,,the ,,quest ,,series                  
,edited by ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,,mead1          
,,editor ,,of ',,the ,,quest4'          
,crown #hvo4 #bs4 #f;d4 net each4       
,,first ,,list ,,of ,,volumes4          
,,psychical ,,research ,,and ,,survival4
 ,by ,james ,h4 ,hyslop1 ,ph4,d41       
,,ll4,d41         ,secretary of         
,psychical ,research ,society of        
,america4  ,,the ,,quest ,,of ,,the     
,,holy ,,grail4 ,by ,jessie ,l4 ,weston1
 ,author of ',the ,legend         of    
,sir ,perceval4'  ,,jewish ,,mysticism4 
,by ,j4 ,abelson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,lit1      
,principal of ,aria ,college1           
,portsmouth4  ,,the ,,mystics ,,of      
,,islam4 ,by ,reynold ,a4 ,nicholson1   
,m4,a41 ,litt4,d1 ,,ll4,d41             
,lecturer on ,persian1 ,cambridge       
,university4  ,,buddhist ,,psychology4  
,by ,c4 ,a4 ,f4 ,rhys ,davids1 ,m4,a41  
,lecturer on ,indian                    
,philosophy1 ,manchester ,university4   
,,ruysbroeck4 ,by ,evelyn ,underhill1   
,author of ',mysticism1' ',the ,mystic  

,way1'         etc4  ,,the ,,sidereal   
,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,ancients4 ,by   
,robert ,eisler1 ,ph4,d41 ,author of    
,weltenmantel und ,himmelszelt4'    ,in 
the ,press4                             
,london3 ,g4 ,,bell ,,and ,,sons ,,ltd4 
,,ruysbroeck                            
,,by                                    
,,evelyn ,,underhill                    
,,author ,,of                           
',,mysticism1' ',,the ,,mystic ,,way1'  
,,etc41 ,,etc4                          
,,london                          ,g4   
,,bell ,,and ,,sons ,,ltd4              
#aiae                                   
,,for                                   
,,jessie                         ,,to   
,,whom ,,it ,,owes ,,so ,,much          
,,this ,,little ,,tribute ,,to ,a       
,,mutual ,,friend                       
,,editor',s ,,note   ,a glance at the   
excellent ,bibliographical ,note at the 
end of the volume will reveal the       
surprising paucity of literature on     
,ruysbroeck in this country4 ,a single  

version from the original of one short  
treatise1 published in the present year1
 is all that we possess of direct       
translation2 even in versions from      
translation there is only one treatise  
represented2 add to this one or two     
selections of the same nature1 and the  
full tale is told4 ,we are equally      
poorly off for studies of the life and  
doctrine of the great ,flemish          
contemplative of the fourteenth century4
 ,and yet ,jan van ,ruusbroec is        
thought1 by no few competent judges1 to 
be the greatest of all the medival      
,catholic mystics2 and1 indeed1 it is   
difficult to point to his superior4     
,miss ,evelyn ,underhill is1 therefore1 
doing lovers not only of ,catholic      
mysticism1 but also of mysticism in     
general1 a very real service by her     
monograph1 which deals more             
satisfactorily than any existing work in
 ,english with the life and teachings of
 one of the most spiritual minds in     
,christendom4 ,her book is not simply a 

painstaking summary of the more patent  
generalities of the subject1 but rather 
a deeply sympathetic entering into the  
mind of ,ruysbroeck1 and that1 too1 with
 no common insight4                     
,,prefatory ,,note   ,i owe to the great
 kindness of my friend1 ,mrs4 ,theodore 
,beck1 the translation of several       
passages from ,ruysbroeck's ,sparkling  
,stone given in the present work2 and in
 quoting from ,the ,twelve ,bguines have
 often1 though not always1 availed      
myself of the recently published version
 by ,mr4 ,john ,francis4 ,for all other 
renderings ,i alone am responsible4     
,e4 ,u4                                 
,,contents     ,,chap4                  
,,page      ,i4 ,ruysbroeck the ,man    
#a     ,,ii4 ,his ,works                
#cf    ,,iii4 ,his ,doctrine of ,god    
#eb     ,,iv4 ,his ,doctrine of ,man    
#ff      ,v4 ,the ,active ,life         
#id     ,,vi4 ,the ,interior ,life3     
,illumination and ,destitution          
#aae    ,,vii4 ,the ,interior ,life3    

,union and ,contemplation               
#acf   ,,viii4 ,the ,superessential     
,life                                   
#afd          ,bibliographical ,note    
#ahg           ,luce divina sopra me s' 
appunta1       penetrando per questa    
ond' io m' inventro2   ,la cui virt1 col
 mio veder conguinta1       mi leva     
sopra me tanto1 ch' io veggio       la  
somma essenza della quale  munta4       
,quinci vien l' allegrezza1 ond' io     
fiammeggio2       perch alla vista mia1 
quant' ella  chiara1       la chiarit   
della fiamma pareggio4                  
,par4 xxi4 #hc4    ,divine ,light doth  
focus itself upon me1 piercing through  
that wherein   ,i am enclosed2 the power
 of which1 united with my sight1 so     
greatly   lifts me up above myself that 
,i see the ,supreme ,essence where from 
it   is drawn4 ,thence comes the joy    
wherewith ,i flame2 for to my vision1   
even as it is clear1 ,i make the        
clearness of the flame respond4         
,,ruysbroeck                            

,,chapter ,i                            
,,ruysbroeck ,,the ,,man     ,the tree  
,igdrasil1 which has its head in heaven 
and its roots in hell   7the lower parts
 of the earth71 is the image of the true
 man4444 ,in   proportion to the divine 
heights to which it ascends must be the 
obscure depths in which the tree is     
rooted1 and from which it draws the     
mystic sap of its spiritual life4       
,coventry ,patmore4  ,in the history of 
the spiritual adventures of man1 we find
 at intervals certain great mystics1 who
 appear to gather up and fuse together  
in the crucible of the heart the diverse
 tendencies of those who have preceded  
them1 and1 adding to these elements the 
tincture of their own rich experience1  
give to us an intensely personal1 yet   
universal1 vision of ,god and man4      
,these are constructive spirits1 whose  
creations in the spiritual sphere sum up
 and represent the best achievement of a
 whole epoch2 as in other spheres the   
great artist1 musician1 or poet--always 

the child of tradition as well as of    
inspiration--may do4  ,john ,ruysbroeck 
is such a mystic as this4 ,his career1  
which covers the greater part of the    
fourteenth century--that golden age of  
,christian mysticism--seems to exhibit  
within the circle of a single           
personality1 and carry up to a higher   
term than ever before1 all the best     
attainments of the ,middle ,ages in the 
realm of ,eternal ,life4 ,rooted firmly 
in history1 faithful to the teachings of
 the great ,catholic mystics of the     
primitive and medival times1 ,ruysbroeck
 does not merely transmit1 but          
transfigures1 their principles3 making  
from the salt1 sulphur1 and mercury of  
their vision1 reason1 and love1 a new   
and living jewel--or1 in his own words1 
a 'sparkling stone'--which reflects the 
actual radiance of the ,uncreated       
,light4 ,absorbing from the rich soil of
 the ,middle ,ages all the intellectual 
nourishment which he needs1 dependent   
too1 as all real greatness is1 on the   

human environment in which he           
grows--that mysterious interaction and  
inter-penetration of personalities      
without which human consciousness can   
never develop its full powers--he towers
 up from the social and intellectual    
circumstances that conditioned him3 a   
living1 growing1 unique and creative    
individual1 yet truly a part of the     
earth from which he springs4  ,to speak 
of ,ruysbroeck1 as some enthusiastic    
biographers have done1 as an isolated   
spiritual phenomenon totally unrelated  
to the life of his time1 an 'ignorant   
monk' whose profound knowledge of       
reality is entirely the result of       
personal inspiration and independent of 
human history1 is to misunderstand his  
greatness4 ,the 'ignorant monk' was     
bound by close links to the religious   
life of his day4 ,he was no spiritual   
individualist2 but the humble1 obedient 
child of an institution1 the loyal      
member of a ,society4 ,he tells us again
 and again that his spiritual powers    

were nourished by the sacramental life  
of the ,catholic ,church4 ,from the     
theologians of that ,church came the    
intellectual framework in which his     
sublime intuitions were expressed4 ,all 
that he does--though he does this to a  
degree perhaps unique in ,christian     
history--is to carry out into action1   
completely actualise in his own         
experience1 the high vision of the      
soul's relation to ,divine ,reality by  
which that ,church is possessed4 ,the   
central ,christian doctrine of ,divine  
,fatherhood1 and of the soul's 'power to
 become the son of ,god'3 it is this1   
raised to the nth degree of intensity1  
experienced in all its depth and        
fullness1 and demonstrated with the     
exactitude of a mathematician and the   
passion of a poet1 which ,ruysbroeck    
gives us4 ,thus tradition and authority1
 no less than the abundant inspiration1 
the direct ecstatic knowledge of ,god to
 which his writings bear witness1 have  
their part in his achievement4 ,his     

theological culture was wide and deep4  
,not only the ,scriptures and the       
,liturgy1 but ,st4 ,augustine1          
,dionysius the ,areopagite1 ,richard of 
,st4 ,victor1 ,st4 ,bernard1 ,st4       
,bonaventura1 ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 and
 many others have stimulated and        
controlled his thought2 interpreting to 
him his ineffable adventures1 and       
providing him with vessels in which the 
fruit of those adventures could be      
communicated to other men4  ,nor is     
,catholic tradition the only medium     
through which human life has exercised a
 formative influence upon ,ruysbroeck's 
genius4 ,his worldly circumstances1 his 
place within and reaction to the        
temporal order1 the temper of those     
souls amongst which he grew--these too  
are of vital importance in relation to  
his mystical achievements4 ,to study the
 interior adventures and formal         
teachings of a mystic without reference 
to the general trend and special        
accidents of his outer life1 is to      

neglect our best chance of understanding
 the nature and sources of his vision of
 truth4 ,the angle from which that      
vision is perceived1 the content of the 
mind which comes to it1 above all the   
concrete activities which it induces in 
the growing1 moving1 supple self3 these 
are primary data which we should never  
ignore4 ,action is of the very essence  
of human reality4 ,where the inner life 
is genuine and strong the outer life    
will reflect1 however faintly1 the curve
 on which it moves2 for human           
consciousness is a unit1 capable of     
reacting to and synthesising two orders1
 not an unresolved dualism--as it were1 
an angel and an animal--condemned to    
lifelong battle within a narrow cage4   
,therefore we begin our study of        
,ruysbroeck the mystic by the study of  
,ruysbroeck the man3 the circumstances  
of his life and environment1 so far as  
we can find them out4 ,for the facts of 
this life our chief authority will be   
the ,augustinian ,canon ,pomerius1 who  

was ,prior and chronicler of            
,ruysbroeck's own community of          
,groenendael4 ,born in #achb1 a year    
after ,ruysbroeck's death1 and entering 
,groenendael early in the fifteenth     
century1 he knew and talked with at     
least two of the great mystic's         
disciples1 ,john of ,hoelaere and ,john 
of ,scoonhoven4 ,his life of ,ruysbroeck
 and history of the foundation of the   
monastery was finished before #adbj2    
that is to say1 within the lifetime of  
the generation which succeeded the first
 founders of the house4#a ,it represents
 the careful gathering up1 sifting1 and 
arranging of all that was remembered and
 believed by the community--still       
retaining several members who had known 
him in the flesh--of the facts of       
,ruysbroeck's character and career4     
,pomerius was no wild romancer1 but a   
reasonably careful as well as a         
genuinely enthusiastic monastic         
chronicler4 ,moderation is hardly the   
outstanding virtue of such home-made    

lives of monastic founders4 ,they are   
inevitably composed in surroundings     
where any criticism of their subject or 
scepticism as to his supernatural       
peculiarities is looked upon as a crime2
 where every incident has been fitted   
with a halo1 and the unexplained is     
indistinguishable from the miraculous4  
,nevertheless the picture drawn by      
,pomerius--exaggerated though it be in  
certain respects--is a human picture2   
possessed of distinct characteristics1  
some natural and charming1 some deeply  
impressive4 ,it is completed by a second
 documentary source3 the little sketch  
by ,ruysbroeck's intimate friend1       
,gerard ,naghel1 ,prior of the          
,carthusian monastery of ,hrines near   
,groenendael1 which forms the prologue  
to our most complete ,,ms4 collection of
 his writings4  ,ruysbroeck's life1 as  
it is shown to us by ,pomerius and      
,gerard1 falls into three main          
divisions1 three stages of ascent3 the  
natural active life of boyhood2 the     

contemplative1 disciplined career of his
 middle period2 the superessential life 
of supreme union which governed his     
existence at ,groenendael4 ,this course1
 which he trod in the temporal order1   
seems like the rough sketch of that     
other course trodden by the advancing   
soul within the eternal order--the      
,threefold ,life of man which he        
describes to us in ,the ,adornment of   
the ,spiritual ,marriage and other of   
his works4  ,now the details of that    
career are these3 ,john ,ruysbroeck was 
born in #abic at the little village of  
,ruysbroeck or ,ruusbroec1 between      
,brussels and ,hal1 from which he takes 
his name4 ,we know nothing of his       
father2 but his mother is described as a
 good and pious woman1 devoted to the   
upbringing of her son--a hard task1 and 
one that was soon proved to be beyond   
her4 ,the child ,ruysbroeck was         
strong-willed1 adventurous1             
insubordinate2 already showing signs of 
that abounding vitality1 that strange   

restlessness and need of expansion which
 children of genius so often exhibit4   
,at eleven years of age he ran away from
 home1 and found his way to ,brussels2  
where his uncle1 ,john ,hinckaert1 was a
 ,canon of the ,cathedral of ,st4       
,gudule4 ,pomerius assures us that this 
escapade1 which would have seemed a mere
 naughtiness in normal little boys1 was 
in fact a proof of coming sanctity2 that
 it was not the attraction of the city  
but a precocious instinct for the       
religious life--the first crude         
stirrings of the love of ,god--which set
 this child upon the road4 ,such a claim
 is natural to the hagiographer2 yet    
there lies behind it a certain truth4   
,the little ,john may or may not have   
dreamed of being a priest2 he did       
already dream of a greater1 more        
enticing life beyond the barriers of use
 and wont4 ,though he knew it not1 the  
vision of a spiritual city called him4  
,already the primal need of his nature  
was asserting itself--the demand1 felt  

long before it was understood1 for      
something beyond the comfortable world  
of appearance--and this demand          
crystallised into a concrete act4 ,in   
the sturdy courage which faced the      
unknown1 the practical temper which     
translated dream into action1 we see    
already the germ of those qualities     
which afterwards gave to the great      
contemplative power to climb up to the  
'supreme summits of the inner life' and 
face the awful realities of ,god4  ,such
 adventures are not rare in the         
childhood of the mystics4 ,always of a  
romantic temperament1 endowed too with  
an abounding vitality1 the craving for  
some dimly-guessed and wonderful        
experience often shows itself early in  
them2 as the passion for music1 colour  
or poetry is sometimes seen in embryo in
 artists of another type4 ,the impact of
 ,reality seems to be felt by such      
spirits in earliest childhood4 ,born    
susceptible in a special degree to the  
messages which pour in on man from the  

,transcendent1 they move from the first 
in a different universe from that of    
other boys and girls2 subject to        
experiences which they do not           
understand1 full of dreams which they   
are unable to explain1 and often        
impelled to strange actions1 extremely  
disconcerting to the ordinary guardians 
of youth4 ,thus the little ,catherine of
 ,siena1 six years old1 already lived in
 a world which was peopled with saints  
and angels2 and ruled her small life by 
the visions which she had seen4 ,thus   
the baby ,teresa1 mysteriously attracted
 by sacrifice1 as other children are    
attracted by games and toys1 set out to 
look for 'the ,moors and martyrdom4' ,so
 too the instinct for travel1 for the   
remote and unknown1 often shows itself  
early in these wayfarers of the spirit2 
whose destiny it is to achieve a more   
extended life in the interests of the   
race1 to find and feel that ,infinite   
,reality which alone can satisfy the    
heart of man4 ,thus in their early years

 ,francis1 ,ignatius and many others    
were restless1 turbulent1 eager for     
adventure and change4  ,this first      
adventure brought the boy ,ruysbroeck to
 a home so perfectly fitted to his      
needs1 that it might seem as though some
 secret instinct1 some overshadowing    
love1 had indeed guided his steps4 ,his 
uncle1 ,john ,hinckaert1 at this time   
about forty years of age1 had lately    
been converted--it is said by a powerful
 sermon--from the comfortable and       
easy-going life of a prosperous         
ecclesiastic to the austere quest of    
spiritual perfection4 ,he had           
distributed his wealth1 given up all    
self-indulgence1 and now1 with another  
and younger ,canon of the ,cathedral    
named ,francis van ,coudenberg1 lived in
 simplest1 poorest style a dedicated    
life of self-denial1 charity and prayer4
 ,he received his runaway nephew        
willingly4 ,perhaps he saw in this      
strange and eager child1 suddenly flung 
upon his charity1 an opportunity for    

repairing some at least amongst the     
omissions of his past--that terrible    
wreck of wasted years which torments the
 memory of those who are converted in   
middle life4 ,his love and remorse might
 spend themselves on this boy4 ,he might
 make of him perhaps all that he now    
longed to be1 but could never wholly    
achieve3 a perfect servant of the       
,eternal ,goodness1 young1 vigorous1    
ardent1 completely responsive to the    
touch of ,god4  ,ruysbroeck1 then1 found
 a home soaked in love1 governed by     
faith1 renunciation1 humility2 a        
forcing-house of the spiritual life4 ,in
 the persons of these two grown men1 who
 had given up all outward things for the
 sake of spiritual realities1 he was    
brought face to face--and this in his   
most impressionable years--with the hard
 facts1 the concrete sacrifices1 the    
heroic life of deliberate mortification1
 which underlay the lovely haunting     
vision1 the revelation of the ,divine   
beauty and love that had possessed him4 

,no lesson is of higher value to the    
natural mystic than this4 ,the lovers of
 ,ruysbroeck should not forget how much 
they owe to the men who received1 loved1
 influenced1 educated the brilliant     
wayward and impressionable child4 ,his  
attainment is theirs4 ,his mysticism is 
rooted in their asceticism2 a flower    
directly dependent for its perfection on
 that favouring soil4 ,though his       
achievement1 like that of all men of    
genius1 is individual1 and transcends   
the circumstances and personalities     
which surround it2 still1 from those    
circumstances and personalities it takes
 its colour4 ,it represents far more    
than a personal and solitary experience4
 ,behind it lies the little house in    
,brussels1 the supernatural atmosphere  
which filled it1 and the fostering care 
of the two men whose life of external   
and deliberate poverty only made more   
plain the richness of the spirits who   
could choose1 and remain constant to1   
this career of detachment and love4     

,the personal influence of ,hinckaert   
and ,coudenberg1 the moral disciplines  
and perpetual self-denials of the life  
which he shared with them1 formed the   
heart of ,ruysbroeck's education2       
helping to build up that manly and      
sturdy character which gave its special 
temper to his mystical outlook4 ,like so
 many children destined to greatness1 he
 was hard to educate in the ordinary    
sense2 uninterested in general          
knowledge1 impatient of scholastic      
drudgery4 ,nothing which did not        
minister to his innate passion for      
ultimates had any attraction for him4   
,he was taught grammar with difficulty2 
but on the other hand his astonishing   
aptitude for religious ideas1 even of   
the most subtle kind1 his passionate    
clear vision of spiritual things1 was   
already so highly developed as to       
attract general attention2 and his      
writings are sufficient witness to the  
width and depth of his theological      
reading4 ,with such tastes and powers as

 these1 and brought up in such a        
household1 governed by religious        
enthusiasms and under the very shadow of
 the ,cathedral walls1 it was natural   
that he should wish to become a priest2 
and in #acag he was ordained and given1 
through the influence of his uncle1 a   
prebend in ,st4 ,gudule4  ,now a great  
mystic is the product not merely of an  
untamed genius for the ,transcendent1   
but of a moral discipline1 an interior  
education1 of the most strenuous kind4  
,all the varied powers and tendencies of
 a nature which is necessarily strong   
and passionate1 must be harnessed1 made 
subservient to this one central         
interest4 ,the instinctive egotism of   
the natural man--never more insidious   
than when set upon spiritual            
things--must be eradicated4 ,so1 behind 
these few outward events of             
,ruysbroeck's adolescence1 we must      
discern another growth2 a perpetual     
interior travail1 a perpetual slow      
character-building always going forward 

in him1 as his whole personality is     
moulded into that conformity to the     
vision seen which prepares the way of   
union1 and marks off the mystical saint 
from the mere adept of transcendental   
things4 ,we know from his writings how  
large a part such moral purifications1  
such interior adjustments1 played in his
 concept of the spiritual life2 and the 
intimacy with which he describes each   
phase in the battle of love1 each step  
of the spiritual ladder1 the long       
process of preparation in which the soul
 adorns herself for the 'spiritual      
marriage1' guarantees to us that he has 
himself trodden the path which he maps  
out4 ,that path goes the whole way from 
the first impulse of 'goodwill1' of glad
 acquiescence in the universal purpose1 
through the taming of the proud will to 
humility and suppleness1 and of the     
insurgent heart to gentleness1 kindness1
 and peace1 to that last state of       
perfect charity in which the whole      
spirit of man is one will and one love  

with ,god4  ,though his biographers have
 left us little material for a          
reconstruction of his inner development1
 we may surely infer something of the   
course which it followed from the       
vividly realistic descriptions in ,the  
,kingdom of ,lovers and ,the ,spiritual 
,marriage4 ,personal experience         
underlies the wonderful account of the  
ascent of the ,spiritual ,sun in the    
heavens of consciousness2 the rapture1  
wildness and joy1 the 'fever of love'   
which fulfils the man who feels its     
light and heat4 ,experience1 too1       
dictates these profound passages which  
deal with the terrible spiritual        
reaction when the ,sun declines in the  
heavens1 and man feels cold1 dead1 and  
abandoned of ,god4 ,through these       
phases1 at least1 ,ruysbroeck had surely
 passed before his great books came to  
be written4  ,one or two small          
indications there are which show us his 
progress on the mystic way1 the         
development in him of those secondary   

psychic characters peculiar to the      
mystical type4 ,it seems that by the    
time of his ordination that tendency to 
vision which often appears in the       
earliest youth of natural mystics1 was  
already established in him4 ,deeply     
impressed by the sacramental side of    
,catholicism1 and finding in it         
throughout his life a true means of     
contact with the ,unseen1 the priesthood
 was conceived by him as bringing with  
it a veritable access of grace2 fresh   
power poured in on him from the         
,transcendent1 an increase of strength  
wherewith to help the souls of other    
men4 ,this belief took1 in his          
meditations1 a concrete and positive    
form4 ,again and again he saw in        
dramatic vision the soul specially dear 
to him1 specially dependent on him--that
 of his mother1 who had lately died in  
the ,brussels ,bguinage--demanding how  
long she must wait till her son's       
ordination made his prayers effectual   
for her release from ,purgatory4 ,at the

 moment in which he finished saying his 
first ,mass1 this vision returned to    
him2 and he saw his mother's spirit1    
delivered from ,purgatory by the power  
of the sacrifice which he had offered1  
entering into ,heaven--an experience    
originating in1 and giving sharp        
dramatic expression to1 that sense of   
new and sacred powers now conferred on  
him1 which may well at such a moment    
have flooded the consciousness of the   
young priest4 ,this story was repeated  
to ,pomerius by those who had heard it  
from ,ruysbroeck himself2 for he often  
told it to the brothers4  ,for          
twenty-six years--that is to say1 until 
he was fifty years of age--,ruysbroeck  
lived in ,brussels the industrious and  
inconspicuous life of a secular priest4 
,it was not the solitude of the forest1 
but the normal1 active existence of a   
cathedral chaplain in a busy capital    
city which controlled his development   
during that long period1 stretching from
 the very beginnings of manhood to the  

end of middle age2 and it was in fact   
during these years1 and in the midst of 
incessant distractions1 that he passed  
through the great oscillations of       
consciousness which mark the mystic way4
 ,it is probable that when at last he   
left ,brussels for the forest1 these    
oscillations were over1 equilibrium was 
achieved2 he had climbed 'to the summits
 of the mount of contemplation4' ,it was
 on those summits that he loved to      
dwell1 absorbed in loving communion with
 ,divine ,reality2 but his career       
fulfilled that ideal of a synthesis of  
work and contemplation1 an acceptance   
and remaking of the whole of life1 which
 he perpetually puts before us as the   
essential characteristic of a true      
spirituality4 ,no mystic has ever been  
more free from the vice of              
other-worldliness1 or has practised more
 thoroughly and more unselfishly the    
primary duty of active charity towards  
men which is laid upon the              
,god-possessed4  ,the simple and devoted

 life of the little family of three went
 on year by year undisturbed2 though one
 at least was passing through those     
profound interior changes and adventures
 which he has described to us as        
governing the evolution of the soul1    
from the state of the 'faithful servant'
 to the transfigured existence of the   
',god-seeing man4' ,ruysbroeck grew up  
to be a simple1 dreamy1 very silent and 
totally unimpressive person1 who1 'going
 about the streets of ,brussels with his
 mind lifted up into ,god1' seemed a    
nobody to those who did not know him4   
,yet not only a spiritual life of       
unequalled richness1 intimacy and       
splendour1 but a penetrating intellect1 
a fearless heart1 deep knowledge of     
human nature1 remarkable powers of      
expression1 lay behind that meek and    
unattractive exterior4 ,as ,paul's      
twelve years of quiet and subordinate   
work in ,antioch prepared the way of his
 missionary career2 so during this long 
period of service1 the silent growth of 

character1 the steady development of his
 mystical powers1 had gone forward in   
,ruysbroeck4 ,when circumstances called 
them into play he was found to be       
possessed of an unsuspected passion1    
strength and courage1 a power of dealing
 with outward circumstances1 which was  
directly dependent on his inner life of 
contemplation and prayer4  ,the event   
into which the tendencies of this stage 
of his development crystallised1 is one 
which seems perhaps inconsistent with   
the common idea of the mystical         
temperament1 with its supposed          
concentration on the ,eternal1 its      
indifference to temporal affairs4 ,as   
his childhood was marked by an          
exhibition of adventurous love1 so his  
manhood was marked by an exhibition of  
militant love2 of that strength and     
sternness1 that passion for the true1   
which--no less than humility1           
gentleness1 peace--is an integral part  
of that paradoxical thing1 the          
,christian character4  ,the fourteenth  

century1 like all great spiritual       
periods1 was a century fruitful in      
mystical heresies as well as in mystical
 saints4 ,in particular1 the extravagant
 pantheism preached by the ,brethren of 
the ,free ,spirit had become widely     
diffused in ,flanders1 and was          
responsible for much bad morality as    
well as bad theology2 those on whom the 
',spirit' had descended believing       
themselves to be already divine1 and    
emancipated from obedience to all human 
codes of conduct4 ,soon after           
,ruysbroeck came as a boy to ,brussels1 
a woman named ,bloemardinne placed      
herself at the head of this sect1 and   
gradually gained extraordinary          
influence4 ,she claimed supernatural and
 prophetic powers1 was said to be       
accompanied by two ,seraphim whenever   
she went to the altar to receive ,holy  
,communion1 and preached a degraded     
eroticism under the title of ',seraphic 
love1' together with a quietism of the  
most exaggerated and soul-destroying    

type4 ,all the dangers and follies of a 
false mysticism1 dissociated from the   
controlling influence of tradition and  
the essential virtue of humility1 were  
exhibited in her4 ,against this powerful
 woman1 then at the height of her fame1 
,ruysbroeck declared war2 and prosecuted
 his campaign with a violence and       
courage which must have been startling  
to those who had regarded him only as a 
shy1 pious1 rather negligible young man4
 ,the pamphlets which he wrote against  
her are lost2 but the passionate        
denunciations of pantheism and quietism 
scattered through his later works no    
doubt have their origin in this         
controversy1 and represent the angle    
from which his attacks were made4       
,pantheists1 he says in ,the ,book of   
,truth1 are a fruit of hell1 the more   
dangerous because they counterfeit the  
true fruit of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,far 
from possessing that deep humility which
 is the soul's inevitable reaction to   
the revelation of the ,infinite1 they   

are full of pride and self-satisfaction4
 ,they claim that their imaginary       
identity with the ,essence of ,god      
emancipates them from all need of       
effort1 all practice of virtue1 and     
leaves them free to indulge those       
inclinations of the flesh which the     
',spirit' suggests4 ,they believe       
themselves sunk in inward peace2 but as 
a matter of fact they are deep-drowned  
in error4#b  ,against all this the      
stern1 virile1 ardent spirituality of   
,ruysbroeck opposed itself with its     
whole power4 ,especially did he hate and
 condemn the laziness and egotism of the
 quietistic doctrine of contemplation3  
the ideal of spiritual immobility which 
it set up4 ,that 'love cannot be lazy'  
is a cardinal truth for all real        
mystics4 ,again and again it appears in 
their works4 ,even that profound repose 
in which they have fruition of ,god1 is 
but the accompaniment or preliminary of 
work of the most strenuous kind1 and    
keeps at full stretch the soul which    

truly tastes it2 and this supernatural  
state is as far above that self-induced 
quietude of 'natural repose'--consisting
 in nothing but an idleness and interior
 vacancy1 to which they are inclined by 
nature and habit--in which the quietists
 love to immerse themselves1 as ,god is 
above ,his creatures4  ,here is the     
distinction1 always needed and          
constantly ignored1 between that        
veritable fruition of ,eternal ,life    
which results from the interaction of   
will and grace1 and demands of the soul 
the highest intensity and most active   
love1 and that colourable imitation of  
it which is produced by a psychic trick1
 and is independent alike of the human  
effort and the divine gift4 ,ruysbroeck 
in fighting the ',free ,spirit' was     
fighting the battle of true mysticism   
against its most dangerous and          
persistent enemy1--mysticality4  ,his   
attack upon ,bloemardinne is the one    
outstanding incident in the long        
,brussels period which has been         

preserved to us4 ,the next great outward
 movement in his steadily evolving life 
did not happen until the year #acdc1    
when he was fifty years of age4 ,it was 
then that the three companions decided  
to leave ,brussels1 and live together in
 some remote country place4 ,they had   
long felt a growing distaste for the    
noisy and distracting life of the city2 
a growing dissatisfaction with the      
spiritual apathy and low level of       
religious observance at the ,cathedral  
of ,st4 ,gudule2 the need of            
surroundings in which they might devote 
themselves with total concentration to  
the contemplative life4 ,hinckaert and  
,coudenberg were now old men2           
,ruysbroeck was advanced in middle age4 
,the rhythm of existence1 which had     
driven him as a child from country to   
town1 and harnessed him during long     
years to the service of his fellow-men1 
now drew him back again to the quiet    
spaces where he might be alone with     
,god4 ,he was approaching those heights 

of experience from which his greatest   
mystical works proceed2 and it was in   
obedience to a true instinct that he    
went away to the silent places of the   
forest--as ,anthony to the solitude of  
the desert1 ,francis to the 'holy       
mountain' of ,la ,verna--that1          
undistracted by the many whom he had    
served so faithfully1 he might open his 
whole consciousness to the inflow of the
 ,one1 and receive in its perfection the
 message which it was his duty to       
transmit to the world1 ,he went1 says   
,pomerius1 not that he might hide his   
light2 but that he might tend it better 
and make it shine more brightly4  ,by   
the influence of ,coudenberg1 ,john     
,,iii41 ,duke of ,brabant1 gave to the  
three friends the old hermitage of      
,groenendael1 or the ,green ,valley1 in 
the forest of ,soignes1 near ,brussels4 
,they entered into possession on the    
,wednesday of ,easter week1 #acdc2 and  
for five years lived there1 as they had 
lived in the little house in ,brussels1 

