Mystic Treatises

Mystic Treatises

continued

Chapter XX

On Various Intelligible Forces Of The Mind In Connection With The Action Of Revelations And Spiritual Visions Divine sight is a non-apperceptible mental revelation. Divine revelation is an emotion of the mind by spiritual understanding, concerning the divine being. It is not even a faculty of the nature of the angels to be stirred into emotion at will, without a revelation granted by [divine] grace. Emotion by revelations concerning God's activity is different from emotion by revelations concerning the nature of His being. The former is of a nature to have analogy with apperceptible things. The latter has absolutely no analogy with the intellect or anything. It is threefold purity as to its parts and its nature, as it is said. And it is impossible that one of the thousand righteous should be deemed worthy of this high apperception. Also speculation concerning the incarnation of our Lord and His revelation in the flesh is said to belong to divine speculation.

110 The true sight of the angels is emotion by spiritual under. standing concerning their domain. But it is impossible for us 1 6 2 to see the nature of spiritual forces without the mind. When man is deemed worthy of seeing them in their nature and in their place and as they are in their spiritual creation, grace moves his mind by the revelation of spiritual insight concerning them. When the soul has been purified and is worthy of seeing its fellows, their sight is 1) perceived with these eyes. They are not objects and they cannot be seen as they are, without alteration, but by psychic sight which is true contemplation. This means: without deterioration of their nature by sight. This sight cannot be acquired by any man without the second purifi c ation of the mind. But the fact that the angels appear unto some men in images, is not due to true sight; but the angels minister unto the order of government by their mission. Or they show themselves for the consolation and encouragement of the simple, [in forms] perceptible by sight. Such visions even happen to those who are not pure. But the fi r st kind happens to illuminated and initiated people, who, by the glorious course of solitude, have been elevated unto the rank of purity.

Chapter XXI

On That Which Happens During Prayer (Unto Those Who Live) In Solitude Who is he that knows that delightful bending of the knees, when the tongue is silent and the heart silently utters some glorification, and its delightful emotion does not abate, the 1 63 body resting on the knees in silence? Blessed who eats from these things perpetually. But they do not happen at will, nor when one seeks them. This is in part the delight which is given for the consolation of him who walks without a blame before the Lord in the course of solitude. If he continues this course in all simplicity, and seeks the purity of his service, and if his behaviour is worthy, after some time he will be deemed worthy of the things mentioned above. 1) In some Mss.: not 111 As to those who are novices in this course and who have a fixed aim, Grace at first will make them apt for the taste of these and similar things by recitation and it will draw their thoughts towards its self, away from earthly thoughts. Then they will work and wake and pray without becoming fatigued. Unto those who are trained to some extent in the mysteries of solitude, apperceptive power during prayer and service will be imparted.

Chapter XXII

On Various (Experiences) During Prayer And On The Limits Of The Power Of The Mind. And In How Far It Has Power To Move Its Arbitrary Impulses By The Various Habits Of Prayer. And What Is The Limit Prescribed To Nature During Prayer, The Limit Which Prayer Is Not Allowed To Surpass. And How When It Has Passed It And Has Proceeded Farther, It Is No Longer Prayer, Even Though What Happens Is Called By The Name Of Prayer Glory to Him whose gift has been poured out upon man· kind, in that He has ordained that they, although of the fl e sh, should serve on the earth the class of immaterial beings and has deemed worthy the nature of mortals to speak about such 1 64 mysteries, especially sinners as we are, who are not even worthy of hearing speech concerning such things. In His bounty He has opened our blind heart to understand, by the contemplation of the scriptures and the instruction of the great Fathers even although I have not been deemed worthy of experiencing for personal zeal one thousandth of what I have written with my hands, especially in this tract, which we have ventured to write for the illumination and exhortation of our soul and of those who come across it, that perhaps, on account of its desire, it may be incited to approach unto practice. How then? Delight during prayer is different from sight during prayer. The latter is more excellent than the former, as an adult man is superior to a little boy. It will happen

112 that the words become sweet in the mouth and that one word of prayer is repeated infinitely so that no feeling of satiety with it causes thee to proceed and to pass over to a second. Sometimes from prayer a certain contemplation is born which also makes prayer vanish from the lips. And he to whom this contemplation happens becomes as a corpse without soul, in ecstasy. This we call sight during prayer and not an image or form forged by phantasy, as fools say. Also in this contemplation during prayer there are degrees and differences in gifts. But till this point there is still prayer. For thought has not yet passed into the state where there is no prayer, but a • 6 5 state superior to it. For the motions of the tongue and the heart during prayer, are keys. What comes after them is the entering into the treasury. Here then all mouths and tongues are silent, and the heart, the treasurer of the thoughts, the mind, the governor of the senses, the daring spirit, that swift bird, and all their means and powers and the beseeching persuasions have to stand still there: for the master of the house has come. For like as the whole force of the laws and the commandments which God has laid down for mankind, have their term in the purity of the heart, according to the word of the Fathers, so all kinds and habits of prayer with which mankind prays unto God, have their term in pure prayer.

Lamentations and self-humiliations and beseechings and inner supplications and sweet tears and all other habits which prayer possesses, - as I have haid: their boundary and the domain within which they are set into motion, is pure prayer. As soon as the spirit has crossed the boundary of pure prayer and proceeded onwards, there is neither prayer, nor emotions, nor tears, nor authority, nor freedom, nor beseechings, nor desire, nor longing after any of those things which are hoped for in this world or in the world to be. Therefore there is no prayer beyond pure prayer, and all its emotions and habits by their authority with freedom conduct 166 the spirit thus far and there is struggle in it; but beyond this limit it passes into ecstasy and is no longer prayer. From here onwards the spirit desists from prayer; there is sight, but the spirit does not pray. Every kind of prayer which exists is set into motion by the impulses of the soul. But when the mind has entered the emotions of spirituality, then it can no longer pray.

113 Prayer is different from contemplation during prayer, though they are caused by each other. One is the seed; the other the load [of harvest] borne by the hands, while the reaper is astonished by the undescribable sight of how from the mean and bare grains of seed glorious ears suddenly grow up before him. And during sight he remains without motion. Every prayer which exists, is demand and request, or praise or thanksgiving. But judge whether there exists any of these modes, or demand of anything, when the mind has passed into this domain and has entered this place. I ask this of those who know the truth. It is not given to every one to enquire into these distinctions, but only to those who have been personally witness and ministers of this matter or have been brought up in the presence of the spiritual authors 1) of such experiences and have received the truth from their mouth and have passed their days with such occupations, asking and answering concerning matters of truth. As among ten thousand men there is scarcely to be found a single one 167 who has fulfilled the commandments and the laws to any extent and who has been deemed worthy of serenity of soul, so there is rarely to be found one among many, who on account of strenuous vigilance has been deemed worthy of pure prayer and who has made his way into this domain and been deemed worthy of this mystery. Not many are deemed worthy of pure prayer, only a few.

But as to that mystery which lies beyond, there is scarcely to be found a single man in every generation who has drawn near to this knowledge of God's grace. Prayer is a beseeching for, a caring for, a longing for some thing, either liberation from the evil things here or [in the world] to come, or a desire for promised things, or a demand for something by which man wishes to be brought nearer unto God. In these emotions are included all habits of prayer. But its being pure or not depends upon the following circumstances. If, when the spirit is prepared to offer one of the emotions which we have enumerated, any foreign deliberation or distraction mingles itself with it, prayer is called non-pure, because it has brought upon the altar of the Lord an animal which it is not allowed [to offer], the altar which is an upright, intelligible heart.

114 But when the spirit gives itself with longing to one of these emotions, in accordance to the necessity of the case, at the time of beseeching, and when on account of its alacrity the gaze of the emotion is directed by the eye of faith beyond the curtain of the heart, the entrances of the soul are closed thereby against the foreign deliberations which are called r68 strangers 1), whom the law does not allow to enter the tabernacle. This is called the accepted offering of the heart and pure prayer. Its boundaries are to this point. \What lies beyond cannot be called prayer. If any one should mention what by the Fathers is called spiritual prayer, without understanding the force of the words of the Fathers, saying: This belongs also to the domain of prayer) I think that, if he should reach true insight, it would prove a blasphemy if there should be found any of the creatures who should say that spiritual prayer can be prayed at all. For all prayer that can be prayed, lies on this side of spirituality. And all that is spiritual, is in kind free from emotion and prayer. Now if man is hardly able to pray pure prayer what must be said of spiritual prayer I The holy Fathers are accustomed to designate all profitable emotions and all spiritual working by the name of prayer. And the blessed commentator 2) even counts beautiful deeds as prayer; though it is clear that prayer is different from deeds which are things done.

