The interior life from the standpoint of the mystics. An address delivered before the London spiritualist alliance ... December 16th, 1890

senses, and they are valuable for that reason. However, they are not true Mysticism, and those who pursue them are not true Mystics. Mysticism has only an incidental connection with the entire world of phenomena, whether normal or abnormal. The goal of transcendental science is to move beyond the world of appearances, to pierce the veil of outward shows, and—leaving the realms of illusion—to enter into the great realities. It is to this second, more elevated branch of what is loosely called transcendentalism that I invite your attention tonight. I must admit from the start that this is not an easy subject, for it deals with the highest aspiration a human can hold and the highest act a human can achieve.

All transcendental philosophy recognizes and is built upon one great fact: that the true light is to be found within. The paths of interior contemplation—the state of withdrawal—and the hidden life are not only the way to God, but also the way to the soul's peace. As has been truly stated by the Quietists A 17th-century movement within Christianity that emphasized inner stillness and passive contemplation as the way to experience God., "there is no real happiness except that which results from a peaceful heart." Thus, we see that the summum bonum Latin: "the highest good."—the supreme and permanent bliss of all human existence—must also be sought within. Those who have studied the mysteries of being and have, in a sense, spoken to us from behind the veil, have denied that truth and reality exist in the merely outward life, just as they have denied it joy and contentment. Based on their authority, we must add to our previous statements that the true life is also found within. This is the only life that remains constant amid the everlasting flow of appearances and disappearances, the only life that is real among the many things that only seem to be. Men have searched for it in the kingdoms of this world, where God has no part, and have failed miserably in

their quest. They have sought it amid the splendors and beauties, the comforts and joys of external nature; but all her attractions and delights have been merely the clothing and the entrance to the "quiet rest and unchanging simplicity" which are the conditions of the great reality.

What can be offered to the human mind that has higher value or greater intellectual richness than what the interior life offers when it promises God and truth, light, and the undivided permanence and bliss of real being? It might be said that such rewards are possible for only a tiny fraction of our race, and given our current environment, that is unfortunately true. However, the value of the interior state should not be measured by social limitations. A thing is not less good—rather, it is more desirable—because it is difficult to achieve and can only be reached by a few. Let the quest be attempted by those whose surroundings make it possible, and we may benefit somewhat from their success even if we cannot achieve it ourselves.

The conditions for a life of contemplation are found in the word "detachment." The Quietists speak of "detachment from the things of earth, contempt for riches, and the love of God." These terms from Western ascetic theology can be translated into the language of modern science—into the terminology of that natural law which people have tried to trace through its various branches into the spiritual world. The detachment in question consists of cutting off communication with inferior things. The resulting isolation should not be confused with that of a cynical philosopher who withdraws in disgust from a world whose beauty he cannot see and whose goodness he no longer shares. The isolation of the interior life is free of pride