with no other rule save their own       
passion for perfection4 ,but perpetual  
invasions from the outer world1 not only
 of penitents and would-be              
disciples--for their reputation for     
sanctity grew quickly--but of huntsmen  
in the forest and pleasure parties from 
the town1 who demanded and expected     
hospitality1 soon forced them to adopt  
some definite attitude towards the      
question of enclosure4 ,it is said that 
,ruysbroeck begged for an entire        
seclusion2 but ,coudenberg insisted that
 this was contrary to the law of        
charity1 and that some at least of those
 who sought them must be received4 ,in  
addition to these practical             
difficulties1 the ,prior of the ,abbey  
of ,st4 ,victor at ,paris had addressed 
to them strong remonstrances1 on account
 of the absence of rule in their life   
and the fact that they had not even     
adopted a religious habit2 a proceeding 
which in his opinion savoured rather of 
the ill-regulated doings of the         

heretical sects1 than of the decorum    
proper to good ,catholics4 ,as a result 
of these various considerations1 the    
simple and informal existence of the    
little family was re-modelled in        
conformity with the rule of the         
,augustinian ,canons1 and the ,priory of
 ,groenendael was formally created4     
,coudenberg became its provost1 and     
,ruysbroeck1 who had refused the higher 
office1 was made prior2 but ,hinckaert1 
now a very old man in feeble health1    
refused to burden the young community   
with a member who might be a drag upon  
it and could not keep the full rigour of
 the rule4 ,in a spirit of renunciation 
which surely touches the heroic1 he     
severed himself from his lifelong friend
 and his adopted son1 and went away to a
 little cell in the forest1 where he    
lived alone until his death4  ,the story
 of the foundation and growth of the    
,priory of ,groenendael1 the saintly    
personalities which it nourished1 is not
 for this place2 except in so far as it 

affects our main interest1 the story of 
,ruysbroeck's soul4 ,under the          
influences of the forest1 of the silent 
and regular life1 those supreme         
contemplative powers which belong to the
 ',superessential ,life' of ,unity now  
developed in him with great rapidity4   
,it is possible1 as we shall see1 that  
some at least of his mystical writings  
may date from his ,brussels period2 and 
we know that at the close of this period
 his reputation as an 'illuminated man' 
was already made4 ,nevertheless it seems
 safe to say that the bulk of his works1
 as we now possess them1 represent him  
as he was during the last thirty years  
of his life1 rather than during his     
earlier and more active career2 and that
 the intense certitude1 the wide deep   
vision of the ,infinite which           
distinguishes them1 are the fruits of   
those long hours of profound absorption 
in ,god for which his new life found    
place4 ,in the silence of the woods he  
was able to discern each subtle accent  

of that ,voice which is heard without   
utterance1 and without the sound of     
words speaks all truth4  ,like so many  
of the greatest mystics1 ,ruysbroeck1   
drawing nearer to ,divine ,reality1 drew
 nearer to nature too2 conforming to his
 own ideal of the contemplative1 who1   
having been raised to the simple vision 
of ,god ,transcendent1 returns to find  
,his image reflected by all life4 ,many 
passages in his writings show the       
closeness and sympathy of his           
observation of natural things3 the vivid
 description in ,the ,spiritual         
,marriage of the spring1 summer and     
autumn of the fruitful soul1 the        
constant insistence on the phenomena of 
growth1 the lessons drawn from the      
habits of ants and bees1 the comparison 
of the surrendered soul to the          
sunflower1 'one of nature's most        
wonderful works'2 the three types of    
,christians1 compared with birds who can
 fly but prefer hopping about the earth1
 birds who swim far on the waters of    

grace1 and birds who love only to soar  
high in the heavens4 ,for the free1     
exultant life of birds he felt indeed a 
special sympathy and love2 and          
'many-feathered' is the best name that  
he can find for the soul of the         
contemplative ascending to the glad     
vision of ,god4  ,it is probably a true 
tradition which represents him as having
 written his greatest and most inspired 
pages sitting under a favourite tree in 
the depths of the woods4 ,when the      
',spirit' came on him1 as it often did  
with a startling suddenness1 he would go
 away into the forest carrying his      
tablet and stylus4 ,there1 given over to
 an ecstasy of composition--which seems 
often to have approached the limits of  
automatic writing1 as in ,st4 ,teresa1  
,boehme1 ,blake and other mystics--he   
would write that which was given to him1
 without addition or omission2 breaking 
off even in the middle of a sentence    
when the ',spirit' abruptly departed1   
and resuming at the same point1 though  

sometimes after an interval which lasted
 several weeks1 when it returned4 ,in   
his last years1 when eyesight failed    
him1 he would allow a younger brother to
 go with him into the woods1 and there  
to take down from dictation the fruits  
of those meditations in which he 'saw   
without sight'2 as the illiterate       
,catherine of ,siena dictated in ecstasy
 the text of her ,divine ,dialogue4     
,two witnesses have preserved           
,ruysbroeck's solemn affirmation1 given 
first to his disciple ,gerard ,groot 'in
 great gentleness and humility1' and    
repeated again upon his death-bed in the
 presence of the whole community1 that  
every word of his writings was thus     
composed under the immediate domination 
of an inspiring power2 that 'secondary  
personality of a superior type1' in     
touch with levels of reality beyond the 
span of the surface consciousness1 which
 governs the activities of the great    
mystics in their last phases of         
development4 ,these books are not the   

fruit of conscious thought1 but         
',god-sent truths1' poured out from a   
heart immersed in that ,divine ,abyss of
 which he tries to tell4  ,that a saint 
must needs be a visionary1 is a         
conviction deeply implanted in the mind 
of the medival hagiographer2 who always 
ascribes to these incidents an          
importance which the saints themselves  
are the first to deny4 ,pomerius thus   
attributes to ,ruysbroeck not only those
 profound and direct experiences of     
,divine ,reality to which his works bear
 witness2 but also numerous visions of a
 conventional and anthropomorphic type1 
in which he spoke with ,christ1 the     
,blessed ,virgin and the ,saints1       
ecstasies which fell upon him when      
saying ,mass--and the passionate        
devotion to the ,eucharist which his    
writings express makes these at least   
probable--a certain faculty of          
clairvoyance1 and a prophetic knowledge 
of his own death4 ,further1 it is said  
that once1 being missed from the priory1

 he was found after long search by one  
of the brothers he loved best1 sitting  
under his favourite tree1 rapt in       
ecstasy and surrounded by an aura of    
radiant light2 as the discerning eyes of
 those who loved them have seen ,st4    
,francis1 ,st4 ,teresa1 and other       
contemplatives transfigured and made    
shining by the intensity of their       
spiritual life4 ,i need not point out   
that the fact that these things are     
common form in the lives of the mystics1
 does not necessarily discredit them2   
though in any case their interest is    
less of a mystical than of a            
psychological kind4  ,not less          
significant1 and to us perhaps more     
winning1 is that side of ,ruysbroeck's  
personality which was turned towards the
 world of men4 ,in his own person he    
fulfilled that twofold duty of the      
deified soul which he has described to  
us3 the in-breathing of the ,love of    
,god1 the out-breathing of that same    
radiant charity towards the race4 ,to   

give and receive1 both at once1 is the  
essence of union1 he says2 and his whole
 career is an illustration of these     
words4 ,he took his life from the       
,transcendent2 he was a focus of        
distribution1 which gave out that joyous
 life again to other souls4 ,his retreat
 at ,groenendael1 his ecstasies of      
composition1 never kept him from those  
who wanted his help and advice4 ,in his 
highest ascents towards ,divine ,love1  
the rich complexities of human love went
 with him4 ,other men always meant much 
to ,ruysbroeck4 ,he had a genius for    
friendship1 and gave himself without    
stint to his friends2 and those who knew
 him said that none ever went to him for
 consolation without returning with     
gladness in their hearts4 ,there are    
many tales in the ,vita of his power    
over and intuitive understanding of     
other minds2 of conversions effected1   
motives unveiled and clouds dispelled4  
,his great friend1 ,gerard ,naghel1 the 
,carthusian prior--at whose desire he   

wrote one of the most beautiful of his  
shorter works1 ,the ,book of ,supreme   
,truth--has left a vivid little account 
of the impression which his personality 
created3 his peaceful and joyful        
countenance1 his humble good-humoured   
speech4 ,ruysbroeck spent three days in 
,gerard's monastery1 in order to explain
 some difficult passages in his         
writings1 and these days were too short1
 for no one could speak to him or see   
him without being the better for it4    
,by this we may put the description of  
,pomerius1 founded upon the             
reminiscences of ,ruysbroeck's surviving
 friends4 ,the grace of ,god shone in   
his face2 and also in his modest speech1
 his kindly deeds1 his humble manners1  
and in the way that every action of his 
life exhibited uprightness and radiant  
purity4 ,he lived soberly1 neglected his
 dress1 and was patient in all things   
and with all people4  ,plainly the great
 contemplative who had seemed in        
,brussels a 'negligible man1' kept to   

the end a great simplicity of aspect2   
closely approximating to his own ideal  
of the 'really humble man1 without any  
pose or pretence1' as described in ,the 
,spiritual ,marriage4 ,that profound    
self-immersion in ,god which was the    
source of his power1 manifested itself  
in daily life under the least impressive
 forms2 ever seeking embodiment in      
little concrete acts of love and        
service1 ministering1 in the world      
without1 to all who need1 in love and   
mercy4#c ,we see him in his ,franciscan 
love of living things1 his deep sense of
 kinship with all the little children of
 ,god1 'going to the help of the animals
 in all their needs'2 thrown into a     
torment of distress by the brothers who 
suggested to him that during a hard     
winter the little birds of the forest   
might die1 and at once making generous  
and successful arrangements for their   
entertainment4 ,we see him 'giving ,mary
 and ,martha rendez-vous in his heart'2 
working in the garden of the community1 

trying hard to be useful1 wheeling      
barrow-loads of manure1 and emerging    
from profound meditation on the         
,infinite to pull up young vegetables   
under the impression that they were     
weeds4 ,he made1 in fact1 valiant       
efforts to achieve that perfect         
synthesis of action and contemplation   
'ever abiding in the simplicity of the  
,spirit1 and perpetually flowing forth  
in abundant acts of love towards heaven 
and earth1' which he regarded as the    
proper goal of human growth--efforts    
constantly thwarted by his own growing  
concentration on the ,transcendent1 the 
ease and frequency with which his       
consciousness now withdrew from the     
world of the senses to immerse itself in
 ,spiritual ,reality4 ,in theory there  
was for him no cleavage between the two3
 ,being and ,becoming1 the ,temporal and
 the ,eternal1 were but two moods within
 the mind of ,god1 and in the           
superessential life of perfect union    
these completing opposites should merge 

in one4  ,a life which shall find place 
for the activities of the lover1 the    
servant1 and the apostle1 is the goal   
towards which the great mystics seem to 
move4 ,we have seen how the homely life 
of the priory gave to ,ruysbroeck the   
opportunity of service1 how the silence 
of the forest fostered and supported his
 secret life of love4 ,as the years     
passed1 the third side of his nature1   
the apostolic passion which had found   
during his long ,brussels period ample  
scope for its activities1 once more came
 into prominence4 ,he was sought out by 
numbers of would-be disciples1 not only 
from ,belgium itself1 but from ,holland1
 ,germany and ,france2 and became a     
fountainhead of new life1 the father of 
many spiritual children4 ,the tradition 
which places among these disciples the  
great ,dominican mystic ,tauler is      
probably false2 though many passages in 
,tauler's later sermons suggest that he 
was strongly influenced by ,ruysbroeck's
 works1 which had already attained a    

wide circulation4 ,but ,gerard ,groot1  
afterwards the founder of the ,brothers 
of the ,common ,life1 and spiritual     
ancestor of ,thomas  ,kempis1 went to   
,groenendael shortly after his          
conversion in #acgd1 that he might there
 learn the rudiments of a sane and      
robust spirituality4 ,ruysbroeck        
received him with a special joy1        
recognising in him at first sight a     
peculiar aptitude for the things of the 
,spirit4 ,a deep friendship grew up     
between the old mystic and the young and
 vigorous convert4 ,gerard stayed often 
at the priory1 and corresponded         
regularly with ,ruysbroeck2 whose       
influence it was which conditioned his  
subsequent career as a preacher1 and as 
founder of a congregation as simple and 
unconventional in its first beginnings1 
as fruitful in its later developments1  
as that of ,groenendael itself4  ,the   
penetrating remarks upon human character
 scattered through his works1 and the   
anecdotes of his dealings with disciples

 and penitents preserved by ,pomerius1  
suggest that ,ruysbroeck1 though he     
might not always recognise the          
distinction between the weeds and       
vegetables of the garden1 was seldom at 
fault in his judgment of men4 ,an       
instinctive knowledge of the human      
heart1 an unerring eye for insincerity1 
egotism1 self-deception1 is a power     
which nearly all the great              
contemplatives possess1 and often       
employed with disconcerting effect4 ,i  
need refer only to the caustic analysis 
of the 'false contemplative' contained  
in ,the ,cloud of ,unknowing1 and the   
amusing sketches of spiritual           
self-importance in ,st4 ,teresa's       
letters and life4 ,the little tale1 so  
often repeated1 of the somewhat         
self-conscious priests who came from    
,paris to consult ,ruysbroeck on the    
state of their souls1 and received from 
him only the blunt                      
observation--apparently so careless1 yet
 really plumbing human nature to its    

deeps--,you are as holy as you wish to  
be1 shows him possessed of this same    
power of stripping off the husks of     
unreality and penetrating at once to the
 fundamental facts of the soul's life3  
the purity and direction of its will and
 love4  ,the life-giving life of union1 
once man has grown up to it1 clarifies1 
illuminates1 raises to a higher term1   
all aspects of the self3 intelligence1  
no less than love and will4 ,that self  
is now harmonised about its true centre1
 and finding ',god in all creatures and 
all creatures in ,god' finds them in    
their reality4 ,so it is that           
,ruysbroeck's long life of growth1 his  
long education in love1 bringing him to 
that which he calls the ',god-seeing'   
stage1 brings him to a point in which he
 finds everywhere ,reality3 in those    
rhythmic seasonal changes of the forest 
life which have inspired his wonderful  
doctrine of the perpetual rebirth and   
re-budding of the soul2 in the hearts of
 men--though often there deep           

buried--above all1 in the mysteries of  
the ,christian faith4 ,speaking with an 
unequalled authority and intimacy of    
those supersensuous regions1 those      
mysterious contacts of love which lie   
beyond and above all thought1 he is yet 
firmly rooted in the concrete2 for he   
has reconciled in his own experience the
 paradox of a ,transcendent yet         
,immanent ,god4 ,there is no break in   
the life-process which begins with the  
little country boy running away from    
home in quest of some vaguely felt      
object of desire1 some 'better land1'   
and which ends with the triumphant      
passing over of the soul of the great   
contemplative to the perfect fruition of
 ,eternal ,love4  ,ruysbroeck died at   
,groenendael on ,december #b1 #acha4 ,he
 was eighty-eight years old2 feeble in  
body1 nearly blind1 yet keeping to the  
last his clear spiritual vision1 his    
vigour and eagerness of soul4 ,his      
death1 says ,pomerius1 speaking on the  
authority of those who had seen it1 was 

full of peaceful joy1 of gaiety of      
heart2 not the falling asleep of the    
tired servant1 but the leap to more     
abundant life of the vigorous child of  
the ,infinite1 at last set free4 ,with  
an immense gladness he went out from    
that time-world which1 in his own image1
 is 'the shadow of ,god1' to those high 
mountains of the land of promise where  
no shadow is1 but only the ,sun4 ,one of
 the greatest of ,christian seers1 one  
of the most manly and human of the      
mystics1 it is yet as a lover1 in the   
noblest and most vital sense of the     
word1 that his personality lives for us4
 ,from first to last1 under all its     
external accidents1 we may trace in his 
life the activity--first instinctive1   
and only gradually understood--of that  
'unconquerable love1' ardent1           
industrious1 at last utterly            
surrendered1 which he describes in the  
wonderful tenth chapter of ,the         
,sparkling ,stone1 as the unique power  
which effects the soul's union with     

,god4 ,for no man understandeth what    
love is in itself1 but such are its     
workings3 which giveth more than one can
 take1 and asketh more than one can pay4
 ,that love it was which came out from  
the ,infinite1 as a tendency1 an        
instinct endowed with liberty and life1 
and passed across the stage of history1 
manifested under humblest inconspicuous 
forms1 but ever growing in passion and  
power2 till at last1 achieving the full 
stature of the children of ,god1 it     
returned to its ,source and ,origin     
again4 ,when we speak of the mysticism  
of ,ruysbroeck1 it is of this that we   
should think3 of this growing spirit1   
this ardent1 unconquerable1 creative    
thing4 ,a veritable part of our own     
order1 therein it was transmuted from   
unreal to real existence2 putting on    
,divine ,humanity1 and attaining the    
goal of all life in the interests of the
 race4                                  
,,chapter ,,ii                          
,,his ,,works     ,in all that ,i have  

understood1 felt1 or written1 ,i submit 
myself to the   judgment of the saints  
and of ,holy ,church1 for ,i would live 
and die   ,christ's servant in          
,christian ,faith4                      
,the ,book of ,supreme ,truth4  ,before 
discussing ,ruysbroeck's view of the    
spiritual world1 his doctrine of the    
soul's development1 perhaps it will be  
well to consider the traditional names1 
general character1 and contents of his  
admittedly authentic works4 ,only a few 
of these works can be dated with        
precision2 for recent criticism has     
shown that the so-called chronological  
list given by ,pomerius#d cannot be     
accepted4 ,as to several of them1 we    
cannot tell whether they were composed  
at ,brussels or at ,groenendael1 at the 
beginning1 middle or end of his mystical
 life4 ,all were written in the ,flemish
 vernacular of his own day--or1 strictly
 speaking1 in the dialect of            
,brabant--for they were practical books 
composed for a practical object1 not    

academic treatises on mystical theology4
 ,founded on experience1 they deal with 
and incite to experience2 and were      
addressed to all who felt within        
themselves the stirrings of a special   
grace1 the call of a superhuman love1   
irrespective of education or            
position--to hermits1 priests1 nuns1 and
 ardent souls still in the world who    
were trying to live the one real        
life--not merely to learned professors  
trying to elucidate the doctrines of    
that life4 ,ruysbroeck therefore belongs
 to that considerable group of mystical 
writers whose gift to the history of    
literature is only less important than  
their gift to the history of the        
spiritual world2 since they have helped 
to break down the barrier between the   
written and the spoken word4  ,at the   
moment in which poetry first forsakes   
the 'literary' language and uses the    
people's speech1 we nearly always find a
 mystic thus trying to tell his message 
to the race4 ,his enthusiasm it is which

 is equal to the task of subduing a new 
medium to the purposes of art4 ,thus at 
the very beginning of ,italian poetry we
 find ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi singing  
in the popular tongue his great         
,canticle of the ,sun1 and soon after   
him come the sublime lyrics of ,jacopone
 da ,tod4 ,thus ,german literature owes 
much to ,mechthild of ,magdeburg1 and   
,english to ,richard ,rolle--both       
forsaking ,latin for the common speech  
of their day4 ,thus in ,india the poet  
,kabir1 obedient to the same impulse1   
sings in ,hindi rather than in ,sanscrit
 his beautiful songs of ,divine ,love4  
,in ,ruysbroeck1 as in these others1 a  
strong poetic inspiration mingled with  
and sometimes controlled the purely     
mystical side of his genius4 ,often his 
love and enthusiasm break out and       
express themselves1 sometimes in rough1 
irregular verse1 sometimes in rhymed and
 rhythmic prose3 a kind of wild         
spontaneous chant1 which may be related 
to the 'ghostly song' that 'boiled up'  

within the heart of ,richard ,rolle4 ,it
 is well-known that automatic           
composition--and we have seen that the  
evidence of those who knew him suggests 
the presence of an automatic element in 
,ruysbroeck's creative methods--tends to
 assume a rhythmic character2 being     
indeed closely related to that strange  
chanted speech in which religious       
excitement frequently expresses itself4 
,released from the control of the       
surface-intellect1 the deeper mind which
 is involved in these mysterious        
processes tends to present its          
intuitions and concepts in measured     
waves of words2 which sometimes1 as in  
,rolle's 'ghostly song' and perhaps too 
in ,ruysbroeck's ',song of ,joy1' are   
actually given a musical form4 ,in such 
rhythm the mystic seems to catch        
something of the cadences of that       
far-off music of which he is writing1   
and to receive and transmit a message   
which exceeds the possibilities of      
speech4 ,ruysbroeck was no expert poet4 

,often his verse is bad2 halting in     
cadence1 violent and uncouth in imagery1
 like the stammering utterance of one   
possessed4 ,but its presence and        
quality1 its mingled simplicity and     
violence1 assure us of the strong       
excitement that fulfilled him1 and tend 
to corroborate the account of his mental
 processes which we have deduced from   
the statements in ,pomerius' ,life4     
,eleven admittedly authentic books and  
tracts survive in numerous ,,ms4        
collections1#e and from these come all  
that we know of his vision and teaching4
 ,the ,twelve ,virtues1 and the two     
,canticles often attributed to him1 are 
probably spurious2 and the tracts       
against the ,brethren of the ,free      
,spirit1 which are known to have been   
written during his ,brussels period1    
have all disappeared4 ,i give here a    
short account of the authentic works1   
their names and general contents2       
putting first in order those of unknown 
date1 some of which may possibly have   

been composed before the foundation of  
,groenendael4 ,in each case the first   
title is a translation of that used in  
the best ,flemish texts2 the second1    
that employed in the great ,latin       
version of ,surius4 ,ruysbroeck himself 
never gave any titles to his writings4  
#a4 ,the ,spiritual ,tabernacle 7called 
by ,surius ,in ,tabernaculum            
,mosis74--,the longest1 most fantastic1 
and1 in spite of some fine passages1 the
 least interesting of ,ruysbroeck's     
works4 ,probably founded upon the ,de   
,arca ,mystica of ,hugh of ,st4 ,victor1
 this is an elaborate allegory1         
thoroughly medival in type1 in which the
 ,tabernacle of the ,israelites becomes 
a figure of the spiritual life2 the     
details of its construction1 furniture  
and ritual being given a symbolic       
significance1 in accordance with the    
methods of interpretation popular at the
 time4 ,in this book1 and perhaps in the
 astronomical treatise appended to ,the 
,twelve ,bguines 7,no4 #aa71 ,i believe 

that we have the only surviving works of
 ,ruysbroeck's first period2 when he had
 not yet 'transcended images1' but was  
at that point in his mystical           
development in which the young          
contemplative loves to discern symbolic 
meanings in all visible things4  #b4    
,the ,twelve ,points of ,true ,faith    
7,de ,fide et ,judicio74--,this little  
tract is in form a gloss upon the       
,nicene ,creed2 in fact1 a              
characteristically ,ruysbroeckian       
confession of faith4 ,without ever      
over-passing the boundaries of ,catholic
 doctrine1 ,ruysbroeck is here able to  
turn all its imagery to the purposes of 
his own vision of truth4  #c4 ,the ,book
 of the ,four ,temptations 7,de ,quatuor
 ,tentationibus74--,the ,four           
,temptations are four manifestations of 
the higher egotism specially dangerous  
to souls entering on the contemplative  
life3 first1 the love of ease and       
comfort1 as much in things spiritual as 
in things material2 secondly1 the       

tendency to pose as the possessor of    
special illumination1 with other and    
like forms of spiritual pretence2       
thirdly1 intellectual pride1 which seeks
 to understand unfathomable mysteries   
and attain to the vision of ,god by the 
reason alone2 fourthly1--most dangerous 
of all--that false 'liberty of spirit'  
which was the mark of the heretical     
mystic sects4 ,this book too may well   
have been written before the retreat to 
,groenendael4  #d4 ,the ,book of the    
,kingdom of ,god's ,lovers 7,regnum     
,deum ,amantium74--,this and the        
following work1 ,the ,adornment of the  
,spiritual ,marriage1 contain           
,ruysbroeck's fullest and most orderly  
descriptions of the mystical            
life-process4 ,the ',kingdom' which     
,god's lovers may inherit is the actual 
life of ,god1 infused into the soul and 
deifying it4 ,this essential life       
reveals itself under five modes3 in the 
sense world1 in the soul's nature1 in   
the witness of ,scripture1 in the life  

of grace or 'glory1' and in the         
,superessential ,kingdom of the ,divine 
,unity4 ,by the threefold way of the    
,active1 ,contemplative1 and            
,superessential ,life1 here described as
 the steady and orderly appropriation of
 the ,seven ,gifts of the ,holy ,spirit1
 the spirit of man may enter into its   
inheritance and attain at last to the   
perfect fruition of ,god4 ,to the       
,active ,life belong the gifts of ,holy 
,fear1 ,godliness1 and ,knowledge2 to   
the ,contemplative those of ,strength   
and ,counsel2 to the ,superessential    
those of ,intelligence and ,wisdom4 ,the
 ,kingdom of ,god's ,lovers was         
traditionally regarded as ,ruysbroeck's 
earliest work4 ,it was more probably    
written during the early years at       
,groenendael4 ,much of it1 like ,the    
,twelve ,bguines1 is in poetical form4  
,this was the book which1 falling into  
the hands of ,gerard ,naghel1 made him  
seek ,ruysbroeck's acquaintance1 in     
order that he might ask for an          

explanation of several profound and     
difficult passages4  #e4 ,the ,adornment
 of the ,spiritual ,marriage 7,de       
,ornatu ,spiritalium ,nuptiarum74--,this
 is the best known and most methodical  
of ,ruysbroeck's works4 ,in form a      
threefold commentary upon the text1     
,behold1 the bridegroom cometh2 go ye   
out to meet him1 it is divided into     
three books1 tracing out in great       
detail1 and with marvellous             
psychological insight1 those three      
stages of ,active1 ,contemplative and   
,superessential ,life1 which appear     
again and again in his writings4 ,paying
 due attention to the aberrations of the
 quietists1 he exhibits--with an        
intimacy which surely reflects his own  
personal experience of the ,way--the    
conditions under which selves in each   
stage of development may see1 encounter1
 and at last unite with1 the ,divine    
,bridegroom of the soul4 ,a ,german     
translation of several of its chapters1 
preserved in ,,ms4 at ,munich1 states   

that ,ruysbroeck sent this book to the  
,friends of ,god in #acej4 ,in this case
 it belongs to the years immediately    
preceding or succeeding his retreat4    
,we now come to the works which were    
certainly composed at ,groenendael1     
though probably some of those already   
enumerated also belong to the last      
thirty years of ,ruysbroeck's life4     
,first come the three treatises         
apparently written for ,margaret van    
,meerbeke1 a choir nun of the ,convent  
of ,poor ,clares at ,brussels2 who seems
 to have been to him what ,st4 ,clare   
was to ,st4 ,francis1 ,elizabeth ,stgel 
to ,suso1 ,margaret ,kirkby to ,richard 
,rolle--first a spiritual daughter1 then
 a valued and sympathetic friend4  #f4  
,the ,mirror of ,eternal ,salvation or  
,book of the ,blessed ,sacrament        
7,speculum tern ,salutis74--,this1 the  
first of the three1 was written in      
#acei4 ,it is addressed to one who is   
evidently a beginner in the spiritual   
life1 as she is yet a novice in her     

religious community2 but whom           
,ruysbroeck looks upon as specially     
'called1 elect and loved4' ,in simplest 
language1 often of extreme beauty1 he   
puts before her the magnitude of the    
vocation she has accepted1 the dangers  
she will encounter1 and the great source
 from which she must draw her strength3 
the sacramental dispensation of the     
,church4 ,in a series of magnificent    
chapters1 he celebrates the mystical    
doctrine of the ,eucharist1 the feeding 
of the ever-growing soul on the         
substance of ,god2 following this by a  
digression1 full of shrewd observation1 
on the different types of believers who 
come to communion4 ,we see them through 
his eyes3 the religious sentimentalists1
 'who are generally women and only very 
seldom men'2 the sturdy normal          
,christian1 who does his best to        
struggle against sin2 the humble and    
devout lover of ,god2 the churchy       
hypocrite1 who behaves with great       
reverence at ,mass and then goes home   

and scolds the servants2 the heretical  
mystic full of spiritual pride2 the     
easy-going worldling1 who sins and      
repents with equal facility4 ,the book  
ends with a superb description of the   
goal towards which the young            
contemplative is set3 the 'life-giving  
life' of perfect union with ,god in     
which that 'higher life' latent in every
 soul at last attains to maturity4  #g4 
,the ,seven ,cloisters 7,de ,septem     
,custodiis74--,this was written before  
#acfc1 and preserves its address to     
',the ,holy ,nun1 ,dame ,margaret van   
,meerbeke1 ,cantor of the ,monastery of 
,st4 ,clare at ,brussels4' ,the novice  
of the ',mirror' is now a professed     
religious2 and her director instructs   
her upon the attitude of mind which she 
should bring to the routine duties of a 
nun's day1 the opportunity they offer   
for the enriching and perfecting of love
 and humility4 ,he describes the        
education of the human spirit up to that
 high point of consciousness where it   

knows itself established 'between       
,eternity and ,time'3 one of the        
fundamental thoughts of ,flemish and    
,german mysticism4 ,this education      
admits her successively into the seven  
cloisters which kept ,st4 ,clare1       
,foundress of the ,order1 unspotted from
 the world4 ,the first is the physical  
enclosure of the convent walls2 the next
 the moral and volitional limitation of 
self-control4 ,the third is 'the open   
door of the love of ,christ1' which     
crowns man's affective powers1 and leads
 to the fourth--total dedication of the 
will4 ,the fifth and sixth represent the
 two great forms of the ,contemplative  
,life as conceived by ,ruysbroeck3 the  
ecstatic and the deiform4 ,the seventh  
admits to ,abyss of ,being itself3 that 
'dim silence' at the heart of which1 as 
in the ,seventh ,habitation of ,st4     
,teresa's ',interior ,castle1' he will  
find himself alone with ,god4 ,there the
 mystic union is consummated1 and the   
,divine activity takes the place of the 

separate activity of man1 in a simple   
beatitude which transcends all sanctity 
and the practice of virtue1 an ,eternal 
,fruition which satisfies all hunger and
 thirst1 all love and all craving1 for  
,god4 ,finally1 he returns to the       
,active ,life2 and ends with a practical
 chapter on clothes1 and a charming     
instruction1 full of deep poetry1 on the
 evening meditation which should close  
the day4  #h4 ,the ,seven ,degrees of   
the ,ladder of ,love 7,de ,septem       
,gradibus ,amoris74--,this book1 which  
was written before #acgb1 is believed by
 the ,benedictines of ,wisques1 the     
latest and most learned of ,ruysbroeck's
 editors1 to complete the trilogy of    
works addressed to ,dame ,margaret van  
,meerbeke4 ,it traces the soul's ascent 
to the height of ,divine love by way of 
the characteristic virtues of           
asceticism1 under the well-known medival
 image of the 'ladder of perfection' or 
'stairway of love'--a metaphor1         
originating in ,jacob's ,dream1 which   

