But "Universal" religion has its limitations, and has to pass into something more characteristic, specific, and personal. The over-personal norms, which are spiritual in their very nature, [p.150] have not only to be interpreted, they have also to be appreciated and reverenced. The _How_ of their appearance, after it is settled, takes a secondary place, and the norms in their own value and subsistence are attended to. Thus, they become not merely ideas having some kind of reality of their own, but also become revelations of the very nature of the world; they become the source of all creation; the one spring of all being. In other words, they are made to mean the Godhead; they mean the creation and sustaining power of all life. A communion with the Godhead now takes place, and man finds himself in possession of experiences brought about without the intervention of the world. Thus "Universal" religion culminates in a "Characteristic" or personal religion. And to this culmination, as it is presented by Eucken, we now turn. * * * * * CHAPTER IX [p.151] CHARACTERISTIC RELIGION On the level of "Universal" religion great changes have taken place in life. The consciousness and conviction of the reality of a new kind of world have arisen; the sensuous, and even partially the intellectual, domains have been relegated to a secondary place: other values, higher in their nature and more universal in their scope, have attracted the attention of mind and soul. In all this a change has taken place in the disposition as well as in the will. Prior to this change the character had not become conscious of its own inwardness, but remained subservient to the norms of social and moral inheritance. Some amount of morality and good will have issued forth in this manner, and, indeed, the gain cannot be overestimated. But it is evident that something further has to happen if the movement of society is to proceed onward and upward, and if the energy for such a movement is to be discovered within the soul. The whole material which enters into consciousness has to obtain a deeper meaning [p.152] than it hitherto possessed. And this happens on the level of "Universal" religion. The _spiritual_ is now recognised as the highest manifestation of life; and this spiritual is seen to be something which has to be gained through a struggle which calls the whole nature into activity. Such a movement from the less to the more spiritual proceeds side by side with the _freedom_ of the individual. Freedom has now taken a new meaning. Hitherto it meant little more than the consciousness of the individual moving along the line of least resistance. The effort to move in such a direction is generally pleasurable; and when it tends to become painful the individual gives up the effort. The highest norms were not present with a categorical affirmation of their reality and value. But when they are present, the