SORE SPOTS 
475 
results obtained by Mystics- this includes the Ecstasy of 
Sexual Feeling, as you may read in pretty nearly all of them , 
from St. Augustine to st. Teresa and the Nun Gertrude. The 
stages recounted by the Buddha in his psychological analyses 
correspond 
with almost incredible 
accuracy. 
(2) The 
phenomena observed by those who use opium, hashish , and 
some other "drugs" (3) The phenomena of various forms of 
insanity . 
The facts of this research are infuriating to the religious 
mystic ; and the fact of its main conclusion is liable to drive 
him into so delirious a frenzy of rage as to make one reach 
for one's notebook-one more typical extreme case! 
Now of course very few religious persons know that they 
are mystics- already it annoys them to suggest it!-but , 
whether the lady doth protest too much , or too little, the 
fact is that they are. There is no true rational meaning in 
religion. Consider the Athanasian Creed itself! 
This dilemma, consciously or sub-consciously, is well 
rooted in the minds of everybody who takes Life, in anyone 
of its forms , seriously. He feels the touch of the rapier, 
however shrewdly or cautiously wielded. The salute itself is 
more than enough ; he feels already the thrust to his vitals. 
To every man and woman that has not seen Sex as it is, 
faced it, mastered it- you will find elsewhere in these letters 
sufficient on this matter-it is his secret guilt. Imagine, then, 
how at any reference however remote , the "sinner' quails, his 
inmost mystery laid bare, his evil conscience holding up a 
tarnished mirror to his deformed and hideous face! Often 
enough , he does not mind gross jests which admit complicity 
on the part of the other ; but any allusion to the Truth , and 
his soul shrieks : I am found out! Then apoplectic Fear puts 
on the mask of Indignation and Disgust. 
As for a serious discussion of anything 
concerned 
therewith, why, every word is a new rasping tear. The mind 
takes refuge in irrational and irrelevant outbursts of feigned 
rage and horror. 
I wonder how many lunatics there are in the "bughouse"