John, Ascent of Carmel 2 10
Wherein distinction is made between all apprehensions and types of knowledgewhich can be comprehended by the understanding.
1 IN order to treat in detail of the profit and the harm which may come tothe soul, with respect to this means to Divine union which we have described-- namely, faith -- through the ideas and apprehensions of the understanding,it is necessary here to make a distinction between all the apprehensions,whether natural or supernatural, that the soul may receive, so that then,with regard to each of them in order, we may direct the understanding withgreater clearness into the night and obscurity of faith. This will be donewith all possible brevity.
2. It must be known, then, that the understandingcan receive knowledge and intelligence by two channels: the one natural andthe other supernatural. By the natural channel is meant all that theunderstanding can understand, whether by means of the bodily senses or byits own power.(277) The supernatural channel is all that is given to theunderstanding over and above its natural ability and capacity.
3. Of these kinds of supernatural knowledge, some are corporeal and some are spiritual.The corporeal are two in number: some are received by means of the outwardbodily senses; others, by means of the inward bodily senses, wherein iscomprehended all that the imagination can comprehend, form and conceive.
4. The spiritual supernatural knowledge is likewise of two kinds: that whichis distinct and special in its nature, and that which is confused, generaland dark. Of the distinct and special kind there are four manners of apprehensionwhich are communicated to the spirit without the aid of any bodily sense:these are visions, revelations, locutions and spiritual feelings. The obscureand general type of knowledge is of one kind alone, which is contemplationthat is given in faith. To this we have to lead the soul by bringing it theretothrough all these other means, beginning with the first and detaching itfrom them.
Of the hindrance and harm that may be caused by apprehensions of theunderstanding which proceed from that which is supernaturally representedto the outward bodily senses; and how the soul is to conduct itself therein.
1 THE first kinds of knowledge whereof we have spoken in the preceding chapterare those that belong to the understanding and come through natural channels.Of these, since we have treated them already in the first book, where weled the soul into the night of sense, we shall here say not a word, for inthat place we gave suitable instruction to the soul concerning them. Whatwe have to treat, therefore, in the present chapter, will be solely thosekinds of knowledge and those apprehensions which belong to the understandingand come supernaturally, by way of the outward bodily senses -- namely, byseeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. With respect to all thesethere may come, and there are wont to come, to spiritual persons representationsand objects of a supernatural kind. With respect to sight, they are apt topicture figures and forms of persons belonging to the life to come -- theforms of certain saints, and representations of angels, good and evil, andcertain lights and brightnesses of an extraordinary kind. And with the earsthey hear certain extraordinary words, sometimes spoken by those figuresthat they see, sometimes without seeing the person who speaks them. As tothe sense of smell, they sometimes perceive the sweetest perfumes with thesenses, without knowing whence they proceed. Likewise, as to taste, it comesto pass that they are conscious of the sweetest savours, and, as to touch,they experience great delight -- sometimes to such a degree that it is asthough all the bones and the marrow rejoice and sing(278) and are bathedin delight; this is like that which we call spiritual unction, which in puresouls proceeds from the spirit and flows into the very members. And thissensible sweetness is a very ordinary thing with spiritual persons, for itcomes to them from their sensible affection and devotion,(279) to a greateror a lesser degree, to each one after his own manner.
2. And it must be known that, although all these things may happen to the bodily senses in the wayof God, we must never rely upon them or accept them, but must always flyfrom them, without trying to ascertain whether they be good or evil; for,the more completely exterior and corporeal they are, the less certainly arethey of God. For it is more proper and habitual to God to communicate Himselfto the spirit, wherein there is more security and profit for the soul, thanto sense, wherein there is ordinarily much danger and deception; for bodilysense judges and makes its estimate of spiritual things by thinking thatthey are as it feels them to be, whereas they are as different as is thebody from the soul and sensuality(280) from reason. For the bodily senseis as ignorant of spiritual things as is a beast of rational things, andeven more so.
3. So he that esteems such things errs greatly and exposeshimself to great peril of being deceived; in any case he will have withinhimself a complete impediment to the attainment of spirituality. For, aswe have said, between spiritual things and all these bodily things thereexists no kind of proportion whatever. And thus it may always be supposedthat such things as these are more likely to be of the devil than of God;for the devil has more influence in that which is exterior and corporeal,and can deceive a soul more easily thereby than by that which is more interiorand spiritual.
