178. In short; they are the Issue, Branches or Sprouts of the Devil in the Anger of GOD, who, notwithstanding must by their very tormenting be made to serve the Lord; for by their plaguing and persecuting, they press out the Sap through the Essence of the Children of Qod so, that they move and stir them- selves in the Spirit of Qod, with praying and continual sighing, in which Exercise of their Powers the Spirit of Qod moveth Himself in them.
179. For thereby the Desire is exerted, and so the Children of Qod grow green, flourish, and bring forth Fruit; for the Children of Qod are manifested in Tribulation; as the Scripture saith, * When thou chastiseth them, they cry fervently to thee.'
Of '^generation, 89 Chapter Fill, Wherein Christian Religion consistethy and how Men should serve God and their Brethren, ALL Christian Religion wholly consisteth in this, to learn to know ourselves: Whence we are come, and What we are; how we are gone forth from the Unity into Dissension^ Wickedness^ Unrighteousness; how we have awakened and stirred up these Evils in us; and how we may be delivered from them again, and recover our original Blessedness, 181. Firsty how we were in the Unity ^ when we were the Children of Qod in Adam before he fell. Secondly, how we are now in Dissension and Disunion^ in Strife and Contrariety. Thirdly^ whither we go when we pass out of this corruptible condition; whither with the immortal^ and whither with the mortal Part.
182. And Ictstly, how we may come forth from Disunion and Vanity, and enter again into that one Tree, Christ in us, out of which we all sprung in Adam, In these Four Points all the necessary Knowledge of a Christian consisteth.
183. So that we need not strive about any Thing; we have no Cause of Contention with each other. Let everyone only exercise himself in learning how he may enter again into the Love of Qod and his Brother, 184. The Testaments of Christ are nothing else but a loving Bond or Brotherly Covenant^ wherewith God in Christ bindeth himself to us and us to him. All teaching, willing, living, and doing, must imply, aim at, and refer to, that. All teaching and doing otherwise, whatsoever it be, is Babel and a Fiction; a mere graven Image of Pride in unprofitable Judgings, a dis- turbing of the World, and an Hypocrisy of the i?m/, wherewith he blindeth Simplicity.
185. TS^w^vy Preacher vo\A of the Spirit of Qod, who without Divine Knowledge, setteth himself up for a Teacher of Divine Things, pretending to serve GOD thereby, is false, and doth but serve the Belly, his Idol, and his own proud insolent Mind, in desiring to be honoured on that Account, and esteemed Holy, or a Divine in Holy Orders, He beareth an Office, to which he is set apart and chosen by the Children of Men, who do but flatter him, and for Favour have ordained him thereunto.
186. Christ said, 'Whosoever entereth not by the Door,* that iSy through his Spirit, ' into the Sheepfold, but climbeth up some 9© T'he Way to Qhrist.
* other Way, the same is a Thief and a Murderer, and the Sheep * follow him not, for they know not his Voice.* 187. He hath not the Voice of the Spirit ofQod, but the Voice of his own Art and Learning only; the Man teacheth, and not the Spirit of Qod. But Christ saith, * Every Plant which my * Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be plucked up by the * Roots/ 188. How then will he that is Ungodly^iasiX. Heavenly Plants, when he hath no Seed alive in its Power in himself? Christ saith expressly, * The Sheep hear not his Voice, they follow him not.'
189. The written Word is but an Instrument whereby the Spirit leadeth us to itself within us. That Word which will teach, must be living in the literal Word, The Spirit of Qod must be in the literal Sounds or else none is a Teacher of God, but a mere Teacher of the Letter^ a Knower of the History^ and not of the Spirit of Qod in Christ.
190. All that Men will serve GOD with, must be done in Faithy viz., m the Spirit. It is the Spirit that maketh the Work perfect, and acceptable in the Sight of GoD. All that a Man undertaketh and doeth in Faith^ he doeth in the Spirit of Qody which Spirit of Qod doth co-operate in the Work, and then it is acceptable to GOD. For He hath done it Himself and His Power and Virtue is in it: It is Holy.
