and true in itself must per

sist whatever its crudeness and blemishes
, .
The Mystic Sense in relation to religion

is only at the beginning of its histo ry .
Human that is mystic li f e began at so re

, ,
mote a period as to be beyond the reach

of research The operation o f the Mystic
.
Sense through many thousands Of years 1
prior to human records led the way to that

ordered approach to God whic h we c all
religion The possibilities of its growth
.
for the race at large are indicated and em

p h as iz ed by individual instances taken from
th e common crowd . The world is just at
this mome nt engrossed in seeing th at every
1P r o gres iv e c iv i l i at io n m ay b e sa id t o ha v e b e
s z
gun B c
. .
one Should have an opportunity of develop
ing fine physique and of a c q u iring informa
tion It is assumed that under proper
.
conditions a high average may be reache d .
The same is to be postulated for the devel

op ment of the Mysti c Sense in relation to
th e highest and best in religion U nder a .
su ffi cient stimulus the average man will be

able to apprehend what now is rea ched
only by a minority This h owever can.
, ,
not come to pass until a whole worl d o f

men strain their inner eye and quicken
their inner car in the same direction each ,
contributing of his own strength to th e rest ,
and a ll to each
m
.
Th e h istory of C h ristianity an d its i

mediate progenitor Judaism is the record
, ,
o f the high est development of the Mystic
Sense in religion In the c ourse of its

.
progress the Absolute rises from a dim

shadow to th e greatest Reali ty It is dis .
tinctiv ely th e religion of o rderly and ra

tion al mysticism At fi rst m en feeling
.
, ,
the w o rking of the Mystic Sense used it in ,
a childish way What w as S p l en d i d in

.
them wou l d be culpable in us Abrah am .
could consider it a call o f God to slay his

son : a man of to day could only think of it
-
as a monstrous crime against God and so

m
ciety , revolting even to c ontemplate It .
arked a stage in the rationalizing of faith

when at the last moment Abraham saw
’
mystically that it was not God s p u rpose
that any human being should ever d o at
His bidding an inhuman deed .
The most per f ect individual life o f faith

ever lived was that o f Jesus Christ His .
Mystic Sense never erred He was never .
so ex clusively Divine as not t o be com
p l etely human He was God . living th e
li fe of man He walked by faith not by

.
,
sight ' isi ons and ecstasies foun d rare

.
and m omentary place in His experience .
He rea ch ed H is goal by the use of those

gifts an d endowments whic h we have in
comm o n with Him and proclaime d for ,
ever to th e race of men that it is the sim

ple stea dy patient ex ercise of the Mysti c
, ,
Sense toward a God who is revealed as

Love which ex alts human li fe an d puts it
,
in the way o f winning incomparable power

and b eauty His reply to the query What
.
,
shall we do that we might work the works

,
of God is This is the work of Go d that

, , ,
ye b e i vl e e — believe on Him whom He

hath sent Further He makes the as
.
,
tou nd ing prophecy Assuredly I announce,
that he that believeth on me the works ,

94. Th e Six th S ense
that I d o shall he do also ; and greate r
’
works than these shall he do Th e early .
Christians were dis tingui sh ed f rom their

fellows as men who ex hibited in high de
gree the faculty Of belief so as to be in a
”
u nique sense Believ ers an d th ei r re ,
l igion w as one in which faith played so

prominent a part as to merit the name of
The Faith The whole Christian era
.
has been an era of faith or the ex er c ise of

the Mystic Sense N 0 great w o rk can be
.
f ound in it in scien c e l iterature or religion

, ,
which has n o t been made possible by the

stimulus given to faith b y the influence of
J esus M iracles do not cease to be mirac
.
u lou s w h en they c ease to b e mysteri ous and ,
the Chri stian centuri es are strewn with such

miracles many of them works of heal ,
ing and moral restoration as great as those ,
of Jesus But the greater works than His

.
still h e before us when we have su ffi ciently
shed materialism and committed ourselves
more implicitly to the li fe of faith 1

.
1
Two things must b e r ememb ered in co nnection
w ith the interpret ti o n of ' xi v ff In the fi rst
a uo . .
p l ac e the e ch apters b ur ting as they are w ith

start l ing pr om
,
s ,
s
is es w hich th e c ritic cl aims ha v e n ot

b een made good w ere addre ed t o a se l ect and ss
s p ec ia lly trained gro up o f follow ers F r instan c e

,
. o ,
W hat so ev er ye ha ll ask in my name that w i ll I d o

S , ,
co nstitute s a promi se th at co u l d n ot ha v e b een made

it was only to the Mysti c Sense of believers
tha t He manifested Himself but also to ,
their b o dily senses by w ay o f the Mystic