4. And the more exterior are these corporeal forms and objectsin themselves, the less do they profit the interior and spiritual nature,because of the great distance and the lack of proportion existing betweenthe corporeal and the spiritual. For, although there is communicated by theirmeans a certain degree of spirituality, as is always the case with thingsthat come from God, much less is communicated than would be the case if thesame things were more interior and spiritual. And thus they very easily becomethe means whereby error and presumption and vanity grow in the soul; since,as they are so palpable and material, they stir the senses greatly, and itappears to the judgment of the soul that they are of greater importance becausethey are more readily felt. Thus the soul goes after them, abandoning faithand thinking that the light which it receives from them is the guide andmeans to its desired goal, which is union with God. But the more attentionit pays to such things, the farther it strays from the true way and means,which are faith.
5. And, besides all this, when the soul sees that such extraordinary things happen to it, it is often visited, insidiously and secretlyby a certain complacency, so that it thinks itself to be of some importancein the eyes of God; which is contrary to humility. The devil, too, knowshow to insinuate into the soul a secret satisfaction with itself, which attimes becomes very evident; wherefore he frequently represents these objectsto the senses, setting before the eyes figures of saints and most beauteouslights; and before the ears words very much dissembled; and representingalso sweetest perfumes, delicious tastes(281) and things delectable to thetouch; to the end that, by producing desires for such things, he may leadthe soul into much evil. These representations and feelings, therefore, mustalways be rejected; for, even though some of them be of God, He is not offendedby their rejection, nor is the effect and fruit which He desires to producein the soul by means of them any the less surely received because the soulrejects them and desires them not.
6. The reason for this is that corporealvision, or feeling in respect to any of the other senses, or any othercommunication of the most interior kind, if it be of God, produces its effectupon the spirit at the very moment when it appears or is felt, without givingthe soul time or opportunity to deliberate whether it will accept or rejectit. For, even as God gives these things supernaturally, without effort onthe part of the soul, and independently of its capacity, even so likewise,without respect to its effort or capacity, God produces in it the effectthat He desires by means of such things; for this is a thing that is wroughtand brought to pass in the spirit passively; and thus its acceptance ornon-acceptance consists not in the acceptance or the rejection of it by thewill. It is as though fire were applied to a person's naked body: it wouldmatter little whether or no he wished to be burned; the fire would of necessityaccomplish its work. Just so is it with visions and representations thatare good: even though the soul desire it not, they work their effect uponit, chiefly and especially in the soul, rather than in the body. And likewisethose that come from the devil (without the consent of the soul) cause itdisturbance or aridity or vanity or presumption in the spirit. Yet theseare not so effective to work evil as are those of God to work good; for thoseof the devil can only set in action the first movements of the will,(282)and move it no farther, unless the soul be consenting thereto; and such troublecontinues not long unless the soul's lack of courage and prudence be theoccasion of its continuance. But the visions that are of God penetrate thesoul and move the will to love, and produce their effect, which the soulcannot resist even though it would, any more than the window can resist thesun's rays when they strike
7. The soul, then, must never presume to desireto receive them, even though, as I say, they be of God; for, if it desireto receive them, there follow six inconveniences. The first is that faithgrows gradually less; for things that are experienced by the senses derogatefrom faith; since faith, as we have said, transcends every sense. And thusthe soul withdraws itself from the means of union with God when it closesnot its eyes to all these things of sense. Secondly, if they be not rejected,they are a hindrance to the spirit, for the soul rests in them and its spiritsoars not to the invisible. This was one of the reasons why the Lord saidto His disciples that it was needful for Him to go away that the Holy Spiritmight come; so, too, He forbade Mary Magdalene to touch His feet, after Hisresurrection, that she might be grounded in faith. Thirdly, the soul becomesattached to these things and advances not to true resignation and detachmentof spirit. Fourthly, it begins to lose the effect of them and the inwardspirituality which they cause it, because it sets its eyes upon their sensualaspect, which is the least important. And thus it receives not so fully thespirituality which they cause, which is impressed and preserved more securelywhen all things of sense are rejected, since these are very different frompure spirit. Fifthly, the soul begins to lose the favours of God, becauseit accepts them as though they belonged to it and profits not by them asit should. And to accept them in this way and not to profit by them is toseek after them; but God gives them not that the soul may seek after them;nor should the soul take upon itself to believe that they are of God.(283)Sixthly, a readiness to accept them opens the door to the devil that he maydeceive the soul by other things like to them, which he very well knows howto dissimulate and disguise, so that they may appear to be good; for, asthe Apostle says, he can transform himself into an angel of light.(284) Ofthis we shall treat hereafter, by the Divine favour, in our third book, inthe chapter upon spiritual gluttony.