But sometimes they designate by spiritual prayer that which they sometimes call contemplation; and sometimes knowledge; and sometimes revelations of intelligible things. Doest thou see, how the Fathers 169 change their designations of spiritual things! This is because accurate designations can only be established concerning earthly things. The things of the world-to· be do not possess a true name, but only simple cognition, which is exalted above all names and signs and forms and colours and habits and composite denominations. \When, therefore, the knowledge of the soul exalts itself above this circle of visible things, the Fathers use concerning this knowlegde any designations they like, though no one does know the real names in order that the psychic deliberations may be based on them. \We use denominations and riddles, according to the word of the holy Dionysius 3) who 115 says: We use signs and s.yllables, conventional names and words in behalf of the senses. But when by spiritual working our soul is moved unto divine things, then the senses and their workings are superfluous to us, as also the spiritual forces of the soul are superfluous as soon as our soul becomes the image of the godhead through unification with the incomprehensible and radiant in the rays of the sublime, by those impulses which are not for the eyes. Therefore, my brother, of this thou mayest be sure: that the power of the mind to use the emotions with discernment has its limit in purity during prayer. When the mind has reached this point, it will either turn backwards, or it will desist from prayer; so prayer is, as it were, a mediator between the psychic and the spiritual state. As long, however, as 1 70 it is in emotion, it is in the psychic state. But as soon as it has passed this limit, prayer ceases. As the saints, in the world to come do not pray, when the mind has been engulfed by the [divine] spirit, but they dwell in ecstasy in that delightful glory, so the mind, when it has been made worthy of perceiving the future blessedness, will forget itself and all that is here, and it will not be moved any longer by the thought of anything 1). Man, therefore, may freely go so far as to say: all excellence whatever and all orders of prayer whatever, in body or in spirit;

are in the realm of free will, as well as the mind that dominates the senses. But when the influence of the spirit reigns over the mind that regulates the senses and the deliberations, freedom is taken away from nature which no longer governs but is governed. And how could there be prayer at that time, when nature does not possess power over its self, but is conducted by an outward force without knowing whither. Nature then does not direct the emotions of the spirit according to its will, but captivity reigns over nature in that hour and conducts it there where sensual apperception ceases; because nature even has no will at that time, even to this extent that it does not know whether it is in or without the body, as scripture testifies. Has therefore such a one prayer who is a captive to this degree and who even does not know himself? So no one should say with blasphemy that there is anyone

116 who could venture to say that it is possible to pray spiritual 171 prayer. This audaciousness the Mesalleyane vindicate for themselves, those haughty ignorants who proclaim concerning themselves that they are able to pray spiritual prayer when they like. But those who are humble and have insight and are inclined to learn from the Fathers and know the limits of nature, do not abandon their deliberations to this audaciousness. And therefore, when there is no prayer, can then this unspeakable gift be designated by the name of prayer? The cause, as we say, is therein, that at the time of prayer [this gift] is granted unto those who are worthy. And in prayer it has its starting-point, because this glorious gift cannot be granted excepted at this time, according to the testimony of the Fathers. Therefore it is called by the name of prayer, because from prayer the mind is conducted towards this blessed state, and because prayer is its starting-point and it does not occur on any other occasion, according to the testimony of Mar Euagrius and others. And we see also that the majority of the saints say that during prayer their mind was snatched 1). If any one asks: How is it that at this time only these great and unspeakable gifts are granted? we answer: Because at this time, more than in any other hour, man is concentrated and prepared to look unto God and to desire and to expect compassion from Him. In short:

it is the time that the demand of him who is at the gate of the king and asks desi-172 ringly and beseechingly, is likely to. be heard. And what time is there when man is so cautious and fit and prepared, as the time when he prays? Or should it be becoming that he should be deemed worthy of this at the time when he sleeps or settles any affair or is distracted of mind? However, the saints do not even know a time of idleness, because at all times they are occupied by spiritual things, for when they are not standing in preparation for prayer, they often meditate upon some stories of the scriptures, or their mind meditates in contemplation of the created things, or [their mind is occupied] with other things meditation of which is profitable. At the time of prayer the gaze of the spirit is exclusively fixed on God and the tendency of its emotion is wholly directed towards Him, and it offers to Him the beseechings of the

117 heart with the necessary zeal, with fervour and ardour. Therefore it is becoming that at this time, when a single thought dominates the soul, divine mercy should well forth from Him. For we see also that when we offer the visible sacrifice, while every one is prepared and standing in prayer, supplicating and beseeching, the mind being concentrated upon God, the gift of the spirit descends upon the bread and wine which we lay on the altar. To Zechariah also the angel appeared at the time of prayer and announced to him the conception of John. And 1 7 3 to Peter appeared, while he was praying on the roof the prayer of the sixth hour, the revelation that made him acquainted with the accession of the gentiles, by the cloth that descended from heaven and by the animals that were on it. And to Cornelius appeared, when he prayed, that which is written concerning him. And God spoke with Joshua the son of Nun while he was prostrated in prayer. And over the ark was placed a plate, from which the priest was taught by divine revelation what was required, at the time when the high priest, once in a year, entered the inner sanctuary at the dreadful time of prayer while all the tribes of the children of Israel were gathered and stood in trembling and fear in the outer tabernacle in prayer. And while the high priest was prostrated the voice of God was heard from the plate over the ark, in a dreadful, unspeakable revelation.

How dreadful was the mystery that was ministered in this ceremony! So all the revelations and visions that happened unto the saints, happened at the time of prayer. What time is so holy and fit for sanctification and the receiving of gifts as the time of prayer, in which man speaks with God? At this time man utters his desires unto God, beseeching Him and speaking with Him and his whole emotion and thought are concentrated from all sides upon Him with 1 7 4 compulsion; of God alone he thinks and Him alo n e he sup plicates; his whole thought is absorbed in discourse with Him and his heart is full of Him. It is in this state, therefore, that the Holy Ghost joins with the things which man prays, some unattainable insights, which it stirs in him in accordance with his aptitude of being moved so that by these insights the emotion of prayer ceases, the mind is absorbed in ecstasy and the desired object of prayer is forgotten. The impulses are drowned in a heavy drunkenness and man is no longer in this world. Then

118 there is no longer discrimination of body or of soul, nor recollection of anything, as Euagrius says. Prayer namely is steadfastness of mind, which is terminated only by the light of the holy Trinity through ecstasy. Thou seest, how prayer is terminated when those insights which are born in the spirit from prayer, pass into ecstasy, as I have said in the beginning of this treatise and in several places further on. Further he 1) says: Steadfastness of mind is highness of intelligible apperceptions 2), which resembles the colour of the sky over which rises, at the time of prayer, the light of the holy Trinity. When is a man deemed worthy of the whole of this grace such that during prayer he is exalted unto this height? He says: When the mind puts off the old man and puts on 175 the new one by grace, then it also sees its steadfastness at the time of prayer, resembling sapphire or the colour of heaven, as the place of God was called by the elders of Israel, to whom it appeared on the mountain 3). So, as I have said, this gift is not to be called spiritual prayer, but what then? The fruit of pure prayer, which is engulfed in the spirit. The mind has ascended here above prayer. And, having found what is more excellent, it desists from prayer. And further there is no longer prayer, but the gaze in ecstasy at the unattainable things which do not belong to the world of mortals, and peace without knowledge of any earthly thing. This is the well known ignorance 4) concerning which Euagrius says: Blessed is he who has reached, during prayer, unconsciousness which is not to be surpassed.