had already served ,st4 ,benedict1      
,richard of ,st4 ,victor1 ,st4          
,bonaventura and many others as a useful
 diagram of the mystic way4 ,originality
 of form1 however1 is the last thing we 
should look for in ,ruysbroeck's works4 
,he pours his strange wine into any     
vessel that comes to hand4 ,as often his
 most sublime or amazing utterances     
originate in commentaries upon some     
familiar text1 or the deepest truths are
 hidden under the most grotesque        
similitudes2 so this well-worn metaphor 
gives him the opportunity for some of   
his finest descriptions of the soul's   
movement to that transmutation in which 
all ardent spirits 'become as live coals
 in the fire of ,infinite ,love4' ,this 
book1 in which the influence of ,st4    
,bernard is strongly marked1 contains   
some beautiful passages on the mystic   
life considered as a 'heavenly song' of 
faithfulness and love1 which ,christ our
 ,cantor and our ,choragus has sung from
 the beginning of things1 and which     

every ,christian soul must learn4  #i4  
,the ,book of the ,sparkling ,stone 7,de
 ,calculo1 sive de ,perfectione         
,filiorum ,dei74--,this priceless work  
is said to have been written by         
,ruysbroeck at the request of a hermit1 
who wished for further light on the high
 matters of which it treats4 ,it        
contains the finest flower of his       
thought1 and shows perhaps more clearly 
than any other of his writings the mark 
of direct inspiration4 ,here again the  
scaffolding on which he builds is almost
 as old as ,christian mysticism itself3 
that three-fold division of men into the
 'faithful servants1 secret friends1 and
 hidden sons' of ,god1 which descended  
through the centuries from ,clement of  
,alexandria4 ,but the tower which he    
raises with its help ascends to heights 
unreached by any other writer3 to the   
point at which man is given the supreme 
gift of the ,sparkling ,stone1 or       
,nature of ,christ1 the goal of human   
transcendence4 ,i regard the ninth and  

tenth chapters of ,the ,sparkling       
,stone--',how we may become ,hidden     
,sons of ,god and live the              
,contemplative ,life1' and ',how we1    
though one with ,god1 must eternally    
remain other than ,him'--as the         
high-water mark of mystical literature4 
,nowhere else do we find such a         
marvellous combination of wide and      
soaring vision with the most delicate   
and intimate psychological analysis4    
,the old mystic1 sitting under his      
friendly tree1 seems here to be gazing  
at and reporting to us the final secrets
 of that eternal world1 where the       
,incomprehensible ,light enfolds and    
penetrates us1 as the air is penetrated 
by the light of the sun4 ,there he      
tastes and apprehends1 in 'an           
unfathomable seeing and beholding1' the 
inbreathing and the outbreathing of the 
,love of ,god--that double movement     
which controls the universe2 yet knows1 
along with this great cosmic vision1    
that intimate and searching communion in

 which the ,beloved and the ,lover are  
immersed wholly in love1 and each is all
 to the other in possession and in rest4
  #aj4 ,the ,book of ,supreme ,truth    
7called in some collections ,the ,book  
of ,retractations1 and by ,surius1      
,samuel47--,this is the tract written by
 ,ruysbroeck1 at the request of ,gerard 
,naghel1 to explain certain obscure     
passages in ,the ,book of the ,kingdom  
of ,god's ,lovers4 ,in it he is         
specially concerned to make clear the   
vital distinction between his doctrine  
of the soul's union with ,god--a union  
in which the primal distinction between 
,creator and created is never           
overpassed--and the pantheistic doctrine
 of complete absorption in ,him1 with   
cessation of all effort and striving1   
preached by the heretical sects whose   
initiates claim to 'be ,god4' ,by the   
time that this book was written1        
careless readers had already charged    
,ruysbroeck with these pantheist        
tendencies which he abhorred and        

condemned2 and here he sets out his     
defence4 ,he discusses also the three   
degrees of union with ,god which        
correspond to the 'three lives' of the  
growing soul3 union by means of         
sacraments and good deeds2 union        
achieved in contemplative prayer        
'without means1' where the soul learns  
its double vocation of action and       
fruition2 and the highest union of all1 
where the spirit which has swung        
pendulum-like between the temporal and  
eternal worlds1 achieves its equilibrium
 and dwells wholly in ,god1 'drunk with 
love1 and sunk in the ,dark ,light4'    
#aa4 ,the ,twelve ,bguines 7,de ,vera   
,contemplatione74--,this is a long1     
composite book of eighty-four chapters1 
which apparently consists of at least   
three distinct treatises of different   
dates4 ,the first1 ,the ,twelve         
,bguines1 which ends with chapter xvi41 
contains the longest consecutive example
 of ,ruysbroeck's poetic method2 its    
first eight chapters being written in   

irregular rhymed verse4 ,it is believed 
to be one of his last compositions4 ,its
 doctrine differs little from that      
already set forth in his earlier works2 
though nowhere1 perhaps1 is the         
development of the spiritual            
consciousness described with greater    
subtlety4 ,the soul's communion with and
 feeding on the ,divine ,nature in the  
,eucharist and in contemplative prayer2 
its acquirement of the art of           
introversion2 the ,way of ,contemplation
 with its four modes1 paralleled by the 
,way of ,love with its four modes2 these
 lead up to the perfect union of the    
spirit with ,god in one love and one    
fruition with ,him1 fulfilled in        
everlasting bliss4 ,the seventeenth     
chapter begins a new treatise1 with a   
description of the ,active ,life on     
,ruysbroeck's usual lines2 and at the   
thirtieth there is again a complete     
change of subject1 introducing a        
mystical and symbolic interpretation of 
the science of astronomy4 ,this section1

 so unlike his later writings1 somewhat 
resembles ,the ,spiritual ,tabernacle1  
and may perhaps be a work of the same   
period4 ,a collection of ,meditations   
upon the ,passion of ,christ1 arranged  
according to the ,seven ,hours of the   
,roman ,breviary 7capp4 lxxiii4 to end71
 completes the book2 and also the tale  
of ,ruysbroeck's authentic works4 ,a    
critical list of the reprints and       
translations in which these may best be 
studied will be found in the            
,bibliographical ,note4                 
,,chapter ,,iii                         
,,his ,,doctrine ,,of ,,god     ,my     
words are strange2 but those who love   
will understand4                        
,the ,mirror of ,eternal ,salvation4    
,mystical writers are of two kinds4 ,one
 kind1 of which ,st4 ,teresa is perhaps 
the supreme type1 deals almost wholly   
with the personal and interior          
experiences of the soul in the states of
 contemplation1 and the psychological   
rules governing those states2 above all1

 with the emotional reactions of the    
self to the impact of the ,divine4 ,this
 kind of mystic--whom ,william ,james   
accused1 with some reason1 of turning   
the soul's relation with ,god into a    
'duet'--makes little attempt to describe
 the ultimate ,object of the self's love
 and desire1 the great movements of the 
spiritual world2 for such description1  
the formul of existing theology are felt
 to be enough4 ,visions of ,christ1     
experiences of the ,blessed             
,trinity--these are sufficient names for
 the personal and impersonal aspects of 
that ,reality with which the            
contemplative seeks to unite4 ,but the  
other kind of mystic--though possibly   
and indeed usually as orthodox in his   
beliefs1 as ardent in his love--cannot1 
on the one hand1 remain within the      
circle of these subjective and personal 
conceptions1 and1 on the other1 content 
himself with the label which tradition  
has affixed to the ,thing that he has   
known4 ,he may not reject the label1 but

 neither does he confuse it with the    
,thing4 ,he has the wide vision1 the    
metaphysical passion of the philosopher 
and the poet2 and in his work he is ever
 pressing towards more exact            
description1 more suggestive and        
evocative speech4 ,the symbols which    
come most naturally to him are usually  
derived from the ideas of space and of  
wonder2 not from those of human intimacy
 and love4 ,in him the intellect is     
active as well as the heart2 sometimes1 
more active4 ,plotinus is an extreme    
example of mysticism of this type4  ,the
 greatest mystics1 however1 whether in  
the ,east or in the ,west1 are possessed
 of a vision and experience of ,god so  
deep and rich that it embraces at once  
the infinite and the intimate aspects of
 ,reality2 illuminating those religious 
concepts which are1 as it were1 an      
artistic reconstruction of the          
,transcendent1 and at the same time     
having contact with that vast region    
above and beyond reason whence come the 

fragmentary intimations of ,reality     
crystallised in the formul of faith4    
,for them1 as for ,st4 ,augustine1 ,god 
is both near and far2 and the paradox of
 transcendent-immanent ,reality is a    
self-evident if an inexpressible truth4 
,they swing between hushed adoration and
 closest communion1 between the divine  
ignorance of the intellect lifted up    
into ,god and the divine certitude of   
the heart in which ,he dwells2 and give 
us by turns a subjective and            
psychological1 an objective and         
metaphysical1 reading of spiritual      
experience4 ,ruysbroeck is a mystic of  
this type4 ,the span of his universe can
 include--indeed demand--both the       
concept of that ,abyss of ,pure ,being  
where all distinctions are transcended1 
and the soul is immersed in the 'dark   
light' of the ,one1 and the             
distinctively ,christian and            
incarnational experience of loving      
communion with and through the ,person  
of ,christ4 ,for him the ladder of      

contemplation is firmly planted in the  
bed-rock of human character--goes the   
whole way from the heart of man to the  
,essence of ,god--and every stage of it 
has importance for the eager and        
ascending soul4 ,hence1 when he seems to
 rush out to the farthest limits of the 
cosmos1 he still remains within the     
circle of ,catholic ideas2 and is at    
once ethical and metaphysical1 intensely
 sacramental and intensely              
transcendental too4  ,nor is this result
 obtained--as it sometimes seems to be1 
for instance1 in such a visionary as    
,angela of ,foligno--by a mere heaping  
up of the various and inconsistent      
emotional reactions of the self4 ,there 
is a fundamental orderliness in the     
,ruysbroeckian universe which1 though it
 may be difficult to understand1 and    
often impossible for him to express     
without resort to paradox1 yet reveals  
itself to careful analysis4 ,he tries   
hard to describe1 or at least suggest1  
it to us1 because he is a mystic of an  

apostolic type4 ,even where he is       
dealing with the soul's most ineffable  
experiences and seems to hover over that
 ,abyss which is 'beyond ,reason1'      
stammering and breaking into wild poetry
 in the desperate attempt to seize the  
unseizable truth he is ever intent on   
telling us how these things may be      
actualised1 this attitude attained by   
other men4 ,the note is never1 as with  
many subjective visionaries1 ,i have    
seen1 but always ,we shall or may see4  
,now such an objective mystic as this1  
who is not content with retailing his   
private experiences and ecstasies1 but  
accepts the great vocation of revealer  
of ,reality1 is called upon to do       
certain things4 ,he must give us1 not   
merely a static picture of ,eternity1   
but also a dynamic 'reading of life'2   
and of a life more extended than that   
which the moralist1 or even the         
philosopher1 offers to interpret4 ,he   
must not only tell us what he thinks    
about the universe1 and in particular   

that ultimate ,spiritual ,reality which 
all mysticism discerns within or beyond 
the flux4 ,he must also tell us what he 
thinks of man1 that living1 moving1     
fluid spirit-thing3 his reactions to    
this universe and this ,reality1 the    
satisfaction which it offers to his     
thought1 will and love1 the obligations 
laid upon him in respect of it4 ,we1 on 
our part1 must try to understand what he
 tells us of these things2 for he is1 as
 it were1 an organ developed by the race
 for this purpose--a tentacle pushed out
 towards the ,infinite1 to make1 in our 
name and in our interest1 fresh contacts
 with ,reality4 ,he performs for us some
 of the functions of the artist         
extending our universe1 the pioneer     
cutting our path1 the hunter winning    
food for our souls4  ,the clue to the   
universe of such a mystic will always be
 the vision or idea which he has of the 
,nature of ,god2 and there we must      
begin1 if we would find our way through 
the tangle of his thought4 ,from this   

,centre all else branches out1 and to   
this all else must conform1 if it is to 
have for him realness and life2 for     
truth1 as ,aquinas teaches1 is simply   
the reality of things as they are in    
,god4 ,we begin1 then1 our exploration  
of ,ruysbroeck's doctrine by trying to  
discover the character of his vision of 
the ,divine ,nature1 and man's relation 
with it4  ,that vision is so wide1 deep 
and searching1 that only by resort to   
the language of opposites1 by perpetual 
alternations of spatial and personal1   
metaphysical and passionate speech1 is  
he able to communicate it to us4 ,his   
fortunate and profound acquaintance with
 the science of theology--his contact   
through it with the formul of ,christian
 ,platonism--has given him the framework
 on which he stretches out his wonderful
 and living picture of the ,infinite4   
,this picture is personal to himself1   
the fruit of a direct and vivid         
inspiration2 not so the terms by which  
it is communicated4 ,these for the most 

part are the common property of         
,christian theology2 though here used   
with a consummate skill1 often with an  
apparent originality4 ,especially from  
,st4 ,augustine1 ,dionysius the         
,areopagite1 ,richard of ,st4 ,victor1  
,st4 ,bernard and the more orthodox     
utterances of his own immediate         
predecessor1 ,meister                   
,eckhart--sometimes too from his        
contemporaries1 ,suso and ,tauler--has  
he taken the intellectual concepts1 the 
highly-charged poetic metaphors1 in     
which his perceptions are enshrined4 ,so
 close does he keep to these masters1 so
 frequent are his borrowings1 that      
almost every page of his writings might 
be glossed from their works4 ,it is one 
of the most astonishing features of the 
celebrated and astonishing essay of ,m4 
,maeterlinck that1 bent on vindicating  
the inspiration of his 'simple and      
ignorant monk1' he entirely fails to    
observe the traditional character of the
 formul which express it4 ,no student of

 the mystics will deny the abundant     
inspiration by which ,ruysbroeck was    
possessed2 but this inspiration is      
spiritual1 not intellectual4 ,the truth 
was told to him in the tongue of angels1
 and he did his best to translate it    
into the tongue of the ,church2         
perpetually reminding us1 as he did so1 
how great was the difference between    
vision and description1 how clumsy and  
inadequate those concepts and images    
wherewith the artist-seer tried to tell 
his love4  ,this distinction1 which the 
reader of ,ruysbroeck should never      
forget1 is of primary importance in     
connection with his treatment of the    
,nature of ,god2 where the disparity    
between the thing known and the thing   
said is inevitably at a maximum4 ,the   
high nature of the ,godhead1 he says1 in
 a string of suggestive and paradoxical 
images1 to which ,st4 ,paul1 ,dionysius 
and ,eckhart have all contributed1 is1  
in itself1 ,simplicity and              
,one-foldness2 inaccessible height and  

fathomless deep2 incomprehensible       
breadth and eternal length2 a dim       
silence1 and a wild desert--oblique1    
suggestive1 musical language which      
enchants rather than informs the soul2  
opens the door to experience1 but does  
not convey any accurate knowledge of the
 ,imageless ,truth1 ,now we may         
experience many wonders in that         
fathomless ,godhead2 but although1      
because of the coarseness of the human  
intellect1 when we would describe such  
things outwardly1 we must use images1 in
 truth that which is inwardly perceived 
and beheld is nought else but a         
,fathomless and ,unconditioned ,good4#f 
,yet this primal ,reality1 this         
ultimately indivisible ,one1 has for    
human consciousness a two-fold          
character2 and though for the intuition 
of the mystic its fruition is a         
synthetic experience1 it must in thought
 be analysed if it is ever to be        
grasped4 ,god1 as known by man1 exhibits
 in its perfection the dual property of 

,love2 on the one hand active1          
generative1 creative2 on the other hand 
a still and ineffable possession or     
,fruition--one of the master-words of   
,ruysbroeck's thought4 ,he is1 then1 the
 ,absolute ,one1 in whom the antithesis 
of ,eternity and ,time1 of ,being and   
,becoming1 is resolved2 both static and 
dynamic1 transcendent and immanent1     
impersonal and personal1                
undifferentiated and differentiated2    
,eternal ,rest and ,eternal ,work1 the  
,unmoved ,mover1 yet ,movement itself4  
,although in our way of seeing we give  
,god many names1 ,his nature is ,one4   
,he transcends the storm of succession1 
yet is the inspiring spirit of the flux4
 ,according to ,his fruitful nature1 ,he
 works without ceasing1 for ,he is ,pure
 ,act--a reminiscence of ,aristotle     
which seems strange upon the lips of the
 'ignorant monk4' ,he is the omnipotent 
and ever-active ,creator of all things2 
'an immeasurable ,flame of ,love'       
perpetually breathing forth ,his        

energetic ,life in new births of being  
and new floods of grace1 and drawing in 
again all creatures to ,himself4 ,yet   
this statement defines1 not ,his being1 
but one manifestation of ,his being4    
,when the soul pierces beyond this      
'fruitful' nature to ,his simple        
essence--and 'simple' is here and       
throughout to be understood in its      
primal meaning of 'synthetic'--,he is   
that absolute and abiding ,reality which
 seems to man ,eternal ,rest1 the ',deep
 ,quiet of the ,godhead1' the ',abyss1' 
the ',dim ,silence'2 and which we can   
taste indeed but never know4 ,there1    
'all lovers lose themselves' in the     
consummation of that experience at which
 our fragmentary intuitions hint4  ,the 
active and fertile aspect of the ,divine
 ,nature is manifested in               
differentiation3 for ,ruysbroeck the    
,catholic1 in the ,trinity of ,persons1 
as defined by ,christian theology4 ,the 
static and absolute aspect is the 'calm 
and glorious ,unity of the ,godhead'    

which he finds beyond and within the    
,trinity1 the fathomless ,abyss that is 
the ,being of ,god1--an idea1 familiar  
to ,indian mysticism and implicit in    
,christian ,neoplatonism1 which governed
 all ,meister ,eckhart's speculations   
upon the ,divine ,nature4 ,there is1    
says ,ruysbroeck in one of his most     
,eckhartian passages1 a distinction and 
differentiation1 according to our       
reason1 between ,god and the ,godhead1  
between action and rest4 ,the fruitful  
nature of the ,persons1 of whom is the  
,trinity in ,unity and ,unity in        
,trinity1 ever worketh in a living      
differentiation4 ,but the ,simple ,being
 of ,god1 according to the nature       
thereof1 is an ,eternal ,rest of ,god   
and of all created things4#g  ,in       
differentiating the three great aspects 
of the ,divine ,life1 as known by the   
love and thought of man1 ,ruysbroeck    
keeps close to formal theology2 though  
investing its academic language with new
 and deep significance1 and constantly  

reminding us that such language1 even at
 its best1 can never get beyond the     
region of image and similitude or       
provide more than an imperfect          
reflection of the ,one who is 'neither  
,this nor ,that4' ,on his lips1 credal  
definitions are perpetually passing over
 from the arid region of theological    
argument to the fruitful one of         
spiritual experience4 ,there they become
 songs1 as 'new' as the song heard by   
the ,apocalyptist2 real channels of     
light1 which show the mind things that  
it never guessed before4 ,for the       
're-born' man they have a fresh and     
immortal meaning2 because that 'river of
 grace1' of which he perpetually speaks 
as pouring into the heart opened towards
 the ,infinite1 transfigures and        
irradiates them4 ,thus the illuminated  
mind knows in the ,father1 not a        
confusingly anthropomorphic metaphor1   
but the uniquely vital ,source and      
unconditioned ,origin of all things in  
whom our life and being is begun4 ,he is

 the ,strength and ,power1 ,creator1    
,mover1 ,keeper1 ,beginning and ,end1   
,cause and ,existence of all            
creatures4#h ,further1 the intuition of 
the mystic discerns in the ,son the     
,eternal ,word and fathomless ,wisdom   
and ,truth perpetually generated of the 
,father1 shining forth in the world of  
conditions3 the ,pattern or ,archetype  
of creation and of life1 the image of   
,god which the universe reflects back   
before the face of the ,absolute1 the   
,eternal ,rule incarnate in ,christ4    
,and this same 'light wherein we see    
,god' also shows to the enlightened mind
 the veritable character of the ,holy   
,spirit2 the ,incomprehensible ,love and
 ,generosity of the ,divine ,nature1    
which emanates in an eternal procession 
from the mutual contemplation of ,father
 and ,son1 for these two ,persons are   
always hungry for love4 ,the ,holy      
,spirit is the source of the ,divine    
vitality immanent in the universe4 ,it  
is an outflowing torrent of ,good which 

streams through all heavenly spirits2 it
 is a ,flame of ,fire that consumes all 
in the ,one2 it is also the ,spark of   
transcendence latent in man's soul4 ,the
 ,spirit is the personal1 ,grace the    
impersonal1 side of that energetic ,love
 which enfolds and penetrates all life2 
and all this may be perceived and       
beheld1 inseparable and without         
division1 in the ,simple ,nature of the 
,godhead4#i  ,the relations which form  
the character of these ,three ,persons  
exist in an eternal distinction for that
 world of conditions wherein the human  
soul is immersed1 and where things      
happen 'in some wise4' ,there1 from the 
embrace of the ,father and ,son and the 
outflowing of the ,spirit in 'waves of  
endless love1' all created things are   
born2 and ,god1 by ,his grace and ,his  
death1 recreates them1 and adorns them  
with love and goodness1 and draws them  
back to their source4 ,this is the      
circling course of the ,divine          
life-process 'from goodness1 through    

goodness1 to goodness1' described by    
,dionysius the ,areopagite4 ,but beyond 
and above this plane of ,divine         
differentiation is the superessential   
world1 transcending all conditions1     
inaccessible to thought--the measureless
 solitude of the ,godhead1 where ,god   
possesses ,himself in joy4 ,this is the 
ultimate world of the mystic1 discerned 
by intuition and love in a simple       
seeing1 beyond reason and without       
consideration4 ,there1 within the       
',eternal ,now1' without either before  
or after1 released from the storm of    
succession1 things happen indeed1 'yet  
in no wise1' ,there1 we can speak no    
more of ,father1 ,son and ,holy ,spirit1
 nor of any creature2 but only of one   
,being1 which is the very substance of  
the ,divine ,persons4 ,there were we all
 one before our creation2 for this is   
our superessence4444 ,there the ,godhead
 is1 in simple essence1 without         
activity2 ,eternal ,rest1 ,unconditioned
 ,dark1 the ,nameless ,being1 the       

,superessence of all created things1 and
 the simple and infinite ,bliss of ,god 
and of all ,saints4#aj  ,ruysbroeck here
 brings us to the position of ,dante in 
the last canto of the ,paradiso1 when1  
transcending those partial apprehensions
 of ,reality which are figured by the   
,river of ,becoming and the ,rose of    
,beatitude1 he penetrated to the swift  
vision of that ,eternal ,light which    
only in ,itself abideth--discerned best 
by man under the image of the three     
circles1 yet in its 'profound and clear 
substance' indivisibly ,one4  ,the      
simple light of this ,being is limitless
 in its immensity1 and transcending     
form1 includes and embraces the unity of
 the ,divine ,persons and the soul with 
all its faculties2 and this to such a   
point that it envelopes and irradiates  
both the natural tendency of our ground 
i4e4 its dynamic movement to ,god--the  
,river and the fruitive adherence of    
,god and all those who are united with  
,him in this ,light i4e4 ,eternal       

,being--the ,rose4 ,and this is the     
union of ,god and the souls that love   
,him4#aa                                
,,chapter ,,iv                          
,,his ,,doctrine ,,of ,,man     ,that   
which was begun by ,grace1 is           
accomplished by ,grace and ,free-will2  
so that they work mixedly not           
separately1 simultaneously not          
successively1 in each and all of their  
processes4                              
,st4 ,bernard4  ,the concept of the     
,nature of ,god which we have traced    
through its three phases--out from the  
unchanging ,one to the active ,persons  
and back to the ,one again--gives us a  
clue to ,ruysbroeck's idea of the nature
 and destiny of man4 ,in man1 both      
aspects of ,divine ,reality1 active and 
fruitive1 are or should be reflected2   
for ,god is the ',living ,pattern of    
,creation' who has impressed ,his image 
on each soul1 and in every adult spirit 
the character of that image must be     
brought from the hiddenness and         

realised4 ,destined to be wholly real1  
though yet in the making1 there is in   
man a latent ,divine likeness1 a 'spark'
 of the primal fire4 ,created for union 
with ,god1 already in ,eternity that    
union is a fact4  ,the creature is in   
,brahma and ,brahma is in the creature2 
they are ever distinct yet ever united1 
says the ,indian mystic4 ,were it       
translated into ,christian language1 it 
is probable that this thought--which    
does not involve pantheism--would have  
been found acceptable by ,ruysbroeck2   
for the interpenetration yet eternal    
distinction of the human and ,divine    
spirits is the central fact of his      
universe4 ,man1 he thinks1 is already   
related in a threefold manner to his    
,infinite ,source2 for we have our being
 in ,him as the ,father1 we contemplate 
,him as does the ,son1 we ceaselessly   
tend to return to ,him as does the      
,spirit4  ,the first property of the    
soul is a naked being1 devoid of all    
image4 ,thereby do we resemble1 and are 

united to1 the ,father and ,his nature  
,divine4 ,this is the 'ground of the    
soul' perpetually referred to by mystics
 of the ,eckhartian ,school2 the bare1  
still place to which consciousness      
retreats in introversion1 image of the  
static and absolute aspect of ,reality4 
,the second property might be called the
 higher understanding of the soul4 ,it  
is a mirror of light1 wherein we receive
 the ,son of ,god1 the ,eternal ,truth4 
,by this light we are like unto ,him2   
but in the act of receiving1 we are one 
with ,him4 ,this is the power of knowing
 ,divine things by intuitive            
comprehension3 man's fragmentary share  
in the character of the ,logos1 or      
,wisdom of ,god4 ,the third property we 
call the spark of the soul4 ,it is the  
inward and natural tendency of the soul 
towards its ,source2 and here do we     
receive the ,holy ,spirit1 the ,charity 
of ,god4 ,by this inward tendency we are
 like the ,holy ,spirit2 but in the act 
of receiving1 we become one spirit and  

one love with ,god4#ab ,here the ,divine
 image shows itself in its immanent and 
dynamic aspect1 as the 'internal push'  
which drives ,creation back to the      
,father's heart4  ,the soul then is1 as 
,julian of ,norwich said1 made ,trinity1
 like to the unmade ,blessed ,trinity4  
,reciprocally1 there is in the ,eternal 
,world the uncreated ,pattern or        
,archetype of man--his ',platonic idea4'
 ,now man must bring from its hiddenness
 the latent likeness1 the germ of       
,divine humanity that is in him1 and    
develop it until it realises the        
',platonic idea'2 achieving thus the    
implicit truth of his own nature as it  
exists in the mind of ,god4 ,this1      
according to ,ruysbroeck1 is the whole  
art and object of the spiritual life2   
this actualisation of the eternal side  
of human nature1 atrophied in the       
majority of men--the innate             
,christliness in virtue of which we have
 power to become ',sons' of ,god4  ,lo6 
thus are we all one with ,god in our    

,eternal ,archetype1 which is ,his      
,wisdom who hath put on the nature of us
 all4 ,and although we are already one  
with ,him therein by that putting on of 
our nature1 we must also be like ,god in
 grace and virtue1 if we would find     
ourselves one with ,him in our ,eternal 
,archetype1 which is ,himself4#ac       
,under the stimulus of ,divine ,love    
perpetually beating in on him1 feeding  
perpetually on the substance of ,god1   
perpetually renewed and 'reborn' on to  
ever higher levels through the vivifying
 contact of reality1 man must grow up   
into the 'superessential life' of       
complete unity with the ,transcendent4  
,there1 not only the triune aspect but  
the dual character of ,god is reproduced
 in him1 reconciled in a synthesis      
beyond the span of thought2 and he      
becomes 'deiform'--both active and      
fruitive1 'ever at work and ever at     
rest'--at once a denizen of ,eternity   
and of ,time4 ,every aspect of his      
being--love1 intellect and will--is to  

be invaded and enhanced by the new      
life-giving life2 it shall condition and
 enrich his correspondences with the    
sense-world as well as with the world of
 soul4  ,man is not here invited to     
leave the active life for the           
contemplative1 but to make the active   
life perfect within the contemplative2  
carrying up these apparent opposites to 
a point at which they become one4 ,it is
 one of ,ruysbroeck's characteristics   
that he1 as few others1 followed        
mysticism out to this1 its last stage2  
where it issues in a balanced1          
divine-human life4 ,the energetic ,love 
of ,god1 which flows perpetually forth  
from the ,abyss of ,being to the        
farthest limits of the universe1        
enlightening and quickening where it    
goes1 and 'turns again home' as a strong
 tide drawing all things to their       
,origin1 here attains equilibrium2 the  
effort of creation achieves its aim4    
,now this aim1 this goal1 is already    
realised within ,god's nature1 for there

 all perfection eternally ,is4 ,but to  
man it is super-nature2 to achieve it he
 must transcend the world of conditions 
in which he lives according to the      
flesh1 and grow up to fresh levels of   
life4 ,under the various images of      
sonship1 marriage1 and transmutation1   
this is the view of human destiny which 
,ruysbroeck states again and again3 the 
creative evolution of the soul4 ,his    
insistence on the completeness of the   
,divine ,union to which the soul attains
 in this final phase1 his perpetual     
resort to the dangerous language of     
deification in the effort towards       
describing it1 seems at first sight to  
expose him to the charge of pantheism2  
and1 as a matter of fact1 has done so in
 the past4 ,yet he is most careful to   
guard himself at every point against    
this misinterpretation of his vision of 
life4 ,in his view1 by its growth       
towards ,god1 personality is not lost1  
but raised to an ever higher plane4     
,even in that ecstatic fruition of      

