Richard Maurice Bucke

Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902) (often called Maurice Bucke) was an important Canadian progressive psychiatrist in the late nineteenth century. An adventurer in his youth, he later studied medicine, practiced psychiatry, and was a friend to 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 Cosmic Consciousness. Image File history File links Summary Portrait of R. Maurice Bucke Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Summary Portrait of R. Maurice Bucke Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901) 1837 (MDCCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Psychiatrist redirects here, for the party game, see Psychiatrist (game) Psychiatry is a medical specialty dealing with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental illness. ... This article is about the field and science of medical practice and health care. ...

Life

Bucke was born in 1837, near London, Ontario to quite-literate English immigrant parents. A sibling in a large family, he had a typical farm boyhood of that era. When he left home as a boy in his teens, he traveled for new sights and adventure down into the U.S. — from Columbus, Ohio west to California — working manually at odd jobs along the way. He was part of a traveling party who had to fight for their lives under attack from the Shoshone, whose territory they traversed. Bucke tried gold prospecting, but failed to make a significant strike. He returned to Ontario. Nickname: The Forest City Coordinates: Country Canada Province Ontario County Middlesex County Settled 1826 (as village) Incorporated 1855 (as city) City Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best Governing Body London City Council MPs Sue Barnes (LPC) Glen Pearson (LPC) Irene Mathyssen (NDP) Joe Preston (CPC) MPPs Chris Bentley (OLP) Deb Matthews... Nickname: The Arch City The Discovery City Location in the state of Ohio, USA Coordinates: Country United States State Ohio Counties Franklin, Delaware, and Fairfield Mayor Michael B. Coleman (D) Area    - City 550. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Shoshone around their tipi, probably taken around 1890 Shoshone Indians at Ft. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ...

In 1858, Bucke enrolled in McGill University's medical school in Montreal, where he delivered a distinguished thesis. Though he practiced general medicine (briefly as a ship's surgeon, in order to pay for sea travel), Bucke went on to specialize in psychiatry. He did his internship in London, England (at the University College Hospital), and while on the east shores of the Atlantic Ocean, visited France. Bucke was for a number of years an enthusiast for Auguste Compte's rationalist philosophy. He also enjoyed reading poetry. McGill University is a publicly funded, non-denominational, co-educational research university located in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... Motto: Concordia Salus Coordinates: Country Canada Province Quebec Founded 1642 Established 1832 City Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area    - City 366. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the largest city of England (strangely, England has no constitutional existence within the United Kingdom, and therefore cannot be said to have a capital). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... Categories: Stub | London hospitals ... Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 _ September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ...

Bucke married Jessie Gurd in 1865. The couple had seven children. 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ...

In 1877, Bucke was appointed head of a provincial Asylum for the Insane, in London, Ontario — a post he held for nearly the remainder of his life. Bucke was a progressive for his day, believing in humane contact and normalization of routines in the institution (Bucke encouraged organized sports and what we would now term "occupational therapy"). 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Progressivism is a term that refers to a broad school of contemporary international social and political philosophies. ...

Bucke always had friends among the literati and lovers of literature (especially poetry). In 1869 he had read, and was deeply impressed by, the Leaves of Grass by American poet Walt Whitman. He met Whitman in 1877 and a lasting friendship developed (Bucke eventually wrote a published biography of the poet). Bucke developed a theory of human intellectual and emotional evolution, and, besides publishing and delivering professional papers, wrote a book on his theory titled Man's Moral Nature, published in 1879. In 1882 Bucke was elected to the English Literature Section of the Royal Society of Canada. Walt Whitman, age 37, frontispiece to Leaves of Grass, Fulton St. ... Walt Whitman of 1897 by R.S. Peale and J.A. Hill</ref> He largely abandoned the [[Meter (poetry)|Whitman and Louisa (Van Velsor) Whitman. ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... The Royal Society of Canada, (French: La Société royale du Canada) The Canadian Academy of the Sciences and Humanities, is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scientists and scholars. ...

In 1872, while in London, England, Bucke had the pivotal experience of his life, a fleeting mystical or cognitive experience that he regarded as a few moments of "Cosmic Consciousness." Bucke described the characteristics and effects of this "faculty" as follows: sudden appearance; subjective experience of light (inner light); moral elevation; intellectual illumination; sense of immortality; loss of fear of death; loss of a sense of sin. However, the term "Cosmic Consciousness" more closely derives from yet another feature: the vivid sense of the universe as a living presence, rather than as basically lifeless, inert matter. This direct perception, which Bucke took great pains to try to explain, vivifies Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's theory of Nature. Mysticism from the Greek μυστικός (mystikos) an initiate (of the Eleusinian Mysteries, μυστήρια (mysteria) meaning initiation[1]) is the pursuit of achieving communion or identity with, or conscious awareness of, ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, or insight; and the belief that such experience is an... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. ...

