THE
SUPER SENSUAL LIFE
by Jacob Behmen (Jakob Boehme) 1575-1624,The Teutonic Theosopher
TWO DIALOGUES BETWEEN A DISCIPLE AND HIS MASTER, CONCERNING THE LIFE WHICH
IS ABOVE SENSE. SHOWING
How the Soul may attain to Divine HEARING and VISION - to a life above sense;
and What its Childship in the Natural and Supernatural Life is; and How
it passeth out of Nature into God, and out of God into Nature and Self again;also
What its Salvation and Perdition are and What is the Partition Wall that
separates the Soul from God and How the Breaking down of this Partition
is effected; of the two Wills and two Eyes within the Fallen Soul; and What
is the shortest WAY to the attainment of the Internal Kingdom of God and
Why so few Souls do find It.
Composed by a Soul that loveth all
who are Children of JESUS CHRIST, under the Cross.
Dear Reader
1 Corinthians 2, 7-15: We speak the hidden mystical Wisdom of God, which
God ordained before the World unto our Glory; Which none of the Princes
of this World knew; For had they known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of Glory. But, as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard,
neither hath it entered into the Heart of man to conceive the Things which
God hath prepared for them that Love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit: For the Spirit searcheth all Things, yea, the deep Things
of God. For what Man knoweth the Things of a Man, save the Spirit of a Man
which is in him? Even so the Things of God knoweth no Man, but the Spirit
of God. Now we have received, not the Spirit of this World, but the Spirit
which is of God; that we might know the Things that are freely given us
of God. Which Things also we speak, not in the Words which Man's Wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing Spiritual Things
with Spiritual. But the natural Man receiveth not the Things of the Spirit
of God: For they are Foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because
they are Spiritually discerned. But he that is Spiritual judgeth, or discerneth
all Things.
OF THE SUPERSENSUAL LIFE OR THE LIFE WHICH IS ABOVE SENSE IN
Two DIALOGUES between a disciple and his Master
THE FIRST DIALOGUE
The Disciple said to his Master: Sir, How may I come to the Place that I
may SEE with God, and may HEAR God speak - to a Life that is above my Senses
and Feelings - to the Supersensual Life?
The Master answered and said: Son, when thou canst throw thyself into THAT,
where no Creature dwelleth, though it be but for a Moment, then thou HEAREST
what God speaketh.
Disciple:
Is that Place where no Creature dwelleth near at Hand; or is it afar off?
Master:
It is IN THEE. And if thou canst, my Son, for a while but cease from all
thy OWN Thinking and Willing, then thou shalt hear the unspeakable Words
of God.
Disciple:
How is it that I can hear Him speak, when I stand still from Thinking and
Willing?
Master:
When thou standest still from the Thinking of SELF, and the Willing of SELF;
when both thy Intellect and Will are quiet and passive to the Impressions
of the Eternal Word and Spirit; when thy Soul is winged up, and above that
which is temporal with the outward Senses and the Imagination being locked
up by Holy Abstraction; then the Eternal Hearing, Seeing, and Speaking will
be revealed IN THEE; and so God heareth and seeth through thee, being now
the Organ of His Spirit; and so God speaketh in thee, and whispereth to
thy Spirit, and thy Spirit heareth his Voice. Blessed art thou therefore
if that thou canst stand still from SELF-Thinking and SELF-Willing, and
canst stop the Wheel of thy Imagination and Senses; for it is hereby that
thou mayest arrive at Length to see the great Salvation of God, being made
capable of all Manner of Divine Sensations and Heavenly Communications.
Since it is nought indeed but thine OWN Hearing and Willing that do hinder
thee, so that thou dost not see and hear God.
Disciple:
But wherewith shall I hear and see God, for as much as He is above Nature
and Creature?
Master:
Son, when thou art quiet and silent, then art thou as God was before Nature
and Creature; thou art that which God then was; thou art that whereof He
made thy Nature and Creature: Then thou hearest and seest even with that
wherewith God Himself saw and heard in thee, before ever thine OWN Willing
or thine OWN Seeing began.
Disciple:
What now hinders or keeps me back, so that I cannot come to that, wherewith
God is to be seen and heard?
Master:
Nothing truly but thine OWN Willing, Hearing, and Seeing do keep thee back
from it, and do hinder thee from coming to this Supersensual State or the
Life which is above Sense. And it is because thou strivest so against that,
out of which thou thyself art descended and derived, that thou thus breakest
thyself off, with thine OWN Willing, from God's Willing, and with thine
OWN Seeing from God's Seeing. In as much as in thine OWN Seeing thou dost
see in thine OWN Willing only, and with thine OWN Understanding thou dost
understand but in and according to this thine OWN Willing, as the same stands
divided from the Divine Will. This thy Willing moreover stops thy Hearing,
and maketh thee deaf towards God, through thy OWN Thinking upon terrestrial
Things, and thy Attending to that which is without thee; and so it brings
thee into a Ground, where thou art laid hold on and captivated in Nature.
And having brought thee hither, it overshadows thee with that which thou
willest; it binds thee with thine own Chains, and it keeps thee in thine
own dark Prison which thou makest for thyself; so that thou canst not go
out thence, or come to that State which is above Nature and above Sense.
Disciple:
But being I am in Nature, and thus bound, as with my own Chains, and by
my own natural Will; pray be so kind, Sir, as to tell me, how I may come
through Nature into the Supersensual and Supernatural Ground, without the
destroying of Nature?
Master:
Three Things are requisite in order to do this. The First is, Thou must
resign up thy Will to God; and must sink thy SELF down to the Dust in His
Mercy. The Second is, Thou must hate thy OWN Will, and forbear from doing
that to which thy own Will doth drive thee. The Third is, Thou must bow
thy Soul under the Cross, heartily submitting thySELF to It, that thou mayest
be able to bear the Temptations of Nature and Creature. And if thou doest
thus, know that God will speak into thee, and will bring thy resigned Will
in to Himself, in the supernatural Ground; and then thou shalt hear, my
Son, what the Lord speaketh in thee.
Disciple:
This is a hard Saying, Master; for I must forsake the World, and my Life
too, if I should do thus.
Master:
Be not discouraged hereat. If thou forsakest the World, then thou comest
into that out of which the World is made; and if thou losest thy Life, then
thy Life is in that, for whose Sake thou forsakest it. Thy Life is in God,
from whence it came into the Body; and as thou comest to have thine OWN
Power faint and weak and dying, the Power of God will then work in thee
and through thee.
Disciple:
Nevertheless as God hath created Man in and for the natural Life, to rule
over all Creatures on Earth, and to be a Lord over all Things in this World,
it seems not to be at all unreasonable, that Man should therefore possess
this World, and the Things therein for his own.
Master:
If thou rulest over all Creatures but outwardly, there cannot be much in
that. But if thou hast a Mind to possess all Things, and to be a Lord indeed
over all Things in this World, there is quite another Method to be taken
by thee.
Disciple:
Pray, how is that? And what Method must I take, whereby to arrive at this
Sovereignty?
Master:
Thou must learn to distinguish well betwixt the Thing, and that which only
is an Image thereof; betwixt that Sovereignty which is substantial, and
in the inward Ground or Nature, and that which is imaginary, and in an outward
Form, or Semblance; betwixt that which is properly Angelical, and that which
is no more than bestial. If thou rulest now over the Creatures externally
only, and not from the right internal Ground of thy renewed Nature; then
thy Will and Ruling is verily in a bestial Kind or Manner, and thine at
best is but a Sort of imaginary and transitory Government, being void of
that which is substantial and permanent, the which only thou art to desire
and press after. Thus by thy outwardly Lording it over the Creatures, it
is most easy for thee to lose the Substance and the Reality, while thou
hast nought remaining but the Image or Shadow only of thy first and original
Lordship; wherein thou art made capable to be again invested, if thou wouldest
be but wise, and takest thy Investiture from the Supreme Lord in the right
Course and Manner.
Whereas by thy willing and ruling thus after a bestial Manner, thou bringest also thy Desire into a bestial Essence, by which Means thou becomest infected and captivated therein, and gettest therewith a bestial Nature and Condition of Life. But if thou shalt have put off the bestial and ferine Nature, and if thou hast left the imaginary Life, and quitted the low imaged Condition of it; then art thou come into the Super-Imaginariness, and into the intellectual Life, which is a State of living above Images, Figures and Shadows. And so thou rulest over all Creatures, being reunited with thine Original, in that very Ground or Source, out of which they were and are created; and henceforth Nothing on Earth can hurt thee. For thou art like all Things and Nothing is unlike thee.
Disciple:
O loving Master, pray teach me how I may come the shortest Way to be like
unto All Things.