Sense There is mu ch tha t comes to the
.
c ognizan c e o f th e Mysti c Sense through

physical perception and unless there is a
,
re fined and cultured nerv ous o rgani sm

there is n o mystical connotation A Peter .
Bell c ould not find the mystical in nature .
A p rim ros e by a ri v er s b rim

’
A ye llow p rimro se w as to him ,
An d it w as n othing more .
The same primr o se to a Linnz u s o r an

Asa Gray would re veal an unseen w orld .
Conversely there are some things w h ich

,
c annot a ff e ct our physica l b eing ex cept by

th e way o f mystical e x perien c e Strikin g
.
instances o f this sort h ave b een suitably

termed by vo n H iigel psych o p hysical -
.
They are p o ssible only where there is ex

traord inary sympathy between the mystica l
and physical the latter having been made
,
very completely the servant of the former .
O nly the mysti c or the specialist in the

,
use of the Mystic Sense is eligible for such

,
experiences The tremendously real fel

.
low sh ip with the Risen Lord of the dis

cip les was of an ecstatic or psycho physical -
order It degra d es the Resurrecti on man

.
ifestations to overemphasize their physical

reality as though this rather than the ,
mystical were the important fea tu re

,
.
Their dominant note is spiritual The .
physi c al perception came through the mys

tical The ex perience of the disciples
.
could not be repr o duced in after times with

oth er men fo r the necessa ry co nditions
,
were wanting Here an d there among .
spiritual giants th ere is a well authenticated

p sy c h o physical experience but it is of
-
phenomenal rather than o f spiritual or

moral value And yet it is within our
.
power to see th e C hrist as really an d ef

fectiv ely as the Ap o stles did th ough not ,
wholly a fte r th e same m a nne r .
St Paul did not begi n h is l ife of faith

.
whe n h e h ad h is psy ch o p hysi c a l experience -
on th e road to Damas cus He reached

‘
.
there a turning point in its histo ry He .
w as c onverted turning his mysti c powers,
in a new dire ction Those who were with .
him were not su ffi c iently developed t o see

all that h e saw or hear all that he h eard
1
.
His vision o f Jesus was momentary but

his life of faith was continuous I f faith .
was at its beginning wh en Abraham made

1
Acts ix 7 ; xx 9 , 1 1, .
h is venture it reached an illustrative and
,
i nviting climax when St Paul made his . .
It w as greater fo r St Paul to espouse the

.
cause of the Christ than to have a vision

o f Jesus The phenomena l o r ex traordi
.
nary doe s not al w ays culminate in such
courage and devotion as his It w as b e .
cause he was a mystic that he had his vision ,
n o t be c ause he had a vision that he became

a mystic The Apostles who knew Jesus
.
in the flesh had a lesser opportuni ty for

faith than St Paul who saw Him but o nce
.
and then aft er psycho physica l fashion and

-
who never apprehended Him w ith all his

b o di ly senses l i k e th ose wh o saw with
” ”“
their eyes and beheld and wh ose ,
“ ”
hands ha ndled the Word of Li fe It .
w as fitting that St Pau l should give Chris

.
tianity the impetus which made it a w orld

religion The h ighest development of
.
faith h as assigned to it the biggest u nder

ta king St Peter with undeveloped intel
. .
l e ctual gi fts and faith based on S ight could

not do w hat St Paul with highly deve l oped
.
reason and singular f aith could do The .
Risen Jesus Himself dec l are d that faith

dependent upon physi c a l or psycho physical -
experience is o f a low er order than that in

wh ich the mystic sense is indepen d ent o f
Th e Six th S ense ‘
99
phe no mena l acti o n of the b o dily sense

Because thou hast seen me thou hast b e ,
liev ed : blessed are they that ha v e n o t seen ,
and yet have believed .
The great multi tu de o f m o rtals w ill al

ways be outside o f psycho physi ca l exp e -
riences . There is n o religious loss in th e

fact Rather the contra ry That which
. .
gives th e s ou l its permane nt h o ld upon

moral and spiritua l realities and regard for
them in mystics is not th eir rare psycho
physical ex periences but th e same ex er cise
,
o f the Mysti c Sense in the daily r ound o f
c ommonplace religious duty whi c h is ope n

to every human bei ng w i th like wo nderfu l
,
results upon ch ara cter A p h en omenal .
spiri tu a l oc cu rre nce in th e c ase o f one w h o
m
w as not livi ng a religi o us life wou l d b e a
ere w ond er per h aps eve n pr o du cti v e o f
,
spiritual h arm 1
.Su ch expe ri enc es are
never to be s ough t f o r I f th ey co me .
their peril is not l ess tha n th ei r inspi r atio n .
r v roun d th common task

