5 Empty your Mind

Pure consciousness, though empty of content, was central to W. T. Stace's explanation of extrovertive mystical experience, which he saw as a radical separation of spirit and nature. Stace's account is complicated by his use of incompatible philosophical ideas—empirico-phenomenalist, Kantian, and Hegelian—leading to confusion and a failure to address key features of extrovertive experience. Understanding his explanations requires considering the development of his metaphysical thought. Robert Forman later raised pure consciousness in a way that departs from Stace's dualism. The possibility of a permanent extrovertive state, attainable through Transcendental Meditation and other practices, is considered.

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Abstract

AbstractAlthough empty of contents, pure consciousness formed the basis of W. T. Stace’s explanation of content-rich extrovertive mystical experience, an explanation in which spirit and nature were radically separated. However, Stace’s approach is complicated by his borrowings from philosophical ideas that are not entirely harmonious, empirico-phenomenalist, Kantian, and Hegelian. The result is somewhat confused and fails to address important extrovertive characteristics. It is shown that Stace’s explanations of mystical experience can be fully understood only when the development of his metaphysical thought is taken into account. More recently, Robert Forman has also raised pure consciousness, but in a way that departs from Stace’s spirit-nature dualism. The possibility of a permanent extrovertive state, allegedly attainable through Transcendental Meditation and other spiritual practices, is considered.