8. It is always well, then, that thesoul should reject these things, and close its eyes to them, whencesoeverthey come. For, unless it does so, it will prepare the way for those thingsthat come from the devil, and will give him such influence that, not onlywill his visions come in place of God's, but his visions will begin to increase,and those of God to cease, in such manner that the devil will have all thepower and God will have none. So it has happened to many incautious and ignorantsouls, who rely on these things to such an extent that many of them havefound it hard to return to God in purity of faith; and many have been unableto return, so securely has the devil rooted himself in them; for which reasonit is well to resist and reject them all. For, by the rejection of evil visions,the errors of the devil are avoided, and by the rejection of good visionsno hindrance is offered to faith and the spirit harvests the fruit of them.And just as, when the soul allows them entrance, God begins to withhold thembecause the soul is becoming attached to them and is not profiting by themas it should, while the devil insinuates and increases his own visions, wherehe finds occasion and cause for them; just so, when the soul is resigned,or even averse to them, the devil begins to desist, since he sees that heis working it no harm; and contrariwise God begins to increase and magnifyHis favours in a soul that is so humble and detached, making it ruler over(285)many things, even as He made the servant who was faithful in small things.(286)
9. In these favours, if the soul be faithful and humble,(287) the Lord willnot cease until He has raised it from one step to another, even to Divineunion and transformation. For Our Lord continues to prove the soul and toraise it ever higher, so that He first gives it things that are veryunpretentious and exterior and in the order of sense, in conformity withthe smallness of its capacity; to the end that, when it behaves as it should,and receives these first morsels with moderation for its strength and sustenance,He may grant it further and better food. If, then, the soul conquer the devilupon the first step, it will pass to the second; and if upon the second likewise,it will pass to the third; and so onward, through all seven mansions,(288)which are the seven steps of love, until the Spouse shall bring it to thecellar of wine of His perfect charity.
10. Happy the soul that can fight against that beast of the Apocalypse,(289) which has seven heads, set overagainst these seven steps of love, and which makes war therewith againsteach one, and strives therewith against the soul in each of these mansions,wherein the soul is being exercised and is mounting step by step in the loveof God. And undoubtedly if it strive faithfully against each of these heads,and gain the victory, it will deserve to pass from one step to another, andfrom one mansion to another, even unto the last, leaving the beast vanquishedafter destroying its seven heads, wherewith it made so furious a war uponit. So furious is this war that Saint John says in that place(290) that itwas given unto the beast to make war against the saints and to be able toovercome them upon each one of these steps of love, arraying against eachone many weapons and munitions of war. And it is therefore greatly to belamented that many who engage in this spiritual battle against the beastdo not even destroy its first head by denying themselves the sensual thingsof the world. And, though some destroy and cut off this head, they destroynot the second head, which is that of the visions of sense whereof we arespeaking. But what is most to be lamented is that some, having destroyednot only the first and the second but even the third, which is that of theinterior senses, pass out of the state of meditation, and travel still fartheronward, and are overcome by this spiritual beast at the moment of their enteringinto purity of spirit, for he rises up against them once more, and even hisfirst head comes to life again, and the last state of those souls is worsethan the first, since, when they fall back, the beast brings with him sevenother spirits worse then himself.(291)
11. The spiritual person, then, hasto deny himself all the apprehensions, and the temporal delights, that belongto the outward senses, if he will destroy the first and the second head ofthis beast, and enter into the first chamber of love, and the second, whichis of living faith, desiring neither to lay hold upon, nor to be embarrassedby, that which is given to the senses, since it is this that derogates mostfrom faith.
12. It is clear, then, that these sensual apprehensions and visionscannot be a means to union, since they bear no proportion to God; and thiswas one of the reasons why Christ desired that the Magdalene and Saint Thomasshould not touch Him. And so the devil rejoices greatly when a soul desiresto receive revelations, and when h e sees it inclined to them, for he hasthen a great occasion and opportunity to insinuate errors and, in so faras he is able, to derogate from faith; for, as I have said, he renders thesoul that desires them very gross, and at times even leads it into manytemptations and unseemly ways.
