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Cosmic Consciousness, by Richard Maurice Bucke, [1901], at Sacred-Texts.Com Cosmic Consciousness, by Richard Maurice Bucke, [1901], at sacred-texts.com Cosmic Consciousness A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind By RICHARD MAURICE BUCKE, M.D. FORMERLY MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, LONDON, CANADA E.P. Dutton and Company, Inc [1901] Scanned, proofed and formatted at sacred-texts.com, June 2009, by John Bruno Hare. This text is in the public domain in the US because it was published prior to 1923. Cosmic Consciousness, by Richard Maurice Bucke, [1901], at sacred-texts.com [p. i] Dedication from the first edition MAURICE ANDREWS BUCKE 22 November, 1868--8 December, 1899 8 December, 1900 DEAR MAURICE:-- A year ago to-day, in the prime of youth, of health and of strength, in an instant, by a terrible and fatal accident, you were removed forever from this world in which your mother and I still live. Of all young men I have known you were the most pure, the most noble, the most honourable, the most tender-hearted. In the business of life you were industrious, honest, faithful, intelligent and entirely trustworthy. How at the time we felt your loss--how we still feel it--I would not set down even if I could. I desire to speak here of my confident hope, not of my pain. I will say that through the experiences which underlie this volume I have been taught, that in spite of death and the grave, although you are beyond the range of our sight and hearing, notwithstanding that the universe of sense testifies to your absence, you are not dead and not really absent, but alive and well and not far from me this moment. If I have been permitted--no, not to enter, but--through the narrow aperture of a scarcely opened door, to glance one instant into that other divine world, it was surely that I might thereby be enabled to live through the receipt of those lightning-flashed words from Montana which time burns only deeper and deeper into my brain. Only a little while now and we shall be again together and with us those other noble and well- beloved souls gone before. I am sure I shall meet you and them; that you and I shall talk of a thousand things and of that unforgettable day and of all that followed it; and that we shall clearly see that all were parts of an infinite plan which was wholly wise and good. Do you see and approve as I write these words? It may well be. Do you read from within what I am now thinking and feeling? If you do you know how dear to me you were while you yet lived and what we call life here and how much more dear you have become to me since. Because of the indissoluble links of birth and death wrought by nature and fate between us; because of my love and because of my grief; above all because of the infinite and inextinguishable confidence there is in my heart, [p. ii] I inscribe to you this book, which, full as it is of imperfections which render it unworthy of your acceptance, has nevertheless sprung from the divine assurance born of the deepest insight of the noblest members of your race. So long! dear boy. YOUR FATHER Cosmic Consciousness, by Richard Maurice Bucke, [1901], at sacred-texts.com [p. v] NOTICE It will be observed that this volume is printed in three types: in the largest is set up that portion of it which was written by the editor, together with certain shorter quotations which will be indicated by inverted commas in the usual manner; extracts from writers having Cosmic Consciousness and from other writers about them will be printed in medium sized type, and it will not be considered necessary to use quotation marks with it, since all matter in this type will be quoted and the writers of it will necessarily be credited each with his own part; the small type will be used for parallel passages and for comment, and with this inverted commas will be used in the ordinary manner. Cosmic Consciousness, by Richard Maurice Bucke, [1901], at sacred-texts.com [p. vii] A LIST OF SOME OF THE WORKS QUOTED AND REFERRED TO IN THIS VOLUME Reference numbers in brackets in the text point to book in this list and page, except in the cases of the Bible, where they indicate book, chapter and verse, and "Shakespeare's" Sonnets, when they indicate book and sonnet. 1. Anderson, A. A. Twenty-five Years in a Wagon. Chapman & Hall, London, 1888. 2. Arena, The. Boston, Mass., February, 1893. 3. Atlantic Monthly, October, 1896. 4. Balzac, Honore de. A Memoir of, by K. P. Wormley. Roberts Bros., Boston, 1892. 5. Balzac, Honore de. Louis Lambert. Roberts Bros., Boston, 1889. 6. Introduction to 5. Same volume but separate pagination. By George Fred. Parsons. 7. Balzac, Honore de. Seraphita. Roberts Bros., Boston, 1889. 8. Introduction to 7. Same volume but separate pagination. By George Fred. Parsons. 