Th e t i ia l , e ,
W i ll furn ish a ll w e need t k o as ,
Room t o d e ny o ur se l ves roa d , a
To b rin g u s dai ly nea re G d r o .
1
Th e mira cl es of Moses b efo re Ph a r a oh e ill us ar
t ti e of that whi ch a b u n d s i
ra v o h ist ory —w d e rs
n on
hardening further an i rr e l igi ous l if e .
It is a great b arrier to religious e ffort
am o ng th e crow d for th o se l i v ing th e life
,
o f faith to gi v e the impres sion that their

,
experience is one o f a series o f e cstasies .
It is n o m o re so than is that of a student

o f science or higher mathematics It is .
the l ife o f faith open to a ll men w hich

forms th e religi ous li fe of the best m en
and the best religious l ife of all en m
the constant p lacing o f God before the
Mystic Sense in a way not dissimilar from
that in w h i c h th e s c ie ntis t appr o a c hes h is
hyp othesis .
Think not th e Fa ith by which th e j ust sh al l live

Is a d e ad c re ed a map co rrect of h ea v en
, ,
Far l e ss a fee l in g fo nd and f u gitiv e ,
A thou ght l ess gift w ithdra wn as soo n as given ;

,
It is an affi rmati on and an act

Th at b i ds eternal tru th b e p r esent f act ”
.
Though th e Mystic Sense is not th e so le

re l igio u s facu l ty it h olds the prima cy h ere
,
as in every distinctively human a c tivity .
U sed with reas on its oper ation bec omes

reasonable or rati o nal f aith Its op p osite .
is not reason b ut sight that is t o say the

, ,
unaided findings of the bo dily senses of

which sight b eing the m o st princely is
, ,
’
representative .Hen c e St Pa u l s co n
.
tras t — w e wa lk b y faith not by sight ,

.
Even here it is hardly fair to say there is

antag o nism Sight is the enemy o f faith
.
only when it refuses to be an ally Sight .
sees faith in sees an d therefore fore

,
-
sees Sight has boundaries which it can

.
n ot pa ss . Faith has horizons wh ich re

treat as it advances .
Faith has become increasing ly rational

as the world has g rown o lder and exp eri
ence h as been added to experience Its .
explorati o ns in the world o f ideals have

been more frequent and daring with the
advance of time Consequently the man
.
of to day makes his flights thith erwards

-
with a fulness of assurance on rational

grounds o r grounds of high probabili ty
whi ch would have been impossible to an
Abraham If the triumphs open to faith
m
.
have u tip lied s o have the deterrent forces

,
holding it back or set in battl e array to

thwart or otherwise impair it The co . m
monest injury wrought upon faith is the
defle cting o f it from the worthy to the
’
unworthy or less wo rthy If a man s .
Mystic Sense acute in other directions is

, ,
dormant or sluggish in religion the rea so n

m
,
is usually to be found I think in circu , ,
s tances an alogous to th ose which make a

stu dent of b elles lettres for instan ce in , ,
di fferent t o scien c e or a philosopher care

,
l ess o f the expl o its of c ommer c e cases of ,
which are n o t wanti ng The mind finds .
higher pleasure among c ertain persons in

being exclusive and technical than in being
catholic So the Mystic Sense can fall
.
short o f its highes t employment simply b e
cause there is not in its possessor the will
m
to employ it commensurately with its os
p a city . The ex planation why some en
are no t actively religi o us must be sought

elsewhere than in the contention that they
are S ho rt a fa culty Th e Mysti c Sense .
,
which by v irtue o f their humani ty they

poss ess is not emp l oyed by th em reli
,
g io u sly fro m w h atever reason defe cti v e

i nterest prejudi c e antagonism env ir on
, , ,
m ent Neverth eless th e same i nner sense

.
is pushed t o its fullest a ctivity in other

directions The faculty which by a daring
.
leap fix es on the evolutionary hypothesis ,
o r wit h imaginative subtlety suggests the
plot of a novel is the selfsame one w hich

,
enables us to say f O ur Father which art

,
‘
,
in heaven The consideration of vicious

.
m en who are irreligi ou s does not come
m
withi n the purview of this discussion Re .
l igion and vi c e are u tually exclusive ,