13. I have written at some length of theseoutward apprehensions in order to throw and shed rather more light on theothers, whereof we have to treat shortly. There is so much to say on thispart of my subject that I could go on and never end. I believe, however,that I am summarizing it sufficiently by merely saying that the soul musttake care never to receive these apprehensions, save occasionally on anotherperson's advice, which should very rarely be given, and even then it musthave no desire for them. I think that on this part of my subject what I havesaid is sufficient.
Which treats of natural imaginary apprehensions. Describes their nature andproves that they cannot be a proportionate means of attainment to union withGod. Shows the harm which results from inability to detach oneself from them.
1 BEFORE we treat of the imaginary visions which are wont to occur supernaturallyto the interior sense, which is the imagination and the fancy, it is fittinghere, so that we may proceed in order, to treat of the natural apprehensionsof this same interior bodily sense, in order that we may proceed from thelesser to the greater, and from the more exterior to the more interior, untilwe reach the most interior(292) recollection wherein the soul is united withGod; this same order we have followed up to this point. For we treated firstof all the detachment of the exterior senses from the natural apprehensionsof objects, and, in consequence, from the natural power of the desires --this was contained in the first book, wherein we spoke of the night of sense.We then began to detach these same senses from supernatural exteriorapprehensions (which, as we have just shown in the last chapter, affect theexterior senses), in order to lead the soul into the night of the spirit.
2. In this second book, the first thing that has now to be treated is theinterior bodily sense -- namely, the imagination and the fancy; this we mustlikewise void of all the imaginary apprehensions and forms that may belongto it by nature, and we must prove how impossible it is that the soul shouldattain to union with God until its operation cease in them, since they cannotbe the proper and proximate means of this union.
3. It is to be known, then,that the senses whereof we are here particularly speaking are two interiorbodily senses which are called imagination and fancy, which subserve eachother in due order. For the one sense reasons, as it were, by imagining,and the other forms the imagination, or that which is imagined, by makinguse of the fancy.(293) For our purpose the discussion of the one is equivalentto that of the other, and, for this reason, when we name them not both, itmust be understood that we are speaking of either, as we have here explained.All the things, then, that these senses can receive and fashion are knownas imaginations and fancies, which are forms that are represented to thesesenses by bodily figures and images. This can happen in two ways. The oneway is supernatural, wherein representation can be made, and is made, tothese senses passively, without any effort of their own; these we call imaginaryvisions, produced after a supernatural manner, and of these we shall speakhereafter. The other way is natural, wherein, through the ability of thesoul, these things can be actively fashioned in it through its operation,beneath forms, figures and images. And thus to these two faculties belongsmeditation, which is a discursive action wrought by means of images, formsand figures that are fashioned and imagined by the said senses, as when weimagine Christ crucified, or bound to the column, or at another of the stations;or when we imagine God seated upon a throne with great majesty; or when weconsider and imagine glory to be like a most beauteous light, etc.; or whenwe imagine all kinds of other things, whether Divine or human, that can belongto the imagination. All these imaginings must be cast out from the Soul,which will remain in darkness as far as this sense is concerned, that itmay attain to Divine union; for they can bear no proportion to proximatemeans of union with God, any more than can the bodily imaginings, which serveas objects to the five exterior senses.
4. The reason of this is that theimagination cannot fashion or imagine anything whatsoever beyond that whichit has experienced through its exterior senses -- namely, that which it hasseen with the eyes, or heard with the ears, etc. At most it can only composelikenesses of those things that it has seen or heard or felt, which are ofno more consequence than those which have been received by the sensesaforementioned, nor are they even of as much consequence. For, although aman imagines palaces of pearls and mountains of gold, because he has seengold and pearls, all this is in truth less than the essence of a little goldor of a single pearl, although in the imagination it be greater in quantityand in beauty. And since, as has already been said, no created things canbear any proportion to the Being of God, it follows that nothing that isimagined in their likeness can serve as proximate means to union with Him,but, as we say, quite the contrary.
