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ladytetra777["Saintliness" is spread across three lectures, but combined in one chapter in the CLC edition of the text.]
James has circled back to his original guiding questions of "what are religious propensities" and "what is their philosophical significance" in this trio of lectures titled "Saintliness." Thus far, the former question has been answered in preceding lectures on the reality of an unseen world, its affects as religious experiences that elevate the soul of the healthy-minded, or fracture the soul of the melancholy. Both groups have the capacity for the experience of conversion, where the paradigm of the individual's respective consciousness shifts, transforming the individual into a happier, more whole being. James discusses moments where a person reports losing their sense of identity, only to be confronted with an experience ineffably greater than that of mundane human life, and moments of surrender to this higher power that are accompanied by a higher joy than anything found on Earth. Now it is time to answer the later question, what are the fruits cultivated by such experiences?
The task set out is twofold: first, James will describe the results of religious life, and second, a value judgment will be determined in order to assess these results (259). He says, people are prone to "differing susceptibilities of emotional excitement" (261) that inform different impulses and inhibitions as the inner conditions which comprise one's character. In other words, the push-and-pull of the inner influences impacting outward behaviors and the ensuing attitudes one takes toward them form a psychological complex which is unique to the individual. It is here James notes that a fruit of the religious life is the diminished presence of inhibitions, religious life bringing about a permanent higher insight one may draw upon (267-268).
Saintliness is thus the collection of qualities cultivated as a result of religious life. James defines four traits of the saintly character, manifested outwardly in four distinct ways. The saintly individual is prone to (1) a feeling of existing in a life wider than the boundaries of their ego-mind, (2) a willingness to surrender to the control of a higher power, (3) euphoria brought on by the melting down of one's ego-mind, (4) a shifting of the emotional center tending toward affirmation and harmony. James states these inner conditions are expressed as (a) asceticism as the passion of self-surrender, (b) strength where personal interests become insignificant, acting toward a cause greater than the self, (c) purification, as in, treating earthly weakness, and (d) charity, actions beneficial to all, even the enemies of the saintly individual (271-274).
The examples set thereafter detail accounts of these inner conditions reflected in outward actions. One example provided is the account of Bill Bray, a man who encounters an unseen reality through hearing the voice of God instructing him to "Worship me with clean lips" and then proceeds to surrender to this higher power, and life an ascetic life free of smoking and chewing tobacco in an ongoing effort to purify himself (290-291). Another account of saintliness comes from St. John of the Cross, where the mystic's provisions for conduct are of denial. In denying all that does not please God, in resolving to "know nothing" and "be nothing... desiring Nothing" (304-306).
What these accounts show are the ideals of saintly character particularized in individuals, manifested by their actions and retained in the consistency of their attitudes. For Bray, purifying the self comes in part through the action of ceasing tobacco use, a habit which made him impure. For St. John of the Cross, the solution to the fleeting nature of attachment is in the removal of earthly desires, which reaps the reward of encounter with God as the All. Shown in both accounts are that a recognizing of and, to borrow a term from Heidegger, being-towards God as that which is greater than personal desires or earthly life. The differences between others are reconciled under the providence of God, as the saint sees all life as God's creation.
"Only those who have no private interests can follow an ideal straight away" (319) James says, in discussing the path of the saint. It is here I am reminded of a recent post I made in the UGC discussion group on ritual practice. I have been wondering the significance of mentally forming shapes, lighting them with given colors, and intensifying their visualizations; exercises that I have repeated countless times at this point. The effort to hone the mind's focus feels too simple. My new ongoing thesis is a Platonic one: it is an exercise in manifesting a form in three-dimensional space, training the mind to engage with a higher reality. Reading this chapter, I see the saints practice this across the examples James provides in these lectures. These are people who encounter higher reality through their actions, seeing the events that solely take place on Earth as transient and trading an interest in them in favor of a pursuit of the Divine.
Yet, the judgment on the value of a saintly character has not been conclusively described. Surely, there are the practical considerations, ie, the benefits charity has toward others, the benefits of giving up harmful behaviors like tobacco use, that are implied. However, accounts mentioned by like that of Suso, whose acts of extreme asceticism and self-purification that in practice appear as a form of masochism as a taming of the body out of a pursuit of God do not initially seem to share the same practical benefits. James ends these lectures as a guidepost for what is to come: the value derived from saintliness, to be discussed in the next chapter.
