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W I L H E L M
R E I C H
the advice not to trust people and not to expect too much of them the advice not to formulate the orgasm theory in universally valid terms the advice to limit character analysis the advice not to tackle problems that did not belong in my field the advice to stay away from "politics" the advice not to "attack the family" the advice not to affirm infantile sexuality but simply to tolerate it. Ever}' single piece of advice was correct on a short-term basis but would have been a catastrophe had I followed it in the long run. Cosmic energy would have remained undiscovered, the mechanism of the emotional plague would have continued to go unrecognized, if I had not exceeded my own limits and exposed myself to the mortal dangers of politics and the plague. To whom do I owe my thanks for being saved this time? I am now being told that I should push people away who are connected with the church, when they come offering help. This is probably the first time in the history of the church that its emotional foundations have been recognized. Sex economy attacks the heart of religion. The ancient mystic religion which transcendentalized life will someday be replaced by another kind of religion, a religion of the living, of unarmored life. We are now experiencing the first germinal beginnings. They are pregnant with the future. Intellectual, mechanistic Marxism will not touch the masses emotionally. The mystic church is collapsing. A new religion of life will arise, based on knowledge of life energy. Reverting to mysticism will only be easy as long as the enigma of selfperception in unarmored life has not been solved. Until this happens we will not have natural-scientific knowledge of how sensation occurs. The mystic religions undoubtedly drew their great power over human beings from the organ sensations of unarmored life. Centuries of ideological struggles over the essence of unarmored life lie ahead. Only extremely clear and courageous thought will make it possible to prevent reversion to mysticism. However, religious people will be among the chief advocates and founders of the new religion of life. From them, from the many, from the majority of the earth's population, we may expect more than from the desiccated