Such mystic states are found in periods of social and moral decay. Instance the decaying Roman empire, the Hellenistic period, the Middle Ages, and in fact, any period in which security, safety, and social stability are on the ebb, while fears and perils are on the increase. Mysticism, Salvation of the soul, under all their guises, are interrelated with the primordial fear instinct which dominates the hunted beast and the terror-stricken neurotic patient. If we turn to philosophical and metaphysical speculations, we find, on examination from a pragmatic point of view, that their essential differences revolve on the _security and safety of the world scheme_. From Plato and Aristotle to Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, down to Schopenhauer, Hegel, and our American thinkers Royce and James, as well as from the Bible to Brahmanism and Buddhism, we find the same valuation of world safety, based on the vital impulse of self-preservation and its fundamental fear instinct. The _Salvation_ of the World and the Individual is the fundamental keynote of theological metaphysics and metaphysical religion. Professor Royce, the representative of transcendental, monistic idealism in America, thus summarizes his philosophical and religious attitude: “It is God’s true and eternal triumph that speaks to us ‘In this world ye shall have tribulations. But fear not; I have overcome the world.’” This reminds one of the ancient Assyrian cuneiform oracles addressed to the Assyrian kings: “To Esarhaddon, king of countries, Fear not! I am Ishtar of Arbela. Thine enemies I will cut off, fear not!” “Fear not, Esarhaddon, I, Bel, am speaking with thee. The beams of thy heart I will support.” “Fear not, you are saved by Faith. Fear thy Lord only, He is your Rock and Salvation,” says the Bible. “Fear not!” teaches the Buddhist, “Nirvana, the Absolute, is your refuge.” Professor James in his inimitable way summarizes the difference between his pluralism and idealistic monism: “What do believers in the Absolute mean by saying that their belief affords them comfort? They mean that since in the Absolute finite evil is ‘overruled’ already, we may, therefore, whenever we wish, treat the temporal as if it were potentially the eternal, be sure that we can trust its outcome, and, without sin, dismiss our fear and drop the worry of our finite responsibility.... The universe is a system of which the individual members may relax their anxieties....” James contrasts his empirical, pragmatic pluralism with the idealistic monism.