Chapter XXIII

On The Speech Of True Knowledge Every apperceptible thing, be it action or word, is the revelation of what is hidden within, if its cause be not entirely accidental, but return constantly. The latter element only is I) evidently Euagrius 2) literally: things 3) Exodus 24, 9- I l 4) Cf. Dionysius Areopagita p. 274 10 119 considered in connection with reward; the former is taken into consideration to a small extent only. For the strength or the weakness of will is evidenced in the doing of evil or of good things, not by anything that happens accidentally; but the proof of its freedom is the constant repetition. To fate is given power; sometimes even so as to dominate 1 7 6 freedom of will. Good or bad accidents meet man be it in order to spur him on, or to test, or to train, or to reward him. That which serves to spur on, is good; that which serves to test, is considered as being bad; that which serves to train and to remunerate is indifferent. There are no fortuitous accidents; for nothing fortuitous happens to man, good or evil. There is a governor who governs the things of this world. There is a guardian with each of us, whom nothing escapes and whose attention never fails. But all accidents are foreseen by this appointed guardian. And in these four kinds [of accidents] his providence is active. Passionate prayer, the companion of a course [of life] in harmony with its passionate nature, alters the character of those [who are subject to accidents] and brings about amelioration. The good are strengthened and corroborated by it; to the bad it causes a change to the opposite direction. Therefore, doubt not what I have said: there is no accident fortuitous or without a governor.

If indeed prayer combined with steadfestness is able to alter or to direct, we have to believe that there is a governor to every accident. Blessed is he who compares every accident which happens to him, with his hidden [state], who scrutinizes its cause and beholds its governor. He that is desirous to acquire experience with God, cannot but become a fool to the world and a hater of human glory. Admirable is the man who conceals the greatness of his work by lowliness of soul. Such a one is admired by the angels. As guardians of righteousness have to be reckonned by thee 1 7 7 involuntary defects, which sometimes are found with those who are watchful. There is no prayer which is heard so soon as when a man asks to be reconciled with those who are angry with him. And when a man charges himself with the fault, this prayer is answered without delay. If thou fulfillest thy duty and art watchful in thy domain, yet art weak and despicable in thy

120 own eyes, hating human glory, then know that thou art surely in the way of God. But if thou perceivest that thou art not in this state and, when thou explorest thyself, thou seest that thoughts of blame cause thee pain, then know that thou art void of truth and in secret relation with falsehood.

Chapter XXIV

On The Things A Brother Is Provided With In His Cell It occurs. many times in a day, that a brother, even if thou shouldst give him the kingdom of the world, would not consent at that hour to leave his cell or to [allow] any one to visit him. For the time of commerce 1) has presented itself, of a sudden. Such things happen on days such as are considered as days of relaxation. Often on such days and even on those wherein he has intercourse with others, grace of a sudden will visit him, in tears without measure, or a vivid affection moving 1 7 s the heart, or a certain gladness without cause, or the delight of kneelings. I know a brother who put the key in the door of his cell in order to shut it, for he was going out in order to be occupied with idle things as the scripture says 2). And there grace visited him, so that he returned immediately. Nobody, therefore, shall blame a brother if, on the days on which he does not keep canonical solitude, he should happen to neglect the congregational service sometimes. Especially if he be not reputed base or given to inane occupations, and if he does not neglect it on account of bodily labour. You know, my brethren, that our work is not only that which is accomplished before the eyes of men; but we have also a service which is hidden from the eyes of men and which is not known to novices and lay people. For you are acquainted with the fact, that the solitary is under a rule and not his own master. Therefore if any of his brethren comes to visit him and he answers him not, he shall return immediately without blaming his brother. For he

I) Often the image of spiritual things 2) Eccles. 1, 14 etc. 121 does not know that with which his brother is occupied at that time. The cell of a solitary is the cave of the rock in which God spoke with Moses, as the Fathers say. Those solitaries who have not been put to the test by the service which consists in the true taste of solitude, do not know these things. They despise their brethren and judge, claiming for themselves equality with them in all things. 1 79 It also happens sometimes that a brother is suddenly set face to face with some necessary strife, and, with his hands laid on his heart, he is in danger of flying away. Being prostrated he beseeches God, not able to bear the voice of any one. These varying states are known to those who once have crossed this ocean and are acquainted with the winds blowing [there]. It may also happen that the thought of repentance may rise in a man and that his past may suddenly be united with the memory of his death and present itself before him. And this brilliant sun will be darkened before his eyes and every recollection of the world will be effaced from his heart. It may also happen that suddenly billows may rise against him and his ship be engulfed in hidden abysses; things which are not known to every one, but which unexpectedly assail the solitary in his solitude owing to the violent struggles of Satan, so that the cell becomes a place of mourning.

Numerous are the varying states of this ocean and who knows its labours and its multifarious connections, the wonderful pearls in its depth and the animals rising from it? Blessed is he who sleeps not during the whole of his course until the port of death. No one loves anything without multiplying his connections [with it]. No one is able to occupy himself with divine things without having cast away and despised temporal ones; becoming a stranger to worldly honour and delights, following the disdain of the cross, drinking every day vinegar and gall on account of the affections, men, demons and poverty. Be alert, my brother, and be like a prudent merchant, bea-I8o ring thy pearl and wandering through the world, anxious that its excellent beauty be not besmirched. Be careful, lest it be stolen from thee on account of thy laxity and thou go to Hell in distress. Persue the small consolation which is gained from labour in

122 its time, that thou may be deemed worthy of that great consolation which liberates those who have found it, from torment in this place of distresses. Do not reject small things, lest thou be bereaved of the great ones. No one has ever seen a child which sucks milk putting meat into its mouth. By means of small things the gate unto great ones is opened. Thou disdainest God, o my brother who desirest that God shall govern thee without His rule. No one has been entrusted with great things, without having been first tried in small ones. Think of this, o my brother, and remember me in due time: every station which on the morrow thou attainest to in this way of excellence and knowledge of the truth, will be found by thee more glorious and excellent than that in which thou hast spent the night before. Thou departest, wondering at the beauty of the station which thou has entered to-day. But its beauty vanishes by the beauty of that which thou wilt reach tomorrow. Who can perceive the mind's varying states, full of delight? Pray only, that the gate may be opened before thee. Be on thy guard against dejectedness. Thou servest not under a tyrant; thy service is under a kind Lord, who has given thee all, without taking from thee anything and who, before thou didst exist at all, destined thee to ocupy thy present place.

Who can do justice to His grace even as shown by His calling us into existence? 181 0, for His immeasurable grace! Who can sufficiently tell the glory of Him who has given us the knowledge of all things? Not only of those which are manifest, but also of those which are hidden, so that we know that, if there is anything that we know not, we must ask it of Him; who has taught thee, o mortal, to be moved by the desire of seeking that of which the knowledge is not in thy nature? Never seek a consolation that lies without the heart, which is the knowledge of discern· ment. Exalt thyself above all consolation administered by the senses, that thou may be worthy of that consolation which lies beyond. The solitary who has become alien to the consolation of the world, without expecting every day the consolation of Christ, is dead in his living state. For God is compassionate and prone to give; but He desires that we give the opportunity. For He rejoices when man offers a wise prayer. The mark of him who is recovering from illness is that he

123 is desirous of the hidden things. There is delay, however, if he beholds essential health. He who wearies of asking is the companion of him who wearies because of delay. Weariness declines to ask in prayer, viz. it is an impediment to asking. Dejectedness shortens prayer and bars its prolongation. Expectation gives patience and incites us to prolong prayer. Expectation makes light the weight of fatigue in the limbs. It also knows how to impart rest to the heart in its troubles. There is no load the weight of which is more agreeable than work with expectation; nor is there any comrade with whom 1 8 2 intercourse is more desired than with it. Prison is a pleasant habitation if it be there. Make it thy companion, o repentant brother, then thou wilt not perceive any of the labours of thy struggle. If thou art in thy cell, it will be with thee. If thou art found among men, fix thy mind on it. And if at any time thy heart errs after anything on the earth, this world and all that is in it will be found alien to thee. If thou sleep, make it thy bed-companion; and converse with it until thou art enfolded in sleep. Then no depraved deliberation will draw near thy heart, because thy occupation is of an immaterial kind and no object clad with matter, which by its appearance moves the spirit, is able to show itself there; and no demoniac deliberation knows how to show itself detached from material appearance.