191. But whatsoever is done in Self without Faith, is but a Figure and Shelly or Husk, of a true Christian Work.
192. If thou servest thy Brother, and doest it but in Hypocrisy, and givest him unwillingly, then thou servest not God. For thy Faith proceedeth not from Love, nor entereth into Hope, in thy Gift. Indeed thou servest thy Brother, and he for his Part thanketh GOD and blesseth thee, but thou blessest not him. For thou givest him thy Gift with a grudging Spirit, which entereth not into the Spirit of Qod, into the Hope of Faith; therefore thy Gift is but half gwtxi, and thou hast but halfXhy Reward for it.
193. The same is true of receiving a. Gift. If axiy giveth in Faith, in Divine Hope, he blesseth his Gift by his Faith: But whoso receiveth it untfiankfully, and murmureth in his Spirit, he curseth it in the Use or Enjoyment of it. Thus it is, that every- one shall have his own; ' Whatsoever he soweth, that shall he * also reap.'
194. So likewise it is in the Office of teaching; * whatsoever a * Man soweth, that also he reapeth.' For if any Man sow good Seed from the Spirit of Christ, it sticketh in the good Heart, and bringeth forth good Fruit; but in the wicked, who are not capable of receiving t\iQ good Seed, the Anger of GOD is stirred.
195. If any sow Contentions, Reproaches, and Misconstruetions, all ungodly People receive that unto them; which sticketh in them also, and bringeth forth Fruit accordingly. So that they learn thereby to despise, revile, slander, and misrepresent Ode another. Out of which Root the great Babel is sprung and grown; wherein Men, from mere Pride and Strife, contend about the History, and the Justification of a poor Sinner in the Sight of God; thereby causing the simple to err and blaspheme, insomuch that one Brother revileth and curseth the other, and excommunicateth, or casteth him to the Devil, for the Sake of the History and Letter.
196. Such Railers and Revilers fear not GOD, but raise the great Building of Dissension, And seeing corrupt Lust lieth in all Men, in the earthly Flesh still, therefore they raise and awaken Abominations even in the simple Children of Qod, and make the People of God, as well as the Children of Iniquity, to blaspheme. And thus they become Master-Builders of the great Babel of the World, and are as useful in the Church, as a fifth Wheel in a Waggon; yea, what is worse than ^ that, they erect the Hellish Building too.
197. Therefore it is highly necessary for the Children of Qod to pray earnestly, that they may learn to know ^v& false Building, and go forth from it with their Minds, and not help to build it up, and persecute their Fellow-Children of God. For by that means they keep themselves back from the Heavenly Kingdom, and turn aside from the right Way.
198. According to the saying of Christ to the Pharisees, ' Woe * unto you Pharisees; for you compass Sea and Land to make * one Proselyte, and when he is one, you make him two-fold * more the Child of Hell than yourselves.' Which is truly too much the Case with the modem Factions and Sects among these Criers and Teachers of Strife, 199. I desire therefore, out of my Qifts which are revealed to me from God, that all the Children of Qod, who desire to be the true Members of Christ, be faithfully warned to depart from such abominable Contentions and bloody Fire-brands, and to go forth from all Strife with their Brethren, and strive only after Love and Righteousness towards all Men.
200. For he that is a good Tree must bring forth good Fruits, and must sometimes suffer Swine to devour his Fruits, and yet must continue a good Tree still, and be always willing to work with God, and not suffer any Evil to overcome him. And then he standeth and groweth in the Field of GOD, and bringeth forth Fruit to be set upon GOD's Table^ which he shall enjoy for ever. Amen. *A11 that hath Breath praise the Name of the Lord. ' Hallelujah.'
THE FOURTH BOOK.
DIALOGUE BETWEEN A Scholar and his Master.
Concerning the SUPER-SENSUAL LIFE.
SHOWING How the Soul may attain to Divine Hearing and Vision^ and what its Childship in the Natural and Supernatural Life is; and how it passeth out of Nature into God^ and out of God into Nature and Self again; also what its Salvation and Perdi- tion are.
Written in the German Language, (Anno. 1624.)
By JJCO'B "BO EH ME TyF^^ speak the hidden Mystical Wisdom of Gody i^f^ which God ordained before the World unto our Glory: Which none of the Princes of this World knew: For had they known //, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Buty as it is written^ Eye hath not seen^ nor Ear heard^ neither hath it entered into the Heart of Man^ to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: For the Spirit searcheth all things ^ yea^ the deep 'Things of God. For what Man knoweth the Things of a Man save the Spirit of a Man which is in him? even so the Things of God knoweth no Many but the Spirit of God. NoWy we have receivedy not the Spirit of the World, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the Things which are freely given us of God. Which Things also we speaky not in the Words which Man's Wisdom teachethy but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual Things with spiritual. But the natural Man receive th not the Things of the Spirit of God: For they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know themy because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgethy or discernethyall Things. — i Corinthians ii. 7,8,9, 10, II, 12, 13,14,15.