Master:
With all my Heart. Do but think on the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
He said, "Except ye be converted, and become as little Children, ye
shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." There is no shorter Way
than this; neither can there be a better Way found. Verily, Jesus saith
unto thee, Unless thou turn and become as a Child, hanging upon Him for
All Things, thou shalt not see the Kingdom of God. This do, and Nothing
shall hurt thee; for thou shalt be at Friendship with all the Things that
are, as thou dependest on the Author and Fountain of them, and becomest
like Him, by such Dependence, and by the Union of thy Will with His Will.
But mark what I have further to say; and be not thou startled at it, though
it may seem hard for thee at first to conceive. If thou wilt be like All
Things, thou must forsake All Things; thou must turn thy Desire away from
them All, and not desire or hanker after any of them; thou must not extend
thy Will to possess that for thy own, or as thine own, which is Something,
whatsoever that Something be.
For as soon as ever thou takest Something into thy Desire, and receivest it into thee for thine OWN, or in Propriety, then this very Something (of what Nature soever it is) is the same with thyself; and this worketh with thee in thy Will, and thou art thence bound to protect it, and to take Care of it even as of thy own Being. But if thou dost receive no Thing into thy Desire, then thou art free from All Things, and rulest over all Things at once, as a Prince of God. For thou hast received Nothing for thine own, and art Nothing to all Things; and all Things are as Nothing to thee. Thou art as a Child, which understands not what a Thing is, and though thou dost perhaps understand it, yet thou understandest it without mixing with it, and without its sensibly affecting or touching thy Perception, even in that Manner wherein God doth rule and see all Things; He comprehending All, and yet Nothing comprehending Him.
Disciple:
Ah! How shall I arrive at this Heavenly Understanding, at this Sight of
All Things in God, at this pure and naked Knowledge which is abstracted
from the Senses; at this Light above Nature and Creature; and at this Participation
of the Divine Wisdom which oversees all Things, and governs through all
intellectual Beings? For, alas, I am touched every Moment by the Things
which are about me; and overshadowed by the Clouds and Fumes which rise
up out of the Earth. I desire therefore to be taught, if possible, how I
may attain such a State and Conditions as no Creature may be able to touch
me to hurt me; and how my Mind, being purged from sensible Objects and Things,
may be prepared for the Entrance and Habitation of the Divine Wisdom in
me?
Master:
Thou desirest that I would teach thee how thou art to attain it; and I will
direct thee to our Master, from Whom I have been taught it, that thou mayest
learn it thyself from Him, Who alone teacheth the Heart. Hear thou Him.
Wouldest thou arrive at this; wouldest thou remain untouched by Sensibles;
wouldest thou behold Light in the very Light of God, and see all Things
thereby; then consider the Words of Christ, Who is that Light; and Who is
the Truth. O consider now His Words, Who said, "Without Me ye can do
nothing" and defer not to apply thyself unto Him, Who is the Strength
of thy Salvation, and the Power of thy Life; and with Whom thou canst do
all Things, by the Faith which He worketh in thee. But unless thou wholly
givest thySELF up to the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ, and resignest thy
Will wholly to Him, and desirest Nothing and willest Nothing without Him,
thou shalt never come to such a Rest as no Creature can disturb. Think what
thou pleasest, and be never so much delighted in the Activity of thine OWN
Reason, thou shalt find that in thine OWN Power, and without such a total
Surrender to God, and to the Life of God, thou canst never arrive at such
a Rest as this, or the true Quiet of the Soul, wherein no Creature can molest
thee, or so much as touch thee. Which when thou shalt, by Grace, have attained
to, then with thy Body thou art in the World, as in the Properties of outward
Nature; and with thy Reason, under the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; but
with thy Will thou walkest in Heaven, and art at the End from whence all
Creatures are proceeded forth, and to which they return again. And then
thou canst in this END, which is the same with the BEGINNING, behold all
Things outwardly with Reason, and inwardly with the Mind; and so mayest
thou rule in all Things and over all Things, with Christ; unto Whom all
Power is given both in Heaven and on Earth.
Disciple:
O Master, the Creatures which live in me do withhold me, that I cannot so
wholly yield and give up mySELF as I willingly would. What am I to do in
this Case?
Master:
Let not this trouble thee. Doth thy Will go forth from the Creatures? Then
the Creatures are forsaken in thee. They are in the World, and thy Body,
which is in the World, is with the Creatures. But spiritually thou walkest
with God, and conversest in Heaven, being in thy Mind redeemed from Earth,
and separated from Creatures, to live the Life of God. And if thy Will thus
leaveth the Creatures, and goeth forth from them, even as the Spirit goeth
forth from the Body at Death; then are the Creatures dead in it, and do
live only in the Body in the World. Since if thy Will doth not bring itself
into them, they cannot bring themselves into it, neither can they by any
Means touch the Soul. And hence St. Paul saith,"Our Conversation is
in Heaven"; and also, "Ye are the Temple of God, and the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you." So then True Christians are the very Temples
of the Holy Ghost, Who dwelleth in them; that is, the Holy Ghost dwelleth
in the Will, and the Creatures dwelleth in the Body.
Disciple:
If now the Holy Spirit doth dwell in the Will of the Mind, how ought I to
keep myself so that He depart not from me again?
Master:
Mark, my Son, the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ; "If ye abide in My
Words, then My Words abide in you." If thou abideth with thy Will,
in the Words of Christ; then His Word and Spirit abideth in thee, and all
shall be done for thee that thou canst ask of Him. But if thy Will goeth
into the Creature, then thou hast broken off thereby thyself from Him. And
then thou canst not any otherwise keep thyself but by abiding continually
in the most resigned Humility, and by entering into a constant Course of
Penitence, wherein thou wilt be always grieved at thine own Creatureliness
and that Creatures do still live in thee, that is, in thy bodily Appetites.
If thou doest thus, thou standest in a daily dying from the Creatures, and
in a daily ascending into Heaven in thy Will; which Will is also the Will
of thy Heavenly Father.
Disciple:
O my loving Master, pray teach me how I may come to such a constant Course
of holy Penitence, and to such a daily Dying from all creaturely Objects;
for how can I abide continually in Repentance?
Master:
When thou leavest that which loveth thee, and lovest that which hateth thee;
then thou mayest abide continually in Repentance.
Disciple:
What is it that I must thus leave?
Master:
All Things that love and entertain thee, because thy Will loves and entertains
them; all Things that please and feed thee, because thy Will feeds and cherishes
them; all Creatures in Flesh and Blood; in a Word, all Visibles and Sensibles,
by which either the Imagination or sensitive Appetite in Men are delighted
and refreshed. These the Will of thy Mind, or thy supreme Part must leave
and forsake; and must even account them all its Enemies. This is the Leaving
of what loves thee. And the Loving of what hates thee, is the Embracing
of the Reproach of the World. Thou must learn then to love the Cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and for His Sake to be pleased with the Reproach
of the World which hates and derides thee; and let this be thy daily Exercise
of Penitence - to be crucified to the World, and the World to thee. And
so thou shalt have continual Cause to hate thySELF in the Creature, and
to seek the Eternal Rest which is in Christ. To which Rest thou having thus
attained, thy Will may therein safely rest and repose itself, according
as thy Lord Christ hath said: "In Me ye may have Rest, but in the World
ye shall have Anxiety; In Me ye may have Peace, but in the World ye shall
have Tribulation."
Disciple:
How shall I now be able to subsist in this Anxiety and Tribulation arising
from the World, so as not to lose the Eternal Peace, or not enter into this
Rest? And how may I recover myself in such a Temptation as this is, by not
sinking under the World, but rising above it by a Life that is truly Heavenly
or Supersensual?
Master:
If thou dost once every Hour throw thyself by Faith beyond all Creatures,
beyond and above all sensual Perception and Apprehension, yea, above Discourse
and Reasoning into the abyssal Mercy of God, into the Sufferings of our
Lord, and into the Fellowship of His Interceding, and yieldeth thySELF fully
and absolutely thereinto; then thou shalt receive Power from above to rule
over Death and the Devil, and so subdue Hell and the World under thee: And
then thou mayest subsist in all Temptations, and be the brighter for them.
Disciple:
Blessed is the Man that arriveth to such a State as this. But alas! Poor
Man that I am, how is this possible as to me? And what, O my Master, would
become of me, if I should ever attain with my Mind to that, where no Creature
is? Must I not cry out, I am undone!
Master:
Son why art thou so dispirited? Be of good Heart still; for thou mayest
certainly yet attain to it. Do but believe, and all Things are made possible
to thee. If it were that thy Will, O thou of little Courage, could break
off itself for one Hour, or even but for one half Hour, from all Creatures,
and plunge itself into That where no Creature is, or can be; presently it
would be penetrated and clothed upon with the supreme Splendor of the Divine
Glory, would taste in itself the most sweet Love of Jesus, the Sweetness
whereof no Tongue can express, and would find in itself the unspeakable
Words of our Lord concerning His great Mercy. Thy Spirit would then feel
in itself the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ to be very pleasing to it;
and would thereupon love the Cross more than the Honors and Goods of the
World.
Disciple:
This for the Soul would be exceeding well indeed: But what would then become
of the Body seeing that it must of Necessity live in the Creature?
