At a time one percent of Great Britain became Quaker meditators. Some towns had 10 percent Quakers. A spiritual movement fast erupting something like Maharishi’s was late in the 20th Century. Makes for good comparisons... as history repeats itself.
A mystic, George Fox: “And this I knew experimentally.” Radical Spirituality: the Early History of the Quakers ..This is an excellent, important (and free) university course presentation of substantial material at the foundation of what Quakers are. I am appreciating this course recently as being well worth the investment of some small time towards learning or review about Quakers and The Society of Friends.. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/quakers https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/quakers?fbclid=IwAR05gmax6oaCgRNcTRWi_saLRDEdxGQsCWcW2eSpcaz9XNOted-lS5hHGdg A theme occurring throughout the material: “When Fox writes in his journal of his transformational 1647 experience that he ‘knew this experimentally’, he means simply that he knew this ‘experientially’. He knew this from an experience, not from a text or teacher.” “Fox claims that other Christians have focused too much on outward forms and outward notions, and have lost their way. They are concluded under sin. The outward creates a barrier between humanity and God. These early Quakers became very critical of the outward, and their spirituality is focused on the inward-- what we can term as interiorised. We can see this in the form of worship which Quakers adopted, and in the style of early meeting houses like the one at Brigflatts. They worshipped in stillness and silence, usually for about three hours, without any outward form or ritual. Everyone was spiritually equal. Everyone was a minister. Nobody stood at the front, because everyone was fulfilling the priestly role, one to another.” -B. P. Dandelion, Radical Spirituality: the Early History of the Quakers