OF THE SUPER-SENSUAL LIFE, OR THE JLife which is above Sense.
In a Dialogue between a Scholar or Disciple and his Master.
THE Scholar said to his Master; How may I come to the Super- sensual Life^ that I may see GoD and hear him speak?
His Master said, When thou canst throw thyself for a Moment into that where no Creature dwelleth, then thou hearest what GOD speaketh.
2. The Scholar. — Is T:hat near at Hand, or far off?
The Master. — It is in thee, and if thou canst for a while cease from all thy Thinking and Willing^ thou shalt hear unspeakable Words of God.
3. The Scholar. — How can I hear when I stand still from Thinking diwd Willing?
The Master. — When thou standest still from the Thinking and Willing of Self, then the eternal Hearing, Seeing, and Speaking, will be revealed in thee; and so GOD heareth and seeth through thee. Thine own Hearing, Willing, and Seeing hindereth thee, that thou dost not see nor hear GOD.
4. The Scholar. — Wherewithal shall I hear and see God; seeing he is above Nature and Creature?
The Master. — When thou art quiet or silent, then thou art That which GOD was before Nature and Creature^ and whereof he made thy Nature and Creature; then thou hearest and seest with That wherewith GOD saw and heard in thee before thy awn Willing, Seeing, and Hearing began.
5. The Scholar. — ^What hindereth or keepeth me back that I cannot come to That?
The Master. — Thy own Willing, Hearing, and Seeing; and because thou strivest against That out of which thou art come, thou breakest thyself off with thy own Willing from Qod's Will- ing, and with thy own Seeing thou seest in thy own Willing only, and thy Willing stoppeth thy Hearing with thy own thinking of 96 I'he Way to Qhrist.
earthly natural Things^ and bringeth thee into a Qround of essen- tial State, and darkeneth thee with that which thou Wiliest, so that thou canst not come to That which is Supernatural and Super-sensual.
6. The Scholar. — Seeing I am in Nature^ how may I come through Nature into the Super-sensual Qround^ without destroying Nature?
The Master. — Three Things are requisite here; the first is, thou must resign thy Will to GOD, and sink thyself down to the Ground in his Mercy, The second is, thou must hate thy own Will, and not do that whereto thy own Will driveth thee. The third is, thou must submit thyself under the Cross^ that thou mayest be able to bear the Temptations oi Nature and Creature, If thou dost so, God will speak into thee, and bring thy resigned Will into himself y into the Supernatural Qround; and then thou shalt hear what the Lord speaketh in thee.
7. The Scholar. — If I should do thus, I must forsake the World and my Life too.
The Master. — If thou forsakest the World, thou comest into That whereof the World is made; and if thou losest thy Life, and comest to have thy own Power faint, then thy Life is in That for whose sake thou forsakest it, viz., in GOD, from whom it came into the Body.
8. The Scholar. — God hath created Man in and for the natural Life, to rule over all Creatures on Earth, and to be a Lord over all Things in this World; and therefore Reason suggests that he should possess it as his own.
How Men may and should rule over all Creatures ^ and can be like all Takings.
The Master. — If thou rulest over all Creatures outwardly only, then thy Will and Ruling is in a Bestial Kind, and is but an imaginary transitory Ruling; and thou also bringest thy Desire into a Bestial Essence, whereby thou becomest infected and captivated, and gettest also a Bestial Condition. But if thou hast left the imaginary Condition, then thou art in the Super- imaginariness^ and rulest pver all Creatures in that Qround out of which they are created, and nothing on Earth can hurt thee; for thou art like all Things, and nothing is unlike to thee.