Master:
The Body would by this Means be put into the Imitation of our Lord Christ,
and of His Body: It would stand in the Communion of that most blessed Body,
which was the true Temple of the Deity; and in the Participation of all
its gracious Effects, Virtues and Influences. It would live in the Creature
not of Choice, but only as it is made subject unto Vanity, and in the World,
as it is placed therein by the Ordination of the Creator, for its Cultivation
and the higher Advancement; and as groaning to be delivered out of it in
God's Time and Manner, for its Perfection and Resuscitation in Eternal Liberty
and Glory, like unto the Glorified Body of our Lord and His risen Saints.
Disciple:
But the Body being in its present Constitution, so made subject to Vanity,
and living in a vain Image and creaturely Shadow, according to the Life
of the undergraduated Creatures or Brutes, whose Breath goeth downwards
to the Earth; I am still very much afraid thereof, lest it should continue
to depress the Mind which is lifted up to God, by hanging as dead Weight
thereto; and go on to amuse and perplex the Same, as formerly, with Dreams
and Trifles, by letting in the Objects from without, in order to draw me
down into the World and the Hurry thereof; where I would fain maintain my
Conversation in Heaven, even while I am living in the World. What therefore
must I do with this Body, that I may be able to keep up so desirable a Conversation;
and not to be under any Subjection to it any longer?
Master:
There is no other Way for thee that I know, but to present the Body whereof
thou complainest (which is the Beast to be sacrificed) "a living Sacrifice,
holy and acceptable unto God": And this shall be thy "rational
Service", whereby this thy Body will be put, as thou desirest, into
the Imitation of Jesus Christ, who said, His Kingdom was not of this World.
Be not thou then "conformed to it, but be transformed by the Renewing
of thy Mind"; which renewed Mind is to have Dominion over the Body,
that so thou mayest prove, both in Body and Mind, what is the perfect Will
of God, and accordingly perform the same with and by his Grace operating
IN THEE. Whereupon the Body, or the Animal Life would, being thus offered
up, begin to die, both from without and from within. From without, that
is, from the Vanity and evil Customs and Fashions of the World. It would
be an utter Enemy to all the Pomp thereof, and to all the Gaudery, Pageantry,
Pride, Ambition, and Haughtiness therein. From within, it would die as to
all the Lusts and Appetites of the Flesh, and would get a Mind and Will
wholly new, for its Government and Management; being now made subject to
the Spirit, which would continually be directed to God, as would all that
is subject to thy Body. And thus thy very Body is become the Temple of God
and of His Spirit, in Imitation of thy Lord's Body.
Disciple:
But the World would hate it, and despise it for so doing; seeing it must
hereby contradict the World, and must live and act quite otherwise than
the World doth. This is most certain. And how can this then be taken?
Master:
It would not take that as any Harm done to it, but would rather rejoice
that it is become worthy to be like unto the Image of our Lord Jesus Christ,
being transformed from that of the World: And it would be most willing to
bear that Cross after our Lord; merely that our Lord might bestow upon it
the Influence of His sweet and precious Love.
Disciple:
I do not doubt but in some this may be even so. Nevertheless for my own
Part, I am in a Straight betwixt two, not feeling yet enough of that blessed
Influence upon me. O how willingly should my Body bear that, could this
be safely depended upon by me, according to what is urged! Wherefore pardon
me, loving Sir, in this one Thing, if my Impatience doth still further demand
what would become of it, if the Anger of God from within, and the wicked
World also from without, should at once assault it, as the same really happened
to our Lord Christ?
Master:
Be that unto it, even as unto our Lord Christ, when He was reproached, reviled
and crucified by the World; and when the Anger of God so fiercely assaulted
Him for our Sake. Now what did He do under this most terrible Assault both
from without and from within? Why, He commended his Soul into the Hands
of his Father,and so departed from the Anguish of this World into the Eternal
Joy. Do thou likewise; and His Death shall become thy Life.
Disciple:
Be it unto me as unto the Lord Christ; and unto my Body as unto His; which
into His Hands I have commended, and for the Sake of His Name do offer up,
according to His revealed Will. Nevertheless I am desirous to know what
would become of my Body in its pressing forth from the Anguish of this miserable
World into the Power of the Heavenly Kingdom?
Master:
It would get forth from the Reproach and Contradiction of the World, by
a Conformity to the Passion of Jesus Christ; and from the Sorrows and Pains
in the Flesh, which are only the Effects of some sensible Impression of
Things without, by a quiet Introversion of the Spirit, and secret Communion
with the Deity manifesting Itself for that End. It would penetrate into
itself; it would sink into the great Love of God; it would be sustained
and refreshed by the most sweet name JESUS; and it would see and find within
itself a new World springing forth as through the Anger of God, into the
Love and Joy Eternal. And then should a Man wrap his Soul in this, even
in the great Love of God, and clothe himself Therewith as with a Garment;
and should account thence all Things alike; because in the Creature he finds
NoThing that can give him, without God, the least Satisfaction; and because
also Nothing of Harm can touch him more, while he remains in this Love,
which indeed is stronger that all Things, and makes a Man hence invulnerable
both from within and without, by taking out the Sting and Poison of the
Creatures, and destroying the Power of Death. And whether the Body be in
Hell or on Earth, all is alike to him; for whether it be there or here,
his Mind is still in the greatest Love of God; which is no less than to
say, that he is in Heaven.
Disciple:
But how would a Man's Body be maintained in the World; or how would he be
able to maintain those that are his, if he should by such a Conversation
incur the Displeasure of all the World?
Master:
Such a Man gets greater Favors than the World is able to bestow upon him.
He hath God for his Friend; he hath all His Angels for his Friends: In all
Dangers and Necessities these protect and relieve him; so that he need fear
no Manner of Evil; no Creature can hurt him. God is his Helper; and that
is sufficient. Also God is his Blessing in every Thing; and though sometimes
it may seem as if God would not bless him, yet is this but for a Trial to
him, and for the Attraction of the Divine Love; to the End he may more fervently
pray to God, and commit all his Ways unto Him.
Disciple:
He loses however by this all his good Friends; and there will be none to
help him in his Necessity.
Master:
Nay, but he gets the Hearts of all his true Friends into his Possession,
and loses none but his Enemies, who before loved his Vanity and Wickedness.
Disciple:
How it is that he can get his true Friends into his Possession?
Master:
He gets the very Hearts and Souls of all those that belong to our Lord Jesus
to be his Brethren, and the Members of his own very Life. For all the Children
of God are but One in Christ, which One is Christ in All; and therefore
he gets them all to be his Fellow Members in the Body of Christ, whence
they have all the same Heavenly Goods in common; and all live in one and
the same Love of God, as the Branches of a Tree in one and the same Root,
and spring all from one and the same Source of Life in them. So that he
can have no Want of spiritual Friends and Relations, who are all rooted
with him together in the Love which is from above; who are all of the same
Blood and Kindred in Christ Jesus; and who are all nourished by the same
quickening Sap and Spirit diffusing Itself through them universally from
the one True Vine, which is the Tree of Life and Love. These are Friends
worth having; and though Here they may be unknown to him, will abide his
Friends beyond Death, to all Eternity. But neither can he want even outward
natural Friends, as our Lord Christ when on Earth did not want such also.
For though indeed the High-Priests and Potentates of the World could not
have a Love for Him because they belonged not to Him, neither stood in any
Kind of Relation to Him, since He was not of this World; yet those loved
Him who were capable of His Love, and receptive of His Words. So in like
Manner, those who love Truth and Righteousness will love that Man, and will
associate themselves unto him, yea, though they may perhaps be outwardly
at some Distance or seeming Disagreement, from the Situation of their worldly
Affairs, or out of some certain Respects; yet in their Hearts they cannot
but cleave to him. For though they be not yet actually incorporated into
one Body with him, yet they cannot resist being of one Mind with him, and
being united in Affection, for the great Regard they bear to the Truth,
which shines forth in his Words and in his Life. By which they are made
either his declared or his secret Friends; and he doth so get their Hearts,
as they will be delighted above all Things in his Company, for the Sake
thereof, and will court his Friendship, and will come unto him by Stealth,
if openly they dare not, for the Benefit of his Conversation and Advice;
even as Nicodemus did unto Christ, who came to Him by Night, and in his
Heart loved Jesus for the Truth's Sake, though outwardly he feared the World.
And thus thou shalt have many Friends that are not known to thee; and some
known to thee, who may not appear so before the World.
Disciple:
Nevertheless it is very grievous to be generally despised of the World,
and to be trampled upon by Men as the very Offscouring thereof.
Master:
That which now seems so hard and heavy to thee, thou wilt yet hereafter
be most of all in Love with.
Disciple:
How can it be that I should ever love that which hates me?