The fruit of life sprouts from endurance in prayer. And expectation is a helper during prayer to those who possess it. When thou prayest, remember the husbandman who sows in hope. And He who causes to return twofold the seed of the husbandman who sows in faith, and who has estimated the seeking of His kingdom and His righteousness higher than the temporal things, He will incline himself to our prayer to our demands, as He has promised. Amen.

Chapter XXV

The Opportunities Of The Soul That Seeks Profound Contemplation To Immerse Itself In It And So To Escape From Bodily Deliberations Which Arise From Things Recollected Every 1) thing that is above another one is concealed from what is beneath it. And this is not caused by its being covered 1 83 by other bodies. For it possesses naturally the faculty to unveil its secrecy whenever it likes to do so. Thus all things which are essentially intelligible have no external distinctions of rank; these distinctions are confined to their emotions. This implies manifestly that they are more suited to receive, without any intermediary, the primeval light, than things of a lower 2) rank, not materially nor locally, but in relation to the high degree of purity or moderation of the minds, with reference to the faculty that receives hints from above. All things which are by their nature intelligible, are hidden from what is beneath them; not on account of natural divergences, but on account of excellence of impulses. This I say in respect of the members of [different] classes, viz. the classes of holy forces, the classes of souls, the classes of demons. The first have the middle place; the last the lowest in a natural and local respect and also with regard to their emotions. Each of the classes is hidden from the other as to their intelligible character, whether they see or not; from the inferior ones they are also hidden by nature. Now then, because incorporeal beings are not to be seen by other beings in the same way as corporeal beings, but their [power to] see one another is said to be dependent upon their emotions, namely the excellency and temperance of the emotions - therefore they see one another if they are equal

t) With the ideas of this chapter compare Frothingham, Stephen Bar Sudaili, p. 92: "Every intelligent nature is determined, known and comprehended by the essence which is above it; and determines, kno\YS and comprehends the essence which is below it; but to the pure mind alone belongs the vision above and below". This seems to be the opening sentence of the Book of Hierotheos. 2) literally: later 125 in this respect even at a distance and not as phantoms, but with real sight and in their true nature. 184 Only - the cause of all is exalted above these distinctions, He, who is alone to be adored. The demons, though they are very impure, are not deprived of seeing the members of their own classes. But they do not see the two degrees that are above them because spiritual sight is serenity of emotions. These are their mirror and their eyes. And when the emotions have become darkened, they do not see the orders which are above them. [Only] one another they see, because they are more material than the order of spiritual things, in comparison with them. Such is the state of the demons. The souls, in accordance with their being impure and obscure, have not the faculty to see even the members of their own classes. Being deprived of seeing one another, they are also deprived of seeing themselves. But if they are purified and return unto the original state in which they were created, they clearly gaze at the three classes, viz. at those which are beneath themselves, at those which are above themselves, and at one another. This does not mean that they see all these classes only when they are transformed into material similitudes: angels, demons or the cognate soul. But they see them in their nature, being in their spiritual state, angels, demons and souls.

If thou sayest, however, that it is impossible that demon or angel be seen in their spiritual state without being altered, then 185 it is not the soul that sees, but the body; or wherefore, then, is purifi c ation necessary? Demons are seen sometimes, and also angels, it is true, by those who are not pure. But they see them with their bodily eye when they see them, where no purification is needed. But the soul that has been purified sees not thus; it sees them in their spiritual state with its natural eye, viz. with its intellectual faculty. That the souls see one another, even when they are in the body, is not surprising. Of this fact there is an evident proof which thou wilt acknowledge, because its witness is trustworthy. The blessed Athanasius, the confessor and Catholicus, gives witness to it in his book on the dealings of Mar Antonius. One time when Mar Antonius prayed, he saw a man's soul ascending with great honour. He uttered a blessing over him that had been

126 deemed worthy of all this grace. This was the blessed Ammon, the recluse. And the mountain the blessed Antonius inhabited was at a distance of thirteen days from Nitria. - Here is a proof of the three things we have maintained, viz. spiritual beings see one another even at a distance, without their being impeded by space and the presence of objects; souls see one another when they have been purified; when they see they do 1 8 6 not see in a bodily way but by spiritual faculty, for it is clear that bodily sight can see what is before it; but as for seeing at a distance a different sight is needed. These highest classes possess an unlimited multiplicity of number. And distinctions and orders are noted among them. Some of them are called princes and magistrates, powers and lords. Perhaps those which are entrusted with magistracy and authority are smaller in number than those which are compelled to obey their commandment, says the master of teachers Diodorus Rhetor 1). For they are in the possession of power and great if partial insight, in accordance with the highness of their orders, being gradated so that they ascend from degree to degree till they reach the one who is older and mightier and more glorious than any other and who is the head and the foundation of all creatures. The head, I say, not the creator of the primeval wonderful works of God.

The angels and the archangels are very far from attaining to the wisdom of God, their and our creator. They are as far from it, as those of the lower degree are from them, but also no farther. Far, I say, as to their being higher or lower in their mutual relations; not in a spatial sense, but in respect of power and insight. Thus we say that they are higher or lower in respect of natural power and insight; for in accordance with the measure they have reached, greater or lesser knowledge is inherent in them. 1 87 All heavenly beings are named by the divine instruction with nine designations. It divides these three classes each into three subdivisions. The first comprises thrones exalted, high and holy; and Cherubs with many eyes; and Seraphs with many wings. The [second] class [comprises] lords and powers and magistrates. The third: princes and archangels and angels. According to the meaning of the Hebrew, these terms are

127 to be interpreted thus: Seraphs means those who cause heat and fire. Cherubs means magnitude of knowledge and effusion of wisdom. Thrones means divine acceptance and good pleasure. This first class is called [that of] the Initiated, not because they see spiritually by the intermediary of the various apperceptible symbols, or because from spiritual writings they have acquired understanding concerning the Essence; but because they are full of the exalted light of the whole of immaterial knowledge and have been saturated with the essential contemplation of the threefold rays of the beauty that creates all beauties, so far as it has been permitted to them. And because they have been deemed worthy of communion with Jesus, not by means of images of holy formation, which with a certain exactness depict the divine likeness; but because they are in truth near to Him, stamped by Him with the mark of the primary acceptance of the knowledge of His divine illuminated. By the godhead they are filled with essential knowledge, as it is among the angels, and with primary insight into the godhead. A no t he r an d c l e a r e r [d e s c r i p t i on] of t he d e s i gn at i on s of t he h i g he s to r d e r s. 188 Thrones are honoured [beings]. Lords are those who rule kingdoms. Princes the governors of the air. Magistrates are those who rule the peoples and human individuals.

Forces are those whose sight is frightful, viz. who are powerful with strength. Seraphs are those who sanctify. Cherubs are bearers. Guards 1) are those who watch. Angels are messengers. On the first day eight kinds were created, seven in silence, one by voice, viz. light. On the second day the firmament. On the third the gathering of waters and the sprouting plants. On the fourth the different luminaries. On the fifth the fowls, the reptiles and the fishes. On the sixth the beasts and men. The form of the whole world is length and breadth. The head is the East; the end is the west; the right part is the North; the left part is the South. The earth is as a bed; and the highest heaven as a vault; the second heaven as a wheel adapted to the higher one. And the borders of heaven and earth are joined one to the other. The Ocean surrounds them as a belt. Beyond it are high mountains ascending unto the sky. The sun goes its way

Chapter XXVI

Against Those Who Say: If God Is Good Wherefore Has He Made These Things? Sin, hell and death do not at all exist with God. For they are facts, not persons. Sin is the fruit of will. There was a time, when it was not. And there will be a time, when it will not be. Hell is the fruit of sin; at some time or other it had beginning; but its end is not known. Death, however, is provided by the wisdom of the creator. It will rule a certain time only over nature; then it will vanish altogether. Satan is the name of the deviation of will from the truth, but it is not the designation of a natural being. Although thou findest, o my brother, some of these things also in other books, still we may not be reckoned by thee as those who seek their own glory, because we pretend the work of others to be our own, but, on the contrary, as those who are humble, since we suck from the milk of our fore-fathers those things which we have collected and placed before ourselves as objects of contemplation, with the aim of enriching the intellect with their stores in which we may pasture and be fed. For we have not forgotten that we are not above the rank of disciples so long as we dwell in the flesh. The faculty of discernment is the emotionality of the natural ideas. W he n these go the natural way in their emotions, they meet with the changing elements and worlds.