9. The Scholar. — O loving Master, pray teach me the shortest Way how I may come to be like all Things.
The Master.— With all my Heart; do but think on the Words Of the Super-Sensual Life. 97 of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he said, * Unless ye turn and • become as Children, ye shall not see the Kingdom of God.' Now if thou wilt be like all Things, thou mwsX. forsake all Things, and turn thy Desire away from them, and not desire them, nor seek X.O possess that for thy own, which is something. For as soon as thou takest something into thy Desire, and receivest it into thee for thy own, then that something is the same with thyself, and it worketh with thee in thy Will, and then thou art obliged to protect it, and to take Care for it as for thy own Being. But if thou receive nothing into thy Desire, then thou art free from all Things, and rulest over all Things at once. For thou hast received nothing for thy own, and art nothing to all Things, and all Things are nothing to thee. Thou art as a Child which understandeth not what a Thing is; or though thou dost under- stand it, yet thou understandest it without being affected thereby; in that Manner wherein GOD ruleth and seeth all Things, and yet nothing comprehendeth or captivateth him.
Thou didst also desire that I would teach thee how thou mightest attain it. Consider then the Words of Christ, who said, ' Without me ye can do nothing.' In thy own Power thou canst not come to such Rest that no Creature should touch thee, unless thou givest thyself wholly up to the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ, and resignest thy Will and Desire wholly to Him, and Wiliest nothing without Him. Then with thy Body thou art in the World, in the Properties, and with thy Reason under the Cross of our Lord Christ; but with thy Will thou walkest in Heaven, and art in the Original from whence all Creatures pro- ceeded, and to which they go again. And then thou mayest behold all Things outwardly with thy Reason, and inwardly with thy Mind, and rule in and over all Things with Christ, to whom all Power is given both in Heaven and on Earth, 10. The Scholar. — O Master, the Creatures that live in me so withhold me, that I cannot wholly yield and give up myself as I willingly would.
The Master. — If thy PT/Z/goeth forth from the Creatures, then the Creatures are forsaken in and by thee; they are in the World, and thy Body only is with the Creatures, but in thy Spirit thou walkest with GoD. And if thy Will leaveth the Creatures, then the Creatures are dead in it, and live only in the Body in the World; and if thy Will doth not bring itself into them, they cannot touch thy Soul. For St, Paul saith, * Our * Conversation is in Heaven;* also, * Ye are the Temple of the * Holy Ghost, who dwelleth in you;' so then, the Holy Qhost dwelleth in the Will, and the Creatures dwell in the Body, 11. The Scholar. — If the Holy Qhost dwell in the WUl of 7 98 I'he Way to Qhrist.
the Mindy how may I keep myself that He may not depart from me?
The Master. — Mark the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ; * If * you abide in my Word, then my Words abide in you.' If thou dost abide with thy Will in the Words of Christ, then His Word and Spirit abide in thee. But if thy Will goeth into the Crea- tures^ then thou hast broken off thyself from Him, and then thou canst not any other Way keep thyself, but by abiding continually in resigned Humility y and entering into continual Repentance^ so that thou art always grieved that Creatures live in thee. If thou dost thus, thou standest in a daily dying from the Creatures^ and in a daily ascending into Heaven in and with thy Will again.
12. The Scholar. — O loving Master, pray teach me how 1 may come into such a continual Repentance.
How Men may come to continual Repentance^ and subsist in Temptation.
The Master. — When thou leavestthzX. which loveth thee, and lovest that which hateth thee, then thou mayest abide continually in Repentance.
13. The Scholar. — What is that which I must thus leave? The Master. — Thy Creatures in Flesh and Blood, and all other Things that love thee; love thee because thy Will enter- taineth, nourisheth, and preserveth them. These the Will must leave and account as Enemies; and the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ together with the Reproach of the World hateth thee, which thou must learn to love^ and take for a daily Exercise of thy Repentance, And then thou shalt have continual Cause to hate thyselj in the Creature, and to seek the eternal Rest, wherein thy WUl may rest; as Christ said, * In the World you shall have * Tribulation, but in me you shall have Rest.* 14. The Scholar. — How may I stand firm in such a Temp- tation as this?
The Master. — If every Hour thou dost once throw thyself beyond all Creatures, above all sensual Reason, into the mere Mercy of GOD, into the Sufferings of our Lord, and yield thyself thereinto, then thou shalt receive Power to rule over Sin^ Death, and the Devil, over Hell and the World, and then thou mayest stand firm in all Temptations.
15. The Scholar.— Poor Man that I am, what would be- come of me, if I should attain with my Mind to *That where no Creature is!
