In our culture, unlike, say Tibet, we talk about faith, which has been sarcastically described as belief as a belief in things one knows to be untrue. Direct experience – gnosis – is discouraged from every corner. This is true for the Jew, the Christian, and the Atheist alike.
If you don’t believe this, we suggest you take a close look at the hysterical, almost panic-striken way in which Psychic Research has been attacked by all of the above groups for strangely similar reasons, no matter how convincing the evidence or distinguished the researchers. A person who breaks the limits imposed on him by the world at large is a very disturbing phenomenon. He doesn’t respect authority and he makes a lousy servant.