Bucke described this state of
consciousness--a subject that seemed to him at that time to be a new
one--in the following words:
"But of infinitely more importance than telepathy, and so-called
spiritualism--no matter what explanation we give of these, or what their
future is destined to be--is the final act here touched upon. This is, that
superimposed upon self-consciousness as is that faculty upon simple
consciousness, a third and higher form of consciousness is at present
making its appearance in our race. This higher form of consciousness, when
it appears, occurs as it must, at the full maturity of the individual, at
or about the age of thirty-five, but almost always between the ages of
thirty and forty. There have been occasional cases of it for the last two
thousand years, and it is becoming more and more common. In fact, in all
appearances, as far as observed, it obeys the laws to which every nascent
faculty is subject. Many more or less perfect examples of this new faculty
exist in the world to-day, and it has been my privilege to know personally
and to have had the opportunity of studying, several men and women who have
possessed it.
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