Of the Super-Sensual Life. 99 The Master. — Loving Scholar, if thy Will could break off itself for one Hour from all Creatures, and throw itself into that where no Creature is, it would be presently clothed with the highest Splendour of GOD's Qlory, and would taste in itself the most sweet Love of our Lord Jesus, which no Man can express; and it would find in itself the unspeakable Words- of our Lord concerning his great Mercy, It would feel in itself that the Cross of our Lord Christ would be very pleasing to it, and it would love that more than the Honour and Goods of the World.
16. The Scholar. — But what would become of the Body^ since it must live in the Creature?
The Master. — The Body would be put into the Imitation of our Lord Christy who said, His Kingdom was not of this World. It would begin to die from without and from within; from with- out, it would die from the Vanity and evil Deeds of the World; It would be an utter Enemy to all Pride and Insolence. And from within, it would die from all Evil Lusts and Envy, and would get a Mind and Will in itself wholly new, which would be continually directed towards GOD and Goodness.
17. The Scholar. — But the World "would hate and despise a Man for doing so, seeing he must contradict the World, and live and do otherwise than the World doth.
The Master. — He would not take that as any Harm done to him, but would rather rejoice that he is become worthy to be thus conformed to the Example of our Lord Christ, and be willing to bear that Cross after our Lord, merely that the Lord might bestow the Influence of his sweet Love upon him.
18. The Scholar. — What would become of him, when the Anger of God from within, and the wicked World from without, should assault him, as happened to our Lord Christ?
The Master. — Let him be thereunto what our Lord Christ was. When He was reproached, reviled, and crucified by the World and the Priests, He commended His Soul into the Hands of His Father, aqd so departed from the Anguish of this World into the eternal Joy. So also such a Soul would get forth from the Reproach and Anguish of all the World, and penetrate into itself, into the great Love of God, and be sustained and refreshed by the most sweet Name/^j^j, and see and find in itself a new ffVr/of springing forth through the ^«^^r of God; then should it wrap itself up therein, and account all Things alike. And thus whether the Body be in Hell or on Earth, yet would the Soul be in the greatest Love of GOD.
19. The Scholar. — But how would a Man maintain himself in the World, and those that belong to him, if he should thus incur the Displeasure of all the World?
285764 ^~' loo T'he JVay to Qhrist.
The Master. — He thereby getteth greater Favour than the World is able to bestow, for he hath GOD, and all His Angels for his Friends^ who protect him in all Dangers and Necessities. God is his Blessing in every Thing, and though sometimes it may seem as if GOD would not bless him, it is but to try him, and is in truth the drawing of God's Love, that he might the more earnestly pray to GOD, and commit all his Way to Him.
20. The Scholar. — But he loseth all his good Friends^ and there will be none to help him in his Necessity.
The Master. — Nay, he getteth the Hearts of all his good Friends into his Possession, and loseth none but his Enemies, who before loved his Vanity and Wickedness.
21. The Scholar. — How is it thdit he getteth his good Friends into his Possession?
The Master. — He getteth the Souls of all those that belong to our Lord Jesus to be his Brethren and the Members of his own Life. For the Children of GoD are but One in Christ, which One is Christ in all. Therefore he getteth them all to be his Fellow- Members in the Body of Christ, for they have the Heavenly Qoods in common, and live in one and the same Love of GOD, as the Branches of a Tree spring from one and the same Sap. Nor will he want outward natural Friends, any more than our Lord Christ did. For though the High Priests and Potentates of the World who belonged not to Him, nor were His Members and Brethren, loved Him not, yet those who were capable of His Words loved Him. So likewise those that love Truth and Righteousness, would love that Man, and associate themselves with him; as Nicodemus did with Christy who came to Him by Night, and in his Heart loved Jesus for the Truths Sake, yet outwardly feared the World And thus shall such a Man have many Friends rise up who were not known to him at the Beginning.
22. The Scholar. — But it is very grievous to be despised by all the World.
The Master. — That which now seems hard and heavy to thee thou wilt afterwards love most of all.
23. The Scholar. — How can it be that I should love that which hateth me?
The Master. — Though thou lovest the earthly Wisdom now, yet when thou art clothed with the heavenly, thou wilt see that all the Wisdom of the World is but Folly, and that the World hateth but thine Enemy, viz., the mortal Life; and when thou thyself comest to hate the Will thereof, then thou also wilt begin to love that despising of the mortal Life.