But when [they go] a sub sidiary way, another use will be found for the former ones. For when the natural [faculties] are twofold in their intellectual use, they will be understood in one of these only, and that the non-psychic state. When thou catchest the delight of the words of the service, then the mind is eager to remain in it continuously. If thou desirest, however, to fulfill its wish, then haste towards the knowledge of its cause. If thou hast attained this quickly, as 129 one discerning and not blind, it is not difficult for thee to taste this [delight] constantly without impediment. And what then is the influence which is also called cause? By a file, which does not add anything to it, iron is brought to brilliancy and radiance; for these properties belong to its essence. But what happens? The file removes from it the rust, which has come upon it, although no one is responsible for that. The same theory holds true as to the nature of the mind. Bring it into contact with the file; then thou wilt find how it shines at the time of service, imitating the rays of the stars. For a thing is not able to go its way [without aid]; it delays, if no one cares for it. Therefore have I said that during the recitation of Psalms (not during the prayer of the heart and recitation) the heart can hardly be captivated. It is otherwise with those; with them only small care is needed. They are able to make [recitation of Psalms] profitable. But without them, care for recitation will 1 91 be found to be in vain. The latter will be promoted, even if

there be no other increase to it, if the former be a stock already present 1). Hunger is able to procure food; but it is not inclined to abstain from eating. Delicious for the husbandman is the bread won by his sweat. Without previous sweat, the bread of truth does not give saturation. The body which is the husbandman, sweats and feeds the rational mind. And this happens even when the mind is deprived of its customary, non-natural food. Spiritual excellency is the daughter of excellency of will and this it is necessarily. For freedom is the natural force of reason, and not slavery. But on that side, towards which it inclines and where it abides, it gives birth to a different force, which is not natural. And when this is born, freedom becomes ruled and governed by comp•Jlsion. I dare to say: it becomes bound, without self-government. Before, compulsion was voluntary; now compulsion has mastered will. And I say that this is to be seen on both sides, when a man subdues himself on the right side and when he gives an opportunity to the left one. But the mind that has learnt to see discriminately, is able to observe how compulsion on both sides dominates freedom, when the force which is not from nature, is born

and incongruous meetings of repugnant persons, as ordered by Providence. When the intellect observes all this, emotion takes hold of the whole soul. And then is born in it examination of deliberations, of words and actions and of the outlines of the domain of divine righteousness. Now when the intellect withdraws itself from this and is exalted unto the unique Essence, by the contemplation of the properties of that good Nature 2) which possesses eternal knowledge, which is anterior to all existence, and of all His other properties, fear is expelled at once and the mind is supported by confi d ence. \Vhen the intellect descends again from that place and returns again to the worlds and their distinctions, it will fly and give way to fear, because Providence does not allow it to be always in the presence of this contemplation of truth. Therefore from 1) Romans I 1, 33 2) f<'� viz. God

132 time to time [fear] will take away from the heart the strength of trust which is inspired by true contemplation, and it will let the intellect be tortured by diverse opinions; lest [the intellect] should desist from judging constantly the veracity of its deliberations and actions and thus acquire cautiousness, for it does not know how it will meet the judgment of God. To whom be praise for ever and ever Amen.

Chapter XXVII

In How Many Different Ways The Sight Of Incorporeal Beings Is Received By Human Nature All simple and subtle kinds of rational bodies can be attained to by the apperception of human nature in three ways: by personal density [which isa] non-essential way; by personal subtlety [which isa] non-essential way; by true contemplation which is essential sight. The first way is dominated by the senses; the other by simple psychic sight; the third by the natural force of the spirit. Further one is dominated by will and reason; one by will and psychic light and all that strengthens the latter. Will is in the first place cause; and these are the children of freedom, even if at the time of use freedom and will are silent, so long as influence is active and potent. And one only is dominated by the demonstrating [power], even without the will of the recipients and essential knowledge, even as the senses are the recipients of all accidents without the will. These three ways are ministered by holy forces which mingle themselves with us for the sake of our instruction and in order that we may fi n d life. Those who are impure have power to minister two of them, which they may use when they come 1 96 near unto us, for perdition, not for profit. To the third kind they do not approach with the purpose of using it, so as to acquire power over us to lead us astray. For it is not possible for the children of darkness to approach light; the demons do not possess the power to set into motion the natural insights of the mind. The holy angels, however, possess this faculty of setting into motion and of

133 illuminating. The demons, however, possess the false insights, the children of darkness, as their power and government. From the illuminated the recipient takes light, from the dark, darkness. And what is the reason that this was given to those, and not to these? The insight which every one of these teachers shows and teaches, is first seen by him in his own person, and learnt and tasted; then he is able to transmit to us the truth of things on account of their true knowledge concerning them, which they have found first by the swift attaining power of the light and pure mind. The demons also possess swiftness, but no illumination. Swiftness is different from illumination. The former without the latter leads its possessors to destruction and insipidity; the latter teaches truth, the former sham truth; for light shows the veracity of things entirely and it becomes greater or less in accordance with behaviour. From their knowledge the holy angels pour out into us, through the emotions caused by things, that which they taste 197 and acquire first and thus transmit to us. And these secondary teachers also set into motion in us, in correspondence with their knowledge, emotions caused by things. In the domain where they have no freedom, it is necessary [for them] to quicken in us right deliberations concerning these things.

As I have said, therefore, this may be certain to thee, that even if we were able to receive it, they would not be able to teach us true contemplation, though they should be acquainted with it from of old. Every member of one party or the other - holy angels or those of the opposite group - teaches and incites us, the disciples, to behave according to his own behaviour. To me this is true: that the mind of itself, even without the mediation of the holy angels, tends towards the good, even without instruction, but that it is unable to receive the knowledge of evil things without the mediation of the demons or the senses, [and is unable] to tend towards them of its own accord. In our nature good is implanted, evil not. And all that is foreign and is taught from without, needs an intermediary. What is planted within, however, unfolds itself naturally, even without instruction, even if dimly. But even though our nature tends of its own towards the good, it is unable, without the tutorship of the holy angels, to increase this and to be illuminated by it. We have them as teachers, as they have each 1 98 other, namely those who are lower [have for their teachers]

134 198 those who are more instructed and enlightened than themselves. So they have each other [for teachers] up to the one who has as a teacher the holy Trinity. And even he [does not receive instruction] of his own, but he has as a teacher the mediator Jesus, through whom he receives [instruction] and transmits it to those who are on the same plan and lower. I think also this. As we naturally do not at all possess the force to be moved by divine contemplation, and we share in this deficiency with all heavenly beings, it is only by grace, without exercise or computation [on our part], that we are moved by something which naturally is foreign to the human and angelic mind. For contemplation concerning the godhead is not to be compared with other kinds of contemplation; for we possess contemplation as to their natures through our participation in the twofold nature that is theirs, because of that which is in us and also in them; but we do not participate in the nature of the Essence, nor do we possess contemplation concerning Him. As the faculty of being set into motion by this contemplation does not naturally belong to any of the rational beings of the first and middle class, it must be a gift of grace in all heavenly and earthly minds. It is not like other faculties caused by nature, however illuminated and purifi e d.

