Note 397 — LECTURE VI. THE TWO RELIGIONS IN HISTORY.

“Vient enfin le mysticisme de la dernière époque, qui, de même que tous les mysticismes, finit de la manière la plus misérable, et enfante une idolâtrie grossière, ainsi que les stupides pratiques de la sorcellerie” (Laboulaye, Introd. to La Comme’s transl. of Wassilief’s Buddhism, p. xlv). This has often been verified in the religious history of the West, and the fate of many former “spiritual” aspirants to enter or to peer into the Invisible and Unutterable should be a powerful warning to all who are now aiming at surpassing the natural conditions of existence. In endeavouring to transcend humanity, we are likely to fall miserably below it.