The Varieties of Religious Experience · Chapter
Endnotes explained
The endnotes provide supplementary references, clarifications, and citations for the main text, elaborating on key concepts such as the anthropocentric nature of religion, the role of feeling and emotion, the subliminal consciousness, and t
What happens
The endnotes provide supplementary references, clarifications, and citations for the main text, elaborating on key concepts such as the anthropocentric nature of religion, the role of feeling and emotion, the subliminal consciousness, and the practical fruits of religious experience. They also include critical remarks on other scholars and further illustrative examples.
Themes in this chapter
The Role of Feeling and Emotion
The endnotes emphasize the primacy of emotional and expansive impulses in religious faith, as seen in the quotes from Whitman and Perreyve.
Mysticism and the Reality of the Unseen
The notes discuss mystical consciousness and the sense of a being both excessive and identical with the self, referencing Récéjac.
Personal vs. Institutional Religion
The endnotes include a case of a woman who withdrew from church fellowship, illustrating the tension between personal spiritual experience and institutional religion.
Characters to notice
- William James
Author of the work, providing extensive footnotes and references.
- Frederick W. H. Myers
Cited for his work on the subliminal consciousness and psychical research.
- Edwin Diller Starbuck
Quoted for a case of purification by elimination and for his study of religious experiences.
- Henry Suso
Example of inner spiritual discipline and the use of circles for protection.
- Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
Mentioned for his boyish notebook praising monastic life.
- Walt Whitman
Quoted for lines expressing readiness for great things and the sense of the possible.
- James H. Leuba
Referenced for his work on the contents of religious consciousness.
- Henri Perreyve
Quoted for his emotional and expansive religious experiences.
Key passages
“All religious views of life are anthropocentric.”
Religious perspectives are centered on human concerns and purposes.
This is a key assertion about the nature of religion, emphasizing its human-centered focus.
“When mystical activity is at its height, we find consciousness possessed by the sense of a being at once excessive and identical with the self: great enough to be God; interior enough to be me.”
In peak mystical experiences, one feels a presence that is both larger than oneself and intimately one's own.
This captures the paradoxical nature of mystical union.
“Bring in the light, and the evil goes in a moment.”
Focusing on the positive and divine within can instantly dispel negativity.
This is a practical Vedantic teaching on overcoming evil through inner light.