But I think - and this is true - that the mind of us, children of man, is to be conducted [only] by revelations and insights so far as to reach this essential contemplation which is the same as true revelation; without their 1 99 mediation, however, our mind could not be conducted. And our mind does not possess a strengh like that of those high and exalted beings who receive all revelations and contemplation from the Essence, without an intermediary. But even they [receive these revelations] through an image of the Essence, not from the Essence itself. So that our mind also is in the same degree as the other classes, not able to receive revelations and contemplation of their own, without an intermediary, but only from Jesus who sways the sceptre of the Kingdom. The other classes, viz. other primary classes receive [revelations] by handing them down one to the other, concerning all matters of government and the understanding thereof (not concerning the Essence), from the first to the second and soon till the mystery has gone through all the classes. But many are the mysteries which remain in that one primary

135 class without spreading through the other classes, because, apart from that one, they are not able to receive such a great mystery. There are other mysteries again which proceed from the primary class and are revealed only to the second, but are preserved there in silence; the other classes do not perceive them. Others again are revealed to the third and fourth classes. There are also [differences of] superiority and inferiority of revelation in the case of individual angels. Some of them 2oo are rich in revelations and mysteries of a high order are revealed unto them, and they receive plentiful light. Some are lower and their impulses are too weak for these mysteries. And thus among the spiritual classes there is excellency and deficiency, superiority and inferiority concerning the receiving of revelations. Apart from that upper class which is the primary of all classes, the remainder without exception receive con: templation and hints concerning the entire divine government from their fellows. And if this is the case with them, how much less are we able, without them and without an intermediary, to receive such mysteries. But as often as an apperception falls in the minds of the saints, this revelation of whatsoever mystery it be, comes from these [heavenly beings]. When it is allowed by God, revelation is handed down by each higher class to that which is lower, unto the lowest; in the same way, when it is allowed by the godhead, the mystery is handed down by those who are worthy of it unto human beings.

By their intermediary, at any rate, the saints become receivers of the light of contemplation, by which they behold the praised Essence, which is a mystery which they do not learn from each other. Those [higher beings] are administering spirits, which are sent to those who are to inherit life through the apperception of such insights of the truths as are peculiar to them. 201 In the world to be, however, this kind of transmission will be annihilated. For then one will not receive the revelation of God's glory for the delight of his soul, from his comrade, but it will be given to every one himself in so far as is in accordance with the measure of his excellency, and as he is deemed worthy of by the Lord of the Universe; but he will not receive the gift through his comrade, as is the case in this world. For there are none who learn and none who teach and none who desire to receive from their comrades what fails themselves. For one giver reveals himself there without intermediary unto

136 all receivers. And those who receive all spiritual delight receive from Him. So that they do not perceive Him by means of single insights but by [direct] revelation of Himself, without the outward intermediary of impulses. There is abrogated the degree of the learner and the teacher and every one's swift love is fixed on one. Also I say that even those who are scourged in Hell are tormented with the scourgings of love. Scourgings for love's sake, namely of those who perceive that they have sinned against love, are more hard and bitter than tortures through fear. The suffering which takes hold of the heart through the sinning against love is more acute than any other torture. It is evil for a man to think that the sinners in Hell are destitute of love for the Creator. For love is a child of true knowledge such as is professed to be given to all people. Love works with its force in a double way. It tortures those who have 202 sinned, as happens also in the world between friends. And it gives delight to those who have kept its decrees. Thus it is also in Hell. I say that the hard tortures are grief for love. The inhabitants of heaven, however, make drunk their soul with the delight of love. Some one was asked when one could believe that he had been deemed worthy of forgiveness of sins. He answered: when he perceives that he inwardly hates them with a complete hate, and that his mode of life is the contrary of what it previously was. He who is in such a state, will trust that his sins have been forgiven by God, on account of the witness borne by the conscience of his soul, according to the word of the A post!e. The heart which does not blame is a witness concerning itself.

Chapter XXVIII

A Symbolical Demonstration Concerning The Theory Of Sabbath And Sunday Sunday is the symbol of true knowledge which is not received by flesh and blood, and which is elevation above [mere] opinion. In this world, l}owever, there is no eighth day; but neither is there a true Sabbath. The fact that God rested on the seventh day is a symbol of the rest of our nature from the course of 137 this life. For the grave is also of a bodily nature; it belongs to this world. Six days are accomplished in the service of life; the seventh is accomplished in the grave; the eighth in departing from it. As those who are worthy receive in this world the mysteries of the Sunday in a symbol - they do not receive the day as long as they are in their bodily nature -- so 203 those who are worthy receive in this world the mysteries of the Sabbath symbolically, not the true Sabbath which is perfect rest from wanton influences. God has given us to taste of a mysterious indication of all things, but He has not decreed that we should walk here in intercourse with the real truth. For the real, not the symbolical Sabbath, will happen in the grave, viz. rest which finishes the torments of the affections and the toil against them. The whole man gives rest there to the body together with the soul. In six days God established the existence of this world and created the elements 1) and connected their existence with the administration of never resting motion and [ordered] that they should not rest from their course before their dissolution. And from the force of these, viz. the primeval elements, He has composed our body. He did not give those rest from their motions; neither did He grant our body, their offspring, rest from service.

As the term of our nature He fixed rest, when we shall follow our first relatives, rest consisting in the dissolution of life. Thus He said to Adam: In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread 2). Till when? Till thou returnest unto the dust, for out of it wast thou taken. Thou shalt work in the ground and it shall bring forth to thee thorns and thistles. This denotes symbolically that this world is a world of service as long as it exists. Our Lord, since the night when He sweated, has changed this sweat caused by working in the earth which brings forth thorns and thistles, into the sweat which also rises during prayer and which ma.n should produce in the service of righ-zo4 teousness. For five thousand years He left man to work in his sweat, for the way of the saints had not yet been revealed, as the Apostle says. He appeared, however, with His grace in the latter days and ordered our free will to replace sweat by sweat. At any rate this change does not show that He

138 ordered rest. But He was merciful upon us for the sake of our long and weary work in the earth. If, however, we desist from sweating for this [spiritual service], we must necessarily reap thorns; for desisting from this, means the service of the material earth which brings forth thorns and thistles according to her nature. In reality the thorns are the affections which grow in us from bodily seed. As we bear the image of Adam so we necessarily bear his affections too. The earth is not free to desist from bearing; for it brings forth on account of its nature. The earth is our relative according to God's witness unto us ' the dust out of which thou wast taken'. The one [brings forth] thorns; the other, the rational [earth], affections. If now our Lord has been a symbolical example for us in every respect, viz. in all his different dealings - for till the minth hour Friday He did not take rest from work, not even from the toilsome work which symbolically represents our whole life; the Sabbath He expected in the grave only - where then are those 1) who pretend that there is a Sabbath in this world, viz. rest from affections? Concerning the Sunday, however, it is difficult to speak. Our Sabbath is the day of the grave. In reality our nature rests there. So every day it is 205 necessary to eradicate thorns from this earth as long as it exists. For constant service brings about decrease of weeds. But even thus the earth does not wholly become pure. If thou relaxest but a short time in this respect, the weeds will grow and cover the surface of the earth and choke thy seed and thy previous work as if it had not existed. Therefore, it is necessary to purify, every day; for a pause in this work produces a multitude of weeds.

Chapter XXIX

On The Different Excellent Methods Of Wise Providence In Educating Pupils All wisdom comes from the Lord, as hath been said 2). And we exercise ourselves in our own things in order to become wise in the dealings of the Lord with us. The Father of truth 1) the Mesalleyane? 2) Jesus Sirach 11 1 139 deals in different ways with his sons; He avoids uniformity which consists in showing always the same face, for the profit of his sons. On the contrary, for the sake of exercise He withdraws his love. Thus He displays in appearance an order such as exists not; but what is, He retains. A wise son recognizes in different attitudes his father's care for him and his discerning love. The practice of love appears in two ways when rightly understood: in joyful events, but also in sorrowful ones. This proves that love is constantly tending towards the pleasure of 206 its object. But sometimes it makes its object suffer, because of its fulness; if it makes suffer, it suffers also itself. It resists the motions of natural compassion because of the fear of later harm. Love urges us to participate; knowledge gives strength to resist [these] feelings. Parallel to the differences in its election are the varying forms of wise love regarding those who receive its sustenance. Let us not ask of a wise friend foolish love. He who kills his son by feeding him with honey, is not different from him that kills his son with a knife. It is namely not worthy of the wisdom of love to sustain its object in a uniform way, the same in health as in illness. That is to say the variations which depend upon the will in the choice of the emotions, not bodily changes.

