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Disciple

Loving Master, I am well content that this Love should rule in me over the natural Life, that so 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 its substance which it loves, namely the poor soul, being in trouble and pain, it hath thence cause to love this its own substance and to deliver it from pain, that so itself may by it 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, if Love had not something which it might love, and manifest the virtue and power of love in working out deliverance to the Beloved from all pain and trouble.

Disciple

Pray what is the virtue, the 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 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, a 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 I may 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 within thee 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 forth itself into all things, and penetrated 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 Jesus 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 unexpressible, 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 principal 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 constitution of things thus originated. This virtue which is in Love is 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 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 the 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 be no longer either vegetation or animation upon it; yea, the very pillars of it being overthrown quite, 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. For 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 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 the power of Love, and what the height and greatness thereof is; how that 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 mayst 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 Archangel and 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 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 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 Jesus Christ was in Hell, Hell was not the mansion of God or of Christ, Hell sees 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 nor 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, or as considered in his manifestative glory.

Lastly, whereas I said, Whosoever finds it finds Nothing and all Things; that is also certain and true. But how finds he Nothing? Why, I will tell thee how. He that findeth it findeth a supernatural, supersensual Abyss, which hath no ground or Byss to stand on, and where there is no place to dwell in; and he findeth also nothing is like unto it and therefore it may fitly be compared to Nothing, for it is deeper than any Thing, and is as Nothing with respect to All Things, forasmuch as it is not comprehensible by any of them. And because it is Nothing respectively, it is therefore free from All Things, and is that only Good, which a man cannot express or utter what it is, there being Nothing to which it may be compared, to express it by.

But in that I lastly said; Whosoever finds it finds All Things; there is nothing can be more true than this assertion. It hath been the Beginning of All Things; and it ruleth All Things. It is also the End of All Things; and will thence comprehend All Things within its circle. All Things are from it, and in it, and by it. If thou findest it thou comest into that ground from whence All Things are proceeded, and wherein they subsist; and thou art in it a King over all the works of God.

Here the Disciple was exceedingly ravished with what his Master had so wonderfully and surprisingly declared, and returned his most hearty and humble thanks for that light which he had been an instrument of conveying to him. But being desirous to hear further concerning these high matters, and to know somewhat more particularly, he requested him that he would give him leave to wait on him the next day again; and that he would then be pleased to show him how and where he might find this which was so much beyond all price and value, and whereabout the seat and abode of it might be in human nature, with the entire process of the discovery and bringing it forth to light.

The Master said to him: This then we will discourse about at our next conference, as God shall reveal the same to us by his Spirit, which is a searcher of All Things. And if thou dost remember well what I answered thee in the beginning, thou shalt soon come thereby to understand that hidden mystical wisdom of God; which none of the wise men of the world know; and where the Mine thereof is to be found in thee shall be given thee from above to discern. Be silent therefore in thy spirit, and watch unto prayer; that, when we meet again to-morrow in the love of Christ, thy mind may be disposed for finding that noble Pearl, which to the World appears Nothing, but to the Children of Wisdom is All Things.

DIALOGUE II

The Disciple being very earnest to be more fully instructed how he might arrive at the supersensual life, and how, having found all things, he might come to be a king over all God's works, came again to his Master next morning, having watched the night in prayer, that he might be disposed to receive and apprehend the instructions that should be given him by a divine irradiation upon his mind. And the Disciple, after a little space of silence, bowed himself, and thus brake forth.

Disciple

O my Master, my Master! I have now endeavoured to recollect my soul in the presence of God, and to cast myself into the 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. 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 whereby alone divine objects are discoverable, as till this be gone 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 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 in me, and 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 or 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 thy old 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 the work, but to be obedient and passive to the Light of God shining through the darkness of thy creaturely being, which comprehendeth it not, as reaching no higher than the Light of Nature.

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 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 distinctly 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 this superior Light appointed to govern the day, rising in the true East, which is the Centre of Paradise, and the great Light breaking forth as out of the darkness within thee, through a pillar of fire and thunder-clouds, and thereby reflecting also 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 everything 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 than 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 Centre this Fountain of Light, which may enlighten me throughout and bring 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 the Supernatural and Supersensual ground 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 marvellous Light. For this end gather in all thy thoughts, and by faith press into the Centre, 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 Sun 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 a gainer. The Eternal Bond 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 it 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 inferior Will, which is for driving thee to Things without and below; and a superior Will, which is for drawing thee 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 superior Will above, as the Lord, and the inferior 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 disunion 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. 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 always two Eyes within, one against the other, 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 superior Will is moved; and that it is according to the motion of 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 in 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 perceive and lament this malady, which so miserably disturbeth my sight; whence 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, nor can, the Flesh see 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 thou now sufferest thyself to be always looking into Nature, and the Things of Time, it will be impossible for thee ever to arrive at the Unity, which thou wishest for. Remember this, and 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 to 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 this left, and attract it to thee. 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 these 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 mayst 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 Centre 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 the 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 somehow 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 by union with that heavenly internal Eye those wonders 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 labour in it, and to finish the work given thee, according to thy best ability, without repining in the least; seeking out and manifesting 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, if thou knowest rightly how to use them, only to recollect thee more inwards, 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 Centre, and stir not 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 labour 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 labour, 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 thou attract not in thy desire Matter unto thee, but as much as possible abstract thyself from all Matter whatever; and so, standing in the Centre, present thyself as a 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 lustings 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. 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 a 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.