Master:
Though thou lovest the earthly Wisdom now, yet when thou shalt be clothed
upon with the Heavenly Wisdom, then thou wilt see that all the Wisdom of
the World is Folly; and wilt see also that the World hates not so much thee,
as it does thine Enemy, which is the Mortal Life. And when thou thyself
shalt come to hate the Will thereof, by Means of a habitual Separation of
thy Mind from the World, then thou also wilt begin to love that despising
of the Mortal Life, and the Reproach of the World for Christ's Sake . And
so shalt thou be able to stand under every Temptation, and to hold out to
the End by the Means hereof in the Course of Life above the World, and above
Sense. In this Course thou wilt hate thyself; and thou wilt also love thyself;
I say love thyself, and that even more than ever thou didst yet.
Disciple:
But how can these two subsist together, that a Person should both love and
hate himself?
Master:
In loving thyself, thou lovest not thySELF as thine OWN; but as given thee
from the Love of God thou lovest the Divine Ground in thee; by which and
in which thou lovest the Divine Wisdom, the Divine Goodness, the Divine
Beauty; thou lovest also by it God's Works of Wonders; and in this Ground
thou lovest likewise thy Brethren. But in hating thySELF, thou hatest only
that which is thine OWN, and wherein the Evil sticks close to thee.
And this thou dost, that so thou mayest wholly destroy that which thou callest thine; as when thou sayest I or MYSELF do this, or do that. All which is wrong, and a downright Mistake in thee; for nothing canst thou properly call thine but the Evil SELF, neither canst thou do any Thing of thyself that is to be accounted of. This SELF therefore thou must labor wholly to destroy IN THEE, that so thou mayest become a Ground wholly Divine. There is, there can be no SELFishness in Love; they are opposite to each other. Love, that is, Divine Love (of which only we are now discoursing) hates all Egoity, hates all that which we call I, or IHOOD; hates all such Restrictions and Confinements, yea even all that springs from a contracted Spirit, or this evil SELF-hood, because it is a hateful and deadly Thing. And it is impossible that these two should stand together, or subsist in one Person; the one driving out the other by a Necessity of Nature. For Love possesses Heaven, and dwells in Itself, which is dwelling in Heaven; but that which is called I, this vile SELF-hood possesses the World and worldly Things; and dwells also in itself, which is dwelling in Hell, because this is the very Root of Hell itself. And therefore as Heaven rules above the World and as Eternity rules above Time, even so ought Love to rule above the natural temporal Life; for no other Method is there, neither can there be of attaining to that Life which is Supernatural and Eternal, and which thou so much desirest to be led into.
Disciple:
Loving Master, I am well content that this Love should rule in me over the
natural Life, so that I may attain to that which is Supernatural and Supersensual;
but pray tell me now, why must Love and Hatred, Friend and Foe thus be together?
Would not Love alone be better? Wherefore, I say, are Love and Trouble thus
joined?
Master:
If Love dwelt not in Trouble, It could have Nothing to love; but when Its
Substance which It loves, namely, the poor Soul, is in Trouble and Pain,
Love hath thence Cause to love this, Its own Substance, and to deliver it
from its Pain; that so the Soul,itself, may by the indwelling Love be again
Beloved. Neither could any one know what Love is, if there were no Hatred;
or what Friendship is, if there were no Foe to contend with. Or in one Word,
for Love to be known It must have Something which It might Love, and where
Its Virtue and Power may be manifested, by working out Deliverance to the
Beloved from all Pain and Trouble.
Disciple:
Pray what is the Virtue, Power, the Height and the Greatness of Love?
Master:
The Virtue of Love is NOTHING and ALL, or that Nothing visible out of which
All Things proceed; Its Power is through All Things; Its Height is as high
as God; Its Greatness is as great as God. Its Virtue is the Principle of
all Principles; Its Power supports the Heavens and upholds the Earth; Its
Height is higher than the highest Heavens; and Its Greatness is even greater
than the very Manifestation of the Godhead in the glorious Light of the
Divine Essence, as being infinitely capable of greater and greater Manifestations
in all Eternity. What can I say more? Love is higher than the Highest. Love
is greater than the Greatest. Yea, It is in a certain Sense greater than
God; while yet in the highest Sense of all, God is Love, and Love is God.
Love being the highest Principle, is the Virtue of all Virtues; from whence
they all flow forth. Love being the greatest Majesty, is the Power of all
Powers, from whence they severally operate; and It is the Holy Magical Root,
or Ghostly Power from whence all the Wonders of God have been wrought by
the Hands of his elect Servants, in all their Generations successively.
Whosoever finds It, finds Nothing and All Things.
Disciple:
Dear Master, pray tell me how to understand this.
Master:
First then, in that I said, Its Virtue is Nothing, or that NOTHING which
is the BEGINNING of All Things, thou must understand It thus; when thou
art gone forth wholly from the Creature, and from that which is visible,
and art become Nothing to all that is Nature and Creature, then thou art
in that Eternal One, which is God Himself. And then thou shalt perceive
and feel in thy Interior, the highest Virtue of Love. But in that I said,
Its Power is through All Things, this is that which thou perceivest and
findest in thy own Soul and Body experimentally, whenever this great Love
is enkindled within thee; seeing that It will burn more than the Fire can
do, as It did in the Prophets of old, and afterwards in the Apostles, when
God conversed with them bodily, and when His Spirit descended upon them
in the Oratory of Zion. Thou shalt then see also in all the Works of God,
how Love hath poured Itself into all Things, and penetrateth all Things,
and is the most inward and most outward Ground in all Things - inwardly
in the Virtue and Power of every Thing, and outwardly in the Figure and
Form thereof.
And in that I said, Its Height is as high as God; thou mayest understand
this in thyself; forasmuch as It brings thee to be as high as God Himself
is, by being united to God - as may be seen by our beloved Lord Christ in
our Humanity. Which Humanity Love hath brought up into the highest Throne,
above all Angelical Principalities and Powers, into the very Power of the
Deity itself.
But in that I also said, Its Greatness is as great as God, thou art hereby
to understand, that there is a certain Greatness and Latitude of Heart in
Love, which is inexpressible; for It enlarges the Soul as wide as the whole
Creation of God. And this shall be truly experienced by thee, beyond all
Words, when the Throne of Love shall be set up in thy Heart.
Moreover in that I said, Its Virtue is the Principle of all Principles,
hereby it is given thee to understand, that Love is the principiating Cause
of all created Beings, both spiritual and corporeal, by Virtue whereof the
second Causes do move and act occasionally according to certain Eternal
Laws from the Beginning implanted in the very Life and Energy of all the
Principles of Nature, superior and inferior -It reaches to all Worlds, and
to all Manner of Beings in them contained, they being the Workmanship of
Divine Love; and It is the first Mover, and first Moveable both in Heaven
above and in the Earth beneath, and in the Water under the Earth. And hence
there is given to It the Name of Lucid Aleph, or Alpha; by which is expressed
the Beginning of the Alphabet of Nature, and of the Book of Creation and
Providence, or the Divine Archetypal Book, in which is the Light of Wisdom,
and the Source of all Lights and Forms.
And in that I said, Its Power supports the Heavens; by this thou wilt come
to understand, that as the Heavens, visible and invisible, are originated
from this great Principle, so are they likewise necessarily sustained by
It; and that therefore if This should be but never so little withdrawn,
all the Lights, Glories, Beauties, and Forms of the heavenly Worlds, would
presently sink into Darkness and Chaos.
And whereas I further said, that It upholds the Earth; this will appear
to thee no less evident than the former, and thou shalt perceive It in thyself
by daily and hourly Experience; forasmuch as the Earth without It, even
thy own Earth also, (that is, thy Body) would certainly be without Form
and Void. By the Power thereof the Earth hath been thus long upheld, notwithstanding
a foreign usurped Power introduced by the Folly of Sin. And should this
but once fail or recede, there could no longer be either Vegetation or Animation
upon it; yea, the very Pillars of it would be quite overthrown, and the
Band of Union, which is that of Attraction or Magnetism, called the Centripetal
Power, being broken and dissolved, all must thence run into the utmost Disorder,
and falling away as into Shivers, would be dispersed as loose Dust before
the Wind.
But in that I said, Its Height is higher than the highest Heavens; this
thou mayest also understand within thyself; so shouldest thou ascend in
Spirit through all the Orders of Angels and heavenly Powers, yet the Power
of Love still is undeniably superior to them all. And as the Throne of God,
Who sits upon the Heaven of Heavens, is higher than the highest of them,
even so must Love also be, which fills them all, and comprehends them all.
And whereas I said of the Greatness of Love, that It is greater than the
very Manifestation of the Godhead in the Light of the Divine Essence; that
is also true. For Love enters even into that where the Godhead is not manifested
in this glorious Light, and where God may be said not to dwell. And entering
thereinto, Love begins to manifest to the Soul the Light of the Godhead;
and thus is the Darkness broken through, and the Wonders of the new Creation
successively manifested.