9. Balzac, Honore de. The Exiles. In same volume with 7. 10. Bible. Compared with the most ancient authorities and revised. University Press, Oxford, 1887. 11. Exodus, in 10. 12. Judges, in 10. 14. Matthew, in 10. 15. Mark, in 10. 16. Luke, in 10. 17. John, in 10. 18. Acts, in 10. 19. Romans, in 10. 20. I Corinthians, in 10. 21. II Corinthians, in 10. 22. Galatians, in 10. 23. Ephesians, in 10. 24. Philippians, in 10. [p. viii] 25. Colossians, in 10. 26. I Thessalonians, in 10. 27. Revelations, in 10. 28. Bormann, Edwin. The Shakespeare Secret. From the German. By H. Brett Wohlleben, London, 1895. 28a. Bucke, Richard Maurice. Man's Moral Nature. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1879. 29. Burnouf, E. Introduction a l'Histoire du Buddhisme, Indien. Deuzieme Edition. Maisonneuve et Cie, Paris, 1852. 30. Burnouf, E. Le Lotus de La Bonne Loi. L'Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1852. 30a. Bacon, Roger E. Sa vie ses ouvrages, ses doctrines. Par Emile Charles Hachette, Paris, 1861. 31. Butler, Alban. The Lives of Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints. D. & J. Sadler, New York, undated, Volume XI. 32. Bacon, Francis, The Works of. Popular Edition by Spedding, Ellis and Heath, in two volumes. Hurd & Houghton, New York, 1878, Part I of Vol. II. 33. Part I of Vol. I of 32. 34. Part II (second pagination) of Vol. I of 32. 35. Part II of Vol. II of 32. 36. Baconiana (American), May, 1892. 37. Baconiana (English), November, 1893. 38. Bucke, Richard Maurice. Walt Whitman. David McKay, Philadelphia, 1883. 39. Behmen, Jacob, Works of, in four volumes. To which is prefixed the life of the author, with figures illustrating his principles, left by Rev. William Law. Printed for M. Richardson, London, 1764-1781. 40. The Life of Jacob Behmen, separate pagination, in Vol. I of 39. 41. Aurora, The Dayspring or Dawning of the Day in the East, separate pagination, in Vol. I of 39. 42. The Three Principles of the Divine Essence, separate pagination, in Vol. I of 39. 43. The Threefold Life of Man, separate pagination, in Vol. II of 39. 44. Forty Questions Concerning the Soul, separate pagination, in Vol. II of 39. 45. The Treatise of the Incarnation, separate pagination, in Vol. II of 39. 46. The Clavis, separate pagination, in Vol. II of 39. 47. Mysterium Magnum, separate pagination, in Vol. III of 39. 48. The Four Tables, separate pagination, in Vol. III of 39. 49. Signatura Rerum, separate pagination, in Vol. IV of 39. 50. The Way to Christ, separate pagination, in Vol. IV of 39. [p. ix] 51. Bucke, R. M. Shakespeare or Bacon? Canadian Magazine, September, 1897. Ontario Publishing Co., Toronto, Ont. 52. Blake, William. Poetical Works. Edited by William Rossetti. George Bell & Sons, London, 1891. 53. Burroughs, John. Notes on Walt Whitman as Poet and Person, second edition. J. S. Redfield, New York, 1871. 54. Browning, Robert, The Poetical Works of, in seventeen volumes. Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1889-1894, Vol. VI. 55. Cyclopedia of Biography. Edited by F. L. Hawks. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1856. 56. Carpenter, Edward. From Adam's Peak to Elephanta. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., London, 1892. 57. Carpenter, Edward. Civilization: Its Cause and Cure. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., London, 1889. 58. Charles, Emile. Roger Bacon. Sa vie ses ouvrages ses doctrines. Hachette, Paris, 1861. 59. Carlyle, Thomas. Heroes, &c. In Complete Works, in twenty volumes. Estes & Lauriat, Boston, 1885, Vol. I. 60. Century Cyclopedia of Names. Edited by Ben. E. Smith. The Century Co., New York, 1894. 60a. Conservator, May, 1894. 61. Carpenter, Edward. Towards Democracy, third edition. T. Fisher Un-win, London, 1892. 62. Carpenter, Edward. In the Labor Prophet, May, 1894. 63. Carpenter, Edward. Private Letter. 64. Carlyle's Cromwell. Vol. XVII of 59. 65. Comte, Auguste. Catechisme Positiviste. Paris, 1852. 66. Despine, Prosper. Psychologie Naturelle. F. Savy, Paris, 1868. 67. Darwin, Charles. Animals and Plants under Domestication. Orange. Judd & Co., New York, 1868, in two volumes, Vol. II. 68. Dante. The New Life. Translated by Charles Eliot Norton. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York, 1892. 69. Dante. Hell. Same translator, publisher and date. 70. Introduction to 69. 71. Dante. Purgatory. Same translator, publisher and date. 72. Dante. Paradise. Same translator, publisher and date. 73. Davis, T. W. Rhys. Buddhism. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, not dated. 74. Donnelly, Ignatius. The Great Cryptogram. R. S. Peale & Co., Chicago and New York. 75. Dixon, William Hepworth. Personal History of Lord Bacon. John Murray, London, 1861.
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