60 



VERY REV. W. R. INGE^ M.A.^ D.T)., OX 



spiritual progress — a goal which is, in a manner, present at 

 every stage of the race ; the mystical ladder, we may say, is a 

 progress udthin the infinite or absolute, and ultimate reality in 

 the sphere in which the spirit moves. Consdousness is not the 

 measure of our apprehension of the truth ; much of our deepest 

 life is submerged ; but the spiritual life must be lived {v4cii, as 

 Bergson is so fond of insisting) ; otherwise our words about it 

 will riug hollow. 



In spite of the vogue which the word mysticism has un- 

 doubtedly gained since the beginning of the present century — 

 a vogue which is itself strong evidence of the degree in which 

 the centre of gravity in religion has swung round from authority 

 to experience — it is still necessary to say something about the 

 meaning of the word. Perhaps the long half-conscious associa- 

 tion of the word with nebulousness and airy nothingness (misti- 

 cism !) is no longer to be found. Most people know something 

 about tlie Greek mysteries, and that mystery and sacrament 

 mean the same thing, but the idea still prevails that the mystic 

 is a religious dilettante — that his religion is an aesthetic luxury 

 . — a dainty fancy which takes pleasure in hndiug '* loose types 

 of things through all degrees," so that anything may be a 

 " symbol " of anything else, and we may transform the world 

 into a cryptogram or a system of masonic signs, as it suits our 

 pleasure. It is suggested that one attraction towards becoming 

 a mystic is that it enables us to maintain an attitude of graceful 

 indifference to sublunary problems, and especially to our duty 

 towards our neighbour. 



Several writers have tried their hand at definitions. I will 

 give three recent ones. Granger : " Mysticism is that attitude 

 of mind which divines and moves towards the spiritual in the 

 common things of life, not a partial and occasional operation of 

 the mind under the guidance of far-fetched analogies." Eufus 

 Jones : " Mysticism is that type of religion which puts the 

 emphasis on immediate awareness of relation with God, on 

 direct and immediate consciousness of the Divine I'resence. It 

 is religion in its most acute, intense, and living stage." 

 E. C. Moberly : " It is an inward lis^ht which makes itself 

 manifest as character ; a direct communion of love which is 

 also, to the fullest extent, wholly rational at once and wholly 

 practical ; it is as much knowledge as love, and love as know- 

 ledge ; it is as truly contemplation as activity, and activity as 

 contemplation. This is the ideal of mysticism." This last is 

 wanting in precision. I should lay stress on the first-hand 

 quality of all mystical religion. Mysticism is religion new-given. 