Thus shalt thou be brought to understand really and fundamentally, what
is the Virtue and Power of Love, and what the Height and Greatness thereof
is; how that It is indeed the Virtue of all Virtues, though It be invisible,
and as a Nothing in Appearance, inasmuch as It is the Worker of all Things,
and a powerful vital Energy passing through all Virtues and Powers natural
and supernatural; and the Power of all Powers, nothing being able to let
or obstruct the Omnipotence of Love, or to resist Its invincible penetrating
Might, which passes through the whole Creation of God, inspecting and governing
all Things.
And in that I said, It is higher than the Highest, and greater than the
Greatest; thou mayest hereby perceive as in a Glimpse, the supreme Height
and Greatness of Omnipotent Love, which infinitely transcends all that human
Sense and Reason can reach to. The highest Archangels and the greatest Powers
of Heaven are, in Comparison of it, but as Dwarfs. Nothing can be conceived
higher and greater in God Himself, by the very Highest and Greatest of His
Creatures. There is such an Infinity in It, as comprehends and surpasses
all the Divine Attributes.
But in that it was also said, Its Greatness is greater than God; that likewise
is very true in the Sense wherein it was spoken; For Love, as I before observed,
can there enter where God dwelleth not, since the most high God dwelleth
not in Darkness, but in the Light - the hellish Darkness being put under
His Feet. Thus for Instance, when our beloved Lord Christ was in Hell, Hell
was not the Mansion of God or of Christ; Hell was not God, neither was it
with God, nor could it be at all with Him; Hell stood in the Darkness and
Anxiety of Nature, and no Light of the Divine Majesty did there enter. God
was not there; for He is not in the Darkness or in the Anguish; but Love
was there; and Love destroyed Death and conquered Hell. So also when thou
art in Anguish or Trouble, which is Hell within, God is not the Anguish
or Trouble; neither is He in the Anguish or Trouble; but His Love is there,
and brings thee out of the Anguish and Trouble into God, leading thee into
the Light and Joy of His Presence. When God hides Himself in thee, Love
is still there, and makes Him manifest in thee. Such is the inconceivable
Greatness and Largeness of Love; which will hence appear to thee as great
as God above Nature, and greater than God in Nature, so as considered in
his manifestative Glory.
Lastly, whereas I also said, Whosoever finds It, finds Nothing and All Things;
that is also certain and true. But how finds he Nothing? Why, I will tell
thee how. He that findeth it, findeth a Supernatural Supersensual Abyss,
which hath no Ground or Byss to stand on, and where there is no Place to
dwell in; and he findeth also Nothing is like unto It, and therefore It
may fitly be compared to Nothing; for It is deeper than any Thing, and is
as NoThing with respect to All Things, forasmuch as It is not comprehensible
by any of them. And because It is NoThing respectively, It is therefore
free from All Things; and is that only Good, which a Man cannot express
or utter what It is; there being Nothing to which It may be compared, to
express It by.
But in that I lastly said, Whosoever finds It, finds All Things; there is
nothing can be more true than this Assertion. It hath been the BEGINNING
of All Things; and It ruleth All Things. It is also the END of All Things;
and will thence comprehend All Things within Its Circle. All Things are
from It, and in It, and by It. If thou findest It, thou comest into that
Ground from whence All Things are proceeded, and wherein they subsist; and
thou art in It a KING over all the Works of God.
Here the Disciple
was exceedingly ravished with what his Master had so wonderfully and surprisingly
declared, and returned his most humble and hearty Thanks for that Light,
which his Master had been an Instrument of conveying to him. But being desirous
to hear further concerning these high Matters, and to know Somewhat more
particularly, he requested him that he would give him Leave to wait on him
the next Day again; and that he would then be pleased to show him how and
where he might find this which was so much beyond all Price and Value, and
whereabout the Seat and Abode of it might be in human Nature; with the entire
Process of the Discovery and bringing it forth to Light.
The Master said to him: This then we will discourse about at our next Conference,
as God shall reveal the same to us by his SPIRIT, which is the Searcher
of All Things. And if thou dost remember well what I answered thee in the
Beginning, thou shalt soon come thereby to understand that hidden mystical
Wisdom of God, which none of the Wise Men of the World know; and where the
MIND thereof is to be found in thee, shall be given thee from above to discern.
Be silent therefore in thy Spirit, and watch unto Prayer; that when we meet
again Tomorrow in the Love of Christ, thy Mind may be disposed for finding
that noble PEARL, which to the World appears Nothing, but which to the Children
of Wisdom is All Things.
THE SECOND DIALOGUE .
ARGUMENT
Herein is described and set forth the Manner of passing the Gulf which divides
betwixt the two Principles or States of Heaven and Hell: And it is particularly
shown how this Transaction is carried on in the Soul; what the Partition
Wall therein is, which separates from God.
What the breaking down of this Partition Wall, and how effected; what the
Center of Light is, and the pressing into that Center is; What the Light
of God, and Light of Nature are; how they are operative in their several
Spheres, and how to be kept from interfering with each other; with some
Account of the two Wills and their Contraposition in the Fallen State; of
the Magical Wheel of the Will, and how the Motion thereof may be regulated;
of the Eye in the Midst thereof, what the Right Eye is to the Soul, and
what the Left is, but especially what the Single Eye is, and in what Manner
it is to be obtained; of the Purification from the Contagion of Matter;
of the Destruction of Evil, and of the very Annihilation of it, by the Subsidence
of the Will from its own Something into Nothing; of the Naked and Magical
Faith, and the Attraction thereby of a certain Divine Substantiality and
Vestment; how all consists in the Will, and proceeds but from one Point;
where that Point is placed, and how it may be found out; and which is both
the safest and nearest Way to attain to the high supersensual State, and
the internal Kingdom of Christ, according to the true Heavenly Magia or
Wisdom.
The Disciple being very earnest to be more fully instructed how he might
arrive at the Supersensual Life; and how, having found All Things, he might
come to be a King over all God's Works; came again to his Master the next
Morning, having watched the Night in Prayer, that he might be disposed to
receive and apprehend the Instructions that should be given him by a Divine
Irradiation upon his Mind. And the Disciple after a little Space of Silence,
bowed himself, and thus brake forth:
Disciple:
O my Master! my Master! I have now endeavoured to recollect my Soul in the
Presence of God, and to cast myself into that Deep where no Creature doth
nor can dwell; that I might hear the Voice of my Lord speaking in me; and
be initiated into that high Life, whereof I heard Yesterday such great and
amazing Things pronounced. But alas! I neither hear nor see as I should;
there is still such a Partition Wall in me which beats back the Heavenly
Sounds in their Passage, and obstructs the Entrance of that Light by which
alone Divine Objects are discoverable, as till this be broken down, I can
have but small Hopes, yea, even none at all, of arriving at those glorious
Attainments which you pressed me to, or of entering into that where no Creature
dwells, and which you call Nothing and All Things. Wherefore be so kind
as to inform me what is required on my Part, that this Partition which hinders
may be broken or removed.
Master:
This Partition is the Creaturely Will in thee; and this can be broken by
nothing but by the Grace of SELF-DENIAL, which is the Entrance into the
True Following of Christ, and totally removed by Nothing but a perfect Conformity
with the Divine Will.
Disciple:
But how shall I be able to break this Creaturely Will which is at Enmity
with the Divine Will? Or, what shall I do to follow Christ in so difficult
a Path, and not to faint in a continual Course of SELF-DENIAL and RESIGNATION
to the Will of God?
Master:
This is not to be done by thyself; but by the Light and Grace of God received
into thy Soul, which will, if thou gainsay not, break the Darkness that
is in thee, and melt down thine OWN Will, which worketh in the Darkness
and Corruption of Nature, and bring it into the Obedience of Christ, whereby
the Partition of the Creaturely SELF is removed from betwixt God and thee.
Disciple:
I know that I cannot do it of myself. But I would fain learn, how I must
receive this Divine Light and Grace into me, Which is to do it for me, if
I hinder It not my own SELF. What is then required of me in order to admit
this Breaker of the Partition and to promote the Attainment of the Ends
of such Admission?
Master:
There is Nothing more required of thee at first, than not to resist this
Grace, Which is manifested in thee; and Nothing in the whole Process of
thy Work, but to be obedient and passive to the Light of God shining through
the Darkness of thy Creaturely Being, which reaching no higher than the
Light of Nature, comprehendeth It not.
Disciple:
But is it not for me to attain, if I can, both the Light of God, and the
Light of the outward Nature too; and to make use of them both for the ordering
of my Life wisely and prudently?
Master:
It is right, I confess, so to do. And it is indeed a Treasure above all
earthly Treasures, to be possessed of the Light of God and Nature, operating
in their Spheres; and to have both the Eye of Time and Eternity at once
open together, and yet not to interfere with each other.
Disciple:
This is a great Satisfaction to me to hear; having been very uneasy about
it for some Time. But how this can be without interfering with each other,
there is the Difficulty. Wherefore, fain would I know, if it were lawful,
the Boundaries of the one and the other; and how both the Divine and the
Natural Light may in their several Spheres respectively act and operate,
for the Manifestation of the Mysteries of God and Nature, and for the Conduct
of my outward and inward Life?
