The Varieties of Religious Experience - William James

William James' exploration of religious experience, primarily experience beyond the reach of reason, makes a great stab at defining fundamental (definitely not fundamentalist) nature. He almost makes one believe godless atheists can be religious too. Hell...he does make one believe godless atheists can be religious. In sum: humans experience life as imperfect and reach outside themselves looking for something like perfection or unity or transcendence. When they reach out, they find their higher self, likely hiding in their own subconscious. James was a psychologist after all. All else in religious practice, per James, is "over-belief," the bells and whistles, some good, some devastatingly evil, added by countless institutional religions since way back. This review is a puny reduction of a expansive, hope-filled book. Read it in spite of my meager effort here.

Find the Kindle version of The Varieties of Religious Experience here