,eternal ,life in which the spirit      
passes above the state of ,union to the 
state of ,unity1 and beyond the ,persons
 to the ,one1 the 'eternal otherness' of
 ,creator and created is not overpassed2
 but1 as in the perfect fulfilment of   
love1 utter fusion and clear            
differentiation mysteriously co-exist4  
,it is1 he says1 not a mergence but a   
'mutual inhabitation4' ,in his attempts 
towards the description of this state1  
he borrows the language of ,st4         
,bernard1 most orthodox of the mystics2 
language which goes back to primitive   
,christian times4 ,the ,divine light1   
love and being1 he tells us1 penetrates 
and drenches the surrendered1 naked1    
receptive soul1 'as fire does the iron1 
as sunlight does the air'2 and even as  
the sunshine and the air1 the iron and  
the fire1 so are these two terms        
distinct yet united4 ,the iron doth not 
become fire nor the fire iron2 but each 
retaineth its substance and its nature4 
,so likewise the spirit of man doth not 

become ,god1 but is ,god-formed1 and    
knoweth itself breadth and length and   
height and depth4#ad ,again1 this union 
is in ,god1 through grace and our       
homeward-tending love4 ,yet even here   
does the creature feel a distinction and
 otherness between itself and ,god in   
its inward ground4#ae ,the dualistic    
relation of lover and beloved1 though   
raised to another power and glory1 is an
 eternal one4  ,i have spoken of        
,ruysbroeck's concept of ,god1 his      
closely related concept of man's soul2  
the threefold diagram of ,reality within
 which these terms are placed1 the      
doctrine of transcendence he deduced    
therefrom4 ,but such a diagram cannot   
express to us the rich content1 the     
deeply personal character of his        
experience and his knowledge4 ,it is no 
more than a map of the living land he   
has explored1 a formal picture of the   
,living ,one whom he has seen without   
sight4 ,for him the landscape lived and 
flowered in endless variety of majesty  

and sweetness2 the ,person drew near in 
mysterious communion1 and gave to him as
 food ,his very life4  ,all that this   
meant1 and must mean1 for our deeper    
knowledge of ,reality and of man's      
intuitive contacts with the ,divine     
,life1 we must find if we can in his    
doctrine of ,love4 ,love is the 'very   
self-hood' of ,god1 says ,ruysbroeck in 
strict ,johannine language4 ,his        
theology is above all the theology of   
the ,holy ,spirit1 the immanent ,divine 
,energy and ,love4 ,it is ,love which   
breaks down the barrier between finite  
and infinite life4 ,but ,love1 as he    
understands it1 has little in common    
with the feeling-state to which many of 
the female mystics have given that      
august name4 ,for him1 it is hardly an  
emotional word at all1 and never a      
sentimental one2 rather the title of a  
mighty force1 a holy energy that fills  
the universe--the essential activity of 
,god4 ,sometimes he describes it under  
the antique imagery of ,light2 imagery  

which is more than a metaphor1 and is   
connected with that veritable           
consciousness of enhanced radiance1 as  
well in the outer as in the inner world1
 experienced by the 'illuminated'       
mystic4 ,again it is the 'life-giving   
,life1' hidden in ,god and the substance
 of our souls1 which the self finds and 
appropriates2 the whole ,johannine      
trilogy brought into play1 to express   
its meaning for heart1 intellect and    
will4 ,this ,love1 in fact1 is the      
dynamic power which ,st4 ,augustine     
compared with gravitation1 'drawing all 
things to their own place1' and which   
,dante saw binding the multiplicity of  
the universe into one4 ,all             
,ruysbroeck's images for it turn on the 
idea of force4 ,it is a raging fire1 a  
storm1 a flood4 ,he speaks of it in one 
great passage as 'playing like          
lightning' between ,god and the soul4   
,whoever will look at ,william ,blake's 
great picture of the ,creation of ,adam1
 may gain some idea of the terrific yet 

infinitely compassionate character      
inherent in this concept of ,divine     
,love3 the agony1 passion1 beauty1      
sternness1 and pity of the primal       
generating force4 ,this love is         
eternally giving and taking--it is its  
very property1 says ,ruysbroeck1 'ever  
to give and ever to receive'--pouring   
its dower of energy into the soul1 and  
drawing out from that soul new vitality1
 new love1 new surrender4 ',hungry      
love1' 'generous love1' 'stormy love1'  
he calls it again and again4 ,streaming 
out from the heart of ,reality1 the     
impersonal aspect of the very ,spirit of
 ,god1 its creative touch evokes in man1
 once he becomes conscious of it1 an    
answering storm of love4 ,the whole of  
our human growth within the spiritual   
order is conditioned by the quality of  
this response2 by the will1 the         
industry1 the courage1 with which man   
accepts his part in the ,divine         
give-and-take4  ,that measureless ,love 
which is ,god ,himself1 dwells in the   

pure deeps of our spirit1 like a burning
 brazier of coal4 ,and it throws forth  
brilliant and fiery sparks which stir   
and enkindle heart and senses1 will and 
desire1 and all the powers of the soul1 
with a fire of love2 in a storm1 a rage1
 a measureless fury of love4 ,these be  
the weapons with which we fight against 
the terrible and immense ,love of ,god1 
who would consume all loving spirits and
 swallow them in ,himself4 ,love arms us
 with its own gifts1 and clarifies our  
reason1 and commands1 counsels and      
advises us to oppose ,him1 to fight     
against ,him1 and to maintain against   
,him our right to love1 so long as we   
may4#af ,in the spiritual realm1 giving 
and receiving are one act1 for ,god is  
an 'ocean that ebbs and flows'2 and it  
is only by opposing love to love1 by    
self-donation to ,his mysterious        
movements1 that the soul appropriates   
new force1 invigorating and fertilising 
it afresh4 ,thus1 and thus alone1 it    
lays hold on eternal life2 sometimes    

sacramentally1 under external images and
 accidents2 sometimes mystically1 in the
 communion of deep prayer4 ,every time  
we think with love of the ,well-beloved1
 ,he is anew our meat and drink--more1  
we too are ,his1 for the love between   
,god and man is a mutual love and       
desire4 ,as we lay hold upon the ,divine
 ,life1 devour and assimilate it1 so in 
that very act the ,divine ,life devours 
us1 and knits us up into the mystical   
,body of ,reality4 ,thou shalt not      
change ,me into thine own substance1 as 
thou dost change the food of thy flesh1 
but thou shalt be changed into ,mine1   
said the ,spirit of ,god to ,st4        
,augustine2 and his ,flemish descendant 
announces this same mysterious principle
 of life with greater richness and      
beauty4  ,it is the nature of love ever 
to give and to take1 to love and to be  
loved1 and these two things meet in     
whomsoever loves4 ,thus the love of     
,christ is both avid and generous 444 as
 ,he devours us1 so ,he would feed us4  

,if ,he absorbs us utterly into         
,himself1 in return ,he gives us ,his   
very self again4#ag  ,this is but       
another aspect of that great            
'inbreathing and outbreathing' of the   
,divine nature which governs the        
relation between the ,creator and the   
flux of life2 for ,ruysbroeck's         
,christological language always carries 
with it the idea of the ,logos1 the     
,truth and ,wisdom of ,deity1 as        
revealed in the world of                
conditions1--not only in the historical 
,jesus1 but also in the eternal         
generation of the ,son4 ,st4 ,francis of
 ,assisi had said that ,divine ,love    
perpetually swings between and          
reconciles two mighty opposites3 ,what  
is ,god8 and1 ,what am ,i8 ,for         
,ruysbroeck1 too1 that ,love is a       
unifying power1 manifested in motion    
itself1 an outgoing attraction1 which   
drags us out of ourselves and calls us  
to be melted and naughted in the        
,unity2#ah and all his deepest thoughts 

of it are expressed in terms of         
movement4  ,the relation between the    
soul and the ,absolute1 then1 is a love 
relation--as in fact all the mystics    
have declared it to be4 ,man1 that      
imperfectly real thing1 has an inherent 
tendency towards ,god1 the ,only        
,reality4 ,already possessed of a life  
within the world of conditions1 his     
unquiet heart reaches out towards a     
world that transcends conditions4 ,how  
shall he achieve that world8 ,in the    
same way1 says ,ruysbroeck1 as the child
 achieves the world of manhood3 by the  
double method of growth and education1  
the balanced action of the organism and 
its environment4 ,in its development and
 its needs1 spirit conforms to the great
 laws of natural life4 ,taught by the   
voices of the forest and that inward    
,presence who 'spoke without utterance' 
in his soul1 he is quick to recognise   
the close parallels between nature and  
grace4 ,his story of the mystical life  
is the story of birth1 growth1          

adolescence1 maturity3 a steady         
progress1 dependent on food and nurture1
 on the 'brooks of grace' which flow    
from the ,living ,fountain and bring    
perpetual renovation to help the wise   
disciplines and voluntary choices that  
brace and purge our expanding will and  
love4  ,ruysbroeck's universe1 like that
 of ,kabir and certain other great      
mystics1 has three orders3 ,becoming1   
,being1 ,god4 ,parallel with this1 he   
distinguishes three great stages in the 
soul's achievement of complete reality3 
the ,active1 the ,interior1 and the     
,superessential ,life1 sometimes        
symbolised by the conditions of         
,servant1 ,friend1 and ,son of ,god4    
,these1 however1 must be regarded rather
 as divisions made for convenience of   
description1 answering to those         
divisions which thought has made in the 
indivisible fact of the universe1 than  
as distinctions inherent in the reality 
of things4 ,the spiritual life has the  
true character of duration2 it is one   

indivisible tendency and movement       
towards our source and home1 in which   
the past is never left behind1 but      
incorporated in the larger present4  ,in
 the ,active ,life1 the primary interest
 is ethical4 ,man here purifies his     
normal human correspondences with the   
world of sense1 approximates his will to
 the ,will of ,god4 ,here1 his contacts 
with the ,divine take place within that 
world of sense1 and 'by means4' ,in the 
,interior ,life1 the interest embraces  
the intellect1 upon which is now        
conferred the vision of ,reality4 ,as   
the ,active ,life corresponded to the   
world of ,becoming1 this ,life          
corresponds with the supersensual world 
of ,being1 where the self's contacts    
with the ,divine take place 'without    
means4' ,in the ,superessential ,life1  
the self has transcended the            
intellectual plane and entered into the 
very heart of ,reality2 where she does  
not behold1 but has fruition of1 ,god in
 one life and one love4 ,the obvious    

parallel between these three stages and 
the traditional 'threefold way' of      
,purgation1 ,illumination and ,union is1
 however1 not so exact as it appears4   
,many of the characters of the ,unitive 
,way are present in ,ruysbroeck's       
'second life'2 and his 'third life'     
takes the soul to heights of fruition   
which few amongst even the greatest     
unitive mystics have attained or        
described4  7,a7 ,when man first feels  
upon his soul the touch of the ,divine  
,light1 at once1 and in a moment of     
time1 his will is changed2 turned in the
 direction of ,reality and away from    
unreal objects of desire4 ,he is1 in    
fact1 'converted' in the highest and    
most accurate sense of that ill-used    
word4 ,seeing the ,divine1 he wants the 
,divine1 though he may not yet          
understand his own craving2 for the     
scrap of ,divine ,life within him has   
emerged into the field of consciousness1
 and recognises its home4 ,then1 as it  
were1 ,god and the soul rush together1  

and of their encounter springs love4    
,this is the ,new ,birth2 the 'bringing 
forth of the ,son in the ground of the  
soul1' its baptism in the fountain of   
the ,life-giving ,life4  ,the new force 
and tendency received into the self     
begins to act on the periphery1 and     
thence works towards the centre of      
existence4 ,first1 then1 it attacks the 
ordinary temporal life in all its       
departments4 ,it pours in fresh waves of
 energy which confer new knowledge and  
hatred of sin1 purify character1 bring  
fresh virtues into being4 ,it rearranges
 the consciousness about new and higher 
centres1 gathering up all the faculties 
into one simple state of 'attention to  
,god4' ,thence results the highest life 
which is attainable by 'nature4' ,in it1
 man is united with ,god 'through       
means1' acts in obedience to the        
dictates of ,divine ,love and in        
accordance with the tendency of the     
,divine ,will1 and becomes the          
',faithful ,servant' of the             

,transcendent ,order4 ,plainly1 the     
,active ,life1 thus considered1 has much
 in common with the ',purgative ,way' of
 ascetic science4  7,b7 ,when this      
growth has reached its term1 when       
,free-will wears the crown of ,charity1 
and rules as a ,king over the soul1 the 
awakened and enhanced consciousness     
begins to crave a closer contact with   
the spiritual3 that unmediated and      
direct contact which is the essence of  
the ,contemplative or ,interior ,life1  
and is achieved in the deep state of    
recollection called 'unitive prayer4'   
,here voluntary and purposive education 
takes its place by the side of organic  
development4 ,the way called by most    
ascetic writers ',illumination'--the    
state of 'proficient' in monastic       
parlance--includes the training of the  
self in the contemplative art as well as
 its growth in will and love4 ,this     
training braces and purifies intellect1 
as the disciplines of the active life   
purified will and sense4 ,it teaches    

introversion1 or the turning inward of  
the attention from the distractions of  
the sense-world2 the cleansing of the   
mirror of thought1 thronged with        
confusing images2 the production of that
 silence in which the music of the      
,infinite can be heard4 ,nor is the     
,active ,life here left behind2 it is   
carried up to1 and included in1 the new1
 deepened activities of the self1 which 
are no longer ruled by the laws1 but by 
the 'quickening counsels' of ,god4  ,of 
this new life1 interior courage is a    
first necessity4 ,it is no easy         
appropriation of supersensual graces1   
but a deeper entering into the mystery  
of life1 a richer1 more profound1       
participation in pain1 effort1 as well  
as joy4 ,there must be no settling down 
into a comfortable sense of the ,divine 
,presence1 no reliance on the ',one     
,act'2 but an incessant process of      
change1 renewal1 re-emergence4          
,sometimes ,ruysbroeck appears to see   
this central stage in the spiritual     

life-process in terms of upward growth  
toward transcendent levels2 sometimes in
 terms of recollection1 the steadfast   
pressing inwards of consciousness       
towards that bare ground of the soul    
where it unites with immanent ,reality1 
and finds the ,divine ,life surging up  
like a 'living fountain' from the deeps4
 ,this double way of conceiving one     
process is puzzling for us2 but a proof 
that for ,ruysbroeck no one concept     
could suggest the whole truth1 and a    
useful reminder of the symbolic         
character of all these maps and         
itineraries of the spiritual life4  ,as 
the sun grows in power with the passing 
seasons1 so the soul now experiences a  
steady increase in the power and        
splendour of the ,divine ,light1 as it  
ascends in the heavens of consciousness 
and pours its heat and radiance into all
 the faculties of man4 ,the in-beating  
of this energy and light brings the self
 into the tempestuous heats of high     
summer1 or full illumination--the 'fury 

of love1' most fertile and dangerous    
epoch of the spiritual year4 ,thence1   
obedient to those laws of movement1 that
 'double rhythm of renunciation and     
love' which ,kabir detected at the heart
 of the universal melody1 it enters on a
 negative period of psychic fatigue and 
spiritual destitution2 the 'dark night  
of the soul4' ,the sun descends in the  
heavens1 the ardours of love grow cold4 
,when this stage is fully established1  
says ,ruysbroeck1 the ',september of the
 soul' is come2 the harvest and         
vintage--raw material of the life-giving
 ,eucharist--is ripe4 ,the              
flowering-time of spiritual joy and     
beauty is as nothing in its value for   
life compared with this still autumnal  
period of true fecundity1 in which man  
is at last 'affirmed' in the spiritual  
life4  ,this1 then1 is the curve of the 
self's growth4 ,side by side with it    
runs the other curve of deliberate      
training3 the education by which our    
wandering attention1 our diffused       

undisciplined consciousness1 is         
sharpened and focussed upon ,reality4   
,this training is needed by intellect   
and feeling2 but most of all by the     
will1 which ,ruysbroeck1 like the great 
,english mystics1 regards as the        
gathering-point of personality1 the     
'spiritual heart4' ,on every page of his
 writings the reference to that which   
the spiritual ,light and ,love do for   
man1 is balanced by an insistence on    
that which man himself must do3 the     
choices to be made1 the 'exercises' to  
be performed1 the tension and effort    
which must characterise the mystic way  
until its last phase is reached4        
,morally1 these exercises consist in    
progressive renunciations on the one    
hand and acceptances on the other 'for  
,love's sake'2 intellectually1 in       
introversion1 that turning inwards and  
concentration of consciousness1 the     
stripping off of all images and emptying
 of the mind1 which is the psychological
 method whereby human consciousness     

transcends the conditioned universe to  
which it has become adapted1 and enters 
the contemplative world4 ,man's         
attention to life is to change its      
character as he ascends the ladder of   
being4 ,therefore the old attachments   
must be cut before the new attachments  
can be formed4 ,this is1 of course1 a   
commonplace of asceticism2 and much of  
,ruysbroeck's teaching on detachment1   
self-naughting and contemplation1 is    
indeed simply the standard doctrine of  
,christian asceticism seen through a    
temperament4  ,when the self has grown  
up from the 'active' to the             
'contemplative' state of consciousness1 
it is plain that his whole relation to  
his environment has changed4 ,his world 
is grouped about a new centre4 ,it now  
becomes the supreme business of         
intellect to 'gaze upon ,god1' the      
supreme business of love to stretch out 
towards ,him4 ,when these twin powers1  
under the regnancy of the enhanced and  
trained will1 are set towards ,reality1 

then the human creature has done his    
part in the setting up of the relation  
of the soul to its ,source1 and made it 
possible for the music of the ,infinite 
to sound in him4 ,for this intellectual 
gazing and this stretching forth of love
 are two heavenly pipes1 sounding       
without the need of tune or of notes2   
they ever go forward in that ,eternal   
,life1 neither straying aside nor       
returning backward again2 and ever      
keeping harmony and concord with the    
,holy ,church1 for the ,holy ,spirit    
gives the wind that sings in them4#ai   
,observe1 that tension is here a        
condition of the right employment of    
both faculties1 and ensures that the    
,divine music shall sound true2 one of  
the many implicit contradictions of the 
quietist doctrine of spiritual limpness1
 which we find throughout ,ruysbroeck's 
works4  7,c7 ,when the twofold process  
of growth and education has brought the 
self to this perfection of attitude as  
regards the ,spiritual ,order--an       

attitude of true union1 says            
,ruysbroeck1 but not yet of the         
unthinkable unity which is our goal--man
 has done all that he can do of himself4
 ,his ',interior ,life' is complete1 and
 his being is united through grace with 
the ,being of ,god1 in a relation which 
is the faint image of the mutual        
relations of the ,divine ,persons2 a    
conscious sonship1 finding expression in
 the mutual interchange of the spirit of
 will and love4 ,this existence is      
rooted in 'grace1' the unconditioned    
life-force1 intermediary between        
ourselves and ,god1' as the active stage
 was rooted in 'nature4' ,yet there is  
something beyond this4 ,as beyond the   
,divine ,persons there is the           
,superessential ,unity of the ,godhead1 
so beyond the plane of ,being 7,wesen7  
,ruysbroeck apprehends a reality which  
is 'more than ,being' 7,overwesen74     
,man's spirit1 having relations with    
every grade of reality1 has also in its 
'fathomless ground' a potential relation

 with this superessential sphere2 and   
until this be actualised he is not      
wholly real1 nor wholly deiform4        
,ruysbroeck's most original contribution
 to the history of mysticism is his     
description of this supreme state2 in   
which the human soul becomes truly free1
 and is made the 'hidden child' of ,god4
 ,then only do we discern the glory of  
our full-grown human nature2 when1      
participating fully in the mysterious   
double life of ,god1 the twofold action 
of true love1 we have perfect fruition  
of ,him as ,eternal ,rest1 and perfect  
sharing in that outgoing love which is  
,his eternal ,work3 ,god with ,god1 one 
love and one life1 in ,his eternal      
manifestation4#bj  ,the consummation of 
the mystic way1 then1 represents not    
merely a state of ecstatic              
contemplation1 escape from the stream of
 succession1 the death of self-hood1    
joyous self-immersion in the ,abyss2 not
 merely the enormously enhanced state of
 creative activity and energetic love   

which the mystics call 'divine          
fecundity'2 but both--the flux and      
reflux of supreme ,reality4 ,it is the  
synthesis of contemplation and action1  
of ,being and ,becoming3 the discovery  
at last of a clue--inexpressible indeed1
 but really held and experienced--to the
 mystery which most deeply torments us1 
the link between our life of duration   
and the ,eternal ,life of ,god4 ,this is
 the ,seventh ,degree of ,love1 noblest 
and highest that can be realised in the 
life of time or of eternity4  ,that     
process of enhancement whereby the self1
 in its upward progress1 carries with it
 all that has been attained before1 here
 finds its completion4 ,the active life 
of ,becoming1 and the essential life of 
,being1 are not all4 ,from beyond the   
,infinite the ,infinite comes1 said the 
,indian2 and his ,christian brother1 in 
parallel terms1 declares that beyond the
 ,essence is the ,superessence of ,god1 
,his 'simple' or synthetic unity4 ,it is
 for fruition of this that man is       

destined2 yet he does not leave this    
world for that world1 but knows them as 
one4 ,totally surrendered to the double 
current of the universe1 the inbreathing
 and outbreathing of the ,spirit of     
,god1 his love and fruition live between
 labour and rest4 ,he goes up and down  
the mountain of vision1 a living willing
 tool wherewith ,god works4 ,hence1 to  
enter into restful fruition and come    
forth again in good works1 and to remain
 ever one with ,god--this is the thing  
that ,i would say4 ,even as we open our 
fleshly eyes to see1 and shut them again
 so quickly that we do not even feel it1
 thus we die into ,god1 we live of ,god1
 and remain ever one with ,god4         
,therefore we must come forth in the    
activities of the sense-life1 and again 
re-enter in love and cling to ,god2 in  
order that we may ever remain one with  
,him without change4#ba  ,all perfect   
lives1 says ,ruysbroeck1 conform to this
 pattern1 follow this curve2 though such
 perfect lives are rare amongst men4    

,they are the fruit1 not of volition1   
but of vocation2 of the mysterious      
operations of the ,divine ,light        
which--perpetually crying through the   
universe the unique and fathomless word 
',behold6 behold6' and therewith giving 
utterance to itself and all other       
things--yet evokes only in some men an  
answering movement of consciousness1 the
 deliberate surrender which conditions  
the new power of response and of growth4
 ,to this divine vision but few men can 
attain1 because of their own unfitness  
and because of the darkness of that     
,light whereby we see3 and therefore no 
one shall thoroughly understand this    
perception by means of any scholarship1 
or by their own acuteness of            
comprehension4 ,for all words1 and all  
that men may learn and understand in a  
creaturely fashion1 is foreign to this  
and far below the truth that ,i mean4   
,to understand and lay hold of ,god as  
,he is in ,himself above all            
images--this is to be ,god with ,god1   

without intermediary or any difference  
that might become an intermediary or an 
obstacle4 ,and therefore ,i beg each    
one1 who can neither understand this1   
nor feel it by the way of spiritual     
union1 that he be not grieved thereby1  
and let it be as it is4#bb  ,i end this 
chapter by a reference to certain       
key-words frequent in ,ruysbroeck's     
works1 which are sometimes a source of  
difficulty to his readers4 ,these words 
are nearly always his names for inward  
experiences4 ,he uses them in a poetic  
and artistic manner1 evocative rather   
than exact2 and we1 in trying to        
discover their meaning1 must never      
forget the coloured fringe of suggestion
 which they carry for the mystic and the
 poet1 and which is a true part of the  
message he intends them to convey4  ,the
 first of these words is ,fruition4     
,fruition1 a concept which ,eucken's    
philosophy has brought back into current
 thought1 represents a total attainment1
 complete and permanent participation   

and possession4 ,it is an absolute      
state1 transcending all succession1 and 
it is applied by ,ruysbroeck to the     
absolute character of the spirit's life 
in ,god2 which1 though it seem to the   
surface consciousness a perpetually     
renewed encounter of love1 is in its    
ground 'fruitive and unconditioned1' a  
timeless self-immersion in the ,dark1   
the 'glorious and essential ,oneness4'  
,thus he speaks of 'fruitive love1'     
'fruitive possession'2 as opposed to    
striving1 dynamic love1 partial1        
progressive and conditioned possession4 
,perfect contemplation and loving       
dependence are the eternal fruition of  
,god'3 the ,beatific ,vision of         
theology4 ,where we are one with ,god1  
without intermediary1 beyond all        
separation2 there is ,god our fruition  
and ,his own in an eternal and          
fathomless bliss4#bc  ,next perhaps in  
the power of provoking misunderstanding 
is the weight attached by ,ruysbroeck to
 the adjective ,simple4 ,this word1     

which constantly recurs in his          
descriptions of spiritual states1 always
 conveys the sense of wholeness1        
completeness1 synthesis2 not of poverty1
 thinness1 subtraction4 ,it is the white
 light in which all the colours of the  
spectrum are included and fused4        
',simple ,union1' ',simple              
,contemplation1' ',simple ,light'--all  
these mean the total undifferentiated   
act or perception from which our        
analytic minds subtract aspects4 ,in    
simplicity will ,i unite with the       
,simple ,one1 said ,kabir4 ,so          
,ruysbroeck3 ,we behold ,his face in a  
simple seeing1 beyond reason and without
 consideration4  ,another cause of      
difficulty to those unfamiliar with the 
mystics is the constant reference to    
,bareness or ,nudity1 especially in     
descriptions of the contemplative act4  
,this is1 of course1 but one example of 
that negative method of                 
suggestion--darkness1 bareness1         
desolation1 divine ignorance1 the 'rich 

nothing1' the 'naked thought'--which is 
a stock device of mysticism1 and was    
probably taken by ,ruysbroeck from      
,dionysius the ,areopagite4 ,it         
represents1 first1 the bewildering      
emptiness and nakedness of consciousness
 when introduced into a universe that   
transcends our ordinary conceptual      
world2 secondly1 the necessity of such  
transcendence1 of emptying the field of 
consciousness of 'every vain imagining1'
 if the self is to have contact with the
 ,reality which these veil4  ,with the  
distinction between ,essence 7,wesen7   
and ,superessence 7,overwesen7 ,i have  
already dealt2 and this will appear more
 clearly when we consider ,ruysbroeck's 
'second' and 'third' stages of the      
mystic life4  ,there remains the great  
pair of opposites1 fundamental for his  
thought1 called in the ,flemish         
vernacular ,wise and ,onwise1 and       
generally rendered by translators as    
',mode' and ',modeless4' ,wherever      
possible ,i have replaced these         

tasteless ,latinisms by the ,old        
,english equivalents 'in some wise' and 
'in no wise1' occasionally by           
'conditioned' and 'unconditioned'2      
though perhaps the colloquial 'somehow' 
and 'nohow' would be yet more exactly   
expressive4 ,now this pair of opposites 
is psychological rather than            
metaphysical1 and has to do with the    
characteristic phenomena of             
contemplation4 ,it indicates the        
difference between the universe of the  
normal man1 living as the servant or    
friend of ,god within the temporal      
order1 and the universe of the true     
contemplative1 the 'hidden child4' ,the 
knowledge and love of the first is a    
conditioned knowledge and love4         
,everything which happens to him happens
 'in some wise'2 it has attachments     
within his conceptual world1 is mediated
 to him by symbols and images which     
intellect can grasp4 ,the simple ascent 
into the ,nude and the ,unconditioned is
 unknown and unloved of him2 it is      

through and amongst his ordinary mental 
furniture that he obtains his contacts  
with ,reality4 ,but the knowledge and   
love of the second1 his contacts1       
transcend the categories of thought4 ,he
 has escaped alike from the tyrannies   
and comforts of the world of images1 has
 made the 'ascent into the ,nought1'    
where all is1 yet 'in no wise4' ,the    
power of the understanding is lifted up 
to that which is beyond all conditions1 
and its seeing is in no wise1 being     
without manner1 and it is neither thus  
nor thus1 neither here nor there4#bd    
,this is the direct1 unmediated world of
 spiritual intuition2 where the self    
touches a ,reality that has not been    
passed through the filters of sense and 
thought4 ,there man achieves a love1 a  
vision1 an activity which are 'wayless1'
 yet far more valid than anything that  
can be fitted into the framework of our 
conditioned world4    ,in a place beyond
 uttermost place1 in a track without    
shadow of trace1   ,soul and body       

transcending1 ,i live in the soul of my 
,loved ,one anew4  ,thus cries the great
 ,sufi poet1 ,jalalu'ddin2 and the      
suggestion which his words convey is    
perhaps as close as speech can come to  
what ,ruysbroeck meant by ,onwise4 ,the 
change of consciousness which initiates 
man into this inner yet unbounded       
world--the world that is 'unwalled1' to 
use his own favourite metaphor--is the  
essence of contemplation2 which         
consists1 not in looking at strange     
mysteries1 but in a movement to fresh   
levels1 shut to the analytic intellect1 
open to adventurous love4 ,there1       
without any amazement1 the self can     
'know in no wise' that which it can     
never understand4    ,contemplation is a
 knowing that is in no wise1   ,for ever
 dwelling above the ,reason4   ,never   
can it sink down into the ,reason1      
,and above it can the ,reason never     
climb4   ,the shining forth of ,that    
which is in no wise is as a fair mirror4
   ,wherein shines the ,eternal ,light  

of ,god4   ,it has no attributes1   ,and
 here all the works of ,reason fail4    
,it is not ,god1   ,but it is the ,light
 whereby we see ,him4   ,those who walk 
in the ,divine ,light of it   ,discover 
in themselves the ,unwalled4   ,that    
which is in no wise1 is above the       
,reason1 not without it3   ,it beholds  
all things without amazement4           
,amazement is far beneath it3   ,the    
contemplative life is without amazement4
   ,that which is in no wise sees1 it   
knows not what2   ,for it is above all1 
and is neither ,this nor ,that4#be      
,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,active ,,life      
,if we would discover and know that     
,kingdom of ,god which is hidden in     
us1 we must lead a life that is virtuous
 within1 well-ordered without1   and    
fulfilled with true charity4 ,thus      
imitating ,christ in every way1 we      
can1 through grace1 love and virtue1    
raise ourselves up to that apex of   the
 soul where ,god lives and reigns4      
,the ,mirror of ,eternal ,salvation4    

,the beginning of man's ,active ,life1  
says ,ruysbroeck--that uplifting of the 
diurnal existence into the ,divine      
,atmosphere1 which confers on it meaning
 and reality--is a movement of response4
 ,grace1 the synthesis of ,god's love1  
energy and will1 pours like a great     
river through the universe1 and         
perpetually beats in upon the soul4     
,when man consents to receive it1 opens 
the sluices of the heart to that living 
water1 surrenders to it2 then he opens  
his heart and will to the impact of     
,reality1 his eyes to the ,divine       
,light1 and in this energetic movement  
of acceptance begins for the first time 
to live indeed4 ,hence it is that1 in   
the varied ethical systems which we find
 in his books1 and which describe the   
active crescent life of ,christian      
virtue1 the laborious adjustment of     
character to the ,vision of ,god1       
,ruysbroeck always puts first the       
virtue1 or rather the attitude1 which he
 calls good-will3 the voluntary         

orientation of the self in the right    
direction1 the eager acceptance of      
grace4 ,as all growth depends upon food1
 so all spiritual development depends   
upon the self's appropriation of its own
 share of the transcendent life-force1  
its own 'rill of grace'2 and good-will  
breaks down the barrier which prevents  
that stream from pouring into the soul4 
,desire1 said ,william ,law1 is         
everything and does everything2 it is   
the primal motive-power4 ,ruysbroeck1   
too1 finds in desire turned towards the 
best the beginning of human             
transcendence1 and regards willing and  
loving as the essence of life4 ,basing  
his psychology on the common medival    
scheme of ,memory1 ,intelligence and    
,will1 he speaks of this last as the    
king of the soul2 dominating both the   
other powers1 and able to gather them in
 its clutch1 force them to attend to the
 invitations and messages of the eternal
 world4 ,thus in his system the demand  
upon man's industry and courage is made 

from the very first4 ,the great mystical
 necessity of self-surrender is shown to
 involve1 not a limp acquiescence1 but a
 deliberate and heroic choice2 the      
difficult approximation of our own      
thoughts and desires to the thoughts and
 desires of ,divine ,reality4 ,when we  
have but one thought and one will with  
,god1 we are on the first step of the   
ladder of love and of sanctity2 for     
good-will is the foundation of all      
virtue4#bf  ,in ,the ,adornment of the  
,spiritual ,marriage1 ,ruysbroeck has   
used the words said to the wise and     
foolish virgins of the parable--,behold1
 the bridegroom cometh2 go ye out to    
meet him--as an epitome of the self's   
relations with and reactions to         
,reality4 ,first1 all created spirits   
are called to behold ,god1 who is       
perpetually 'coming' to the world of    
conditions1 in a ceaseless procession of
 love2 and in this seeing our happiness 
consists4 ,but in order really to see a 
thing1 we need not only light and clear 

sight1 but the will to look at it2 every
 act of perception demands a self-giving
 on the seer's part4 ,so here we need   
not only the light of grace and the open
 eyes of the soul1 but also the will    
turned towards the ,infinite3 our       
attention to life1 the regnant fact of  
our consciousness1 must be focussed upon
 eternal things4 ,now1 when we see ,god1
 we cannot but love ,him2 and love is   
motion1 activity4 ,hence1 this first    
demand on the awakened spirit1          
',behold6' is swiftly followed by the   
second demand1 ',go ye out6' for the    
essence of love is generous1 outflowing1
 expansive1 an upward and outward       
tendency towards the ,kingdom of ,god1  
which is ,god ,himself4 ,this outgoing1 
this concrete act of response1 will at  
once change and condition our           
correspondences with and attitude       
towards ,god1 ourselves and our         
neighbours2 expressing itself within the
 world of action in a new ardour for    
perfection--the natural result of the   