Master:
That each of these may be preserved distinct in their several Spheres, without
confounding Things Heavenly and Things Earthly, or breaking the golden Chain
of Wisdom, it will be necessary, my Child, in the first Place to wait for
and attend the Supernatural and Divine Light, as that superior Light appointed
to govern the Day, rising in the true East, which is the Center of Paradise;
and in great Might breaking forth as out of the Darkness within thee, through
a Pillar of Fire and Thunder-Clouds, and thereby also reflecting upon the
inferior Light of Nature a Sort of Image of Itself, whereby only it can
be kept in its due Subordination; that which is below being made subservient
to that which is above; and that which is without to that which is within.
Thus there will be no Danger of interfering; but all will go right, and
every Thing abide in its proper Sphere.
Disciple:
Therefore without Reason or the Light of Nature be sanctified in my Soul,
and illuminated by this superior Light, as from the central East of the
holy Light-World, by the Eternal and Intellectual Sun; I perceive there
will always be some Confusion, and I shall never be able to manage aright
either what concerneth Time or Eternity; but I must always be at a Loss,
or break the Links of Wisdom's Chain.
Master:
It is even so as thou hast said. All is Confusion, if thou hast no more
but the dim Light of Nature, or unsanctified and unregenerated Reason to
guide thee by; and if only the Eye of Time be opened in thee, which cannot
pierce beyond its own Limit. Wherefore seek the Fountain of Light, waiting
in the deep Ground of thy Soul for the rising there of the Sun of Righteousness,
whereby the Light of Nature in thee, with the Properties thereof, will be
made to shine seven Times brighter than ordinary. For it shall receive the
Stamp, Image, and Impression of the Supersensual and Supernatural; so that
the sensual and rational Life will hence be brought into the most perfect
Order and Harmony.
Disciple:
But how am I to wait for the Rising of this glorious Sun, and how am I to
seek in the Center, this Fountain of Light, which may enlighten me throughout,
and bring all my Properties into perfect Harmony? I am in Nature, as I said
before; and which Way shall I pass through Nature, and the Light thereof,
so that I may come into that Supernatural and Supersensual Ground, from
whence this true Light, which is the Light of Minds, doth arise; and this,
without the Destruction of my Nature, or quenching the Light of it, which
is my - Reason?
Master:
Cease but from thine own Activity, steadfastly fixing thine Eye upon one
Point, and with a strong Purpose relying upon the promised Grace of God
in Christ, to bring thee out of thy Darkness into His Marvelous Light. For
this End gather in all thy Thoughts, and by Faith press into the Center,
laying hold upon the Word of God, which is infallible, and which hath called
thee. Be thou then obedient to this Call; and be silent before the Lord,
sitting alone with Him in thy inmost and most hidden Cell, thy Mind being
centrally united in itself, and attending His Will in the Patience of Hope.
So shall thy Light break forth as the Morning; and after the Redness thereof
is passed, the Son Himself, which thou waitest for, shall arise unto thee,
and under His most healing Wings thou shalt greatly rejoice; ascending and
descending in His bright and salutiferous Beams. Behold this is the true
Supersensual Ground of Life.
Disciple:
I believe it indeed to be even so. But will not this destroy Nature? Will
not the Light of Nature in me be extinguished by this greater Light? Or
must not the outward Life hence perish, with the earthly Body which I carry?
Master:
By no Means at all. It is true, the evil Nature will be destroyed by It;
but by the Destruction thereof you can be no Loser, but very much the Gainer.
The Eternal Band of Nature is the same afterward as before; and the Properties
are the same. So that Nature hereby is only advanced and meliorated; and
the Light thereof, or human Reason, by being kept within its due Bounds,
and regulated by a superior Light is only made useful.
Disciple:
Pray therefore let me know how this inferior Light ought to be used by me;
how it is to be kept within its due Bounds; and after what Manner the superior
Light doth regulate and ennoble it.
Master:
Know then, my beloved Son, that if thou wilt keep the Light of Nature within
its own proper Bounds, and make use thereof in just Subordination to the
Light of God; thou must consider that there are in thy Soul two Wills, an
inferiour Will, which is for driving thee to Things without and below; and
a superiour Will, which is for drawing to Things within and above. These
two Wills are now set together, as it were, Back to Back, and in a direct
Contrariety to each other; but in the Beginning, it was not so. For this
Contraposition of the Soul in these two is no more than the Effect of the
Fallen State; since before that they were placed one under the other, that
is, the superiour Will Above, as the Lord, and the inferiour Below, as the
Subject. And thus it ought to have continued.
Thou must also further consider, that answering to these two Wills there are likewise two Eyes in the Soul, whereby they are severally directed; forasmuch as these Eyes are not united in one single View, but look quite contrary Ways at once. They are in a like Manner set one against the other, without a common Medium to join them. And hence, so long as this Double-sightedness doth remain, it is impossible there should be any Agreement in the Determination of this or that Will. This is very plain; and it showeth the Necessity that this Malady, arising from the Dis-union of the Rays of Vision, be some Way remedied and redressed, in order to a true Discernment in the Mind. Both these Eyes therefore must be made to unite by a Concentration of Rays; there being nothing more dangerous than for the Mind to abide thus in the Duplicity, and not to seek to arrive at the Unity of Vision. Thou perceivest, I know, that thou hast two Wills in thee, one set against the other, the Superior and the Inferior; and that thou hast also two Eyes within, one against another; whereof the one Eye may be called the Right Eye, and the other the Left Eye. Thou perceivest too, doubtless, that it is according to the Right Eye that the Wheel of the superiour Will is moved; and that it is according to the Left Eye, that the contrary Wheel in the lower is turned about.
Disciple:
I perceive this, Sir, to be very true; and this it is which causeth a continual
Combat in me, and createth to me greater Anxiety than I am able to express.
Nor am I unacquainted with the Disease of my own Soul, which you have so
clearly declared. Alas! I feel such irregular and convulsive Motions drawing
me on this Side and that Side. The Spirit seeth not as the Flesh seeth;
neither doth, or can the Flesh seeth as the Spirit seeth. Hence the Spirit
willeth against the Flesh; and the Flesh willeth against the Spirit in me.
This hath been my hard Case. And how shall it be remedied? O how may I arrive
at the Unity of Will, and how come into the Unity of Vision?
Master:
Mark now what I say: The Right Eye looketh forward in thee into Eternity.
The Left Eye looketh backward in thee into Time. If now thou sufferest thyself
to be always looking into Nature, and the Things of Time, and to be leading
the Will, and to be seeking Somewhat for thyself in the Desire, it will
be impossible for thee ever to arrive at the Unity, which thou wishest for.
Remember this; and always be upon thy Watch. Give not thy Mind leave to
enter into, nor to fill itself with, that which is without thee; neither
look thou backward upon thySELF; but quit thySELF, and look forward upon
Christ. Let not thy Left Eye deceive thee, by making continually one Representation
after another, and stirring up thereby an earnest Longing in the SELF-Propriety;
but let thy Right Eye command back this Left, and attract it to thee, so
that it may not gad Abroad into the Wonders and Delights of Nature. Yea,
it is better to pluck it quite out, and to cast it from thee, than to suffer
it to proceed forth without Restraint into Nature, and to follow its own
Lusts. However there is for this no Necessity, since both Eyes may become
very useful, if ordered aright; and both the Divine and natural Light may
in the Soul subsist together, and be of mutual Service to each other. But
never shalt thou arrive at the Unity of Vision or Uniformity of Will, but
by entering fully into the Will of our Saviour Christ, and therein bringing
the Eye of Time into the Eye of Eternity; and then descending by Means of
this united through the Light of God into the Light of Nature.
Disciple:
So then if I can but enter into the Will of my LORD, and abide therein,
I am safe, and may both attain to the Light of God in the Spirit of my Soul,
and see with the Eye of God, that is, the Eye of Eternity in the Eternal
Ground of my Will; and may also at the same Time enjoy the Light of this
World nevertheless; not degrading but adorning the Light of Nature; and
beholding as with the Eye of Eternity Things Eternal, so with the Eye of
Nature Things Natural, and both contemplating therein the Wonders of God,
and sustaining also thereby the Life of my outward Vehicle or Body.
Master:
It is very right. Thou hast well understood; and thou desirest now to enter
into the Will of God, and to abide therein as in the Supersensual Ground
of Light and Life, where thou mayest in His Light behold both Time and Eternity,
and bring all the Wonders created of God for the exterior into the interior
Life, and so eternally rejoice in them to the Glory of Christ; the Partition
of thy Creaturely Will being broken down, and the Eye of thy Spirit simplified
in and through the Eye of God manifesting Itself in the Center of thy Life.
Let this be so now, for it is God's Will.