Though well read (in French and German, as well as English), and though much influenced by the writings of Whitman, Bucke disclosed that in his attempts to more fully understand his illumination experience of 1872, his debt was to someone he met personally not long after: "C.P." This was a self-educated laboring man, regarded by many who knew him as one who both had a "Christ-like" presence and lived an admirable and honest life, Caleb Pink.

The magnum opus of Bucke's life was the book that he researched and wrote over many years, Cosmic Consciousness (published the year before his death, in 1901). In it, Bucke described his own experience, that of contemporaries (most notably Whitman, but also unknown figures like "C.P."), and (as evidenced through literature) the experiences and outlook of historical figures including Buddha, Jesus, Paul, Plotinus, Mohammad, Dante, Francis Bacon, and William Blake. 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Media:Example. ... Jesus (8–2 BC/BCE to 29–36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... Paul of Tarsus (b. ... Plotinus Plotinus (Greek: ) (ca. ... For other people named Muhammad, see Muhammad (disambiguation). ... Dante redirects here. ... Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman and essayist but is best known for leading the scientific revolution with his new observation and experimentation theory which is the way science has been conducted ever since. ... William Blake in an 1807 portrait by Thomas Phillips William Blake (November 28, 1757–August 12, 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. ...

Bucke developed a theory involving three main stages of the development of consciousness: simple consciousness (that of animals); self-consciousness (that of the mass of humanity — encompassing reason, imagination, etc.); and cosmic consciousness (the emerging faculty and next region of human development). Among the effects of this, he believed he detected a lengthy historical trend in which religious conceptions and theologies had become less and less fearful.

His legacy is at least twofold: Bucke's was part of the progressive movement concerned with the treatment of society's mentally disturbed individuals; second, his concept of cosmic consciousness took on a life of its own (not always very well understood, perhaps) and has drifted into the thought and writings of many other people.

However, along with other classics like William James' Varieties of Religious Experience (within which he was cited), and some more recently published volumes, Bucke's study has become part of the foundation of transpersonal psychology. For other people named William James see William James (disambiguation) William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher. ... Transpersonal psychology is a school of psychology that studies the transcendent, or spiritual dimensions of humanity. ...

One of the founders of the University of Western Ontario's medical school, his papers are held at the university's Weldon Library. The University of Western Ontario (popularly known as Western or UWO) is a coeducational, non-denominational, research-intensive university located in London, Ontario, Canada. ...

Books

Authored by Bucke

• Diary of R. Maurice Bucke, M.D., C.M, 1863
• Man's Moral Nature, 1879
• Walt Whitman (original edition, 1883)
• Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind, 1901, Innes & Sons, Penguin Books 1991 edition: ISBN 0-14-019337-5, 1905 edition online (37 MB PDF file)
• Richard Maurice Bucke, Medical Mystic: Letters of Dr. Bucke to Walt Whitman and His Friends, Artem Lozynsky (editor), 1977, Wayne State University Press, ISBN 0-8143-1576-3

A megabyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to approximately one million bytes. ... PDF is an abbreviation with several meanings: Portable Document Format Post-doctoral fellowship Probability density function There also is an electronic design automation company named PDF Solutions. ...

About Bucke

• James H Coyne, Richard Maurice Bucke: A Sketch, 1906, J. Hope & Sons (PDF of rev. ed., Toronto 1923)
• George Hope Stevenson, The Life and Work of Richard Maurice Bucke,: An Appraisal, 1937 (1154 pp)
• Cyril Greenland, Richard Maurice Bucke, M.D. 1837-1902. The evolution of a mystic, 1966
• Samuel Edward Dole Shortt, Victorian Lunacy : Richard M. Bucke and the Practice of Late Nineteenth-Century Psychiatry, 1986, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-30999-9
• Peter Rechnitzer, The Life of Dr. R.M. Bucke, 1994, Quarry Press 1997 edition: ISBN 1-55082-064-8
• P. D. Ouspensky, The Cosmic Consciousness of Dr. Richard M. Bucke, Kessinger Publishing, 2005 edition: ISBN 1-4253-4399-6 (48 pp)

Peter D. Ouspensky (March 5, 1878, Moscow - October 2, 1947, England), (Pyotr Demianovich Ouspenskii, also Uspenskii or Uspensky) was a Russian philosopher with an analytic and mystical bent who combined geometry and psychology in his discussion of higher dimensions of existence. ...

References

• Bucke, Richard Maurice, "The New Consciousness: Selected Papers of Richard Maurice Bucke" 1997, compiled by Cyril Greenland & John Robert Colombo. Toronto: Colombo & Company.

• Bucke, Richard Maurice, "Walt Whitman's Canada" 1992, compiled by Chril Greenland & John Robert Colombo. Toronto: Hounslow Press.

• Bucke, Richard Maurice Cosmic Consciousness, (1901 edition) — several autobiographical sections
• Rechnitzer, Peter A. The Life of Dr. R.M. Bucke, 1994

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Collections at University of Western Ontario
• Beautiful Dreamers - a film about Maurice Bucke and his relationship with Walt Whitman