'loving vision of the ,bridegroom1' the 
self's first glimpse of ,perfect        
,goodness and ,truth4 ,we observe the   
continued insistence on effort1 act1 as 
the very heart of all true self-giving  
to transcendent interests4  ,whilst in  
the volitional life drastic             
readjustments1 stern character-building1
 and eager work are the expression of   
goodwill1 in the emotional life it is   
felt as a profound impulse to           
self-surrender3 a loving yielding up of 
the whole personality to the inflow and 
purging activities of the ,absolute     
,life4 ,this good-will is nought else   
but the infused ,love of ,god1 which    
causes him to apply himself to ,divine  
things and all virtues2 444 when it     
turns towards ,god1 it crowns the spirit
 with ,eternal ,love1 and when it       
returns to outward things it rules as a 
mistress over his external good         
deeds4#bg  ,we have here1 then1 a       
disposition of heart and mind which both
 receives and responds to the messages  

of ,reality2 making it possible for the 
self to begin to grow in the right      
direction1 to enter into possession of  
its twofold heritage4 ,that completely  
human life of activity and contemplation
 which moves freely up and down the     
ladder of love between the temporal and 
eternal worlds1 and reproduces in little
 the ideal of ,divine ,humanity declared
 in ,christ1 is the ideal towards which 
it is set2 and already1 even in this    
lowest phase1 the double movement of the
 awakened consciousness begins to show  
itself4 ,our love and will1 firmly      
fastened in the ,eternal ,world1 are to 
swing like a pendulum between the seen  
and the unseen spheres2 in great        
ascending arcs of balanced adoration and
 service1 which shall bring all the     
noblest elements of human character into
 play4 ,therefore the pivoting of life  
upon ,divine ,reality1 which is the     
result of good-will--the setting up of a
 right relation with the universe--is   
inevitably the first condition of       

virtue1 the 'root of sanctity1' the     
beginning of spiritual growth1 the act  
which makes man free2 translating him1  
in ,ruysbroeck's image1 from the state  
of the slave to that of the conscious   
and willing servant of ,eternal ,truth4 
,from the hour in which1 with ,god's    
help1 he transcends his self-hood 444 he
 feels true love1 which overcomes doubt 
and fear and makes man trust and hope2  
and so he becomes a true servant1 and   
means and loves ,god in all that he     
does4#bh  ,so man1 emerging from the    
shell of selfhood1 makes--of his own    
free choice1 by his own effort--his     
first timid upward beat to ,god2 and1   
following swiftly upon it1 the          
compensating outward beat of charity    
towards his fellow-men4 ,we observe how 
tight a hold has this most              
transcendental of the mystics on the    
wholeness of all healthy human life3 the
 mutual support and interpenetration of 
the active and contemplative powers4    
',other-worldliness' is decisively      

contradicted from the first4 ,it is the 
appearance of this eager active         
charity--this imitation in little of the
 energetic ,love of ,god--which assures 
us that the first stage of the self's   
growth is rightly accomplished2         
completing its first outward push in    
that new direction to which its         
good-will is turned4 ,for charity ever  
presses towards the heights1 towards the
 ,kingdom of ,god1 the which is ,god    
,himself4  ,in the practical counsels   
given to the young novice to whom ,the  
,mirror of ,salvation is addressed1 we  
may see ,ruysbroeck's ideal of that     
active life of self-discipline and      
service which the soul has now set in   
hand2 and which he describes in greater 
detail in ,the ,adornment of the        
,spiritual ,marriage and ,the ,kingdom  
of ,god's ,lovers4 ,total self-donation1
 he tells her1 is her first             
need--'choosing ,god1 for love's sake'  
without hesitations or reserves2 and    
this dedication to the interests of     

,reality must be untainted by any       
spiritual selfishness1 any hint of that 
insidious desire for personal beatitude 
which 'fades the flower of true love4'  
,this done1 self-conquest and           
self-control become the novice's primary
 duties3 the gradual subduing and       
rearrangement of character about its new
 centre1 the elimination of all         
tendencies inimical to the demands of   
,eternal ,life2 the firm establishment  
upon its throne of that true free-will  
which desires only ,god's will4 ,this   
self-conquest1 the essence of the ',way 
of ,purgation1' as described and        
experienced by so many ascetics and     
mystics1 includes not only the          
eradication of sins1 but the training of
 the attention1 the adaptation of       
consciousness to its new environment2   
the killing-out of inclinations which1  
harmless in themselves1 compete with the
 one transcendent interest of life4     
,like all great mystics1 ,ruysbroeck had
 a strong 'sense of sin4' ,this is      

merely a theological way of stating the 
fact that his intense realisation of    
,perfection involved a vivid            
consciousness of the imperfections1     
disharmonies1 perversities1 implicit in 
the human creature2 the need of         
resolving them if the soul was to grow  
up to the stature of ,divine ,humanity4 
,yet there is in his writings a singular
 absence of that profound preoccupation 
with sin found in so many medival       
ascetics4 ,his attitude towards         
character was affirmative and robust2   
emphasising the possibilities rather    
than the disabilities of man4 ,sin1 for 
him1 was egotism2 showing itself in the 
manifold forms of pride1 laziness1      
self-indulgence1 coldness of heart1 or  
spiritual self-seeking1 but always      
implying a central wrongness of         
attitude1 resulting in a wrong          
employment of power4 ,self-denials and  
bodily mortifications he regarded partly
 as exercises in self-control--spiritual
 athletics--useful because educative of 

the will2 partly as expressions of love4
 ,at best they are but the means of     
sanctity1 and never to be confused with 
its end2 for the man who deliberately   
passed the greater part of his life in  
the bustle of the town was no advocate  
of a cloistered virtue or a narrow      
perfectionism4  ,morbid piety is often  
the product of physical as well as      
spiritual stuffiness2 and ,ruysbroeck   
wrote his great books out of doors1 with
 light and air all round him1 and the   
rhythmic life of trees to remind him how
 much stronger was the quiet law of     
growth than any atavism1 accident1 or   
perversion by which it could be checked4
 ,thus1 throughout his works1 the accent
 always falls upon power rather than    
weakness3 upon the spiritual energy     
pouring in like sunshine2 the incessant 
growth which love sets going2 the       
perpetual rebirths to ever higher       
levels1 as the young sapling stretches  
upward every spring4 ,what he asks of   
the novice is contrition without        

anxiety1 self-discipline without fuss2  
the steady1 all-round development of her
 personality1 stretching and growing    
towards ,god4 ,she is to be the mistress
 of her soul1 never permitting it to be 
drawn hither and thither by the         
distractions and duties of external     
life4 ,keeping always in the atmosphere 
of ,reality1 she shall bring therefrom  
truth and frankness to all her words and
 deeds2 and perform her duties with that
 right and healthy detachment which     
springs1 not from a contempt of the     
,many1 but from the secure and loving   
possession of the ,one4  ,the           
disciplines to which she must subject   
herself in the effort towards attainment
 of this poise1 will1 like a wise       
gymnastic1 produce in her a suppleness  
of soul2 making the constant and        
inevitable transition from interior     
communion to outward work1 which charity
 and good sense demand1 easy and        
natural1 and causing the spirit to be   
plastic in the hand of ,god4 ,such      

suppleness--the lightness and           
lissomeness which comes from spiritual  
muscles exercised and controlled--was   
one of the favourite qualities of that  
wise trainer of character1 ,st4 ,franois
 de ,sales2 and the many small and      
irritating mortifications with which he 
was accustomed to torment his disciples 
had no other aim than to produce it4    
,in the stage of development to which   
the ,active ,life belongs1 the soul     
enjoys communion with ,reality1 not with
 that directness proper to the true     
contemplative1 but obliquely1 by        
'means1' symbols and images2 especially 
by the sacramental dispensation of the  
,church1 a subject to which ,ruysbroeck 
devotes great attention4 ,as always in  
his system1 growth from within is       
intimately connected with the reception 
of food and power from without4 ,the    
movement of the self into ,god1 the     
movement of ,god into the self1 though  
separable in thought1 are one in fact3  
will and grace are two aspects of one   

truth4 ,only this paradox can express   
the relation between that ,divine ,love 
which is 'both avid and generous1' and  
the self that is destined both to devour
 and be devoured by ,reality4  ,in the  
beautiful chapters on the ,eucharist    
which form the special feature of ,the  
,mirror of ,eternal ,salvation1         
,ruysbroeck develops this idea4 ,if ,he 
gives us all that ,he has and all that  
,he is1 in return ,he takes from us all 
that we have and all that we are1 and   
demands of us more than we are capable  
of giving4444 ,even in devouring us1 ,he
 desires to feed us4 ,if ,he absorbs us 
utterly into ,himself1 ,he gives        
,himself in return4 ,he causes to be    
born in us the hunger and thirst of the 
spirit1 which shall make us savour ,him 
in an eternal fruition2 and to this     
spiritual hunger1 as well as to the love
 of our heart1 ,he gives ,his own ,body 
as food4444 ,thus does ,he give us ,his 
life full of wisdom1 truth and          
knowledge1 in order that we may imitate 

,him in all virtues2 and then ,he lives 
in us and we in ,him4 ,then do we grow1 
and raise ourselves up above the reason 
into a ,divine ,love which causes us to 
take and consume that ,food in a        
spiritual manner1 and stretch out in    
pure love towards the ,divinity4 ,there 
takes place that encounter of the       
spirit1 that is to say of measureless   
love1 which consumes and transforms our 
spirit with all its works2 drawing us   
with itself towards the ,unity1 where we
 taste beatitude and rest4 ,herein      
therefore is our eternal life3 ever to  
devour and be devoured1 to ascend and   
descend with love4#bi  ,the soul1 then1 
turned in the direction of the          
,infinite1 'having ,god for aim1' and   
with her door opened to the inflowing   
,divine ,life1 begins to grow4 ,her     
growth is up and out2 from that temporal
 world to which her nature is adapted1  
and where she seems full of power and   
efficiency1 to that eternal world to    
which the 'spark' within her belongs1   

but where she is as yet no more than a  
weak and helpless child4 ,hence the     
first state of mind and heart produced  
in her1 if the 'new birth' has indeed   
taken place1 will be that humility which
 results from all real self-knowledge2  
since whoso might verily see and feel   
himself as he is1 he should verily be   
meek4 ,this clear acknowledgment of     
facts1 this finding of one's own place1 
,ruysbroeck calls 'the solid foundation 
of the ,kingdom of the ,soul4' ,in thus 
discerning love and humility as the     
governing characteristics of the soul's 
reaction to ,reality1 he is of course   
keeping close to the great tradition of 
,christian mysticism2 especially to the 
teaching of ,richard of ,st4 ,victor1   
which we find constantly repeated in the
 ascetic literature of the ,middle      
,ages4  ,from these two virtues1 then1  
of humble self-knowledge and            
,god-centred love1 are gradually        
developed all those graces of character 
which 'adorn the soul for the spiritual 

marriage1' mark her ascent of the first 
degrees of the 'ladder of love1' and    
make possible the perfecting of her     
correspondences with the ',kingdom4'    
,this development follows an orderly    
course1 as subject to law as the        
unfolding of the leaves and flowers upon
 the growing plant2 and though          
,ruysbroeck in his various works uses   
different diagrams wherewith to explain 
it1 the psychological changes which     
these diagrams demonstrate are          
substantially the same4 ,in each case we
 watch the opening of man's             
many-petalled heart under the rays of   
the ,divine ,light1 till it blossoms at 
last into the rose of ,perfect ,charity4
  ,thus in ,the ,seven ,degrees of      
,love1 since he is there addressing a   
cloistered nun1 he accommodates his     
system to that threefold monastic vow of
 voluntary poverty or perfect           
renunciation1 chastity or singleness of 
heart1 and obedience or true humility in
 action1 by which she is bound4 ,when   

the reality which these vows express is 
actualised in the soul1 and dominates   
all her reactions to the world1 she     
wears the 'crown of virtue'2 and lives  
that 'noble life' ruled by the purified 
and enhanced will1 purged of all selfish
 desires and distractions1              
which--seeking in all things the        
interests of the spiritual world--is    
'full of love and charity1 and          
industrious in good works4'  ,in ,the   
,spiritual ,marriage a more elaborate   
analysis is possible2 based upon that   
division of man's moral perversities    
into the 'seven mortal sins' or seven   
fundamental forms of selfishness1 which 
governed1 and governs yet1 the ,catholic
 view of human character4 ,after a      
preliminary passage in which the triple 
attitude of love as towards ,god1       
humility as towards self1 justice as    
towards other men1 is extolled as the   
only secure basis of the spiritual life1
 ,ruysbroeck proceeds to exhibit the    
seven real and positive qualities which 

oppose the seven great abuses of human  
freedom4 ,as ,pride is first and worst  
of mortal sins and follies1 so its      
antithesis ,humility is again put       
forward as the first condition of       
communion with ,god4 ,this produces in  
the emotional life an attitude of loving
 adoration2 in the volitional life1     
obedience4 ,by obedience1 ,ruysbroeck   
means that self-submission1 that wise   
suppleness of spirit1 which is swayed   
and guided not by its own tastes and    
interests but by the ,will of ,god2 as  
expressed in the commands and           
prohibitions of moral and spiritual law1
 the interior push of conscience4 ,this 
attitude1 at first deliberately assumed1
 gradually controls all the self's      
reactions1 and ends by subduing it      
entirely to the ,divine purpose4 ,of    
this obedience there grows the          
abdication of one's own will and one's  
own opinion2 444 by this abdication of  
the will in all that one does1 or does  
not do1 or endures1 the substance and   

occasion of pride are wholly driven out1
 and the highest humility is            
perfected4#cj  ,this movement of        
renunciation brings--next phase in the  
unselfing of the self--a compensating   
outward swing of love2 expressed under  
the beautiful forms of patience1 'the   
tranquil tolerance of all that can      
happen1' and hence the antithesis of    
,anger2 gentleness1 which with peace and
 calm bears vexatious words and deeds2  
kindness1 which deals with the          
quarrelsome and irritable by means of a 
friendly countenance1 affectionate      
persuasion and compassionate acts2 and  
sympathy1 that inward movement of the   
heart which compassionates the bodily   
and spiritual griefs of all men1 and    
kills the evil spirit of ,envy and hate4
 ,this fourfold increase in             
disinterested love is summed up in the  
condition which ,ruysbroeck calls       
supernatural generosity2 that largeness 
of heart which flows out towards the    
generosity of ,god1 which is swayed by  

pity and love1 which embraces all men in
 its sweep4 ,by this energetic love     
which seeks not its own1 all virtues are
 increased1 and all the powers of the   
spirit are adorned2 and ,avarice1 the   
fourth great mortal sin1 is opposed4    
,generosity is no mere mood2 it is a    
motive-force1 demanding expression in   
action4 ,from the emotions1 it invades  
the will1 and produces diligence and    
zeal3 an 'inward and impatient          
eagerness' for every kind of work1 and  
for the hard practice of every kind of  
virtue1 which makes impossible that     
slackness and dulness of soul which is  
characteristic of the sin of ,sloth4 ,it
 is dynamic love2 and the spirit which  
is fired by its ardours1 has reached a  
degree of self-conquest in which the two
 remaining evil tendencies--that to     
every kind of immoderate enjoyment1     
spiritual1 intellectual or physical1    
which is the essence of ,gluttony1 and  
that to the impure desire of created    
things which is ,lust--can be met and   

vanquished4 ,the purged and strengthened
 will1 crowned by unselfish love1 is now
 established on its throne2 man has     
become captain of his soul1 and rules   
all the elements of his character and   
that character's expression in life--not
 as an absolute monarch1 but in the name
 of ,divine ,love4#ca ,he has done all  
he can do of himself towards the        
conforming of his life to ,supreme      
,perfection2 has opposed1 one after     
another1 each of those exhibitions of   
the self's tendency to curl inwards1 to 
fence itself in and demand1 absorb1     
enjoy as a separate entity1 which lie at
 the root of sin4 ,the constructive side
 of the ,purgative ,way has consisted in
 the replacement of this egoistic1      
indrawing energy by these outflowing    
energies of self-surrender1 kindness1   
diligence and the rest2 summed up in    
that perfection of humility and love1   
which in all its works1 and always1     
stretches out towards ,god4  ,the first 
three gifts of the ,holy ,spirit are    

possessed by the soul which has reached 
this point1 says ,ruysbroeck in ,the    
,kingdom of ,god's ,lovers3 that loving 
,fear1 which includes true humility with
 all its ancillary characteristics2 that
 general attitude of charity which makes
 man gentle1 patient and docile1 ready  
to serve and pity every one1 and is     
called ,godliness1 because there first  
emerges in it his potential likeness to 
,god2 and finally that ,knowledge or    
discernment of right and prudent conduct
 which checks the disastrous tendency to
 moral fussiness1 helps man to conform  
his life to supreme ,perfection1 and    
gives the calmness and balance which are
 essential to a sane and manly          
spirituality4 ,thus the new life-force  
has invaded and affected will1 feeling  
and intellect2 raised the whole man to  
fresh levels of existence1 and made     
possible fresh correspondences with     
,reality4 ,hereby are the three lower   
powers of the soul adorned with ,divine 
virtues4 ,the ,irascible i4e4 volitional

 and dynamic is adorned with loving and 
filial fear1 humility1 obedience and    
renunciation4 ,the ,desirous is adorned 
with kindness1 pity1 compassion and     
generosity4 ,finally1 the ,reasonable   
with knowledge and discernment1 and that
 prudence which regulates all things4#cb
 ,the ideal of character held out and   
described under varying metaphors in    
,ruysbroeck's different works1 is thus  
seen to be a perfectly consistent one4  
,now when the growing self has          
actualised this ideal1 and lives the    
,active ,life of the faithful servant of
 ,reality1 it begins to feel an ardent  
desire for some more direct encounter   
with ,that which it loves4 ,since it has
 now acquired the 'ornaments of the     
virtues'--cleansed its mirror1 ordered  
its disordered loves--this encounter may
 and does in a certain sense take place2
 for every ,godward movement of the     
human is met by a compensating movement 
of the ,divine4 ,man now begins to find 
,god in all things3 in nature1 in the   

soul1 in works of charity4 ,but in the  
turmoil and bustle of the ,active ,life 
such an encounter is at best indirect2 a
 sidelong glimpse of the 'first and only
 ,fair4' ,that vision can only be       
apprehended in its wholeness by a       
concentration of all the powers of the  
self4 ,if we would look the ,absolute in
 the eyes1 we must look at nothing else2
 the complete opening of the eye of     
,eternity entails the closing of the eye
 of ,time4 ,man1 then1 must abstract    
himself from multiplicity1 if only for a
 moment1 if he would catch sight of the 
unspeakable ,simplicity of the ,real4   
,longing to 'know the nature of the     
,beloved1' he must act as ,zacchus did  
when he wished to see ,christ3  ,he must
 run before the crowd1 that is to say   
the multiplicity of created things2 for 
these make us so little and low that we 
cannot perceive ,god4 ,and he must climb
 up on the ,tree of ,faith1 which grows 
from above downwards1 for its root is in
 the ,godhead4 ,this tree has twelve    

branches1 which are the twelve articles 
of the ,creed4 ,the lower branches speak
 of the ,humanity of ,god2 444 the upper
 branches1 however1 speak of the        
,godhead3 of the ,trinity of ,persons   
and the ,unity of the ,divine ,nature4  
,man must cling to the ,unity which is  
at the top of the tree1 for it is here  
that ,jesus will pass by with all ,his  
gifts4 ,and now ,jesus comes1 and ,he   
sees man1 and shows him in the light of 
faith that ,he is1 according to ,his    
,divinity1 unmeasured and               
incomprehensible1 inaccessible and      
fathomless1 and that ,he overpasses all 
created light and all finite            
comprehension4 ,this is the highest     
knowledge of ,god which man can acquire 
in the ,active ,life3 thus to recognise 
by the light of faith that ,god is      
inconceivable and unknowable4 ,in this  
light ,god says to the desire of man3   
,come down quickly1 for ,i would dwell  
in your house to-day4 ,and this quick   
descent1 to which ,god invites him1 is  

nought else but a descent1 by love and  
desire1 into the ,abyss of the ,godhead1
 to which no intellect can attain by its
 created light4 ,but here1 where        
intellect must rest without1 love and   
desire may enter in4 ,when the soul thus
 leans upon ,god by intention and love1 
above all that she understands1 then she
 rests and dwells in ,god1 and ,god in  
her4 ,when the soul mounts up by desire1
 above the multiplicity of things1 above
 the activities of the senses and above 
the light of external nature1 then she  
encounters ,christ by the light of      
faith1 and is illuminated2 and she      
recognises that ,god is unknowable and  
inconceivable4 ,finally1 stretching by  
desire towards this incomprehensible    
,god1 she meets ,christ and is fulfilled
 with ,his gifts4 ,and loving and       
resting above all gifts1 above herself  
and above all things1 she dwells in ,god
 and ,god in her4 ,according to this    
manner ,christ may be encountered upon  
the summit of the ,active ,life4#cc     

,this1 then1 is the completion of the   
first stage in the mystic way2 this     
showing to the purified consciousness of
 the helplessness of the analytic       
intellect1 the dynamic power of         
self-surrendered love4 ,where intellect 
must rest without1 love and desire may  
enter in4 ,the human creature1 turning  
towards ,reality1 has pressed up to the 
very edge of the ',cloud of ,unknowing' 
in which the goal of transcendence is   
hid4 ,if it is to go further it must    
bring to the adventure not knowledge but
 divine ignorance1 not riches but       
poverty2 above all1 an eager and        
industrious love4    ,a fiery flame of  
devotion leaping and ascending into the 
very goodness               of ,god     
,himself1   ,a loving longing of the    
soul to be with ,god in ,his ,eternity1 
,a turning from all things of self into 
the freedom of the ,will of ,god2       
,with all the forces of the soul        
gathered into the unity of the          
spirit4#cd                              

,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,interior ,,life3 
,,illumination ,,and ,,destitution      
,let whoso thirsts to see his ,god      
cleanse his mirror1 purge his spirit2   
and when thus he has cleansed his       
mirror1 and long and diligently gazed   
in it1 a certain brightness of divine   
light begins to shine through   upon    
him1 and a certain immense ray of       
unwonted vision to appear before   his  
eyes4444 ,from the beholding of this    
light1 which it sees within   itself    
with amazement1 the mind is mightily set
 on fire1 and lifted up   to behold that
 ,light which is above itself4          
,richard of ,st4 ,victor4  ,it is plain 
that the ,active ,life in ,ruysbroeck's 
system answers more or less to the      
,purgative ,way1 considered upon its    
affirmative and constructive side1 as a 
building up of the heroic ,christian    
character4 ,so1 too1 the life which he  
calls ,interior or ,contemplative1 and  
which initiates man into the friendship 
of ,god1 corresponds in the main with   

the ,illuminative ,way of orthodox      
mysticism2 though it includes in its    
later stages much that is usually held  
to belong to the third1 or ,unitive1    
state of the soul4 ,the first life has1 
as it were1 unfolded to the sunlight the
 outer petals of the mystic rose2       
exhibiting in their full beauty1        
adjusting to their true use1 the        
normally-apparent constituents of man's 
personality4 ,all his relations with the
 given world of sense1 the sphere of    
,becoming1 have been purified and       
adjusted4 ,now the expansive and        
educative influence of the ,divine      
,light is able to penetrate nearer to   
the heart of his personality2 is brought
 to bear upon those interior qualities  
which he hardly knows himself to        
possess1 and which govern his relation  
with the spiritual world of ,being4 ,the
 flower is to open more widely2 the     
inner ring of petals must uncurl4  ,as  
the primary interest of the ,active     
,life was ethical purification1 so the  

primary interest of this ,second ,life  
is intellectual purification4           
,intellect1 however1 is here to be      
understood in its highest sense2 as     
including not only the analytic reason  
which deals with the problems of our    
normal universe1 but that higher        
intelligence1 that contemplative mind1  
which--once it is awakened to           
consciousness--can gather news of the   
transcendental world4 ,the development  
and clarification of this power is only 
possible to those who have achieved1 and
 continue to live at full stretch1 the  
high1 arduous and unselfish life of     
,christian virtue4 ,again we must remind
 ourselves that ,ruysbroeck's theory of 
transcendence involves1 not the passage 
from one life to another1 but the adding
 of one life to another3 the perpetual  
deepening1 widening1 heightening and    
enriching of human experience4 ,as the  
author of ,the ,cloud of ,unknowing     
insists that none can be truly          
contemplative who is not also active1 so

 ,ruysbroeck says that no man ever rises
 above the ordinary obligations of      
,christian kindness and active good     
works4  ,we find nowadays many silly men
 who would be so interior and so        
detached1 that they will not be active  
or helpful in any way of which their    
neighbours are in need4 ,know1 such men 
are neither hidden friends nor yet true 
servants of ,god1 but are wholly false  
and disloyal2 for none can follow ,his  
counsels but those who obey ,his        
laws4#ce  ,nevertheless it would be     
generally true to say that1 whilst the  
aim of the ,active ,life is right       
conduct1 the aim of the ,interior ,life 
is right vision and thought4 ,as1 in    
that first life1 all the perversions of 
man's ordinary powers and passions were 
rectified1 all that was superfluous and 
unreal done away1 and his nature set    
right with ,god2 now--still holding and 
living in its fulness this purified     
active life--he is to press deeper and  
deeper into the resources of his being1 

finding there other powers and cravings 
which must be brought within the field  
of consciousness1 and set up those      
relations with the ,transcendent of     
which they are capable4 ,this deepening 
and enlarging of man's universe1        
together with the further and more      
drastic discarding of illusions and     
unrealities1 is the business of the     
,second ,life1 considered on its        
impersonal side4  ,if thou dost desire  
to unfold in thyself the ,contemplative 
,life1 thou must enter within1 beyond   
the sense-life2 and1 on that apex of thy
 being1 adorned with all the virtues of 
which ,i have spoken1 looking unto ,god 
with gratitude and love and continual   
reverence1 thou must keep thy thoughts  
bare1 and stripped of every sensible    
image1 thine understanding open and     
lifted up to the ,eternal ,truth1 and   
thy spirit spread out in the sight of   
,god as a living mirror to receive ,his 
everlasting likeness4 ,behold1 therein  
appears a light of the understanding1   

which neither sense1 reason1 nature1 nor
 the clearest logic can apprehend1 but  
which gives us freedom and confidence   
towards ,god4 ,it is nobler and higher  
than all that ,god has created in       
nature2 for it is the perfection of     
nature1 and transcends nature1 and is   
the clear-shining intermediary between  
ourselves and ,god4 ,our thoughts1 bare 
and stripped of images1 are themselves  
the living mirror in which this light   
shines3 and the light requires of us    
that we should be like to and one with  
,god1 in this living mirror of our bare 
thoughts4#cf  ,in this strongly         
,victorine passage1 the whole process of
 the ,second ,life is epitomised2 but in
 ,the ,spiritual ,marriage1 where its   
description occupies the seventy-three  
chapters of the second book1 we see how 
long is the way which stretches from    
that first 'entering in beyond the sense
 life' to the point at which the soul's 
mirror is able to receive in its        
fullness that ,light wherein alone it   

can apprehend ,reality4  ,considered    
upon its organic side1 as a growth and  
movement of the soul1 this ,way1 as     
conceived1 and probably experienced1 by 
,ruysbroeck1 can be divided into three  
great phases4 ,we might call these      
,action1 ,reaction and ,equilibrium4    
,broadly speaking1 they answer to the   
,illumination1 ,dark ,night and ,simple 
,union of orthodox mystical science4    
,yet since in his vivid description of  
these linked states he constantly       
departs from the formul of his          
predecessors1 and as constantly         
illustrates their statements by intimate
 and homely touches only possible to one
 who has endured the adventures of which
 he tells1 we are justified in claiming 
the description as the fruit of         
experience rather than of tradition2 and
 as evidence of the course taken by his 
own development4  ,it is surely upon his
 own memory that he is relying1 when he 
tells us that the beginning of this new 
life possesses something of the abrupt  

character of a second conversion4 ,it   
happens1 he says1 when we least expect  
it2 when the self1 after the long       
tension and struggle of moral purgation1
 has become drowsy and tired4 ,then1    
suddenly1 a spiritual cry echoes through
 the soul1 announcing a new encounter   
with ,reality1 and demanding a new      
response2 or1 to put it in another way1 
consciousness on its ascending spiral   
has pushed through to another level of  
existence1 where it can hear voices and 
discern visions to which it was deaf and
 blind before4 ,this sudden clarity of  
mind1 this new vivid apprehension of    
,divine ,love1 is the first indication  
of man's entrance on the ,illuminative  
,way4 ,it is introversive rather than   
out-going in type4 ,changing the        
character of our attention to life1 we  
discern within us something which we    
have always possessed and always        
ignored3 a secret ,divine energy1 which 
is now to emerge from the subconscious  
deeps into the area of consciousness4   