Disciple:
But it is very hard to be always looking forwards into Eternity; and consequently
to attain to this single Eye, and Simplicity of Divine Vision. The Entrance
of a Soul naked into the Will of God, shutting out all Imaginations and
Desires, and breaking down the strong Partition which you mention, is indeed
somewhat very terrible and shocking to human Nature in its present State.
O what shall I do, that I may reach this which I so much long for?
Master:
My Son, let not the Eye of Nature with the Will of the Wonders depart from
that Eye which is introverted into the Divine Liberty, and into the Eternal
Light of the holy Majesty; but let it draw to thee those Wonders by Union
with that heavenly internal Eye, which are externally wrought out and manifested
in visible Nature. For while thou art in the World, and hast an honest Employment,
thou art certainly by the Order of Providence obliged to labor in it, and
to finish the Work given thee, according to thy best Ability, without Repining
or Complaining in the least and to seek out and manifest for God's Glory,
the Wonders of Nature and Art. Since let the Nature be what it will, it
is all the Work and Art of God; and let the Art also be what it will, it
is still God's Work, and His Art, rather than any Art or Cunning of Man.
And all both in Art and Nature serveth but abundantly to manifest the wonderful
Works of God; that He for all, and in all may be glorified. Yea, all serveth
but to recollect thee more inward if thou knowest rightly how to use them,
and to draw thy Spirit into that majestic Light, wherein the original Patterns
and Forms of Things visible are to be seen. Keep therefore in the Center,
and stir not out from the Presence of God revealed within thy Soul; let
the World and the Devil make never so great a Noise and Bustle to draw thee
out, mind them not; they cannot hurt thee. It is permitted to the Eye of
thy Reason to seek Food, and to thy Hands, by their Labor, to get Food for
the terrestrial Body. But then this Eye ought not with its Desire to enter
into the Food prepared, which would be Covetousness; but must in Resignation
simply bring it before the Eye of God in thy Spirit, and then thou must
seek to place it close to this very Eye, without letting it go. Mark this
Lesson well.
Let the Hands or the Head be at Labor, thy Heart ought nevertheless to rest in God. God is a Spirit; dwell in the Spirit, work in the Spirit, pray in the Spirit, and do every Thing in the Spirit; for remember thou also art a Spirit, and thereby created in the Image of God. Therefore see that thy Desire attract not Matter unto thee, but as much as possible abstract thyself from all Matter whatever; and so, standing in the Center, present thyself as a vacant, naked Spirit before God, in Simplicity and Purity; and be sure thy Spirit draw in nothing but Spirit.
Thou wilt yet be greatly enticed to draw Matter, and to gather that which the World calls Substance, thereby to have somewhat visible to trust to. But by no Means consent to the Tempter, nor yield to the Lusting of thy Flesh against the Spirit. For in so doing thou wilt infallibly obscure the Divine Light in thee; thy Spirit will stick in the dark covetous Root, and from the fiery Source of thy Soul will it blaze out in Pride and Anger; thy Will shall be chained in Earthliness, and shall sink through the Anguish into Darkness and materiality; and never shalt thou be able to reach the still Liberty, or to stand before the Majesty of God. Since this is opening a Door for him who reigneth in the Corruption of Matter, possibly the Devil may roar at thee for this Refusal; because nothing can vex him worse than such a silent Abstraction of the Soul, and Controversion thereof to the Point of Rest from all that is worldly and circumferential. But regard him not; neither admit into thee the least Dust of Matter which he may pretend any Claim to. It will be all Darkness to thee, as much Matter as is drawn in by the Desire of thy Will. It will darken God's Majesty to thee; and will close the seeing Eye, by hiding from thee the Light of His beloved Countenance. This the Serpent longeth to do; but in vain, except thou permittest thy Imagination upon his Suggestion, to receive in the alluring Matter; else he can never get in. Behold then, if thou desirest to see God's Light in thy Soul, and be divinely illuminated and conducted, this is the short Way that thou art to take; not to let the Eye of thy Spirit enter into Matter, or fill itself with any Thing whatever, either in Heaven or Earth; but to let it enter by naked Faith into the Light of the Majesty; and so receive by pure Love the Light of God, and attract the Divine Power into itself, putting on the Divine Body, and growing up in it to the full Maturity of the Humanity of Christ.
Disciple:
As I said before, so I say again, this is very hard. I conceive indeed well
enough that my Spirit ought to be free from the Contagion of Matter, and
wholly empty, so that it may admit into it the Spirit of God. Also, that
this Spirit will not enter, but where the Will entereth into Nothing, and
resigneth itself up in the Nakedness of Faith, and in the Purity of Love,
to Its Conduct; feeding magically upon the Word of God, and clothing itself
thereby with a Divine Substantiality. But alas, how hard it is for the Will
to sink into Nothing, to attract Nothing, to imagine Nothing!
Master:
Let it be granted that it is so. Is it not surely worth thy Time and Effort,
and all that thou canst ever do?
Disciple:
It is so, I must needs confess.
Master:
But perhaps it may not be so hard as at first it appeareth to be; make but
the Trial, and be in earnest. What is there required of thee, but to stand
still, and see the Salvation of thy God? And couldst thou desire any Thing
less? Where is the Hardship in this? Thou hast Nothing to care for, Nothing
to desire in this Life, Nothing to imagine or attract. Thou needest only
cast thy Care upon God, who careth for thee, and leave Him to dispose of
thee according to His Good Will and Pleasure, even as if thou hadst no Will
at all in thee. For He knoweth what is best; and if thou canst but trust
Him, He will most certainly do better for thee, than if thou were left to
thine own Choice.
Disciple:
This I most firmly believe.
Master:
If thou believest, then go and do accordingly. All is in the Will, as I
have shown thee. When the Will imagineth after Somewhat, then entereth it
into that Somewhat, then presently that same Somewhat taketh the Will into
itself, and overcloudeth it, so that it can have no Light, but must dwell
in Darkness, unless it return back out of that Somewhat into Nothing. For
when the Will imagineth or lusteth after Nothing, then it entereth into
Nothing, where it receiveth the Will of God into itself, and so dwelleth
in Light, and worketh all its Works in that Light.
Disciple:
I am now satisfied that the Main Cause of any one's Spiritual Blindness
is his letting his Will into Somewhat, or into that which he hath wrought,
of what Nature soever it be, Good or Evil, and his setting his Heart and
Affections upon the Work of his own Hands or Brain; and that when the earthly
Body perisheth, then the Soul must be imprisoned in that very Thing which
it shall have received and let in; and if the Light of God be not in it,
being deprived of the Light of this World, it cannot but be found in a dark
Prison.
Master:
This is a very precious Gate of Knowledge; I am glad thou takest it into
such Consideration. The understanding of the whole Scripture is contained
in it; and all that hath been written from the Beginning of the World to
this Day, may be found herein, by him that having entered with his Will
into Nothing, hath there found All Things by finding God; from Whom, and
to Whom, and in Whom are All Things. By this Means thou shalt come to hear
and see God; and after this earthly Life is ended, to see with the Eye of
Eternity all the Wonders of God and of Nature, and more particularly those
which shall have been wrought by thee in the Flesh, or all that the Spirit
of God shall have given thee to labor out for thyself and thy Neighbor,
or all that the Eye of Reason enlightened from above, may at any Time have
manifested to thee. Delay not therefore to enter in by this Gate, which
if thou seest in the Spirit, as some highly favored Souls have seen it,
thou seest in the Supersensual Ground, all that God is, and can do; thou
seest also therewith, as one hath said who was taken thereinto, through
Heaven, Hell, and Earth, and through the Essence of all Essences. Whosoever
findeth It, hath found All that he can possibly desire. Here is the Virtue
and Power of the Love of God displayed. Here is the Height and Depth; here
is the Breadth and Length thereof manifested, as ever the Capacity of thy
Soul can contain. By this thou shalt come into that Ground out of which
all Things are originated, and in which they subsist; and in It thou shalt
reign over all God's Works, as a Prince of God.
Disciple:
Pray tell me, dear Master, where dwelleth It in Man?
Master:
Where Man dwelleth not, there It hath Its Seat in Man.
Disciple:
Where is that in a Man, where Man dwelleth not in himself?
Master:
It is the resigned Ground of a Soul, to which NoThing cleaveth.
Disciple:
Where is the Ground in any Soul, to which there will NoThing stick? Or,
where is that which abideth and dwelleth not in SomeThing?
Master:
It is the Center of Rest and Motion in the resigned Will of a truly contrite
Spirit, which is crucified to the World. This Center of the Will is impenetrable
consequently to the World, the Devil, and Hell; Nothing in all the World
can enter into it, or adhere to it, though never so many Devils should be
in the Confederacy against it; because the Will is dead with Christ unto
this World, but quickened with Him in the Center thereof, after His Blessed
Image. Here it is where Man dwelleth not; and where no SELF abideth, or
can abide.
