| '''Richard Maurice Bucke''' ([[18 March]] [[1837]] - [[19 February]] [[1902]]) (often called Maurice Bucke) was an important [[Canada|Canadian]] progressive [[psychiatry|psychiatrist]] in the late nineteenth century. An adventurer in his youth, he went on to study [[medicine]], practice psychiatry, and befriend several noted men of letters. In addition to writing and delivering professional papers, Bucke wrote three book-length studies: ''Man's Moral Nature'', ''Walt Whitman'', and – his best known work – ''[[Cosmic consciousness|Cosmic Consciousness]]'', a classic in the modern study of mystical experience. | | '''Richard Maurice Bucke''' ([[18 March]] [[1837]] - [[19 February]] [[1902]]) (often called Maurice Bucke) was an important [[Canada|Canadian]] progressive [[psychiatry|psychiatrist]] in the late nineteenth century. An adventurer in his youth, he went on to study [[medicine]], practice psychiatry, and befriend several noted men of letters. In addition to writing and delivering professional papers, Bucke wrote three book-length studies: ''Man's Moral Nature'', ''Walt Whitman'', and – his best known work – ''[[Cosmic consciousness|Cosmic Consciousness]]'', a classic in the modern study of mystical experience. |
| The magnum opus of Bucke's career was a book that he researched and wrote over many years titled ''[[Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind]]''. It was published the year before his death in [[1901]], and been continuously republished ever since. In it, Bucke described his own experience, that of contemporaries (most notably Whitman, but also unknown figures like "C.P."), and the experiences and outlook of historical figures including [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]], [[Jesus]], [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]], [[Plotinus]], [[Muhammad]], [[Dante]], [[Francis Bacon]], and [[William Blake]]. | | The magnum opus of Bucke's career was a book that he researched and wrote over many years titled ''[[Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind]]''. It was published the year before his death in [[1901]], and been continuously republished ever since. In it, Bucke described his own experience, that of contemporaries (most notably Whitman, but also unknown figures like "C.P."), and the experiences and outlook of historical figures including [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]], [[Jesus]], [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]], [[Plotinus]], [[Muhammad]], [[Dante]], [[Francis Bacon]], and [[William Blake]]. |