5. Wherefore those that imagine God beneathany of these figures, or as a great fire or brightness, or in any other suchform, and think that anything like this will be like to Him, are very farfrom approaching Him. For, although these considerations and forms and mannersof meditation are necessary to beginners, in order that they may graduallyfeed and enkindle their souls with love by means of sense, as we shall sayhereafter, and although they thus serve them as remote means to union withGod, through which a soul has commonly to pass in order to reach the goaland abode of spiritual repose, yet they must merely pass through them, andnot remain ever in them, for in such a manner they would never reach theirgoal, which does not resemble these remote means, neither has aught to dowith them. The stairs of a staircase have naught to do with the top of itand the abode to which it leads, yet are means to the reaching of both; andif the climber left not behind the stairs below him until there were no moreto climb, but desired to remain upon any one of them, he would never reachthe top of them nor would he mount to the pleasant(294) and peaceful roomwhich is the goal. And just so the soul that is to attain in this life tothe union of that supreme repose and blessing, by means of all these stairsof meditations, forms and ideas, must pass though them and have done withthem, since they have no resemblance and bear no proportion to the goal towhich they lead, which is God. Wherefore Saint Paul says in the Acts of theApostles: Non debemus aestimare, auro, vel argento, aut lapidi sculpturaeartis, et cogitationis hominis, Divinum esse similem.(295) Which signifies:We ought not to think of the Godhead by likening Him to gold or to silver,neither to stone that is formed by art, nor to aught that a man can fashionwith his imagination.
6. Great, therefore, is the error of many spiritualpersons who have practised approaching God by means of images and forms andmeditations, as befits beginners. God would now lead them on to(296) furtherspiritual blessings, which are interior and invisible, by taking from themthe pleasure and sweetness of discursive meditation; but they cannot, ordare not, or know not how to detach themselves from those palpable methodsto which they have grown accustomed. They continually labour to retain them,desiring to proceed, as before, by the way of consideration and meditationupon forms, for they think that it must be so with them always. They labourgreatly to this end and find little sweetness or none; rather the aridityand weariness and disquiet of their souls are increased and grow, in proportionas they labour for that earlier sweetness. They cannot find this in thatearlier manner, for the soul no longer enjoys that food of sense, as we havesaid; it needs not this but another food, which is more delicate, more interiorand partaking less of the nature of sense; it consists not in labouring withthe imagination, but in setting the soul at rest, and allowing it to remainin its quiet and repose, which is more spiritual. For, the farther the soulprogresses in spirituality, the more it ceases from the operation of thefaculties in particular acts, since it becomes more and more occupied inone act that is general and pure; and thus the faculties that were journeyingto a place whither the soul has arrived cease to work, even as the feet stopand cease to move when their journey is over. For if all were motion, onewould never arrive, and if all were means, where or when would come the fruitionof the end and goal?
7. It is piteous, then, to see many a one who(297) thoughhis soul would fain tarry in this peace and rest of interior quiet, whereit is filled with the peace and refreshment of God, takes from it itstranquillity, and leads it away to the most exterior things, and would makeit return and retrace the ground it has already traversed, to no purpose,and abandon the end and goal wherein it is already reposing for the meanswhich led it to that repose, which are meditations. This comes not to passwithout great reluctance and repugnance of the soul, which would fain bein that peace that it understands not, as in its proper place; even as onewho has arrived, with great labour, and is now resting, suffers pain if heis made to return to his labour. And, as such souls know not the mysteryof this new experience, the idea comes to them that they are being idle anddoing nothing; and thus they allow not themselves to be quiet, but endeavorto meditate and reason. Hence they are filled with aridity and affliction,because they seek to find sweetness where it is no longer to be found; wemay even say of them that the more they strive the less they profit, for,the more they persist after this manner, the worse is the state wherein theyfind themselves, because their soul is drawn farther away from spiritualpeace; and this is to leave the greater for the less, and to retrace theground already traversed, and to seek to do that which has been done.
8. To such as these the advice must be given to learn to abide attentively andwait lovingly upon God in that state of quiet, and to pay no heed eitherto imagination or to its working; for here, as we say, the faculties areat rest, and are working, not actively, but passively, by receiving thatwhich God works in them; and, if they work at times, it is not with violenceor with carefully elaborated meditation, but with sweetness of love, movedless by the ability of the soul itself than by God, as will be explainedhereafter. But let this now suffice to show how fitting and necessary itis for those who aim at making further progress to be able to detach themselvesfrom all these methods and manners and works of the imagination at the timeand season when the profit of the state which they have reached demands andrequires it.
9. And, that it may be understood how this is to be, and atwhat season, we shall give in the chapter following certain signs which thespiritual person will see in himself and whereby he may know at what timeand season he may freely avail himself of the goal mentioned above, and maycease from journeying by means of meditation and the work of the imagination.