,there it stimulates the will1 evicts   
all lesser images and interests from the
 heart1 and concentrates all the        
faculties into a single and intense     
state1 pressing towards the ,unity of   
,god1 the synthetic experience of love2 
for perpetual movement towards that     
unity--not achievement of it--is the    
mark of this ,second ,life1 in which the
 separation of ,god and the soul remains
 intact4 ,in ,victorine language1 it is 
the period of spiritual betrothal1 not  
of spiritual marriage2 of a vision      
which1 though wide1 rich and wonderful1 
is mirrored rather than direct4  ,the   
new ,god-inspired movement1 then1 begins
 within1 like a spring bubbling from the
 deeps2 and thrusts up and out to the   
consciousness which it is destined to   
clarify and enhance4 ,the stream of     
,divine grace swiftly stirs and moves a 
man inwardly1 and from within outwards2 
and this swift stirring is the first    
thing that makes us see4 ,of this swift 
stirring is born from the side of man   

the second point3 that is1 a gathering  
together of all the inward and outward  
powers in spiritual unity and in the    
bonds of love4 ,the third is that       
liberty which enables man to retreat    
into himself1 without images or         
obstacles1 whensoever he wills and      
thinks of his ,god4#cg  ,so we may say  
that an enhancement of the conative     
powers1 a greater control over the      
attention1 are the chief marks of the   
,illuminative ,way as perceived by the  
growing self4 ,but the liberty here     
spoken of has a moral as well as a      
mental aspect4 ,it is a freeing of the  
whole man from the fetters of illusion1 
and involves that perfect detachment of 
heart1 that self-naughting1 which makes 
him equally willing to have joy or pain1
 gain or loss1 esteem or contempt1 peace
 or fear1 as the ,divine ,will may      
ordain4 ,thus is perfected that         
suppleness of soul which he began to    
acquire in the ,active ,life3 a gradual 
process1 which needs for its            

accomplishment the negative rhythm of   
renunciation1 testing the manliness and 
courage of the self1 as well as the     
positive movement of love4 ,hence the   
,contemplative ,life1 as ,ruysbroeck    
knows and describes it1 has1 and must   
have1 its state of pain as well as its  
state of joy4 ,with him1 however1 as    
with nearly all the mystics1 the state  
of joy comes first3 the glad and eager  
reaction to those new levels of         
spiritual reality disclosed to          
consciousness when the struggles and    
readjustments of the ,active ,life have 
done their work4 ,this is the phase in  
the self's progress which mystical      
writers properly mean by ,illumination3 
a condition of great happiness1 and of  
an intuition of ,reality so vivid and   
joyous1 that the soul often supposes    
that she has here reached the goal of   
her quest4 ,it is in the spiritual year1
 says ,ruysbroeck1 that which the month 
of ,may is in the seasons of the earth3 
a wholesome and necessary time of       

sunshine1 swift growth and abundant     
flowers1 when the soul1 under the       
influence of 'the soft rain of inward   
consolations and the heavenly dew of the
 ,divine sweetness' blossoms in new and 
lovely graces4  ,illumination is an     
unstable period4 ,the sun is rising     
swiftly in the heaven of man's          
consciousness2 and as it increases in   
power1 so it calls forth on the soul's  
part greater ardours1 more intense      
emotional reactions4 ,once more the flux
 of ,god is demanding its reflux4 ,the  
soul1 like the growing boy suddenly made
 aware of the beauty1 romance and       
wonder--the intense and irresistible    
appeal--of a world that had seemed      
ordinary before1 flows out towards this 
new universe with all the enthusiasm and
 eagerness of its young fresh powers4   
,those powers are so new to it1 that it 
cannot yet control or understand them4  
,vigorous and ungovernable1 they invade 
by turns the heart1 the will1 the mind1 
as do the fevers and joys of physical   

adolescence2 inciting to acts and       
satisfactions for which the whole self  
is hardly ready yet4 ,then is thrown    
wide1 says ,ruysbroeck1 the heaven which
 was shut1 and from the face of ,divine 
,love there blazes down a sudden light1 
as it were a lightning flash4 ,in the   
meeting of this inward and outward      
spiritual force--the ,divine ,light     
without1 the growing ,divine ,spark     
within--there is great joy4 ,ecstasy1   
and that state of musical rapture1      
exceeding the possibilities of speech1  
which ,ruysbroeck like ,richard ,rolle  
calls 'ghostly song1' are the natural   
self-expressions of the soul in this    
moment of its career4#ch  ,in more than 
one book we find references to this     
ecstatic period3 a period so strongly   
marked in his own case1 that it became  
for him--though he was under no         
illusions as to its permanent value--one
 of the landmarks in man's journey to   
his home4 ,looking back on it in later  
life1 he sees in it two great phases1 of

 which the earlier and lower at any rate
 is dangerous and easily misunderstood2 
and is concerned to warn those who come 
after him of its transitory and         
imperfect character4 ,the first phase is
 that of 'spiritual inebriation1' in    
which the fever1 excitement and unrest  
of this period of growth and            
change--affecting as they do every      
aspect of personality--show themselves  
in the psycho-physical phenomena which  
are well-known accompaniments of        
religious emotion in selves of a certain
 temperament4 ,this spiritual delirium1 
which appears to have been a common     
phase in the mystical revivals of the   
fourteenth century1 is viewed by        
,ruysbroeck with considerable distrust2 
and rightly attributed by him to an     
excitement of the senses rather than of 
the soul4 ,at best it is but 'children's
 food1' given to those who cannot yet   
digest 'the strong food of temptation   
and the loss of ,god4' ,its             
manifestations1 as he describes them1   

overpass the limits not merely of common
 sense but also of sanity2 and are      
clearly related to the frenzies of      
revivalists and the wild outbreaks of   
songs1 dance and ecstatic speech        
observed in nearly all non-,christian   
religions of an enthusiastic type4 ,in  
this state of rapture1 a man seems like 
a drunkard1 no longer master of himself4
 ,he sings1 shouts1 laughs and cries    
both at once1 runs and leaps in the air1
 claps his hands1 and indulges in       
absurdly exaggerated gestures 'with many
 other disagreeable exhibitions4'#ci    
,these he may not be able to help2 but  
is advised to control them as soon as he
 can1 passing from the merely sensuous  
emotion which results when the light of 
,eternal ,love invades the 'inferior    
powers' of the soul1 to the spiritual   
emotion1 amenable to reason1 which is   
the reaction of the 'higher powers' of  
the self to that same overwhelming      
influx of grace4  ,that inpouring grace 
grows swiftly in power1 as the strength 

of the sun grows with the passing of the
 year4 ,the ,presence of ,god now stands
 over the soul's supreme summits1 in the
 zenith3 the transcendent fact of the   
illuminated consciousness4 ,his power   
and love shine perpetually upon the     
heart1 'giving more than we can take1   
demanding more than we can pay'2 and    
inducing in the soul upon which this    
mighty energy is playing1 a strange     
unrest1 part anguish and part joy4 ,this
 is the second phase of the ecstatic    
period1 and gives rise to that which    
,ruysbroeck1 and after him ,tauler1 have
 called the 'storm of love'3 a wild     
longing for union which stretches to the
 utmost the self's powers of response1  
and expresses itself in violent efforts1
 impassioned ascents towards the ,spirit
 that cries without ceasing to our      
spirit3 ,pay your debt6 ,love the ,love 
that has loved you from ,eternity4#dj   
,now the vigorous soul begins to find   
within itself the gift of ,spiritual    
,strength2 that enthusiastic energy     

which is one of the characters of all   
true love4 ,this is the third of the    
',seven ,gifts of the ,spirit1' and the 
first to be actualised in the           
,illuminated ,life4#da ,from this strong
 and ardent passion for the             
,transcendent1 adoration and prayer     
stream forth2 and these again react upon
 the self1 forming the fuel of the fire 
of love4 ,the interior invitation of    
,god1 ,his attractive power1 ,his       
delicate yet inexorable caress1 is to   
the loving heart the most pure delight  
that it has ever known4 ,it responds by 
passionate movements of adoration and   
gratitude1 opening its petals wide to   
the beams of the ,eternal ,sun4  ,this  
is the joy2 and close behind it comes   
the anguish1 'sweetest and heaviest of  
all pains4' ,it is the sense of         
unsatisfied desire--the pain of         
love--which comes from the enduring     
consciousness of a gulf fixed between   
the self and ,that with which it desires
 to unite4 ,of this inward demand and   

compulsion1 which makes the creature to 
rise up and prepare itself to the utmost
 of its power1 without yet being able to
 reach or attain the ,unity--of this1   
there springs a spiritual pain4 ,when   
the heart's core1 the very source of    
life1 is wounded by love1 and man cannot
 attain that thing which he desires     
above else2 when he must stay ever where
 he desires no more to be1 of these     
feelings comes this pain4444 ,when man  
cannot achieve ,god1 and yet neither can
 nor will do without ,him2 in such men  
there arises a furious agitation and    
impatience1 both within and without4    
,and whilst man is in this tumult1 no   
creature in heaven or earth can help him
 or give him rest4#db  ,the sensible    
heat of love is felt with a greater     
violence now than at any other period of
 life2 the rays of the ,spiritual ,sun  
strike the soul with terrific force1    
ripening the fruits of the virtues1 yet 
bringing danger to the health1 both     
mental and physical1 of those who are   

not properly prepared1 and who faint    
under the exhaustion of this 'intense   
fury of ,divine ,love1' this onslaught  
which 'eats up the heart4' ,these are   
'the dog-days of the spiritual year4'   
,as all nature languishes under their   
stifling heat1 so too long an exposure  
to their violence may mean ruin to the  
physical health of the growing self4    
,yet those who behave with prudence need
 not take permanent harm2 a kind of wise
 steadfastness will support them        
throughout this turbulent period4       
,following through all storms the path  
of love1 they will advance towards that 
place whither love leadeth them4#dc  ,to
 this period of vivid illumination and  
emotional unrest belongs the development
 of those 'secondary automatisms'       
familiar to all students of mysticism3  
the desperate efforts of the mind to    
work up into some intelligible          
shape--some pictured vision or some     
spoken word--the overwhelming intuitions
 of the ,transcendent by which it is    

possessed2 the abrupt suspension of the 
surface-consciousness in rapture and    
ecstasy1 when that overwhelming         
intuition develops into the complete    
mono-ideism of the ecstatic1 and cuts   
off all contacts with the world of      
sense4 ,of these phenomena ,ruysbroeck  
speaks with intimacy1 and also with much
 common sense4 ,he distinguishes visions
 into those pictures or material images 
which are 'seen in the imagination1' and
 those so-called 'intellectual          
visions1'--of which the works of ,angela
 of ,foligno and ,st4 ,teresa provide so
 rich a series of examples1--which are  
really direct and imageless messages    
from the ,transcendent2 received in     
those supersensuous regions where man   
has contact with the ,incomprehensible  
,good and seeing and hearing are one    
thing4 ,to this conventional            
classification he adds a passage which  
must surely be descriptive of his own   
experiences in this kind3  ,sometimes   
,god gives to such men swift spiritual  

glimpses1 like to the flash of lightning
 in the sky4 ,it comes like a sudden    
flash of strange light1 streaming forth 
from the ,simple ,nudity4 ,by this is   
the spirit uplifted for an instant above
 itself2 and at once the light passes1  
and the man again comes to himself4     
,this is ,god's own work1 and it is     
something most august2 for often those  
who experience it afterwards become     
illuminated men4 ,and those who live in 
the violence and fervour of love have   
now and then another manner1 whereby a  
certain light shines in them2 and this  
,god works by means4 ,in this light1 the
 heart and the desirous powers are      
uplifted toward the ,light2 and in this 
encounter the joy and satisfaction are  
such that the heart cannot contain      
itself1 but breaks out in loud cries of 
joy4 ,and this is called jubilus or     
jubilation2 and it is a joy that cannot 
be expressed in words4#dd  ,here the    
parallel with ,richard ,rolle's 'ghostly
 song1 with great voice outbreaking'    

will strike every reader of that most   
musical of the mystics2 and it is       
probable that in both cases the         
prominence given to this rather uncommon
 form of spiritual rapture points back  
to personal experience4 ,methinketh1    
says ,rolle1 that contemplation is this 
heavenly song of the ,love of ,god1     
which is called jubilus1 taken of the   
sweetness of a soul by praising of ,god4
 ,this song is the end of perfect       
prayer1 and of the highest devotion that
 may be here4 ,this gladness of soul is 
had of ,god1 and it breaketh out in a   
ghostly voice well-sounding4#de  ,this  
exultant and lyrical mood then1 this    
adoring rapture1 which only the rhythm  
of music can express1 is the emotional  
reaction which indicates the high summer
 of the soul4 ,it will be seen that each
 phase of its seasonal progress has been
 marked by a fresh inflow of grace and  
gifts1 a fresh demand upon its power of 
response4 ,the tension never slackens2  
the need for industry is never done     

away4 ,the gift of ,strength1 by which  
the self presses forward1 has now been  
reinforced by the gift of ,counsel1 i4e4
 by the growth and deepening of that    
intuition which is its medium of contact
 with the spiritual world4 ,the ,counsel
 of the ,spirit1 says ,ruysbroeck1 is   
like a stirring or inspiration1 deep    
within the soul4 ,this stirring1 this   
fresh uprush of energy1 is really a 'new
 birth' of the ,son1 the ,divine        
,wisdom2 lighting up the intelligence so
 that it perceives its destiny1 and     
perceives too that the communion it now 
enjoys is but an image of the ,divine   
,union which awaits it4#df ,god is      
counselling the soul with an inward     
secret insistence to rush out towards   
,him1 stimulating her hunger for        
,reality2 or1 to put it otherwise1 the  
,divine ,spark is growing swiftly1 and  
pressing hard against the walls of its  
home4 ,therefore the culmination of this
 gift1 and the culmination too of the   
illuminated consciousness1 brings to the

 soul a certitude that she must still   
press on and out2 that nothing less than
 ,god ,himself can suffice her1 or match
 the mysterious ,thing which dwells in  
her deeps4  ,now this way of love and   
ecstasy and summer heats has been       
attended throughout by grave dangers for
 the adolescent spirit2 above all by the
 primary danger which besets the        
mystical life1 of mistaking spiritual   
joy for spiritual reality1 desiring     
'consolations' and 'illuminations' for  
their own sake1 and resting in the gift 
instead of the ,giver4 ,though he who   
dedicates himself to love ever          
experiences great joy1 he must never    
seek this joy4 ,all those tendencies    
grouped by ,st4 ,john of the ,cross     
under the disagreeable name of          
'spiritual gluttony1' those further     
temptations to self-indulgent quietism  
which are but an insidious form of      
sloth1 are waiting to entrap the self on
 the ,illuminative ,way4 ,but there is a
 way beyond this1 another ',coming of   

the ,bridegroom1' which ,ruysbroeck     
describes as 'eternally safe and sure4' 
,this is the way of pain and            
deprivation2 when the ,presence of ,god 
seems to be withdrawn1 and the fatigue  
and reaction consequent on the violent  
passions and energies of the illuminated
 state make themselves felt as a        
condition of misery1 aridity and        
impotence1--all1 in fact1 that the      
,christian mystics mean by the          
',spiritual ,death' or ',dark ,night of 
the ,soul1' and which ,ruysbroeck's     
contemporaries1 the ,friends of ,god1   
called 'the upper school of perfect     
self-abandonment4'  ,the mirror is now  
to be cleansed of all false reflections1
 all beautiful prismatic light2 the     
thoughts stripped bare of the           
consolations they have enjoyed4 ,summer 
is over1 and autumn begins2 when the    
flowers indeed die down1 but the fruits 
which they heralded are ripe4 ,now is   
the time when man can prove the stuff of
 which he is made2 and the religious    

amorist1 the false mystic1 is           
distinguished from the heroic and       
long-suffering servant of ,god4 ,in this
 season is perfected and completed all  
the work that the sun has accomplished  
during the year4 ,in the same manner1   
when ,christ the glorious ,sun has risen
 to ,his zenith in the heart of man and 
then begins to descend1 and to hide the 
radiance of ,his ,divine light1 and to  
abandon the man2 then the impatience and
 ardour of love grow less4 ,and this    
concealment of ,christ1 and this        
withdrawal of ,his light and heat1 are  
the first working and the new coming of 
this degree4 ,and now ,christ says      
spiritually within the man3 ',go forth1 
in the way which ,i now teach you4' ,and
 the man goes forth1 and finds himself  
poor1 wretched and abandoned4 ,and here 
the tempest1 the ardour1 the impatience 
of love grows cold2 and the hot summer  
becomes autumn1 and its riches turn to  
great poverty4 ,then man begins to      
lament in his distress--where now has   

gone that ardent love1 that intimacy1   
that gratitude1 that all-sufficing      
adoration8 ,and that interior           
consolation1 that intimate joy1 that    
sensible savour1 how has he lost all    
this8#dg  ,the veil that had seemed so  
transparent now thickens again2 the     
certitudes that made life lovely all    
depart4 ,small wonder if the tortured   
spirit of the mystic fails to recognise 
this awful destitution as a renewed     
caress from the all-demanding ,lover of 
the ,soul2 an education in courage1     
humility and selflessness2 a last       
purification of the will4 ,the state to 
which that self is being led is a       
renewed self-donation on new and higher 
levels3 one more of those mystical      
deaths which are really mystical births2
 a giving-up1 not merely of those       
natural tastes and desires which were   
disciplined in the ,active ,life1 but of
 the higher passions and satisfactions  
of the spirit too4 ,he is to be led to a
 state of such complete surrender to the

 ,divine purposes that he is able to    
say3 ,lord1 not my will according to    
nature1 but ,thy will and my will       
according to spirit be done4 ,the       
darkness1 sorrow and abandonment through
 which this is accomplished are far more
 essential to his development than the  
sunshine and happiness that went before4
 ,it is not necessary1 says ,ruysbroeck1
 that all should know the ecstasies of  
illumination2 but by this dark stairway 
every man who would attain to ,god must 
go4  ,when man has achieved this perfect
 resignation and all tendency to        
spiritual self-seeking is dead1 the     
,september of the soul is come4 ,the sun
 has entered the sign of the ,balance1  
when days and nights are equal2 for now 
the surrendered self has achieved       
equilibrium1 and endures in peace and   
steadfastness the alternations of the   
,divine ,dark and ,divine ,light4 ,now  
the harvest and the vintage are ripe3   
,that is to say1 all those inward and   
outward virtues1 which man has practised

 with delight in the fire of love1      
these1 now that he knows them and is    
able to accomplish them1 he shall       
practise diligently and dutifully and   
offer them to ,god4 ,and never were they
 so precious in ,his sight3 never so    
noble and so fair4 ,and all those       
consolations which ,god gave him before1
 he will gladly give up1 and will empty 
himself for the glory of ,god4 ,this is 
the harvest of the wheat and the many   
ripe fruits which make us rich in ,god1 
and give to us ,eternal ,life4 ,thus are
 the virtues perfected2 and the absence 
of consolation is turned to an eternal  
wine4#dh                                
,,chapter ,,vii                ,,the    
,,interior ,,life3 ,,union ,,and        
,,contemplation     ,lume  lassu1 che   
visibile face     lo ,creatore a quella 
creatura     che solo in lui vedere ha  
la sua pace4                            
,par1 xxx4 #ajj4    ,and the ,light     
floweth forth in similitude1 and        
indraweth ,itself in   unity2 which we  

perceive1 beyond the reason1 in that    
high point of our   understanding which 
is bare and turned within4              
,the ,twelve ,bguines4  ,the soul which 
has endured with courage and humility   
the anguish of the ,dark ,night1        
actualising within its own experience   
the double rhythm of love and           
renunciation1 now enters upon a         
condition of equilibrium2 in which it   
perceives that all its previous         
adventures and apprehensions were but   
episodes of growth1 phases in the long  
preparation of character for those new  
levels of life on which it is now to    
dwell4  ,three points1 says ,ruysbroeck1
 must characterise the truly interior   
man4 ,first1 his mind must be detached  
from its natural inclination to rest in 
images and appearances1 however lovely2 
and must depend altogether upon that    
naked ,absence of ,images1 which is     
,god4 ,this is the 'ascent to the       
,nought' preached by the ,areopagite4   
,secondly1 by means of his spiritual    

exercises1 his progressive efforts to   
correspond with that ,divine ,life ever 
experienced by him with greater         
intensity1 he must have freed himself   
from all taint of selfhood1 all personal
 desire2 so that in true inward liberty 
he can lift himself up unhindered       
towards ,god1 in a spirit of selfless   
devotion4 ,plainly1 the desolations of  
the ,dark ,night are exactly adapted to 
the production within the self of these 
two characters2 which we might call     
purity of intelligence and purity of    
will4 ,directly resulting from their    
actualisation1 springs the third point3 
the consciousness of inward union with  
,god4#di ,this consciousness of union1  
which we must carefully distinguish from
 the ,unity that is ,ruysbroeck's name  
for the last state of the transfigured  
soul1 is the ruling character of that   
state of equilibrium to which we have   
now come2 and represents the full       
achievement of the ,interior ,life4  ,in
 many of his works1 under various       

images1 ,ruysbroeck tries to tell us    
what he means by this inward union with 
,god1 this 'mutual inhabitation1' as he 
calls it in one passage of great beauty1
 which is the goal of the ',second      
,life4' ,he reminds us again of that    
remote point of the spirit1 that 'apex' 
of our being1 where our life touches the
 ,divine ,life2 where ,god's image      
'lives and reigns4' ,with the cleansing 
of the heart and mind1 the heightening  
and concentration of the will1 which the
 disciplines of the ,active ,life and   
,dark ,night have effected1 this supreme
 point of the spirit is brought at last 
within the conscious field4 ,then man   
feels and knows the presence there of an
 intense and creative vitality1 an      
,eternal ,essence1 from which all that  
is worth having in his selfhood flows4  
,this is the ,life-giving ,life         
7,levende ,leven71 where the created and
 ,uncreated meet and are one3 a phrase1 
apparently taken by ,ruysbroeck from    
,st4 ,bernard1 which aptly expresses an 

idea familiar to all the great          
contemplatives4 ,it is the point at     
which man's separate spirit1 as it were1
 emerges from the ,divine ,spirit3 the  
point through which he must at last     
return to his ,source4 ,here the ,father
 has impressed ,his image1 the ,son is  
perpetually born1 the ,spirit wells     
up2#ej and here the ,divine ,unity      
dwells and calls him to the ,one4 ,here 
,eternity and ,time are intertwined4    
,here springs the fountain of ',living  
,water'--grace1 transcendent            
vitality--upon which the mystic life of 
man depends4  ,now the self1 because it 
is at last conformed to the demands of  
the spiritual world1 feels new powers   
from this life-giving source streaming  
into all departments of its being4 ,the 
last barriers of self-will are broken2  
and the result is an inrush of fresh    
energy and light4 ,whereas in the       
',first ,life' ,god fed and communed    
with him by 'means1' and was revealed   
under images appropriate to a           

consciousness still immersed in the     
world of appearance2 now man receives   
these gifts and messages1 makes his     
contacts with ,reality1 'without means1'
 or 'by grace'--i4e4 in a spiritual and 
interior manner4 ,those 'lightning      
flashes from the face of ,divine ,love1'
 those abrupt and vivid intuitions which
 he enjoyed during illumination1 have   
given way before the steady shining of  
the ,uncreated ,light4 ,though          
light-imagery is never long absent from 
,ruysbroeck's pages1 it is1 however1 the
 spring of ,living ,water ever welling  
up1 the rills or brooks which flow from 
it1 and take its substance to the       
farthest recesses of the thirsty land1  
which seems to him the best image of    
this new inpouring of life4 ,he uses it 
in all his chief works1 perhaps most    
successfully in ,the ,spiritual         
,marriage4 ,faithful to the medival     
division of personality into ,memory or 
,mind1 ,intelligence or ,understanding1 
and ,will1--influenced too by his deep  

conviction that all ,divine activity is 
threefold in type1--he describes the    
,well-spring as breaking into three     
,brooks of ,grace1 which pour their     
waters into each department of the self4
 ,the duct through which these waters   
come1 'living and foaming' from the     
deeps of the ,divine ,riches1 is the    
,eternal ,christ2 who 'comes anew' to   
the purified soul1 and is the immediate 
source of its power and happiness4  ,the
 first of the brooks which flow from    
,him is called ',pure ,simplicity4' ,it 
is a 'simple light1' says ,ruysbroeck in
 another place2 the white radiance of   
,eternity which1 streaming into the     
mind1 penetrates consciousness from top 
to bottom1 and unifies the powers of the
 self about the new and higher centre   
now established4 ,this simple light1 in 
which we see things as they are--and    
therefore see that only one thing truly 
is--delivers us from that slavery to the
 multiplicity of things1 which splits   
the attention and makes concentration   

upon ,reality impossible to the soul4   
,the achievement of such mental         
simplicity1 escaping the prismatic      
illusion of the world1 is the first     
condition of contemplation4 ,thanks to  
this simple light which fills him1 the  
man finds himself to be unified1        
established1 penetrated and affirmed in 
the unity of his mind or thought4 ,and  
thereby he is uplifted and established  
in a new condition2 and he turns inward 
upon himself1 and stays his mind upon   
the ,nudity1 above all the pressure of  
sensual images1 above all               
multiplicity4#ea  ,the second stream    
which pours out from that ,transcendent 
,life is a ',spiritual ,clarity1' which 
illuminates the intelligence and shows  
it all good4 ,this clarity is a new and 
heightened form of intuition3 a lucid   
understanding1 whereby the self achieves
 clear vision of its own life1 and is   
able to contemplate the sublime richness
 of the ,divine ,nature2 gazing upon the
 mystery of the ,trinity1 and finding   

everywhere the ,presence of ,god4 ,those
 who possess this light do not need     
ecstasies and revelations--sudden       
uprushes towards the supernal world--for
 their life and being is established in 
that world1 above the life of sense4    
,they have come to that state which     
,eckhart calls 'finding all creatures in
 ,god and ,god in all creatures4' ,they 
see things at last in their native      
purity4 ,the heart of that vision1 says 
,ruysbroeck1 is their perception of the 
unmeasured loyalty of ,god to ,his      
creation--one of his deepest and most   
beautiful utterances--and therefrom     
springs a deep inward joy of the spirit1
 and a high trust in ,god2 and this     
inward joy embraces and penetrates all  
the powers of the soul1 and the most    
secret part of the spirit4#eb  ,the     
third ,brook of ,grace irrigates the    
conative powers of the self2 strengthens
 the will in all perfection1 and        
energises us anew4 ,like fire1 this     
brook enkindles the will1 and swallows  

up and absorbs all things in the unity  
of the spirit 444 and now ,christ speaks
 inwardly in the spirit by means of this
 burning brook1 saying1 ',go forth1 in  
exercises proper to this gift and this  
coming4' ,by the first brook1 which is a
 ,simple ,light1 the ,mind is freed from
 the invasions of the senses1 and       
grounded and affirmed in spiritual      
unity4 ,and by the second brook1 which  
is a ,spreading ,light1 the ,reason and 
,understanding are illuminated1 that    
they may know and distinguish all manner
 of virtues and exercises1 and the      
mysteries of ,scripture4 ,and by the    
third brook1 which is an ,infused ,heat1
 the heights of the ,will are enkindled 
with quiet love and adorned with great  
riches4 ,and thus does man become       
spiritually illuminate2 for the grace of
 ,god dwells like a fountain-head in the
 unity of his spirit1 and the brooks    
cause a flowing forth of all virtues    
from the powers of the soul4 ,and the   
fountain-head of grace demands a        

back-flowing into that same ground from 
whence the flood has come4#ec  ,so the  
,interior ,life1 now firmly established1
 is found to conform to those great laws
 which have guided the growing spirit   
from the first4 ,again1 the dual        
property of love1 possession and action1
 satisfaction and fecundity1 is to be   
manifested upon new levels4 ,the        
pendulum motion of life1 swinging       
between the experience of union with    
,god to which 'the ,divine ,unity ever  
calls us1' and its expression in active 
charity to which the multiplicity of    
,his creatures and their needs ever     
entreat us1 still goes on4 ,the more    
richly and strongly the life-giving     
,life wells up within the self1 the     
greater are the demands made upon that  
self's industry and love4 ,in the       
establishment of this balance1 in this  
continual healthy act of alternation1   
this double movement into ,god and out  
to men1 is the proof that the soul has  
really centred itself upon the spiritual

 world--is1 as ,ruysbroeck puts it1     
confirmed in love4 ,thus do work and    
union perpetually renew themselves2 and 
this renewal in work and in union1 this 
is a spiritual life4#ed  ,now the self  
which has achieved this degree of       
transcendence has achieved1 too1        
considerable experience in that art of  
contemplation or introversion which is  
the mode of its communion with ,god4    
,throughout1 training and development   
have gone hand in hand2 and the fact    
that ,ruysbroeck seldom troubles to     
distinguish between them1 but accepts   
them as two aspects of one thing--the   
gradual deification of the              
soul--constitutes one of the great      
obstacles to an understanding of his    
works4 ,often he describes the whole    
spiritual life as consisting in         
introversion1 an entering of            
consciousness into the supersensuous    
regions beyond thought2 in defiance of  
his own principle of active charity1    
movement1 work1 as the essential        

reaction to the universe which          
distinguishes a 'deified' man4 ,the     
truth is that the two processes run side
 by side2 and now one1 now the other1 is
 in the foreground of his thought4      
,therefore all that ,i shall now say of 
the contemplative art must be understood
 as describing acts and apprehensions   
taking place throughout the whole course
 of the ,interior ,life4  ,what1 then1  
is introversion8 ,it is one of the two  
great modes under which the spiritual   
consciousness works4 ,plainly1 any      
living sense of ,god's presence must    
discern that ,circle whose centre is    
everywhere1 as both exterior and        
interior to the self4 ,in ,ruysbroeck's 
own works we find a violent effort to   
express this ineffable fact of          
omnipresence1 of a truly ,transcendent  
yet truly ,immanent ,reality2 an effort 
often involving a collision of imagery4 
,god1 he says1 may be discovered at the 
soul's apex1 where ,he 'eternally lives 
and reigns'2 and the soul itself dwells 

in ,god1 ebbing and flowing1 wandering  
and returning1 within that ,fathomless  
,ground4 ,yet none the less ,he comes to
 that soul from without2 pouring in upon
 it like sunshine1 inundating it with   
torrents of grace1 seizing the separate 
entity and devouring whilst ,he feeds   
it2 flashing out upon it in a tempest of
 love from the ,empyrean ,heaven1 the   
,abyss of ,being1 where ,he dwells4     
,present1 yet absent2 near1 yet far6    
exclaims ,st4 ,augustine4 ,thou art the 
sky1 and ,thou art the nest as well6    
says the great mystic poet of our own   
day4  ,whilst nearly all the mystics    
have possessed clear consciousness of   
this twofold revelation of the ,divine  
,nature1 and some have experienced by   
turns the 'outward and upward' rush and 
the inward retreat1 temperamentally they
 usually lean towards one or other form 
of communion with ,god1--ecstasy or     
introversion4 ,for one class1 contact   
with ,him seems primarily to involve an 
outgoing flight towards ,transcendent   

,reality2 an attitude of mind strongly  
marked in all contemplatives who are    
near to the ,neoplatonic                
tradition--,plotinus1 ,st4 ,basil1 ,st4 
,macarius--and also in ,richard ,rolle  
and a few other medival types4 ,these   
would agree with ,dionysius the         
,areopagite that we must contemplate    
things divine by our whole selves       
standing out of our whole selves4 ,for  
the other class1 the first necessity is 
a retreat of consciousness from the     
periphery1 where it touches the world of
 appearance1 to the centre1 the ,unity  
of ,spirit or ',ground of the ,soul1'   
where human personality buds forth from 
the ,essential ,world4 ,true1 this      
inturning of attention is but a         
preliminary to the self's entrance upon 
that same ,transcendent ,region which   
the ecstatic claims that he touches in  
his upward flights4 ,the introversive   
mystic1 too1 is destined to 'sail the   
wild billows of the ,sea ,divine'2 but  
here1 in the deeps of his nature1 he    

finds the door through which he must    
pass4 ,only by thus discovering the     
unity of his own nature can he give     
himself to that 'tide of light' which   
draws all things back to the ,one4      
,such is ,ruysbroeck's view of          
contemplation4 ,this being so1          
introversion is for him an essential    
part of man's spiritual development4 ,as
 the ,son knows the ,father1 so it is   
the destiny of all spirits created in   
that ,pattern to know ,him2 and the     
mirror which is able to reflect that    
,divine ,light1 the ,simple ,eye which  
alone can bear to gaze on it1 lies in   
the deeps of human personality4 ,the    
will1 usually harnessed to the          
surface-consciousness1 devoted to the   
interests of temporal life2 the love1 so
 freely spent on unreal and imperfect   
objects of desire2 the thought which    
busies itself on the ceaseless analysis 
and arrangement of passing things--all  
these are to be swept inwards to that   
gathering-point of personality1 that    