1 04
. Th e S ix th S ense
Church is as O ld as Christianity O ne .
Body o ne Sp i rit one Lord one Faith

, , , ,
one Baptism said St Paul before Ch ris

, .
tian ity was fi fty years Old an d the use

of the Mystic Sense indepen d ently of or
g an iz ed Christian ex perience canno t hop e
to reach valuable results Reformers o f .
religion are eccentrics and det r act from

their service so far as they ignore the t e
lig iou s ex perience of the ages by assumin g
ex clusive positio ns or lifting a doct ri ne
out o f its setting Our Lord never br oke
.
with the faith of His fathers H is last .
act was t o partake of the Passover accord

ing to the law It was th e Jews w h o
.
broke with Him He came not to destroy

.
but to ful fill The only setting for any

.
one part of the truth is all the rest of th e

truth The only relationship big enough
.
for any one m an is all the r est of man

kind When at l ast the disturbed and
.
broken C hristian Church com es to rest in

th e large sche m e o f unity planned by its
Founder then the mystical l ife of man
,
will gain a power and splendor which now

is but a vision and a hope .
This conc ludes m y endea vo r t o credit

the Mystic Sense with that dignity and
position o f importance which be lo ngs to

it by right The attempt is crude and th e
.
bri l liant visio n whic h I ha d at the begin

n ing of m y task h as become dimmer unde r
the process of putting it into w ords .
Whatever has b een written stands as a

contribution of thought and experience
which cannot be of much value until it has
been puri fied from the dross o f individua l
ism through the findings o f religion and
science and l ost in th e great volume of
,
t ru th t o whic h I submi t it w ith r ev erence

an d l oyal ty .

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TH E A RT OF L IFE SE RI E S

E d w ard H ow ard G riggs, E d itor

First p rinting , Nove b e 1911 mr .

Second p rinting March . 1912 ,

Th ird p rin ting Ot

E x acting duties ha v e c ompelled the writer

and in s ome en l arged the o rigina l concep

ti on o f the sub j ect in h an d A long oc ea n

v oyage at l a st has pr ovi d e d the quiet in

SS Prinz E itel Friedrich,

I N TRODU CTORY NOTE

which distinguishes man from the highest

aptly b e characterized as the Huma n

Sense It is used for n o one ex clusive

pu rp o se ; on th e contrary it is only und er

al l b e co m e human In its nature it dif

fers essentially from the b o dily sense s

p er cei v e and t o a ffo rd fo od fo r th ought .

The ﬁ ve bodily sens es o riginally in the ,

ﬁ rst stages o f ev oluti on were and in their

u l tima te asp ec t are one sens e th e

ollusc and w o rm re l ate the m selves to

By degrees the single sense in the ev olu

t ion ary pr oc ess ﬁ n ds op p ortunity an d oc

c asion f or specialization Sight is ex .

traord inarily sensitized touch by m eans o f

the distant obj ect c om es b owing to ou r

converted into intimate friends and ,

Heari ng is touch l o calized and specia l

cializ ation o f t ouch uniquely deli c ate su p

posed by Maeterlin ck to be S till in its ear

which responds to the stimulus Of those

as t o discern the inner p roperties Of fo od

stu ﬁ ; taste is the testing sense Mer e .

to u ch de term i nes the e x isten c e s p eciali zed

As indicative Of the unity Of the ani a l

sense is impaired o r destroyed th e o thers ,

diligently endea vo r to supply its a b sence ,

the entire bo dy p laying the part as far as

can almost hea r with eyes The sense s .

that are l e ft strain not with out a m easure

Of success to c onvey to the b rain impre s

si ons for whi ch they are n o t c o ngenitally

The organic di ff eren c es in th e bo di ly

similari ty all the senso ry nerves grouping

themselves under the h ead Of touch The .

M ystic Sense likewise ﬁ rst c om es t o our

attention as a simp le fa culty Of percep

r ev ea ls th at its u ni ty is ordere d c omplex ity ,

which rel ates m an t o the spiritua l o r p sy

l ati o n with the spiritua l order o f w hich

cise , gains its freed o m and reach es its

h ighest de v elopment in this sphere b e ,

ginning operati ons at the point where the

m o st character use value O f the Obj ective

and d iﬁ erentiates betwee n the human and

th e anima l esti m ate of things . I ndeed it

d ane aﬁ airs and steeps its wings in Di v ine

altitudes where the thr o ne of Go d is set .

N o t only d o es it percei v e b ut it a l s o l ays

or eludes the gras p o f a ll the rest o f ou r

faculties in th eir happiest combina ti on and ,

t h erefore of any one of them independently .