Buddhist Romanticism

transmission alters them, and to recognize them as they resurface in
Buddhist Romanticism.
So here is a list of the twenty main points that characterize Romantic
religion. The remainder of this book will make frequent reference to these
points, so bear them in mind.
The first point identifies the question that all religion, according to the
Romantics, aims to answer.
1) The object of religion is the relationship of humanity with the universe.
The next two points give the basic Romantic answer to that question.
2) The universe is an infinite organic unity. This means, among other
things, that causation in the universe is (a) reciprocal rather than
mechanical and deterministic; and (b) teleological—it has a purpose
—rather than blind. However, what that purpose is lies beyond
human capacities to know or comprehend. The assertion that the
universe is an infinite organic unity also means that there is no
transcendent dimension outside of the organic processes of the
universe.
3) Each human being is both an individual organism and a part of the
larger infinite organic unity of the universe. As an organism, one has
both physical and mental drives that should be trusted and satisfied.
As parts of the organic unity of the universe, one has no freedom of
choice, but only the freedom to express one’s nature as part of the
cosmos. Thus, to express and fulfill one’s nature, one has the duty to
trust that one’s inner drives are good, and that the overall purpose of
the universe is good, even if unknowable. One also has the duty to
work toward fulfilling that purpose as best one can understand it.
These first three points are the basis for all the remaining points.
The next six points focus on the religious experience and the
psychological illness that it heals.
4) Human beings suffer when their sense of inner and outer unity is lost
—when they feel divided within themselves and separated from the universe.
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