James has circled back to his original guiding questions of "what are religious propensities" and "what is their philosophical significance" in this trio of lectures titled "Saintliness." Thus far, the former question has been answered in preceding lectures on the reality of an unseen world, its affects as religious experiences that elevate the soul of the healthy-minded, or fracture the soul of the melancholy. Both groups have the capacity for the experience of conversion, where the paradigm of the individual's respective consciousness shifts, transforming the individual into a happier, more whole being. James discusses moments where a person reports losing their sense of identity, only to be confronted with an experience ineffably greater than that of mundane human life, and moments of surrender to this higher power that are accompanied by a higher joy than anything found on Earth. Now it is time to answer the later question, what are the fruits cultivated by such experiences?
The task set out is twofold: first, James will describe the results of religious life, and second, a value judgment will be determined in order to assess these results (259). He says, people are prone to "differing susceptibilities of emotional excitement" (261) that inform different impulses and inhibitions as the inner conditions which comprise one's character. In other words, the push-and-pull of the inner influences impacting outward behaviors and the ensuing attitudes one takes toward them form a psychological complex which is unique to the individual. It is here James notes that a fruit of the religious life is the diminished presence of inhibitions, religious life bringing about a permanent higher insight one may draw upon (267-268).
Saintliness is thus the collection of qualities cultivated as a result of religious life. James defines four traits of the saintly character, manifested outwardly in four distinct ways. The saintly individual is prone to (1) a feeling of existing in a life wider than the boundaries of their ego-mind, (2) a willingness to surrender to the control of a higher power, (3) euphoria brought on by the melting down of one's ego-mind, (4) a shifting of the emotional center tending toward affirmation and harmony. James states these inner conditions are expressed as (a) asceticism as the passion of self-surrender, (b) strength where personal interests become insignificant, acting toward a cause greater than the self, (c) purification, as in, treating earthly weakness, and (d) charity, actions beneficial to all, even the enemies of the saintly individual (271-274).
The examples set thereafter detail accounts of these inner conditions reflected in outward actions. One example provided is the account of Bill Bray, a man who encounters an unseen reality through hearing the voice of God instructing him to "Worship me with clean lips" and then proceeds to surrender to this higher power, and life an ascetic life free of smoking and chewing tobacco in an ongoing effort to purify himself (290-291). Another account of saintliness comes from St. John of the Cross, where the mystic's provisions for conduct are of denial. In denying all that does not please God, in resolving to "know nothing" and "be nothing... desiring Nothing" (304-306).
What these accounts show are the ideals of saintly character particularized in individuals, manifested by their actions and retained in the consistency of their attitudes. For Bray, purifying the self comes in part through the action of ceasing tobacco use, a habit which made him impure. For St. John of the Cross, the solution to the fleeting nature of attachment is in the removal of earthly desires, which reaps the reward of encounter with God as the All. Shown in both accounts are that a recognizing of and, to borrow a term from Heidegger, being-towards God as that which is greater than personal desires or earthly life. The differences between others are reconciled under the providence of God, as the saint sees all life as God's creation.
"Only those who have no private interests can follow an ideal straight away" (319) James says, in discussing the path of the saint. It is here I am reminded of a recent post I made in the UGC discussion group on ritual practice. I have been wondering the significance of mentally forming shapes, lighting them with given colors, and intensifying their visualizations; exercises that I have repeated countless times at this point. The effort to hone the mind's focus feels too simple. My new ongoing thesis is a Platonic one: it is an exercise in manifesting a form in three-dimensional space, training the mind to engage with a higher reality. Reading this chapter, I see the saints practice this across the examples James provides in these lectures. These are people who encounter higher reality through their actions, seeing the events that solely take place on Earth as transient and trading an interest in them in favor of a pursuit of the Divine.
Yet, the judgment on the value of a saintly character has not been conclusively described. Surely, there are the practical considerations, ie, the benefits charity has toward others, the benefits of giving up harmful behaviors like tobacco use, that are implied. However, accounts mentioned by like that of Suso, whose acts of extreme asceticism and self-purification that in practice appear as a form of masochism as a taming of the body out of a pursuit of God do not initially seem to share the same practical benefits. James ends these lectures as a guidepost for what is to come: the value derived from saintliness, to be discussed in the next chapter.
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