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ladytetra777Lecture XIX, "Other Considerations," is James tying up final loose ends before concluding his work. This lecture series has moved through the human hardware (Lecture I), the outward expressions of the healthy (Lectures IV and V) and sick (Lectures VI and VII) souls and how the mind is fractured into the later (Lecture VIII), as well as the crystallization of religious practices into saintliness (Lectures XI, XII, and XIII), and mysticism (Lectures XVI and XVII), to the disciplined formalizations found in philosophy (Lecture XVIII). The cycle has moved from the physical to the mental, to the spiritual, and then the intellectual. The remaining odds and ends to be addressed are relating to actions and events that happen in the life of a religious person.
Why does a person choose a given religion over another? One point James makes is in its aesthetics. The cohesion set forth by a unifying imagery is motivating. The emotions stirred by a given setting, its iconography, and the extent to which a person can feel comfortable practicing in that physical space are included under this umbrella (458-459). One such action is that of confession. Similar to how James outlines purity and a purging of one's self as a characteristic of saintliness, confession is the formalized sacrament by which the Catholics undergo this process in a demarcated religious setting.
Prayer is another topic addressed here. James includes accounts of effective prayer, such as Muller (467-471), where prayer becomes a test of faith and patience and the vehicle by which manifestation is set into motion. Again, I am reminded of Goddard, who taught a different form of prayer as "dwelling in the end of the action fulfilled," as in, assuming and approximating the state of a desired outcome as it it were presently manifested. In the formalized religious setting, this takes place in an institution like a church, but writers like Belanger warn that prayer in this sense in not without its potential pitfalls. They write, even if the religious fervor is congregationally generated, its lack of singular direction affects its overall efficacy.
There is additional commentary on inspiration and revelation as well. The former is the event where one becomes the acting instrument of a higher physical power (479) and the later is the transmission of wisdom for action (481-483). James remarks that these sudden flashes of insight can seep into the conscious from the subconscious sphere, such as the case with Muhammed (481) where many of the tenets of Islam are transmitted to him.
As with the previous lecture on philosophy, this lecture is bringing about considerably reflection on my part. The rapid procession through a gauntlet of these topics led to an initial discriminatory response that reveals weakness in my character. I confront in myself an attraction to Christianity based on its aesthetic; I understand my enduring interest in philosophy as merely that, a transient interest. This religious pessimism could be diagnosed by James as that of a sick soul. "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity" as goes Ecclesiastes 12:8.
To be blunt, now I don't know what to do. The image of a person going to seminary and reading philosophy books is idolatry. The motivation still persists to see my soul, but quite clearly, these objects are obscuring my view. The joy in meditation is still present, but now I must find a remedy for the sickness brought about by weighing my soul down with idols as to what I intellectualized it to be.
How does one overcome such a crisis?
Why does a person choose a given religion over another? One point James makes is in its aesthetics. The cohesion set forth by a unifying imagery is motivating. The emotions stirred by a given setting, its iconography, and the extent to which a person can feel comfortable practicing in that physical space are included under this umbrella (458-459). One such action is that of confession. Similar to how James outlines purity and a purging of one's self as a characteristic of saintliness, confession is the formalized sacrament by which the Catholics undergo this process in a demarcated religious setting.
Prayer is another topic addressed here. James includes accounts of effective prayer, such as Muller (467-471), where prayer becomes a test of faith and patience and the vehicle by which manifestation is set into motion. Again, I am reminded of Goddard, who taught a different form of prayer as "dwelling in the end of the action fulfilled," as in, assuming and approximating the state of a desired outcome as it it were presently manifested. In the formalized religious setting, this takes place in an institution like a church, but writers like Belanger warn that prayer in this sense in not without its potential pitfalls. They write, even if the religious fervor is congregationally generated, its lack of singular direction affects its overall efficacy.
There is additional commentary on inspiration and revelation as well. The former is the event where one becomes the acting instrument of a higher physical power (479) and the later is the transmission of wisdom for action (481-483). James remarks that these sudden flashes of insight can seep into the conscious from the subconscious sphere, such as the case with Muhammed (481) where many of the tenets of Islam are transmitted to him.
As with the previous lecture on philosophy, this lecture is bringing about considerably reflection on my part. The rapid procession through a gauntlet of these topics led to an initial discriminatory response that reveals weakness in my character. I confront in myself an attraction to Christianity based on its aesthetic; I understand my enduring interest in philosophy as merely that, a transient interest. This religious pessimism could be diagnosed by James as that of a sick soul. "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity" as goes Ecclesiastes 12:8.
To be blunt, now I don't know what to do. The image of a person going to seminary and reading philosophy books is idolatry. The motivation still persists to see my soul, but quite clearly, these objects are obscuring my view. The joy in meditation is still present, but now I must find a remedy for the sickness brought about by weighing my soul down with idols as to what I intellectualized it to be.
How does one overcome such a crisis?