

E-text prepared by Ruth Hart ruthhart@twilightoracle.com



Transcriber's note:

   In the original book, the Table of Contents was located after
   the Preface, but I have placed it at the beginning of the text
   for this online version.





PRACTICAL MYSTICISM

by

EVELYN UNDERHILL

Author of "Mysticism," "The Mystic Way," "Immanence: A Book of Verses."







"If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up,
till he sees all things through the narrow chinks of his cavern."
WILLIAM BLAKE



New York
E.P. Dutton & Company
681 Fifth Avenue
Copyright 1915 by
E.P. Dutton & Company



TO THE UNSEEN FUTURE



CONTENTS

         Preface                            vii
   I.    What is Mysticism                    1
   II.    The World of Reality               13
   III.   The Preparation of the Mystic      21
   IV.    Meditation and Recollection        56
   V.     Self-Adjustment                    29
   VI.    Love and Will                      74
   VII.   The First Form of Contemplation    87
   VIII.  The Second Form of Contemplation  105
   XI.    The Third Form of Contemplation   126
   X.     The Mystical Life                 148



PREFACE

This little book, written during the last months of peace, goes to
press in the first weeks of the great war. Many will feel that in
such a time of conflict and horror, when only the most ignorant,
disloyal, or apathetic can hope for quietness of mind, a book
which deals with that which is called the "contemplative