24. The Scholar. — But how may these two stand together, viz., that a Man should both love and hate himself?
The Master. — In thus loving thyself thou lovest not thyself as thy own, but as given from the Love of GOD; thou lovest the Divine Qround in thee; by which thou lovest the Divine Wisdom^ God's Works of Wonder, and thy Brethren. But in hating thyself thou hatest only that which is thy own, wherein Evil sticketh close to thee; and this thou dost, that thou mayest wholly destroy in thee that which thou callest thine ^ when thou sayest / or myself do this or that. T^his thou wouldst wholly destroy in thee, that thou mayest become a Qround wholly Divine. Love hateth Self or that which we call /, because it is a deadly Thing, and they two, viz.^ Love and Self cannot well stand together. For Love possesseth Heaven, and dwelleth in itself; but that which I call /, possesseth the World, and worldly Things, and also dwelleth in itself. And as Heaven ruleth the World, and as Eternity ruleth Time, so Love ruleth over the natural Life.
25. The Scholar. — Loving Master, pray tell me wherefore must Love and Trouble^ Friend and Foe be together; would not Love alone be better?
How Love and Sorrow stand together in one; and what hove is^ what its Power^ Virtue^ Height and Greatness are; and where it dwelleth in Man; also the nearest Way to attain it.
The Master. — If Love dwelt not in Trouble^ it could have nothing to love; but its Substance which it loveth^ viz., the poor Soul, being in Trouble and Pain, Love hath cause to lose its own Substance, in order to deliver its Beloved from Pain, that itself also might be beloved again. Neither indeed could it be known what Love is, if it had not something which it might love.
26. The Scholar. — What is the Virtue, Power, Height^ and Qreatness of Love?
The Master. — Its Virtue is that nothing whence all Things proceed, and its Power is in and through all Things; its Height is as high as GoD, and its Qreatness is greater than GOD. \Here is meant the Manifestation of the Deity in the glorious eternal Light of the Divine Essence^ Whosoever findeth it, findeth nothing and all Things.
27. The Scholar. — Loving Master, pray tell me how I may understand this.
The Master. — What I meant by saying, ' its Virtue is that * nothing whence all Things proceed^ thou mayest understand thus.
When thou art wholly gone forth from the Creature^ and become nothing to all that is Nature and CreaturCy then thou art in that eternal One which is GOD Himself, and then thou shalt perceive and feel the highest Virtue of Love, But as to what I said that * its Power is in and through all * Things^ thou shalt perceive and find that in thy own Soul and Body^ when this great Love is kindled in thee, it will bum more than any Fire can do. Thou shalt see also in all the Works of God that Love hath poured forth itself into all Things, and is the most inward and most outward Qround in all Things. In- wardly ^ in the Virtue and Power; and outwardly y in the Figure, Form and Shape^ of every Thing.
The Meaning of that which I said, viz,y ' its Height is as high ^ as Qodj thou mayest also come to understand in thyself, in that it will bring thee to be as High as GOD himself is; as may be seen by our beloved Lord Christ in our Humanity; which Humanity Love hath brought into the highest Throne, even into the Power of the Deity.
But that which I further said, ' its Qreatness is greater than ' Qod'y is also true. For Love entereth into that where GOD dwelleth not, as when our beloved Lord Christ was in Helly Hell was not God but Love was there and destroyed Death, Also, when thou art in Anguish and Trouble of Soul, GOD is not the Anguish or Trouble^ but His Love is there, and bringeth thee out of Anguish into GoD. When GOD hideth Himself in thee. Love is there, and maketh Him manifest in thee.
And that which I said, * whosoever findeth it, findeth nothing * and ail T kings ^ is also true, for he findeth a Supernatural Super- sensual Abyss having no Qround, where there is no Place to dwell in. He findeth also nothing that is like it, and therefore it may be compared to nothing; for it is deeper than any Thing, and is as nothing to all Things, for it is not comprehensible. And, because it is nothing, it is free from all Things, and is that only Qood which a Man cannot describe or express what it is.
But that which I lastly said, * he that findeth it, findeth all * Things,* is also true; it hath been the Beginning of all Things, and it ruleth all Things. If thou findest it, thou comest into that Qround ixoTCi whence all Things proceeded, and wherein they sub- sist; and thou art in it a King over all the Works of GoD.
28. The Scholar. — Loving Master, pray tell me where dwelleth it in Man } The Master. — Where Man dwelleth not, there it hath its Seat in Man.