Wherein are set down the signs which the spiritual person will find in himselfwhereby he may know at what season it behoves him to leave meditation andreasoning and pass to the state of contemplation.
1 IN order that there may be no confusion in this instruction it will be meetin this chapter to explain at what time and season it behoves the spiritualperson to lay aside the task of discursive meditation as carried on throughthe imaginations and forms and figures above mentioned, in order that hemay lay them aside neither sooner nor later than when the Spirit bids him;for, although it is meet for him to lay them aside at the proper time inorder that he may journey to God and not be hindered by them, it is no lessneedful for him not to lay aside the said imaginative meditation before theproper time lest he should turn backward. For, although the apprehensionsof these faculties serve not as proximate means of union to the proficient,they serve nevertheless as remote means to beginners in order to disposeand habituate the spirit to spirituality by means of sense, and in orderto void the sense, in the meantime, of all the other low forms and images,temporal, worldly and natural. We shall therefore speak here of certain signsand examples which the spiritual person will find in himself, whereby hemay know whether or not it will be meet for him to lay them aside at thisseason.
2. The first sign is his realization that he can no longer meditateor reason with his imagination, neither can take pleasure therein as he waswont to do aforetime; he rather finds aridity in that which aforetime waswont to captivate his senses and to bring him sweetness. But, for as longas he finds sweetness in meditation, and is able to reason, he should notabandon this, save when his soul is led into the peace and quietness(298)which is described under the third head.
3. The second sign is a realizationthat he has no desire to fix his mediation or his sense upon other particularobjects, exterior or interior. I do not mean that the imagination neithercomes nor goes (for even at times of deep(299) recollection it is apt tomove freely), but that the soul has no pleasure in fixing it of set purposeupon other objects.
4. The third and surest sign is that the soul takes pleasurein being alone, and waits with loving attentiveness upon God, without makingany particular meditation, in inward peace and quietness and rest, and withoutacts and exercises of the faculties -- memory, understanding and will --at least, without discursive acts, that is, without passing from one thingto another; the soul is alone, with an attentiveness and a knowledge, generaland loving, as we said, but without any particular understanding, and advertingnot to that which it is contemplating.
5. These three signs, at least, thespiritual person must observe in himself, all together, before he can venturesafely to abandon the state of meditation and sense,(300) and to enter thatof contemplation and spirit.
6. And it suffices not for a man to have thefirst alone without the second, for it might be that the reason for his beingunable to imagine and meditate upon the things of God, as he did aforetime,was distraction on his part and lack of diligence; for the which cause hemust observe in himself the second likewise, which is the absence of inclinationor desire to think upon other things; for, when the inability to fix theimagination and sense upon the things of God proceeds from distraction orlukewarmness, the soul then has the desire and inclination to fix it uponother and different things, which lead it thence altogether. Neither doesit suffice that he should observe in himself the first and second signs,if he observe not likewise, together with these, the third; for, althoughhe observe his inability to reason and think upon the things of God, andlikewise his distaste for thinking upon other and different things, thismight proceed from melancholy or from some other kind of humour in the brainor the heart, which habitually produces a certain absorption and suspensionof the senses, causing the soul to think not at all, nor to desire or beinclined to think, but rather to remain in that pleasant state of reverie.(301)Against this must be set the third sign, which is loving attentiveness andknowledge, in peace, etc., as we have said.
7. It is true, however, that,when this condition first begins, the soul is hardly aware of this lovingknowledge, and that for two reasons. First, this loving knowledge is aptat the beginning to be very subtle and delicate, and almost imperceptibleto the senses. Secondly, when the soul has been accustomed to that otherexercise of meditation, which is wholly perceptible, it is unaware, and hardlyconscious, of this other new and imperceptible condition, which is purelyspiritual; especially when, not understanding it, the soul allows not itselfto rest in it, but strives after the former, which is more readily perceptible;so that abundant though the loving interior peace may be, the soul has noopportunity of experiencing and enjoying it. But the more accustomed thesoul grows to this, by allowing itself to rest, the more it will grow thereinand the more conscious it will become of that loving general knowledge ofGod, in which it has greater enjoyment than in aught else, since this knowledgecauses it peace, rest, pleasure and delight without labour.
8. And, to the end that what has been said may be the clearer, we shall give, in this chapterfollowing, the causes and reasons why the three signs aforementioned appearto be necessary for the soul that is journeying to pure spirit.(302)
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