,unity of the ,spirit1 of which he so   
often speaks2 and there fused into a    
single state of enormously enhanced     
consciousness1 which1 withdrawn from all
 attention to the changeful world of    
'similitudes1' is exposed to the direct 
action of the ,eternal ,world of        
spiritual realities4 ,the pull of       
,divine ,love--the light that ever flows
 back into the ,one--is to withdraw the 
contemplative's consciousness from      
multiplicity to unity4 ,his progress in 
contemplation will be a progress towards
 that complete mono-ideism in which the 
,vision of ,god--and here vision is to  
be understood in its deepest sense as a 
totality of apprehension1 a 'ghostly    
sight'--dominates the field of          
consciousness to the exclusion1 for the 
time of contemplation1 of all else4     
,psychologically1 ,ruysbroeck's method  
differs little from that described by   
,st4 ,teresa4 ,it begins in             
recollection1 the first drawing inwards 
of attention from the world of sense2   

passes to meditation1 the centring of   
attention on some intellectual formula  
or mystery of faith2 and thence1 by way 
of graduated states1 variously divided  
and described in his different works1 to
 contemplation proper1 the apprehension 
of ,god 'beyond and above reason4' ,all 
attempts1 however1 to map out this      
process1 or reduce it to a system1 must 
necessarily have an arbitrary and       
symbolic character4 ,true1 we are bound 
to adopt some system1 if we describe it 
at all2 but the dangers and limitations 
of all formulas1 all concrete imagery1  
where we are dealing with the fluid1    
living1 changeful world of spirit1      
should never be absent from our minds4  
,the bewildering and often inconsistent 
series of images and numbers1           
arrangements and rearrangements of      
'degrees1' 'states1' 'stirrings1' and   
'gifts1' in which ,ruysbroeck's sublime 
teachings on contemplation are buried1  
makes the choice of some one formula    
imperative for us2 though none will     

reduce his doctrines to a logical       
series1 for he is perpetually passing   
over from the dialectic to the lyrical  
mood1 and forgets to be orderly as soon 
as he begins to be subjective4 ,i       
choose1 then1 to base my classification 
on that great chapter 7xix47 in ,the    
,seven ,cloisters1 where he             
distinguishes three stages of           
contemplation2 finding in them the      
responses of consciousness to the       
special action of the ,three ,persons of
 the ,blessed ,trinity4 ,these three    
stages in the soul's apprehension of    
,god1 are3 the ,emotional1 the          
,intellectual1 the ,intuitive4 ,i think 
that most of the subtly distinguished   
interior experiences of the mystic1 the 
'comings' of the ,divine ,presence1 the 
'stirrings' and contacts which he       
describes in his various books1 can be  
ranged under one or other of them4  #a4 
,first comes that loving contemplation  
of the 'uplifted heart' which is the    
work of the ,holy ,spirit1 the consuming

 fire of ,divine ,love4 ,this ardent    
love1 invading the self1 and satisfying 
it in that intimate experience of       
personal communion so often described in
 the writings of the mystics1 represents
 the self's first call to contemplation 
and first natural response2 made with so
 great a joy and delight of soul and    
body1 in his uplifted heart1 that the   
man knoweth not what hath befallen him1 
nor how he may endure it4 ,for          
,ruysbroeck this purely emotional       
reaction to ,reality1 this burning flame
 of devotion--which seemed to ,richard  
,rolle the essence of the contemplative 
life--is but its initial phase4 ,it     
corresponds with--and indeed generally  
accompanies--those fever-heats1 those   
'tempests' of impatient love endured by 
the soul at the height of the           
,illuminative ,way4 ,love1 it is true1  
shall be from first to last the         
inspiring force of the contemplative's  
ascents3 his education is from one point
 of view simply an education in love4   

,but this love is a passion of many     
degrees2 and the 'urgency felt in the   
heart1' the restlessness and hunger of  
this spiritual feeling-state1 is only   
its lowest form4 ,the love which burns  
like white fire on the apex of the soul1
 longs for sacrifice1 inspires heroic   
action1 and goes forward without fear1  
'holy1 strong and free1' to brave the   
terrors of the ,divine ,dark1 is of     
another temper than this joyful         
sentiment4  #b4 ,a loving stretching out
 into ,god1 and an intellectual gazing  
upon ,him1 says ,ruysbroeck1 in a       
passage which ,i have already quoted1   
are the 'two heavenly pipes' in which   
the wind of the ,spirit sings4 ,so the  
next phase in the contemplative's       
development is that enhancement of the  
intellect1 the power of perceiving1 as  
against desiring and loving ,reality1   
which is the work of the ,logos1 the    
,divine ,wisdom4 ,as the cleansed and   
detached heart had been lifted up to    
feel the ,transcendent2 now the         

understanding1 stripped of sense-images1
 purged of intellectual arrogance1      
clarified by grace1 is lifted up to     
apprehend it4 ,this degree has two      
phases4 ,first1 that enlargement of the 
understanding to an increased           
comprehension of truth1 the finding of  
deeper and diviner meanings in things   
already known1 which ,richard of ,st4   
,victor called mentis dilatatio4 ,next1 
that further uplift of the mind to a    
state in which it is able to contemplate
 things above itself whilst retaining   
clear self-consciousness1 which he      
called mentis sublevatio4 ,ruysbroeck1  
however1 inverts the order given by     
,richard2 for him the uplift comes      
first1 the dilation of consciousness    
follows from it4 ,this is a             
characteristic instance of the way in   
which he uses the ,victorine psychology2
 constantly appropriating its terms but 
never hesitating to modify1 enrich or   
misuse them as his experience or        
opinions may dictate4  ,the first phase 

of ,intellectual ,contemplation1 then1  
is a lifting of the mind to a swift and 
convincing vision of ,reality3 one of   
those sudden1 incommunicable glimpses of
 ,truth so often experienced early in   
the contemplative's career4 ,the veil   
parts1 and he sees a light and vision1  
which give to the contemplating spirit a
 conscious certitude that she sees ,god1
 so far as man may see ,him in mortal   
life4#ee ,that strange mystical light of
 which all contemplatives speak1 and    
which ,ruysbroeck describes in a passage
 of great subtlety as 'the intermediary 
between the seeing thought and ,god1'   
now floods his consciousness4 ,in it the
 ,spirit of the ,father speaks in the   
uplifted thought which is bare and      
stripped of images1 saying1 ',behold ,me
 as ,i behold thee4' ,then the pure and 
single eyes are strengthened by the     
inpouring of that clear ,light of the   
,father1 and they behold ,his face1 in a
 simple vision1 beyond reason1 and      
without reason4#ef  ,it might be thought

 that in this 'simple vision' of        
,supreme ,reality1 the spirit of the    
contemplative reached its goal4 ,it has1
 indeed1 reached a point at which many a
 mystic stops short4 ,i think1 however1 
that a reference to ,st4 ,augustine1    
whose influence is so strongly marked in
 ,ruysbroeck's works1 will show what he 
means by this phase of contemplation2   
and the characters which distinguish it 
from that infused or unitive communion  
with ,god which alone he calls          
,contemplatio4 ,in the seventh book of  
his ,confessions1 ,augustine describes  
just such an experience as this4 ,by a  
study of the books of the ,platonists he
 had learned the art of introversion1   
and achieved by its aid a fleeting      
',intellectual ,contemplation' of ,god2 
in his own words1 a hurried vision of   
,that which ,is4 ,being by these books1 
he says1 admonished to return into      
myself1 ,i entered into the secret      
closet of my soul1 guided by ,thee 444  
and beheld the ,light that never        

changes1 above the eye of my soul1 above
 the intelligence4#eg ,it was by the    
withdrawal of thought from experience1  
its abstraction from the contradictory  
throng of sensuous images1 that he      
attained to this transitory             
apprehension2 which he describes        
elsewhere as the vision of the ,land of 
,peace1 but not the road thereto4 ,but  
intellect alone could not bear the      
direct impact of the terrible light of  
,reality2 his weak sight was dazzled by 
its splendour1 he could not sustain his 
gaze1 and turned back to that humble    
discovery of the ,divine ,substance by  
means of ,its images and attributes1    
which is proper to the intellectual     
power4#eh  ,now surely this is the      
psychological situation described by    
,ruysbroeck4 ,the very images used by   
,augustine are found again in him4 ,the 
mind of the contemplative1 purified1    
disciplined1 deliberately abstracted    
from images1 is inundated by the divine 
sunshine1 the ,light which is not ,god1 

but that whereby we see ,him2 and in    
this radiance achieves a hurried but    
convincing vision of ,supreme ,reality4 
,but even though the eagle1 king of     
birds1 can with his powerful sight gaze 
steadfastly upon the brightness of the  
sun2 yet do the weaker eyes of the bat  
fail and falter in the same4#ei ,the    
intellectual vision is dazzled and      
distressed1 like a man who can bear the 
diffused radiance of sunshine but is    
blinded if he dares to follow back its  
beams to the terrible beauty of their   
source4 ,not for this are my wings      
fitted1 says ,dante1 drooping to earth  
after his supreme ecstatic flight4      
,because it cannot sustain its gaze1    
then1 the intelligence falls back upon  
the second phase of intellectual        
contemplation3 ,speculatio1 the deep    
still brooding in which the soul1 'made 
wise by the ,spirit of ,truth1'         
contemplates ,god and ,creation as ,he  
and it are reflected in the clear mirror
 of her intellectual powers1 under      

'images and similitudes'--the ,mysteries
 of ,faith1 the ,attributes of the      
,divine ,nature1 the forms and manners  
of created things4 ,as the ,father      
contemplates all things in the ,son1    
',mirror of ,deity1' so now does the    
introverted soul contemplate ,him in    
this 'living mirror of her intelligence'
 on which ,his sunshine falls4 ,because 
her swift vision of ,that which ,is has 
taught her to distinguish between the   
ineffable ,reality and the ,appearance  
which shadows it forth1 she can again   
discover ,him under those images which  
once veiled1 but now reveal ,his        
presence4 ,the intellect which has      
apprehended ,god ,transcendent1 if only 
for a moment1 has received therefrom the
 power of discerning ,god ,immanent4 ,he
 shows ,himself to the soul in the      
living mirror of her intelligence2 not  
as ,he is in ,his nature1 but in images 
and similitudes1 and in the degree in   
which the illuminated reason can grasp  
and understand ,him4 ,and the wise      

reason1 enlightened of ,god1 sees       
clearly and without error in images of  
the understanding all that she has heard
 of ,god1 of faith1 of truth1 according 
to her longing4 ,but that image which is
 ,god ,himself1 although it is held     
before her1 she cannot comprehend2 for  
the eyes of her understanding must fail 
before that ,incomparable ,light4#fj    
,in ,the ,kingdom of ,god's ,lovers     
,ruysbroeck pours forth a marvellous    
list of the attributes under which the  
illuminated intelligence now            
contemplates and worships ,that ,which  
she can never comprehend2 that ,simple  
,one in whom all multitude and all that 
multiplies1 finds its beginning and its 
end4 ,from this simple ,being of the    
,godhead the illuminated reason         
abstracts those images and attributes   
with which it can deal1 as the lower    
reason abstracts from the temporal flux 
the materials of our normal universe4   
,such a loving consideration of ,god    
under ,his attributes is the essence of 

meditation3 and meditation is in fact   
the way in which the intellectual       
faculties can best contemplate ,reality4
 ,but because all things1 when they are 
considered in their inwardness1 have    
their beginning and their ending in the 
,infinite ,being as in an ,abyss1 here  
again the contemplative is soon led     
above himself and beyond himself1 to a  
point at which intellect and            
'consideration'--i4e4 formal            
thought--fail him2 because here we touch
 the ,simple ,nature of ,god4 ,when     
intellectual contemplation has brought  
the self to this point1 it has done its 
work2 for it has excited in the soul an 
eager desire to lift itself up by       
contemplation into the simplicity of the
 ,light1 that thereby its avid desire of
 infinite fruition may be satisfied and 
fulfilled2#fa i4e4 it has performed the 
true office of meditation1 induced a    
shifting of consciousness to higher     
levels4  ,we observe that the emphasis1 
which in the ,first ,degree of          

,contemplation fell wholly on feeling1  
in the ,second ,degree falls wholly upon
 knowledge4 ,we are not1 however1 to    
suppose from this that emotion has been 
left behind4 ,as the virtues and        
energies of the ,active ,life continue  
in the ,contemplative ,life1 so the     
'burning love' which distinguished the  
first stage of communion with the       
,transcendent1 is throughout the source 
of that energy which presses the self on
 to deeper and closer correspondences   
with ,reality4 ,its presence is         
presupposed in all that is said         
concerning the development of the       
spiritual consciousness4 ,nevertheless  
,ruysbroeck1 though he cannot be accused
 of intellectualism1 is led by his      
admiration for ,victorine ideas to lay  
great stress upon the mental side of    
contemplation1 as against those         
emotional reactions to the ,transcendent
 which are emphasised--almost to        
excess--by so many of the saints4 ,his  
aim was the lifting of the whole man to 

,eternal levels3 and the clarifying of  
the intelligence1 the enhancement of the
 understanding1 seemed to him a proper  
part of the deification of human nature1
 the bringing forth in the soul's ground
 of that ,son who is the ,wisdom of ,god
 as well as the ,pattern of ,man4       
,though he moves amongst deep mysteries1
 and in regions beyond the span of      
ordinary minds1 there is always apparent
 in him an effort towards lucidity of   
expression1 sharp definition1 plain     
speech4 ,sometimes he is wild and       
ecstatic1 pouring forth his vision in a 
strange poetry which is at once uncouth 
and sublime2 but he is never woolly or  
confused4 ,his prose passages owe much  
of their seeming difficulty to the      
passion for exactitude which            
distinguishes and classifies the        
subtlest movements of the spiritual     
atmosphere1 the delicately graded       
responses of the soul4  #c4 ,now the    
,third ,degree of ,contemplation lifts  
the whole consciousness to a plane of   

perception which transcends the         
categories of the intellect3 where it   
deals no longer with the label but with 
the ,thing4 ,it has passed beyond image 
and also beyond thought2 to that        
knowledge by contact which is the       
essence of intuition1 and is brought    
about by the higher powers of love4     
,such contemplation is regarded by      
,ruysbroeck as the work of the ,father1 
,who strips from the mind all forms and 
images and lifts up the ,naked          
,apprehension i4e4 intuition into its   
,origin1 that is ,himself4#fb ,it is    
effected by concentration of all the    
powers of the self into a single state  
'uplifted above all action1 in a bare   
understanding and love1' upon that apex 
of the soul where no reason can ever    
attain1 and where the 'simple eye' is   
ever open towards ,god4 ,there the      
loving soul apprehends ,him1 not under  
conditions1 'in some wise1' but as a    
whole1 without the discrete analysis of 
,his properties which was the special   

character of intellectual contemplation2
 a synthetic experience which is 'in no 
wise4' ,this is for ,ruysbroeck the     
contemplative act par excellence4 ,it is
 'an intimacy which is ignorance1' a    
'simple seeing1' he says again and      
again2 and the name thereof is          
,contemplatio2 that is1 the seeing of   
,god in simplicity4#fc  ,here the reason
 no less than all separate acts must    
give way1 for our powers become simple  
in ,love2 they are silent and bowed down
 in the ,presence of the ,father4 ,and  
this revelation of the ,father lifts the
 soul above the reason into the         
,imageless ,nudity4 ,there the soul is  
simple1 pure1 spotless1 empty of all    
things2 and it is in this state of      
perfect emptiness that the ,father      
manifests ,his ,divine radiance4 ,to    
this radiance neither reason nor sense1 
observation nor distinction1 can attain4
 ,all this must stay below2 for the     
measureless radiance blinds the eyes of 
the reason1 they cannot bear the        

,incomprehensible ,light4 ,but above the
 reason1 in the most secret part of the 
understanding1 the simple eye is ever   
open4 ,it contemplates and gazes at the 
,light with a pure sight that is lit by 
the ,light itself3 eye to eye1 mirror to
 mirror1 image to image4 ,this threefold
 act makes us like ,god1 and unites us  
to ,him2 for the sight of the simple eye
 is a living mirror1 which ,god has made
 for ,his image1 and whereon ,he has    
impressed it4#fd  ,intuitive or infused 
contemplation is the form of communion  
with the ,transcendent proper to those  
who have grown up to the state of       
,union2 and feel and know the presence  
of ,god within the soul1 as a love1 a   
life1 an 'indrawing attraction1' calling
 and enticing all things to the still   
unachieved consummation of the ,divine  
,unity4 ,he who has reached this pitch  
of introversion1 and is able1 in his    
spiritual exercises1 to withdraw himself
 thus to the most secret part of his    
spirit1 feels--within the ,eternal      

,light which fills his mirror and is    
'united with it1'--this perpetual demand
 of the ,divine ,unity1 entreating and  
urging him towards a total self-loss4   
,in the fact that he knows this demand  
and impulsion as other than himself1 we 
find the mark which separates this1 the 
highest contemplation proper to the     
,life of ,union1 from that 'fruitive    
contemplation' of the spirit which has  
died into ,god which belongs to the     
,life of ,unity4#fe ,when the work of   
transmutation is finished and he has    
received the ',sparkling ,stone of      
,divine ,humanity1' this subject-object 
distinction--though really an eternal   
one1 as ,ruysbroeck continually reminds 
us--will no longer be possible to his   
consciousness4 ,then he will live at    
those levels to which he now makes      
impassioned ascents in his hours of     
unitive prayer3 will be immersed in the 
,beatific ,vision on which he now looks1
 and 'lose himself in the ,imageless    
,nudity4'  ,this is the clue to the     

puzzling distinction made by ,ruysbroeck
 between the contemplation which is     
'without conditions1' and that which is 
'beyond and above conditions' and       
belongs to the ,superessential ,life    
alone4 ,in ,intuitive ,contemplation the
 seeing self apprehends the             
,unconditioned ,world1 ,onwise1 and     
makes 'loving ascents thereto4' ,it     
'finds within itself the unwalled'2 yet 
is still anchored to the conditioned    
sphere4 ,in ,superessential             
,contemplation1 it dies into that 'world
 which is in no wise4' ,in the great    
chapter of ,the ,sparkling ,stone#ff    
where he struggles to make this         
distinction clear1 ,ruysbroeck says that
 the ,friends of ,god 7i4e4 the         
,interior ,men7 cannot with themselves  
and all their works penetrate to that   
,imageless ,nudity4 ,although they feel 
united with ,god1 yet they feel in that 
union an otherness and difference       
between themselves and ,god2 and        
therefore the ascent into the ,nought is

 unknown to them4 ,they feel themselves 
carried up towards ,god in the tide of  
,his all-subduing ,fire of ,love2 but   
they retain their selfhood1 and may not 
be consumed and burned to nothing in the
 ,unity of ,love4 ,they do not yet      
desire to die into ,god1 that they may  
receive a deiform life from ,him2 but   
they are in the way which leads to this 
fulfilment of their destiny1 and are    
following back the light to its ,origin4
  ,this following-back is one continuous
 process1 in which we1 for convenience  
of description1 have made artificial    
breaks4 ,it is the thrust of            
consciousness deeper and deeper into the
 heart of ,reality4 ,as in the stream of
 physical duration1 so in this ceaseless
 movement of the spirit1 there is a     
persistence of the past in the present1 
a carrying through and merging of one   
state in the next4 ,thus the            
contemplation which is 'wayless1' the   
self's intuitive communion with the     
,infinite ,life and ,light1 growing in  

depth and richness1 bridges the gap     
which separates the ,interior and the   
,superessential ,life4  ,we find in     
,ruysbroeck's works indications of a    
transitional state1 in which the soul is
 guided and lost1 wanders and returns1  
ebbs and flows1 within the 'limitless   
,nudity1' to which it has not yet wholly
 surrendered itself4 ,and its seeing is 
in no wise1 being without manner1 and it
 is neither thus nor thus1 neither here 
nor there2 for that which is in no wise 
hath enveloped all1 and the vision is   
made high and wide4 ,it knows not itself
 where ,that is which it sees2 and it   
cannot come thereto1 for its seeing is  
in no wise1 and passes on1 beyond1 for  
ever1 and without return4 ,that which it
 apprehends it cannot realise in full1  
nor wholly attain1 for its apprehension 
is wayless1 and without manner1 and     
therefore it is apprehended of ,god in a
 higher way than it can apprehend ,him4 
,behold6 such a following of the ,way   
that is ,wayless1 is intermediary       

between contemplation in images and     
similitudes of the intellect1 and       
unveiled contemplation beyond all images
 in the ,light of ,god4#fg              
,,chapter ,,viii                        
,,the ,,superessential ,,life     ,if1  
therefore1 thou art become the throne of
 ,god and the ,heavenly   ,charioteer   
hath seated ,himself within thee1 and   
thy soul is wholly   become a spiritual 
eye and is wholly made into light2 if1  
too1 thou art   nourished with the      
heavenly food of that ,spirit and hast  
drunk of the   ,living ,water and put on
 the secret vesture of light--if thine  
inward   man has experienced all these  
things and is established in abundant   
faith1 lo6 thou livest indeed the       
,eternal ,life and thy soul rests even  
in this present time with the ,lord4    
,st4 ,macarius of ,egypt4  ,we have seen
 that ,ruysbroeck1 in common with a few 
other supreme mystics1 declares to us as
 veritably known and experienced by him1
 a universe of three orders--,becoming1 

,being1 ,god--and further1 three ways of
 life whereby the self can correspond to
 these three orders1 and which he calls 
the life of nature1 the life of grace1  
the life of glory4 ',glory1' which has  
been degraded by the usage of popular   
piety into a vague superlative1 and     
finally left in the hands of            
hymn-writers and religious revivalists1 
is one of the most ancient technical    
terms of ,christian mysticism4 ,of      
,scriptural origin1 from the fourth     
century to the fifteenth it was used to 
denote a definite kind of enhanced life1
 a final achievement of ,reality--the   
unmediated radiance of ,god--which the  
gift of 'divine sonship' made possible  
to the soul4 ,in the life of grace1 that
 soul transcends conditions in virtue of
 a ,divine vitality poured in from the  
,absolute ,sphere1 and actualises its   
true being1 7,wesen72 in the life of    
glory1 it becomes a denizen of that     
sphere1 and achieves an existence that  
is 'more than being' 7,overwesen74 ,the 

note of the first state is              
contemplation1 awareness2 the note of   
the second is fruition1 possession4     
,that power of making 'swift and loving 
ascents' to the plane of ,onwise to     
which man attained at the end of the    
,interior ,life1 that conscious harmony 
with the ,divine ,will which then became
 the controlling factor of his active   
career1 cannot be the end of the process
 of transcendence4 ,the soul now hungers
 and thirsts for a more intense         
,reality1 a closer contact with ',him   
who is measureless'2 a deeper and deeper
 penetration into the burning heart of  
the universe4 ,though contemplation     
seems to have reached its term1 love    
goes on1 to 'lose itself upon the       
heights4' ,beyond both the conditioned  
and unconditioned world1 beyond the     
,trinity ,itself1 that love discerns its
 ultimate objective--the very ,godhead1 
the ,divine ,unity1 where all lines find
 their end2 where we are satisfied and  
overflowing1 and with ,him beyond       

ourselves eternally fulfilled4#fh ,the  
abiding life which is there             
discoverable1 is not only 'without      
manner' but 'above manner'--the 'deified
 life1' indescribable save by the       
oblique methods of music or poetry1     
wherein1 in ,maeterlinck's great phrase1
 the psychology of man mingles with the 
psychology of ,god4 ,all ,ruysbroeck's  
most wonderful passages are concerned   
with the desperate attempt to tell us of
 this 'life1' this utter fruition of    
,reality3 which seems at one time to    
involve for the contemplative           
consciousness a self-mergence in ,deity1
 so complete as to give colour to that  
charge of pantheism which is inevitably 
flung at all mystics who try to tell    
what they have known2 at others1 to     
represent rather the perfect            
consummation of that 'union in          
separateness' which is characteristic of
 all true love4  ,this is but one       
instance of that perpetual and          
inevitable resort to paradox which      

torments all who try to follow him along
 this 'track without shadow of trace'2  
for the goal towards which he is now    
enticing us is one in which all the     
completing opposites of our fragmentary 
experience find their bourne4 ,hence the
 rapid alternation of spatial and       
personal symbols which confuses our     
industrious intellects1 is the one means
 whereby he can suggest its actuality to
 our hungry hearts4  ,as we observed in 
,ruysbroeck's earlier teaching on       
contemplation three distinct forms1 in  
which the special work that theology    
attributes to the three ,divine ,persons
 seemed to him to be reflected2 now1 in 
this ,superessential ,contemplation1 or 
,fruition1 we find the work of the      
,absolute ,godhead ,itself1 energising  
upon a plane of intensity which so      
utterly transcends our power of         
apprehension1 that it seems to the      
surface consciousness--as ,dionysius the
 ,areopagite had named it--a negation of
 all things1 a ,divine ,dark4  ,this    

,fruition1 says ,ruysbroeck1 is wild and
 desolate as a desert1 and therein is to
 be found no way1 no road1 no track1 no 
retreat1 no measure1 no beginning1 no   
end1 nor any other thing that can be    
told in words4 ,and this is for all of  
us ,simple ,blessedness1 the ,essence of
 ,god and our superessence1 above reason
 and beyond reason4 ,to know it we must 
be in it1 beyond the mind and above our 
created being2 in that ,eternal ,point  
where all our lines begin and end1 that 
,point where they lose their name and   
all distinction1 and become one with the
 ,point itself1 and that very ,one which
 the ,point is1 yet nevertheless ever   
remain in themselves nought else but    
lines that come to an end4#fi  ,what1   
then1 is the way by which the soul moves
 from that life of intense contemplation
 in which the 'spreading light' of the  
,spirit shows her the universe fulfilled
 with ,god1 to this new transfigured    
state of joy and terror8 ,it is a way   
for which her previous adventures might 

have prepared us4 ,as each new ascent1  
new inflow of grace1 was prepared by a  
time of destitution and stress--as the  
compensating beats of love and          
renunciation have governed the evolving 
melody of the inner life--so here a last
 death of selfhood1 a surrender more    
absolute than all that has gone before1 
must be the means of her achievement of 
absolute life4  ,dying1 and behold ,i   
live6 says ,paul of his own attainment  
of supernal life in ,christ4            
,ruysbroeck1 who never strays far from  
the vital and heroic mysticism of the   
,new ,testament saints1 can find no     
other language for this last crisis of  
the spirit--its movement from the state 
of ,wesen to that of ,overwesen--than   
the language of death4 ,the ever-moving 
line1 though its vital character of     
duration continues1 now seems to itself 
to swoon into the ,point2 the separate  
entity which has felt the flood of grace
 pour into it to energise its active    
career1 and the ebb of homeward-tending 

love draw it back towards the ,one1 now 
feels itself pouring into the ,infinite 
,sea4 ,our personal activity1 he says1  
has done all that it can3 as the        
separate career of ,christ our ,pattern 
closed with ,his voluntary death1 so the
 death of our selfhood on that apex of  
personality where we have stretched up  
so ardently toward the ,father1 shall   
close the separate career of the human  
soul and open the way to its new1       
,god-driven career1 its                 
resurrection-life4 ,none is sure of     
,eternal ,life unless he has died with  
all his own attributes wholly into      
,god#gj--;all else falls short of the   
demands of supreme generosity4  ,it is  
,the ,book of the ,sparkling ,stone     
which contains ,ruysbroeck's most       
wonderful descriptions of the           
consciousness peculiar to these souls   
who have grown up to 'the fulness of the
 stature of ,christ'2 and since this is 
surely the finest and perhaps the least 
known of his writings1 ,i offer no      

apology for transcribing a long passage 
from its ninth chapter3 ',how we may    
become the ,hidden ,sons of ,god4'      
,when we soar up above ourselves1 and   
become1 in our upward striving towards  
,god1 so simple1 that the naked ,love in
 the ,heights can lay hold on us1 there 
where ,love cherishes ,love1 above all  
activity and all virtue 7that is to say1
 in our ,origin1 wherefrom we are       
spiritually born7--then we cease1 and we
 and all that is our own die into ,god4 
,and in this death we become hidden     
,sons of ,god1 and find in ourselves a  
new life1 and that is ,eternal ,life4   
,and of these ,sons1 ,st4 ,paul says3   
',ye are dead1 and your life is hid with
 ,christ in ,god4' ,in our approach to  
,god we must bear with us ourselves and 
all that we do1 as a perpetual sacrifice
 to ,god2 and in the ,presence of ,god  
we must leave ourselves and all our     
works1 and1 dying in love1 soar up above
 all created things into the            
,superessential ,kingdom of ,god4 ,and  

of this the ,spirit of ,god speaks in   
the ,book of ,hidden ,things1 saying3   
',blessed are the dead that die in the  
,lord4'444 ,if we would taste ,god1 and 
feel in ourselves ,eternal ,life above  
all things1 we must go forth into ,god  
with a faith that is far above our      
reason1 and there dwell1 simple1 idle1  
without image1 lifted up by love into   
the ,unwalled ,bareness of our          
intelligence4 ,for when we go out from  
ourselves in love1 and die to all       
observances in ignorance and darkness1  
then we are made complete1 and          
transfigured by the ,eternal ,word1     
,image of the ,father4 ,and in this     
emptiness of spirit we receive the      
,incomprehensible ,light1 which enfolds 
and penetrates us as air is penetrated  
by the light of the sun2 and this ,light
 is nought else but a fathomless gazing 
and seeing4 ,what we are1 that we gaze  
at2 and what we gaze at1 that we are4   
,for our thought1 our life1 our being1  
are lifted up in simplicity1 and united 

with the ,truth1 that is ,god4          
,therefore in this simple gazing we are 
one life and one spirit with ,god--and  
this ,i call the seeing life4#ga  ,such 
a passage as this lies beyond our poor  
attempts at analysis4 ,those only will  
understand it who yield themselves to   
it2 entering into its current1 as we    
enter into the music that we love4 ,it  
tells us all it can of this life which  
is 'more than being1' as felt in the    
supreme experience of love4 ,life and   
,death1 ,dark and ,light1 ,idleness1    
,bareness--these are but images of the  
feeling-states that accompany it4 ,but  
here1 more than elsewhere in            
,ruysbroeck's writings1 we must remember
 the peril which goes with all          
subjective treatment of mystical truth4 
,each state which the unitive mystic    
experiences is so intense1 that it      
monopolises for the time being his field
 of consciousness4 ,writing under the   
'pressure of the ,spirit' he writes of  
it--as indeed it seems to him at the    

moment--as ultimate and complete4 ,only 
by a comparison of different and        
superficially inconsistent descriptions 
of this enhanced life--which must       
harmonise and fulfil all the needs of   
our complex personality1 providing      
inexhaustible objectives for love1      
intelligence and will--can we form any  
true idea concerning it4  ,when we do   
this1 we discover that the side of it   
which seems a static beatitude1 still   
,fruition1 perfect ,rest1 is always     
balanced by the other side2 which seems 
a perpetual and progressive attainment1 
a seeking and finding1 a hungering and  
feeding1 a giving and taking4 ,these    
coexist2 as the ever-renewed 'coming of 
the ,bridegroom1' the welling-up of the 
,spirit1 the stormy1 eager1 unsatisfied 
love of the soul do as a matter of      
experience coexist within that perfect  
and personal union wherein ,love and    
,fruition1 as ,ruysbroeck puts it1 'live
 between action and rest4' ,the         
alternate consciousness of the line and 

the ,point1 the moving river and the    
,sea1 the relative and the ,absolute1   
persists so long as consciousness       
persists at all2 it is no ,christianised
 ,nirvana into which he seeks to induct 
us1 but that mysterious synthesis of    
,being and ,becoming1 'eternal stillness
 and eternal work'--a movement into ,god
 which is already a complete achievement
 of ,him--which certain other great     
mystics have discerned beyond the       
'flaming ramparts' of the common life4  
,the unbreakable unity with ,god1 which 
constitutes the mark of the ,third      
,life1 exists in the 'essential ground  
of the soul'2 where the river flows into
 the ,sea1 the line into the ,point2    
where the pendulum of self has its      
attachment to ,reality4 ,there1 the     
hidden child of the ,absolute is 'one   
with ,god in restful fruition'2 there1  
his deep intuition of ,divine           
things--that ',savouring ,wisdom' which 
is the last supreme gift of the         
,spirit#gb--;is able to taste and       

apprehend the sweetness of ,infinite    
,reality4 ,but at the other end1 where  
he still participates in the            
time-process1 where his love and will   
are a moving river1 consciousness       
hungers for that total ,attainment      
still2 and attention will swing between 
these two extremes1 now actualised      
within the living soul1 which has put on
 the dual character of ',divine         
,humanity' and is living ,eternal ,life1
 not in some far-off celestial region1  
but here1 where ,christ lived it1 in the
 entangled world of ,time4 ,thus active 
self-mergence1 incessant re-birth into  
,god1 perpetual eager feeding on ,him1  
is implicit in all spiritual life4 ,even
 for the souls of the 'deified1'        
quietism is never right4 ,for love      
cannot be lazy1 but would search through
 and through1 and taste through and     
through1 the fathomless kingdom that    
lives in her ground2 and this hunger    
shall never be stilled4#gc  ,the soul1  
whenever it attends to itself--withdraws

