-
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.
-
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."