the meaning of the One have to be presented to it. And it is this, as
Eucken shows, which has been partially accomplished by the religions of
the world. Their founders were personalities who had scaled the heights
towards the "holy of holies" of the One; they descended into the plains
to reveal what they had seen and heard and experienced on the heights.
They had been able to commune with the Alone, and their natures had been
completely transformed. In passing thus from the stage of "universal"
[p.157] religion to the higher stage of "characteristic," men have
discovered a further security and spiritual evolution of their whole
being. Their views of man and the world have become changed; they now
long to make mankind the possessor of the "vision splendid" which has
meant all for them. Communion with the One as Infinite Love has revealed
to them a peace and a power which are far beyond all the lower unities.

It is of value, in the midst of all the complexities of life, of the
partial interpretations of the various branches of knowledge, to have
passed through the several stages below the One. Some must guard the
highest citadel of religion and keep open the avenues to Infinity,
Eternity, and Immortality. And the greater the number who are able to do
this, the better for the world and for the individual. But a taste of
this Infinite Love can be obtained without all this. Just as some of us
are able to walk without a knowledge of the bodily mechanism and to eat
and digest without a knowledge of the history of our bread, so the
deeper spiritual potencies inherent in man are able to find a vast
amount of satisfaction by resting upon and trusting in a Love Absolute,
Eternal, and Infinite. Here, man is in a region of infinite calm beyond
the distractions of the world and of knowledge. He cannot remain here
for any great length of time; he has to return to the world, but he is
never [p.158] again the same being after having scaled the "mount of
transfiguration." "Religion holds as certain and conclusive that this