If we are able to choose those [varying] times when we love some one, with discrimination, especially when such a one is under our command, is it not then but right that we attribute to God the faculty of performing the offices of his discriminating love unto us, even if we do consider them in the same way as the variations we are able to show to our friends? This is difficult to bear, as I know myself; but it is profitable nevertheless. Thy nature which is liable to deviation makes thee in need of this, if not as a retribution for what has passed, then to excite in thee fear of what will certainly happen. Distressing accidents are to the inner education what wholesome medicines are to bodily disparity. All that is simple among creatures, is without struggle in its 20 7 dealings; this is applicable to bodily as well as to non-bodily beings. Action is of such a nature that it is only possible in connection with disparity. Disparity exists only in composite beings, on account of a united duality. And though non-composite

140 and simple beings are also said to be liable to aberration, still this takes place wholly to the right side, and not in the way of action, because they have no experience of that which is on the opposite side. They are only affectable regarding the good. For their liability to deviation is checked by swift love; and where there is love, there is no struggle and no fear. Yet they are bound in nature; and from this being bound, their liability to aberration is said to originate. Good and evil are the offspring of freedom. Where the latter is lacking, to practise the former is superfluous with respect to remuneration. For nature knows no remuneration. Reward is decreed for strife. There can be no mention of victory where there is no struggle. \When opposition is removed, freedom vanishes at the same time. Then nature remains without strife. A time is reserved for the annihilation of freedom; then a limited rationality comes into existence, among men as well as among the angels. Rationality, not sensible emotionality. In conception 1) rationality possesses two peculiarities, namely two forces, a rational and a conceiving force. The former is altogether limited. In the latter nature is complete, in so far as zo s it is conceiving. But again it is limited, not compulsorily,

but rather delightfully, with a delightful bond. Sometimes this [delight] happens unto a few in this world in a symbolical way; · but only in trance. Unto the primeval rational beings [this happened] without trance, as far as this was possible, though they were not perfect. What was it which happened without trance unto persons who were not perfect? There are mysteries that cannot be received before the time appointed. Those persons are imperfect therefore, who do not possess it at all, not those who possess what they do here possess, only in trance. Therefore constancy [is necessary], rather than trance. If trance [at all], then it is for those things which are most excellent. So trance for those people was an excellent change; with us it is annihilation, because of the sickness of the flesh.

Chapter XXX

On The Power And The Evil Action Of Sin And Concerning Those In Whom It Maintains Itself And Those In Whom It Is Annihilated A man is not freed from the allurements of sin in his heart until he hates from [the depth of] his heart and sincerely the cause of sin. This causes the vehemence of the struggle which opposes man in the blood and in which his freedom is testified to through the purity of his love of virtues. This is the power which is called seduction, by the scent of which the weak soul is defeated because of its mighty attraction. This is the strong power of sin by which it troubles the zo9 serenity of the chaste and overpowers the pure emotions by things the knowledge of which they have never experienced. Here we have to show our endurance, my beloved. This is the time of the unseen martyrdom in which the order of the solitaries is said to excel at all times. By the shock of this war the mind of the steadfast is troubled and upset, if it is not extremely watchful. Our Lord, who possessest almighty power, fountain of all help, support Thou in these times of martyrdom the souls who joyfully have betrothed themselves to thee, heavenly bridegroom, and who have given thee the promise of sanctity, in entire purity of emotions without an afterthought. Fill them with the force which subdues the resistance of fortresses and of heights that raise themselves against sanctity, lest they be driven away from their proposed aim by the unbearable compulsion of this time in which the struggle in the blood rages.

Not always does this severe strife take place in the struggle of chastity. Remittance may occur that a test may be applied. Woe to the weak who is put to the test in this decisive strife. It possesses great strength and maintains its customary force against those who have given themselves wholly, even though it be but once, to defeat, by submitting their deliberations to it. Be on your guard against idleness, my beloved; intelligible death is hidden in it. Without it it is impossible that the solitary should fall into the hands of those who wish to captivate 142 him. Not that God will judge us on that day on the basis of 2 1 0 the Psalms we have recited or whether we have passed in idleness the times of service occasionally; but by our neglecting them, the demons win access. And when they have found an opportunity to enter and have shut our rooms, they accomplish in us tyrannically things which will necessarily bring their perpetrators under divine judgment in view of the severe punishment allotted for them. So we become enslaved through negligence in small matters which by the prudent are · treated in a painstaking way, for the sake of Christ. As it has been said: Whosoever does not subject his will to God, he becomes a slave to his foe. We have, therefore, to consider as walls against those who desire to captivate us, those things which are reputed to be of a humble nature and which are accomplished in the cell, things which by those who maintain the strict institutes of the church have been laid down in prudence in a spirit of revelation, for the preservation of our life, the neglect of which is deemed insignificant by the imprudent, the harm of which, however, they do not consider. The beginning and the middle of their path is untrained freedom, which is the mother of wrongs. To trouble oneself with the care of small things is better than to give opportunity for sin by remissness regarding them. This is freedom at the wrong time; the end of which is grinding slavery.

As long as thy senses are alive to the shock of every accident, thy soul is to be deemed dead. For in that case the flames of sin will never be absent from thy limbs, whatever be thy states, and no peace will be able to settle in thy soul. If any of the solitaries promises in his heart to be watchful in 2 1 1 such a state, he does not desire to be conscious of punishment. When a man deceives his companion he deserves the curse, such as is according to the law. When, however, a man deceives himself, he is not deserving those punishments; for while conscious he has made himself unconscious, because it is demanded from him that he shall eradicate the cause from his heart. But this is difficult in his eyes; and, for this reason, while conscious, he desires to be unconscious. 0 how sweet is the cause of affections. He will cut them off sometimes and be pleased to drive them away. Often he rejoices on account of their being apeased; to eradicate their cause he is, however, not able. Therefore we are put to the test, though it be against

143 our will, and are distressed by the affections although we like that their causes be strong in us. Sins we desire not; their conductors, however, we receive with delight; so secondary reasons become a mighty cause of primary ones. For he who desires the causes of the affections, is subject to them, though not of his will. Who hates his sins, abstains from them. He who confesses his faults, receives forgiveness. There is no abstaining from customary sins without acquiring hate, nor receiving of forgiveness without confession of faults. The latter is accompanied by true humility; the former by grief, through shame rising in the heart. So long as we have not advanced to the point of hating blameworthy things, it is not possible to perceive the foetid odour they spread when perpetrated, nor their stinking 212 smell, bearing them, as we do, in ourselves. So long as thou hast not cast evil away, thou knowest not what shame thou wilt foster nor what chastisement will rise from it. If thou seest in others that with which thou art charged, then thou knowest the shame with which thou art clad. Remove thyself from evil, then thou wilt know. For thou inhalest the foetid odour as a sweet scent, and [considerest] the nakedness of thy shame as a glorious cover. Blessed is he that has removed himself from darkness and seen himself; so long as he is in it, sight and discernment are impossible.

Blessed is he that has come forth from the dizziness of his wine and has seen in others the shamelessness of his drunkenness; then he will understand his own shame. As long as he himself is under the drunkenness of sins, all that he does is beautiful in his eyes. When nature has deviated from its order, it is all alike, to be drunk with wine or with desires; both [states] remove [a man] from what is becoming; both excite in their bearer, the body, the same heat; they are different as to their idea, but one in appearance; and one in madness. There is no equality in their causal ideas; but in their bearers there is no diversity. All rest is followed by vexation; and all vexation by rest. If all in this world is liable to change, nevertheless man undergoes it in an attitude of opposition, either here or there or at the time of departure. This is especially the case with rest 213 from lasciviousness or vexation which precedes it, in the way

of sanctity. This is administered by God with compassion, so 144 that man has to taste this torment either on his way or at its end; then he passes away. And on account of the richness of God's compassion He [uses] this as a means of remuneration, like a deposit; so that the wages of good do not diminish the capital; but the wages of evil do. As has been said: He who is chastised here, diminishes [his torments in] Hell. Beware of freedom preceding subjection, beware of consolation preceding strife. Beware of knowledge older than the shock of temptations; beware of it rather than of love preceding the accomplishment of repentance. If all of us are sinners, and none is exalted above their experience, then none among the virtues precedes repentance. Recollect that all delight is secondary to aversion and bitterness. Beware of joy also, to which is not joined variation without cause. Concerning all things provided from above thou wilt find the cause of their variation unattainable to knowledge. Fear that which is reputed to be joined with equality; it is said to lie besides the way which is trodden. He who knows to steer the ship of the world with prudence, has connected variation with all that belongs to Him. Different from this is likeness. Distraction of the thoughts is connected with the rest of the limbs; dejection with immoderate labour; distraction with dejection. Distraction differs from distraction. The former is 2 14 accompanied by the strife of wantonness; the latter by the