 itself1 so to speak1 from the ,divine  
,synthesis1 dwells in itself1 and       
beholds instead of being--feels again   
the 'eternal unrest of love'2 the whip  
of the ,heavenly ,charioteer1 driving   
all spirits in towards the heart of     
,god1 where they are 'one fire with     
,him4' ,this stirring1 that mediates    
between ourselves and ,god1 we can never
 pass beyond2 and what that stirring is 
in its essence1 and what love is in     
itself1 we can never know4#gd ,but when 
it dwells beyond itself1 and in the     
supreme moments of ecstasy merges its   
consciousness in the ,universal         
,consciousness1 it transcends succession
 and centres itself in the ,divine      
,selfhood--the 'still1 glorious1 and    
absolute ,one-ness4' ,then it feels1 not
 hunger but satisfaction1 not desire but
 fruition2 and knows itself beyond      
reason 'one with the abysmal depth and  
breadth1' in a simple fathomless        
savouring of all good and of ,eternal   
,life4 ,and in this savouring we are    

swallowed up1 above reason and beyond   
reason1 in the deep ,quiet of the       
,godhead which is never moved4#ge  ,such
 experiences however1 such perfect      
fruition1 in which the self dies into   
the overwhelming revelation of the      
,transcendent1 and its rhythm is merged 
in the ,divine ,rhythm1 cannot be       
continuous for those still living in the
 flesh4 ,there is in ,ruysbroeck no     
foolish insistence on any impossible    
career of ceaseless ecstasy2 but a      
robust acceptance of the facts and      
limitations of life4 ,man cannot1 he    
says1 perpetually contemplate with      
attention the superessential ,being of  
,god in the ,light of ,god4 ,but        
whosoever has attained to the gift of   
,intelligence i4e4 the sixth of the     
,seven ,gifts of the ,spirit attains    
this power1 which becomes habitual to   
him2 and whensoever he will1 he can     
wholly absorb himself in this manner of 
contemplation1 in so far as it is       
possible in this life4#gf  ,the         

superessential man1 in fact1 is1 as     
,francis ,thompson said of the soul1 a  
444 swinging-wicket set                 
,between   ,the ,unseen and ,seen4  ,he 
is to move easily and at will between   
these two orders1 both actual1 both     
,god-inhabited1 the complementary       
expressions of ,one ,love2 participating
 both in the active1 industrious1       
creative outflow in differentiation1 and
 the still indrawing attraction which   
issues in the supreme experience of     
,unity4 ,for these two movements the    
,active and ,interior ,lives have       
educated him4 ,the truly characteristic 
experience of the ,third ,life is the   
fruition of that ,unity or ,simplicity  
in which they are harmonised1 beyond the
 balanced consciousness of the indrawing
 and outdrawing tides4#gg  ,ruysbroeck  
discerns three moments in this          
achievement4 ,first1 a negative         
movement1 the introversive sinking-down 
of our created life into ,god's absolute
 life1 which is the consummation of     

self-naughting and surrender and the    
essence of dark contemplation4 ,next1   
the positive ecstatic stretching forth  
above reason into our 'highest life1'   
where we undergo complete transmutation 
in ,god and feel ourselves wholly       
enfolded in ,him4 ,thirdly1 from these  
'completing opposites' of surrender and 
love springs the perfect fruition of    
,unity1 so far as we may know it here2  
when we feel ourselves to be one with   
,god1 and find ourselves transformed of 
,god1 and immersed in the fathomless    
,abyss of our ,eternal ,blessedness1    
where we can find no further separation 
between ourselves and ,god4 ,so long as 
we are lifted up and stretched forth    
into this height of feeling1 all our    
powers remain idle1 in an essential     
fruition2 for where our powers are      
utterly naughted1 there we lose our     
activity4 ,and so long as we remain     
idle1 without observation1 with         
outstretched spirit and open eyes1 so   
long can we see and have fruition4 ,but 

in that same moment in which we would   
test and comprehend ,what that may be   
which we feel1 we fall back upon reason2
 and there we find distinction and      
otherness between ,god and ourselves1   
and find ,god as an ,incomprehensible   
,one exterior to us4#gh  ,it is clear   
from this passage that such 'utterness' 
of fruition is a fleeting experience2   
though it is one to which the unitive   
mystic can return again and again1 since
 it exists as a permanent state in his  
essential ground1 ever discoverable by  
him when attention is focussed upon it4 
,further1 it appears that the 'absence  
of difference' between ,god and the     
soul1 which the mystic in these moments 
of ecstasy feels and enjoys1 is a       
psychological experience1 not an        
absolute truth4 ,it is the only way in  
which his surface-mind is able to       
realise on the one side the overwhelming
 apprehension of ,god's ,love1 that     
',yes' in which all other syllables are 
merged2 on the other the completeness of

 his being's self-abandonment to the    
,divine embrace--that ,superessential   
,love with which we are one1 and which  
we possess more deeply and widely than  
any other thing4#gi ,it was for this    
experience that ,thomas  ,kempis prayed 
in one of his most ,ruysbroeckian       
passages3 ,when shall ,i at full gather 
myself in ,thee1 that for ,thy love ,i  
feel not myself1 but ,thee only1 above  
all feeling and all manner1 in a manner 
not known to all8#hj ,it is to this same
 paradoxical victory-in-surrender--this 
apparent losing which is the only real  
finding--that ,francis ,thompson invites
 the soul3    ,to feel thyself and be   
,his dear nonentity--         ,caught   
,beyond human thought    ,in the        
thunder-spout of ,him1   ,until thy     
being dim1         ,and be   ,dead      
deathlessly4  ,now here it is1 in these 
stammered tidings of an adventure 'far  
outside and beyond our spirit1' in 'the 
darkness at which reason gazes with wide
 eyes1'#ha that we must look for the    

solution of that problem which all high 
mystic states involve for analytic      
thought3 how can the human soul become  
one with ,god 'without intermediary1    
beyond all separation1'#hb yet remain   
eternally distinct from ,him8 ,how can  
the 'deification1' the 'union with ,god 
without differentiation' on which the   
great mystics insist1 be accepted1 and  
pantheism be denied8  ,first1 we notice 
that in all descriptions of ,unity given
 us by the mystics1 there is a strong   
subjective element4 ,their first concern
 is always with the experience of the   
heart and will1 not with the deductions 
made by the intelligence4 ,it is at our 
own peril that we attach ontological    
meaning to their convinced and vivid    
psychological statements4 ,ruysbroeck in
 particular makes this quite clear to   
us2 says again and again that he has    
'felt unity without difference and      
distinction1' yet that he knows that    
'otherness' has always remained1 and    
that this is true we can only know by   

feeling it1 and in no other way4#hc  ,in
 certain great moments1 he says1 the    
purified and illuminated soul which has 
died into ,god does achieve an          
,essential ,stillness2 which seems to   
human thought a static condition1 for it
 is that ,eternal ,now of the ,godhead  
which embraces in its span the whole    
process of ,time4 ,here we find nothing 
but ,god3 the naked and ultimate ,fact  
or ,superessential ,being 'whence all   
,being has come forth1' stripped of     
academic trimmings and experienced in   
its white-hot intensity4 ,here1 far     
beyond the range of thought1 unity and  
otherness1 like hunger and fulfilment1  
activity and rest1 can co-exist in love4
 ,the ultimate union is a love-union1   
says ,ruysbroeck4 ,the ,love of ,god is 
a consuming ,fire1 which draws us out of
 ourselves and swallows us up in unity  
with ,god1 where we are satisfied and   
overflowing1 and with ,him1 beyond      
ourselves1 eternally fulfilled4#hd      
,this hungry and desirous love1 at once 

a personal passion and a cosmic force1  
drenches1 transfigures and unites with  
the soul1 as sunlight does the air1 as  
fire does the iron flung into the       
furnace2 so that the molten metal       
'changed into another glory' is both    
iron and fire 'ever distinct yet ever   
united'--an antique image of the ,divine
 ,union which he takes direct from a    
celebrated passage in ,st4 ,bernard's   
works4 ,as much as is iron1 so much is  
fire2 and as much as is fire1 so much is
 iron2 yet the iron doth not become     
fire1 nor the fire iron1 but each       
retains its substance and nature4 ,so   
likewise the spirit of man doth not     
become ,god1 but is deified1 and knows  
itself breadth1 length1 height and      
depth3 and as far as ,god is ,god1 so   
far the loving spirit is made one with  
,him in love4#he ,the iron1 the air1    
represent our created essence2 the fire1
 the sunlight1 ,god's ,essence1 which is
 added to our own--our superessence4    
,the two are held in a union which1 when

 we try to see it under the symbolism of
 space1 appears a mingling1 a           
self-mergence2 but1 when we feel it     
under the symbolism of personality1 is a
 marriage in which the lover and beloved
 are 'distinct yet united4' ,then are we
 one being1 one love1 and one beatitude 
with ,god 444 a joy so great and special
 that we cannot even think of any other 
joy4 ,for then one is one's self a      
,fruition of ,love1 and can and should  
want nothing beyond one's own4#hf  ,it  
follows from all this that when the     
soul1 coming to the ,fourth ,state of   
,fruitive ,love1 enters into the        
,equilibrium which supports and         
penetrates the flux1 it does and must   
reconcile the opposites which have      
governed the earlier stages of its      
career4 ,the communion reached is with a
 ,wholeness2 the life which flows from  
it must be a wholeness too4 ,full       
surrender1 harmonised with full         
actualisation of all our desires and    
faculties2 not some thin1 abstract1     

vertical relation alone1 but an         
all-round expansion1 a full1 deep1 rich 
giving and taking1 a complete           
correspondence with the infinitely rich1
 all-demanding and all-generous ,god    
whose love is measureless for it is     
,himself4 ,thus ,ruysbroeck teaches that
 love static and love dynamic must      
coexist for us as for ,him2 that the    
'eternal hunger and thirst' of the      
,god-demanding soul continues within its
 ecstatic satisfaction2 because1 however
 deeply it may love and understand1 the 
,divine ,excess will always baffle it4  
,it is destined 'ever to go forward     
within the ,essence of ,god1' to grow   
without ceasing deeper and deeper into  
this life1 in the eternal longing to    
follow after and attain ,him ,who is    
measureless4 ,and we learn this truth   
from ,his sight3 that all we taste1 in  
comparison with that which remains out  
of our reach1 is no more than a single  
drop of water compared with the whole   
sea4444 ,we hunger for ,god's ,infinity1

 which we cannot devour1 and we aspire  
to ,his ,eternity1 which we cannot      
attain4444 ,in this storm of love1 our  
activity is above reason and is in no   
wise4 ,love desires that which is       
impossible to her2 and reason teaches   
that love is within her rights1 but can 
neither counsel nor persuade her4#hg    
,hence an eternal desire and an eternal 
satisfaction are preserved within the   
circle of the deified life4 ,the        
full-grown self feels1 in its most      
intense degree1 the double movement of  
the ,divine ,love and ,light1 the flux  
and reflux2 and in its perfect and      
ever-renewed responses to the 'indrawing
 and outflowing attraction' of that     
,tide1 the complete possession of the   
,superessential ,life consists4  ,the   
indrawing attraction drags us out of    
ourselves1 and calls us to be melted    
away and naughted in the ,unity4 ,and in
 this indrawing attraction we feel that 
,god wills that we should be ,his1 and  
for this we must abnegate ourselves and 

let our beatitude be accomplished in    
,him4 ,but when ,he attracts us by      
flowing out towards us1 ,he gives us    
over to ourselves and makes us free1 and
 sets us in ,time4#hh  ,thus is         
accomplished that paradoxical synthesis 
of ',eternal ,rest and ,eternal ,work'  
which ,ruysbroeck regards as the        
essential character of ,god1 and towards
 which the whole of his system has been 
educating the human soul4 ,the deified  
or ',god-formed' soul is for him the    
spirit in which this twofold ideal is   
actualised3 this is the ,pattern1 the   
,likeness of ,god1 declared in ,christ  
our ,archetype1 towards which the       
,indwelling ,spirit presses the race4   
,though there are moments in which1     
carried away as it seems by his almost  
intolerable ecstasy1 he pushes out      
towards 'that unwalled ,fruition of     
,god1' where all fruition begins and    
ends1 where 'one is all and all is one1'
 and ,man is himself a 'fruition of     
love'2#hi yet he never forgets to remind

 us that1 as love is not love unless it 
looks forward towards the creation of   
new life1 so here1 when love falls in   
love with love1 and each is all to the  
other in possession and in rest1 the    
object of this ecstasy is not a         
permanent self-loss in the ,divine      
,darkness1 a 'slumbering in ,god1' but a
 new life of virtue1 such as love and   
its impulses demand4#ij ,to be a living1
 willing ,tool of ,god1 wherewith ,god  
works what ,he will and how ,he will1 is
 the goal of transcendence described in 
the last chapter of ,the ,sparkling     
,stone4 ,then is our life a whole1 when 
contemplation and work dwell in us side 
by side1 and we are perfectly in both of
 them at once2#ia for then the separate 
spirit is immersed in1 and part of1 the 
perpetual creative act of the           
,godhead--the flowing forth and the     
drawing back1 which have at their base  
the ,eternal ,equilibrium1 the unbroken 
peace1 wherein ,god contemplates        
,himself and all things in an ,eternal  

,now that has neither beginning nor     
end4#ib ,on that ,unbroken ,peace the   
spirit hangs2 and swings like a         
pendulum1 in wide arcs of love and      
service1 between the ,unconditioned and 
the ,conditioned ,worlds4  ,so the      
,superessential ,life is the simple1 the
 synthetic life1 in which man actualises
 at last all the resources of his       
complex being4 ,the active life of      
response to the ,temporal ,order1 the   
contemplative life of response to the   
,transcendent ,order are united1 firmly 
held together1 by that 'eternal fixation
 of the spirit'2 the perpetual willed   
dwelling of the being of man within the 
,incomprehensible ,abyss of the ,being  
of ,god1 qui est per omnia saecula      
benedictus4                             
,,bibliographical ,,note                
,i4 ,flemish ,text    ,werken van ,jan  
van ,ruusbroec4 ,ed4 ,j4 ,david4 #f     
vols4 7,maetschappy der   ,vlaemsche    
,bibliophilen74 7,gent1 #aheh-fh47      
,this edition1 based on the ,,mss4      

preserved at ,brussels and ,ghent1 and  
the foundation of all the best          
translations1 is now rare4 ,it may be   
consulted at the ,british ,museum4  ,a  
re-issue of the ,flemish text is now in 
progress2 the first volume being ,jan   
van ,ruysbroeck1 ,van den ,,vii4        
,trappen 7i4e4 ,the ,seven ,degrees of  
,love7 met ,geert ,groote's latijnsche  
,vertaling4 ,ed4 ,dom4 ,ph4 ,mller      
7,brussels1 #aiaa74                     
,,ii4 ,translations                     
,a4 ,latin  ,the chief works of         
,ruysbroeck were early translated into  
,latin1 some during their author's      
lifetime1 and widely circulated in this 
form4 ,three of these early translations
 were printed in the sixteenth century3 
the ,de ,ornatu ,spiritualium ,nuptiarum
 of ,jordaens1 at ,paris1 in #aeab2 and 
the ,de ,septem ,scal ,divini ,amoris   
,gradibus of ,gerard ,groot1 together   
with the ,de ,perfectione ,filiorum ,dei
 7i4e4 ,the ,sparkling ,stone71 at      
,bologna1 in #aech4  ,the standard      

,latin translation1                     
however--indispensable to all students  
of ,ruysbroeck--is the great work of the
 ,carthusian monk1 ,laurentius ,surius3 
,d4 ,joannis ,rusbrochii ,opera ,omnia  
7,cologne1 #aeeb74  ,this was reprinted 
in #afji 7the best edition71 and again  
in #afib4 ,it contains all ,ruysbroeck's
 authentic works1 and some that are     
doubtful2 in a translation singularly   
faithful to the sense of the original1  
though it fails to reproduce the rugged 
sublimity1 the sudden lapses into crude 
and homely metaphor1 so characteristic  
of his style4                           
,b4 ,english    ,the ,book of the       
,twelve ,bguines 7the first sixteen     
chapters only74   ,translated from the  
,flemish1 by ,john ,francis 7,london1   
#aiac74  ,a useful translation of one of
 ,ruysbroeck's most difficult treatises4
                                 ,c4    
,french    ,o,euvres de ,ruysbroeck     
l',admirable4 ,traduction du ,flamand   
par les   ,bndictins de ,saint ,paul de 

,wisques4      ,vol4 ,i43 ,le ,miroir du
 ,salut ternel2 ,les ,sept ,cltures2    
,les ,sept     ,degrs de l'chelle       
d',amour ,spirituel 7,brussels1 #aiab1  
in progress74  ,this edition1 when      
completed1 will form the standard text  
of ,ruysbroeck for those unable to read 
,flemish4 ,the translation is admirably 
lucid1 and a short but adequate         
introduction is prefixed to each work4  
,l',ornement des ,noces ,spirituelles4  
,traduit du ,flamand par ,maurice       
,maeterlinck 7,brussels1 #aijj74  ,this 
celebrated book1 still more its         
beautiful though unreliable             
introduction1 is chiefly responsible for
 the modern interest in ,ruysbroeck4    
,the translation1 exquisite as ,french  
prose1 over-emphasises the esoteric     
element in his teaching4 ,those unable  
to read ,flemish should check it by     
,lambert's ,german text 7see below74    
,vie de ,rusbroch suivie de son ,trait  
des ,sept ,degrs de l',amour4           
,traduction littrale du ,texte          

,flamand-,latin1 par ,r4 ,chamonal      
7,paris1   #aiji74 ,trait du ,royaume   
des ,amants de ,dieu4 ,traduit par ,r4  
,chamonal   7,paris1 #aiaa74 ,de la     
,vraie ,contemplation 7i4e4 ,the ,twelve
   ,bguines74 ,traduit par ,r4          
,chamonal4 #c vols4 7,paris1 #aiab74    
,these are the first volumes of a       
proposed complete translation2 which is1
 however1 far from literal1 and replaces
 the rough vigour of the original by the
 insipid language of conventional       
,french piety4    ,livre des ,,xii4     
,bguines ou de la ,vraie ,contemplation 
7first sixteen   chapters only74        
,traduit du ,flamand1 avec              
,introduction1 par ,l',abb ,p4          
,cuylits 7,brussels1 #aiji74  ,this also
 contains a ,french version of the ,vita
 of ,pomerius4 ,the translator is       
specially successful in rendering the   
peculiar quality of ,ruysbroeck's verse2
 but the statements in his introduction 
must be accepted with reserve4          
,d4 ,german    ,drei ,schriften des     

,mystikers ,johann van ,ruysbroeck1 aus 
dem ,vlmischen   bersetzt von ,franz ,a4
 ,lambert 7,leipzig1 #aijb74  ,a        
vigorous and accurate translation of    
,the ,adornment of the ,spiritual       
,marriage1 ,the ,sparkling ,stone and   
,the ,book of ,supreme ,truth4          
,ruysbroeck translates better into      
,german than into any other language2   
and this volume is strongly recommended 
to all who can read that tongue4        
,,iii4 ,selections    ,rusbrock         
l',admirable3 ,o,euvres ,choisies4      
,traduit par ,e4 ,hello 7,paris1        
#aijb74  ,a series of short passages1   
paraphrased 7not translated7 from the   
,latin of ,surius4 ,there are two       
,english versions of this unsatisfactory
 book1 the second being the best3       
,reflections from the ,mirror of a      
,mystic4 ,translated by ,earle          
,baillie 7,london1 #aije74      ,flowers
 of a ,mystic ,garden4 ,translated by   
,c4 ,e4 ,s4 7,london1 #aiab74    ,life1 
,light1 and ,love3 ,selections from the 

,german ,mystics4 ,by the   ,very ,rev4 
,w4 ,r4 ,inge1 ,d4,d41 ,dean of ,st4    
,paul's 7,london1 #aije74  ,contains an 
abridged version of ,the ,adornment of  
the ,spiritual ,marriage4               
,biography and ,criticism               
7,a ,selection7    ,auger1 ,a4--,de     
,doctrina et ,meritis ,joannis van      
,ruysbroeck 7,louvain1   #ahib74        
,engelhardt1 ,j4 ,g4 von4--,richard von 
,st4 ,victor und ,j4 ,ruysbroeck        
7,erlangen1 #ahch74  ,useful for tracing
 the correspondences between the        
,victorines and ,ruysbroeck4            
,maeterlinck1 ,maurice4--,ruysbroeck and
 the ,mystics4 ,translated by ,jane     
,stoddart 7,london1 #aijh74  ,an        
,english version of the ,introduction to
 ,l',ornement des ,noces ,spirituelles1 
above-mentioned2 with many fine passages
 translated from ,ruysbroeck's other    
works4    ,pomerius1 ,h4--,de ,origine  
,monasterii ,viridisvallis una cum      
,vitis   ,joannis ,rusbrochii4  ,printed
 in ,analecta ,bollandiana1 vol4 iv4    

7,brussels1 #ahhe74 ,the chief authority
 for all biographical facts4    ,scully1
 ,dom ,vincent4--,a ,medival ,mystic    
7,london1 #aiaj74  ,a biographical      
account1 founded on ,pomerius1 with a   
short analysis of ,ruysbroeck's works4  
,popular and uncritical4    ,vreese1    
,dr4 ,w4 ,l4 de4--,jean de ,ruysbroeck  
7,biographie ,nationale de   ,belgique1 
vol4 xx47 7,brussels1 #aijg74  ,an      
important and authoritative article with
 analysis of all ,ruysbroeck's works and
 full bibliography4    ----,bijdragen   
tot de ,kennis van het ,leven en de     
,werken van ,jan van   ,ruusbroec       
7,gent1 #ahif74  ,contains ,gerard      
,naghel's sketch of ,ruysbroeck's life1 
with other useful material4    ----,de  
,handschriften van ,jan van ,ruusbroec's
 ,werken4 #b vols4 7,gent1   #aijj74    
,an important and scholarly study of the
 manuscript sources by the greatest     
living authority4   ,notices of         
,ruysbroeck will be found in the        
following works3--    ,auger1 ,a4--tude 

sur les ,mystiques des ,pays ,bas au    
,moyen ,age   7,acadmie ,royale de      
,belgique1 vol4 xlvi41 #ahib74          
,fleming1 ,w4 ,k4--,mysticism in        
,christianity 7,london1 #aiac74         
,inge1 ,very ,rev4 ,w4 ,r41 ,d4,d41     
,dean of ,st4 ,paul's4--,christian      
,mysticism   7,london1 #ahii74          
,jones1 ,dr4 ,rufus ,m4--,studies in    
,mystical ,religion 7,london1 #aiji74   
,applications of his doctrine to the    
spiritual life in3--    ,baker1         
,venerable ,augustin4--,holy ,wisdom2 or
 ,directions for the ,prayer   of       
,contemplation 7,london1 #aijh74        
,blosius1 ,f4 ,v4--,book of ,spiritual  
,instruction 7,london1 #aijj72 ,a       
,mirror for ,monks 7,london1 #aija72    
,comfort for the ,faint-hearted         
7,london1 #aijc72 ,sanctuary of the     
,faithful ,soul 7,london1 #aije74       
,denis the ,carthusian4--,opera ,omnia  
7,monstrolii1 #ahif71 in progress4      
,petersen1 ,gerlac4--,the ,fiery        
,soliloquy with ,god 7,london1 #ahgb74  

,poulain1 ,aug41 ,s4,j4--,the ,graces of
 ,interior ,prayer 7,london1 #aiaj74    
,underhill1 ,e4--,mysticism1 #eth ed4   
7,london1 #aiad74                       
,influences  ,much light is thrown on   
,ruysbroeck's doctrine by a study of the
 authors who influenced him2 especially3
    ,st4 ,augustine2 ,migne1 ,p4,l41    
xxvii4-xlvii42 ,eng4 ,trans41 edited by 
,m4   ,dods 7,edinburgh1 #ahgf74        
,dionysius the ,areopagite2 ,migne1     
,p4,g41 iii41 iv42 ,eng4 ,trans41 by    
,parker 7,oxford1 #ahig74    ,hugh and  
,richard of ,st4 ,victor2 ,migne1       
,p4,l41 clxxv4-clxxvii4 and   cxcvi4    
,st4 ,bernard2 ,migne1 ,p4,l41          
clxxxii4-clxxxv42 ,eng4 ,trans41 by     
,eales   7,london1 #ahhi-if74    ,st4   
,thomas ,aquinas2 ,opera 7,rom1         
#ahhb-aijf72 ,eng4 ,trans41 by the      
,dominican ,fathers 7in progress74      
,st4 ,bonaventura2 ,opera 7,paris1      
#ahfd-ga74    ,meister ,eckhart2        
,schriften und ,predigten 7,leipzig1    
#aijc74    ,suso2 ,schriften1 ed4       

,denifle 7,munich1 #ahgf74 ,eng4        
,trans41 ,life1 ed4   by ,w4 ,r4 ,inge  
7,london1 #aiac72 ,book of ,eternal     
,wisdom 7,london1 #aiaj74    ,tauler1   
,predigten 7,prague1 #ahgb72 ,eng4      
,trans41 ,twenty-five ,sermons1   trans4
 by ,winkworth 7,london1 #aijf72 ,the   
,inner ,way1 edited by ,a4 ,w4   ,hutton
 7,london1 #aiji74                      
,footnotes   #a,the ,vita of ,pomerius  
is printed in the ,analecta             
,bollandiana1 vol4    iv4 pp4 #beg ff4  
#b,the ,book of ,supreme ,truth1 cap4   
iv4  #c,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4 vii4 
#d,vita1 cap4 xv4  #e;,de ,vreese has   
identified #afj ,flemish and #df ,latin 
,,mss4 of ,ruysbroeck4  #f,the          
,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4 ii4 cap4     
xxxvii4  #g,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4  
xiv4  #h,the ,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4 
ii4 cap4 xxxvii4  #i,op4 cit41 ibid4    
#aj,the ,seven ,degrees of ,love1 cap4  
xiv4  #aa,the ,kingdom of ,god's        
,lovers1 cap4 xxix4  #ab,the ,mirror of 
,eternal ,salvation1 cap4 viii4  #ac,the

 ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4 ix4  #ad,the    
,twelve ,bguines1 cap4 xiv4  #ae,the    
,book of ,truth1 cap4 xi4  #af,the      
,mirror of ,eternal ,salvation1 cap4    
xvii4  #ag,op4 cit41 cap4 vii4  #ah,the 
,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 x4  #ai,the     
,twelve ,bguines1 cap4 xiv4  #bj,the    
,twelve ,bguines1 cap4 xiii4  #ba,the   
,seven ,degrees of ,love1 cap4 xiv4     
#bb,the ,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4 iii4 
cap4 i4  #bc,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4 
xvi4  #bd,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4    
xii4  #be,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4    
viii4  #bf,the ,seven ,degrees of ,love1
 cap4 i4  #bg,the ,mirror of ,eternal   
,salvation1 cap4 xvi4  #bh,the          
,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 vi4  #bi,the    
,mirror of ,eternal ,salvation1 cap4    
vii4  #cj,the ,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4
 i4 cap4 xiv4  #ca,the ,spiritual       
,marriage1 lib4 i4 capp4 xii4-xxiv4     
#cb,the ,kingdom of ,god's ,lovers1 cap4
 xviii4  #cc,the ,spiritual ,marriage1  
lib4 i4 cap4 xxvi4  #cd,the ,twelve     
,bguines1 cap4 vii4  #ce,the ,sparkling 

,stone1 cap4 vii4  #cf,the ,twelve      
,bguines1 cap4 ix4  #cg,the ,spiritual  
,marriage1 lib4 ii4 cap4 iv4  #ch;,cf4  
,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4 x4  #ci,the 
,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4 ii4 cap4     
xix42 ,the ,book of ,truth1    cap4 ix4 
#dj,the ,seven ,degrees of ,love1 cap4  
xiv4  #da,the ,kingdom of ,god's        
,lovers1 cap4 xx4  #db,the ,spiritual   
,marriage1 lib4 ii4 cap4 xxiii4  #dc,op4
 cit41 lib4 ii4 cap4 xxvii4  #dd,the    
,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4 ii4 cap4     
xxiv4  #de,richard ,rolle2 ,the ,mending
 of ,life1 cap4 xii4 7,harford's        
edition1    p4 #hb74  #df,the ,kingdom  
of ,god's ,lovers1 cap4 xxv4  #dg,the   
,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4 ii4 cap4     
xxviii4  #dh,the ,spiritual ,marriage1  
lib4 ii4 cap4 xxix4  #di,the ,sparkling 
,stone1 cap4 ii4  #ej;,cp4 ,the         
,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4 ii4 cap4     
lvii4  #ea,the ,spiritual ,marriage1    
lib4 ii4 cap4 xxxvi4  #eb,the ,spiritual
 ,marriage1 lib4 ii4 cap4 xxxviii4      
#ec,the ,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4 ii4  

cap4 xxxix4  #ed,the ,sparkling ,stone1 
cap4 ii4  #ee,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4
 xi4  #ef,loc4 cit4  #eg,st4 ,augustine1
 ,confessions1 lib4 vii4 cap4 x4        
#eh,st4 ,augustine1 ,confessions1 lib4  
vii4 capp4 xvii4 and xx4  #ei,the       
,twelve ,bguines1 cap4 xii4  #fj,loc4   
cit4  #fa,the ,kingdom of ,god's        
,lovers1 cap4 xxxiv4  #fb,the ,seven    
,cloisters1 cap4 xix4  #fc,the ,twelve  
,bguines1 cap4 xii4  #fd,the ,mirror of 
,eternal ,salvation1 cap4 xvii4  #fe,the
 ,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 iii4  #ff;,cap4
 viii43 ',of the ,difference between the
 ,secret ,friends and the    ,hidden    
,sons of ,god4'  #fg,the ,twelve        
,bguines1 cap4 xii4  #fh,the ,twelve    
,bguines1 cap4 xvi4  #fi,the ,seven     
,cloisters1 cap4 xix4  #gj,the          
,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 viii4  #ga,the  
,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 ix4  #gb,the    
,kingdom of ,god's ,lovers2 cap4 xxxiii4
  #gc,the ,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 ix42  
cp4 also ,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4    
xvi4  #gd,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4    

xvi4  #ge,the ,sparkling ,stone1 cap4   
ix42 cp4 also ,the ,book of ,truth1 cap4
    xii4  #gf,the ,kingdom of ,god's    
,lovers1 cap4 xxxi4  #gg,the ,book of   
,truth1 cap4 xii4  #gh,the ,sparkling   
,stone1 cap4 x4  #gi,op4 cit4 cap4 ix4  
#hj,the ,imitation of ,christ1 lib4 iii4
 cap4 xxiii4  #ha,the ,twelve ,bguines1 
cap4 xiv41 and ,the ,sparkling ,stone1  
cap4 ix4  #hb,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4
 xvi4  #hc,the ,sparkling ,stone1 cap4  
ix42 cp4 ,the ,book of ,truth1 cap4 xi4 
#hd,the ,twelve ,bguines1 cap4 xvi4     
#he;,ibid4 cap4 xiv42 cp4 ,st4 ,bernard1
 ,de ,diligendo ,deo1 cap4 x4 ,the      
same image is found in ,st4 ,macarius   
and many other writers4  #hf,the        
,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 xii4  #hg,the   
,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 x4  #hh,the     
,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 x4  #hi,op4 cit4
 cap4 xii4  #ij,op4 cit4 cap4 xiii42 cp4
 also ,the ,seven ,degrees1 cap4 xiv4   
#ia,the ,sparkling ,stone1 cap4 xiv4    
#ib,the ,spiritual ,marriage1 lib4 iii4 
cap4 v4                                 

,printed by                             
,morrison  ,gibb ,limited               
,edinburgh