THE NEW WINE
203
Mysticus , we , if we
enter
the vortex of subjectivity
and
objectivity ,
" shall
be tossed
about
as the world
this 2,500 years .
"11
IDEALISM
In the philosophy of Plato idealism
took the shape
of a strictly formal characteristic , there was nothing
in itself,
as Kant
might
have
explained
it , an
idea
however
dating back long before either Plato or Kant ,
and to be first found in any degree of maturity in the
Upanishads
of post-vedic
India .
Form was reality,
and nothing
else , it was
the
sole
and
only essence .
From such metaphysics
rose numerous
modified
forms
which
may
be roughly
classed
under
the
name
of
Spiritualism (Malebranche). They asserted that matter
objectively
was
illusion or maya , and that the world
problem
could
only
be considered
as
a reality
sub
jectively in the thoughts as “ thinks ”, in fact the world
real
was
simply an
elaboration
of these
“ thinks."
These spiritualistic philosophies stagnating for a time
were soon
mystified
by man's
inherent
longing for the
wonderful ,'
and
developed
into various
systems
of
Spiritism and Mysticism , both high and low .
Of the
latter
the most renowned , and in many ways the most
profound , was the Philosophy of the Qabalah .
1 Time , vol . ii , p. 268.
2 “ The imagination of man is naturally
sublime , delighted
with
whatever
is remote
and extraordinary, and running with
out control
into the most distant
parts of space and time in order
to avoid
the objects, which
custom
has rendered
too familiar
to it. " - An Enquiry
concerning
Human
Understanding
, Hume
(Religion of Science
Library ), p. 172.