Disciple:
O where is this naked Ground of the Soul void of all SELF? And how shall
I come at the hidden Center where God dwelleth, and not Man? Tell me plainly,
loving Sir, where it is, and how it is to be found by me, and entered into?
Master:
There where the Soul hath slain its OWN Will, and willeth no more any Thing
as from itSELF, but only as God willeth, and as His Spirit moveth upon the
Soul, shall this appear. Where the Love of SELF is banished, there dwelleth
the Love of God. For so much of the Soul's OWN Will as is dead unto itSELF,
even so much Room hath the Will of God, which is His Love, taken up in that
Soul. The Reason whereof is this; Where its OWN Will did before sit, there
is now Nothing; and where Nothing is, there alone is it that the Love of
God worketh.
Disciple:
But how shall I comprehend It?
Master:
If thou goest about to comprehend It, then It will fly away from thee; but
if thou dost surrender thyself wholly up to It, then It will abide with
thee, and become the Life of thy Life, and be natural to thee.
Disciple:
And how can this be without dying, or the whole Destruction of my Will?
Master:
Upon this entire Surrender and Yielding up of thy Will, the Love of God
IN THEE becometh the Life of thy Nature; It killeth thee not, but quickeneth
thee, who art now dead to thySELF in thine own Will, according to Its proper
Life, even the Life of God. And then thou livest, yet not to thy own Will;
but thou livest to Its Will, forasmuch as thy Will is henceforth become
Its Will. So then it is no longer thy Will, but the Will of God; no longer
the Love of thySELF, but the Love of God, which moveth and operateth in
thee; and then, being thus comprehended in It, thou art dead indeed as to
thySELF, but art alive unto God. So being dead thou livest, or rather God
liveth IN THEE by His Spirit; and His Love is made to thee Life from the
Dead. Never couldst thou with all thy seeking, have apprehended It; but
It hath apprehended thee. Much less couldst thou have comprehended It. But
now It hath comprehended thee; and so the Treasure of Treasures is found.
Disciple:
How is it that so few Souls do find It, when yet all would be glad enough
to have It?
Master:
They all seek It in Somewhat, and so they find It not. For where there is
Somewhat for the Soul to adhere to, there the Soul findeth but that Somewhat
only, and taketh up its Rest therein, until she seeth that It is to be found
in Nothing, and goeth again out of the Somewhat into Nothing, even into
that Nothing out of which all Things may be made. The Soul here saith, "
I have Nothing, for I am utterly empty and stripped of every Thing; I can
do Nothing, for I have no Manner of Power, but am as Water poured out; I
am Nothing, for all that I am is no more than an Image of Being, and only
God is to me I AM; and so sitting down in my own Nothingness, I give Glory
to the Eternal Being, and will Nothing of mySELF, that so God may will All
in me, being unto me my God and All Things." Herein now that it is
that so very few find this most precious Treasure in the Soul, though every
one would so fain have It; and might also have It were it not for this or
that Somewhat into which every one letteth.
Disciple:
But if the Love should proffer Itself to a Soul, could not that Soul find
It, nor lay hold on It, without going for It into Nothing?
Master:
No verily. Men seek and find not, because they seek It not in the naked
Ground where It lieth; but in SomeThing or Other where It never will be,
neither can be. They seek It in their OWN Will, and they find It not. They
seek It in their Self-Desire, and they meet not with It. They look for It
in an Image, or in an Opinion, or in an Affection, or a natural Devotion
and Fervour, and they lose the Substance by thus hunting after a Shadow.
They search for It in Something sensible or imaginary, in Somewhat which
they may have a more peculiar natural Inclination for, and Adhesion to;
and so they miss of what they seek, for Want of diving into the Supersensual
and Supernatural Ground where the Treasure is hid. Now should the Love graciously
condescend to proffer Itself to such as these, and even to present Itself
evidently before the Eye of their Spirit, yet would It find no Place in
them at all, neither could It be held by them, or remain with them.
Disciple:
Why not, if the Love should be willing and ready to offer Itself, and to
stay with them?
Master:
Because the Imaginariness which is in their own Will hath set up itself
in the Place thereof; and so this Imaginariness would have the Love in it;
but the Love fleeth away, for it is Its Prison. The Love may offer Itself;
but It cannot abide where the Self-Desire attracteth or imagineth. That
Will which attracteth Nothing, and to which Nothing adhereth, is the only
Will capable of receiving It, for It dwelleth only in Nothing as I said,
and therefore they find It not.
Disciple:
If It dwell only in Nothing, what is now the Office of It in Nothing?
Master:
The Office of the Love here is to penetrate incessantly into Something;
and if It penetrate into, and find a Place in Something which is standing
still and at Rest, then Its Business is to take Possession thereof. And
when It hath there taken Possession, then It rejoiceth therein with Its
flaming Love-Fire, even as the Sun doth in the visible World. And then the
Office of it, is without Intermission to enkindle a Fire in this Something,
which shall burn it up; and then with the Flames thereof exceedingly to
enflame Itself and raise the Heat of the Love-Fire by It, even seven Degrees
higher.
Disciple:
O loving Master, how shall I understand this?
Master:
If It but once kindle a Fire within thee, my Son, thou shalt then certainly
feel how It consumeth all that which It toucheth; thou shalt feel It in
the burning up of thy SELF, and swiftly devouring all Egoity, or that which
thou callest I and Me, as standing in a separate Root, and divided from
the Deity, the Fountain of thy Being. And when this Enkindling is made in
thee, then the Love doth so exceedingly rejoice in thy Fire, as thou wouldst
not for all the World be out of It; yea, wouldst rather suffer thyself to
be killed, than to enter into thy Something again. This Fire now must grow
hotter and hotter, till It shall have perfected Its Office with respect
to thee,and therefore wilt not give over, till It come to the seventh Degree.
Its Flame hence also will be so very great, that It will never leave thee,
though It should even cost thee thy temporal Life; but It would go with
thee in Its sweet loving Fire into Death; and if thou wentest also into
Hell, It would break Hell in Pieces also for thy Sake. Nothing is more certain
than this; for It is stronger than Death and Hell.
Disciple:
Enough, my dearest Master, I can no longer endure that any Thing should
divert me from It. But how shall I find the nearest Way to It?
Master:
Where the Way is hardest, there go thou; and what the World casteth away,
that take thou up. What the World doth, that do thou not; but in all Things
walk thou contrary to the World. So thou comest the nearest Way to that
which thou art seeking.
Disciple:
If I should in all Things walk contrary to other People, I must need be
in a very unquiet and sad State; and the World would not fail to account
me for a Madman.
Master:
I bid thee not, Child, to do Harm to any one, thereby to create to thyself
any Misery or Unquietness. This is not what I mean by walking contrary in
every Thing to the World. But because the World, as the World, loveth only
Deceit and Vanity, and walketh in false and treacherous Ways; thence, if
thou hast a Mind to act a clean contrary Part to the Ways thereof, without
any Exception or Reserve whatsoever, walk thou only in the right Way, which
is called the Way of Light, as that of the World is properly called the
Way of Darkness. For the right Way, even the Path of Light, is contrary
to all the Ways of the World.
But whereas thou art afraid of creating to thyself hereby Trouble and Inquietude, that indeed, will be so according to the Flesh. In the World thou must have Trouble, and thy Flesh will not fail to be unquiet, and to give thee Occasion for continual Repentance. Nevertheless in this very Anxiety of Soul, arising either from the World or the Flesh, the LOVE doth most willingly enkindle Itself, and Its cheering and conquering Fire is but made to blaze forth with greater Strength for the Destruction of that Evil.
And whereas
thou dost also say, that the World will for this esteem thee mad, it is
true the World will be apt enough to censure thee for a Madman in Walking
contrary to it. And thou art not to be surprised if the Children thereof
laugh at thee, calling thee silly Fool. For the Way to the Love of God is
Folly to the World, but is Wisdom to the Children of God. Hence, whenever
the World perceiveth this holy Fire of Love in God's Children, it concludeth
immediately that they are turned Fools,and are beside themselves. But to
the Children of God, that which is despised of the World is the greatest
Treasure; yea, so great a Treasure It is, as no Life can express, no Tongue
so much as name what this inflaming, all-conquering Love of God is. It is
brighter than the Sun; It is sweeter than any Thing that is called sweet;
It is stronger than all Strength; It is more nutrimental than Food; more
cheering to the Heart than Wine, and more pleasant than all the Joy and
Pleasantness of this World. Whosoever obtaineth It, is richer than any Monarch
on Earth; and he who getteth It, is nobler than any Emperor can be, and
more potent and absolute than all Earthly Power and Authority.
"Behold, I stand at the Door and knock: if any man HEAR My voice, and
open the Door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with
Me."
"He that is of God HEARETH God's Words; ye therefore HEAR them not,
because ye are not of God."
"My Sheep HEAR My Voice; and I know them, and they follow Me... And
a Stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not
the Voice of Strangers."
"He that has Ears to HEAR, let him HEAR."