inclination to leave the cell and to [inhabit] various places. Moderate labour connected with constancy is priceless; where it fails, there is exuberant desire; where it prevails, there is room for trouble. Bear the folly of nature prevailing in thy body, o brother, because thou art destined to possess that wisdom which possesses the- everlasting crown of government. Be not troubled by the disturbance of the body, [the inheritance] of Adam, which is destined as soon as it is clad with that heavenly image which is the king of peace, to dwell in that delight of which the knowledge would overpower in this world the minds of those who are clad with flesh. Be not troubled on account of the wild variations of nature. For the short duration of the labour caused by them is, to him who endures, as a delightful gift. They are hounds accustomed 145 to the butcher 1); a sound from the mouth is sufficient to make them flee. But if thou shouldst condescend to have connections with them, thou wouldst make them strong lions. Despise mean pleasures, lest thou become subjected to the force of their heat 2). A little patience regarding small things repels the danger of the approach of large ones. It is not possible to overcome great evils without a small victory over trifling ones. Recollect the kind of way thou wilt go, o brother; there is no longer life there sustained by chemicals driving mortality; nor warmth of temperament exciting the young nature by the allurement of its pleasure. Bear the labour of the struggle into which [He] has introduced thee in order to put thee to the 2, 5 test; then thou wilt take the crown and pass; for after a little time thou wilt have rest from this world. Think of that rest without end, of that life without allurements, of that state of perfect manhood, of that course of life without shocks, of that compulsory force of divine love reigning over nature.

Chapter XXXI

The Struggle Or Rather The Danger Of Falling That Excellent Works Incur It is not possible to vanquish the bad deliberations that accompany the bodily allurements; or rather it is hardly possible. They have been called by some a double weapon [directed] against us. There is no rest from them as long as there is satiety of bread, water and sleep, and access to the things that cause emotions by their accidental character. It is better to depart life than to bear shame in it. When we are anxious to fulfill our duties, the influence of the flesh will be extinguished from our limbs. It is not possible to have care for apperceptible things and to correct our personal affections [at the same time]. For without affectionate beseechings and constant bending [of the knees] it is not possible to draw [divine] compassion towards I) viz. the butcher's shop 2) when it has grown strong

146 us; and thus it is necessary to practise them constantly. Without · painstaking in small things it is not possible to escape great evils.

Chapter XXXII

On The Aim Of Guarding The Heart And On Subtle Speculation That Looks Into The Apartment Let there not be hidden to thy knowledge the power that lies in spiritual songs, when we use it with understanding. For it turns the deliberation away from the world. It also drives distraction from the mind, though it is reputed to be useful for children [only]. The unsteady mind profits by it at once. Spiritual allurements are more valuable against the affections than the force of knowledge. When thou art alone, guard thy heart by them if thou possessest not yet the force to be watchful in thy being, through contemplation which is familiar intercourse with the knowledge of discernment; or - if this is not [sufficient] - by the constant recollection of the departure from the body and by the recollection of things expected and hoped for; this must be accompanied by [the fulfilling of] the duties which cause delight, namely: the withdrawal from things which cause emotions, and the little observances within the cell. If, after long slavery, thou findest that thy harbour is to be reached with freedom, pursue it [in this way]. If thou seest that this is a foolish method, combine it with [the practice of] the law. For here it is easy to be rectified. While with these and such variations thou advancest with insight, in a ship loaded with the treasures of the cell - a great festival full of the marchandise of the virtuous - then look with subtlety at the unequal children which are born to thee from apperceptible variations. Thou wilt namely see how every spiritual delight is preceded by the pains of the cross; 2 1 7 how the pleasure of sin, however, is born from bodily comfort;

[and thou wilt see] why in the harbour of chastity, spiritual love is caused by spiritual contemplation, which heals the mind. There is nothing secondary without a preceding cause, nor a third virtue without a foregoing one. Thou wilt find growing 147 in the womb of chastity the wings with which the mind ascends unto divine love, in which one may venture to approach the cloud. This insight will give a man a considerable force, so as to mingle watchfulness with his affairs, and incitement unto zealous efforts. Behaviour without eyes will prove idle. For it quickly brings about dejectedness on · account of distraction. Pray our Lord that He endow thy behaviour with eyes. Then joy will begin to sprout; then troubles will become sweet to thee as honey comb; then thou wilt think thy enclosure a festival chamber. It is not possible to vanquish the affections without apperceptible virtues, nor fortuitous distraction without intercourse with spiritual knowledge. Our mind is an agile thing; if it is not bound to an object with discernment, it will not cease to be distracted. And if the antecedents have not been fulfilled, there is no room for such a process. For there is no peace without victory over the enemies. And if peace does not reign, [how is it possible] to find that which lies beyond peace? Affections are the fence of hidden virtues. If they are not vanquished first by the manifest virtues, it is not possible to see 2 1 8 what lies within them. For it is not possible for one standing without a wall, to speak about what is within. It is not possible to see the sun in a cloud, nor the natural virtues of the soul among the trouble of perpetual affections.

Pray God that He may give thee to perceive spiritual allurements. If these take hold of thy soul the world will depart from thee and thou from the world. But they cannot be perceived without solitude and emaciation and attentive intercourse with recitation. Without the latter thou must not pray for the former. If thou prayest for the former without [these virtues], they will change quickly and become of a bodily nature. \Who is able to understand, will understand. It has pleased the wise Lord that we should eat this bread with sweat; not for malignity, but lest we should be attacked by a malady of the stomach and die. Every virtue which is the mother of a second, which IS anterior to it, is a viper to the souls of those who find it, it they do not cast it from them quickly.

Chapter XXXIII

On The Action Of Divine Love Now that we have written the above 1) about spiritual allurements, it is time to explain [this idea]. It is a dim power which arises from love in the heart, at first without sensible causes, for it sets in motion the temperament, without personal vision or practical understanding or reasoning. And therefore it is thought to be without cause, because the mind is still vague. 219 This is its impression on the untrained. To the perfect the cause is revealed later, in connection with examination of it; and then the [impression] is still stronger, for delight is moving in the heart. Apart of it is reserved in the body by the recipient; and another part is sent to the psychic forces. For the heart is in the middle between psychic and bodily apperceptions; to the former it belongs organically, to the latter naturally. And the recipient directs the taste of its action towards both sides. Therefore the world is compelled to depart from it as it itself departs from the things of the world. We must necessarily inquire into the cause [of this phenomenon]. Love is something hot by nature. And when it alights on any one without measure, it renders that soul as it were mad. Therefore the heart that perceives it, cannot contain and bear it without unusual excessive variations becoming manifest in it. And these signs it publishes in an apperceptible way, openly: at once the face becomes reddy and joyous, the body grows hot;

fear and bashfulness are thrown away and it becomes as it were wanton; the power of concentration flees; impetuosity and disturbance reign. His own life forthwith is estimated as nothing in comparison with his Friend. Therefore even death, which was more dreadful to him than any thing, is the same to him as pleasure. And with all this, the gaze of the mind is not free from fantastic thoughts on Him. Afar, he speaks with Him as with one who is near. His knowledge inquires into the hidden state of Him who is concealed from sight. His I) End of chapter XXXII 149 zzo gaze Is natural and hostile to sensual apperception. In his actions, as in his sight, he is enflamed. He dwells in solitude, and deliberation entertains itself as it were with a partner and is stupefied. This passion has enebriated martyrs and, driven by it, apostles have travelled through the whole earth in trance, the saints have been tormented, have suffered derision and were erring in the wilderness. Composed, they have become deranged; wise, they have wilfully become foolish; bashful, they have become wanton with discernment; exempt from affections [they have walked] in the flesh. Constantly demanding, they have become quiet without compulsion. May we be worthy to reach their madness by the compassion of our adorable God. Amen 1). If thou considerest thyself as having peace from the assault of the affections, before thou hast entered the town of humility, do not trust this. There is some ambush prepared for thee. Expect, after this peace, great trouble from them. While passing along all the apartments of virtues, thou wilt not find rest 221 from thy tribulations nor relief from thy persecutors, till thy

course will have reached the apartment of humility.