29. The Scholar. — Where is that in a Man's Self where Man dwelleth not?
Of the Super-Sensual Life. 103 The Master. — It is in the Soul that is resigned to the Ground, where the Soul dieth to its own Will^ and Willeth no more of itself y but only what GOD Willeth. That is the Place in a Man's Self where Man dwelleth noty and there Love dwelleth. For so much of the Soul as its own Will is dead to itself m, so much Place Love hath taken up therein; for where its own Will sat before, there now is nothings and where nothing is, there the Love of God is working alone.
30. The Scholar, — But how may I comprehend or attain it without the dying of my Will?
The Master. — If thou wilt comprehend it in thy own Will^ it flieth away from thee; but if thou yieldest thyself wholly up to it, then thou art dead to thyself in thy own Wtll^ and Love^V\ then be the Life of thy Nature. It killetk thee not, but quickeneth thee according to its Life^ and then thou livest^ yet not to thy own Willy but to its Will; for thy Will becometh its Will, and then thou art dead to thyself but alive unto Qod.
31. The Scholar. — How is it that so few find it, when all would so fain have it.^ The Master. — Because they all seek it in something, viz., in an imaginary Opinion, in Self Desire, whereto almost all have a peculiar natural Lust or Inclination. And though Love should proffer itself to them, it could find no Harbour or Dwelling-place in them, because the Imaginativeness that is in their own Willy hath set itself in the Place thereof. And that Imaginativeness of Self Lust would fain have the Love in it; but Love flieth away, for it dwelleth only in nothing, and therefore such Souls find it not.
32. The Scholar. — What is the Office of it in nothing? The Master. — Its Office is to penetrate without Intermission into something; and if it find a Place in something which standeth still, then its Office is to take Possession thereof, and to rejoice therein with its flaming Fire of Love, more than the Sun in this World; and without Intermission to kindle a Fire in something, and to consume the something, and to enflame itself therewith.
33. The Scholar. — O loving Master! How shall I under- stand this?
The Master. — If it may but kindle a Fire in thee, thou shalt feel how it consumeth thy Selfhood, that which thou callest /, and rejoiceth so exceedingly in thy Fire, that thou wouldest rather suffer thyself to be killed, than to enter again into thy something. Its Flame also is so great, that it would not leave thee, though it should cost thy temporal Life; it would go with thee in its Fire into Death; nay if thou wentest into Hell, it would even destroy Hell for thy Sake.
34. The Scholar. —Loving Master, I can no longer endure I04 T'he Way to Qhrist.
that any Thing should divert me from this Love; how shall I find the nearest Wsiy to it?
The Master, — Where the Way is hardest, there walk thou, and take up what the World rejecteth; and what the World doth, that do not thou. Walk contrary to the World m all Things, and then thou takest the nearest Way to it 35. The Scholar.— If I should walk contrary to the World in every Thing, I must needs live in mere Misery and Unquietness^ and I should also be accounted a Fool.
The Master. — I do not bid thee do Harm to any; but be- cause the World loveth only Deceit and Vanity^ and walketh in false and wicked Ways; therefore if thou wilt act a quite con- trary Part to the Ways thereof in all Things, walk only in the Right Way. For the Right Way is contrary to all the Ways of the World.
But whereas thou Gayest thou slwuldest live in mere Anguish and Trouble: that indeed will be so according to the Flesh; and will give thee Occasion oi continual Repentance; and in such Anxiety the Love will most readily kindle its Fire, What thou sayest also, viz., * that thou shouldest be accounted a ^fool^ is true; for the Way to the Love of GOD is Folly to the World, but Wisdom to the Children of Qod, When the World perceiveth this Fire of Love kindled in the Children of Qod, it saith they are turned Fools; but to the Children of Qod\X.\s the greatest Treasure; so great that no Life can express, nor Tongue de- scribe, what the Fire of the inflaming Love of GoD is. It is brighter than the Sun, and sweeter than any Thing. It is far more nourishing and vital thdXi any Meat or Drink, and vaor^ pleasant than all the Joy of this World. Whosoever getteth it is richer than any King on Earth, more noble than any Emperor, and more potent and strong than all Authority and Power.
Whither the blessed and damned Souls go, when they depart from their Bodies; and how Heaven and Hell are in Man.
36. Then the ScJtolar asked his Master further sayings Whither go the Souls, both of the Saved and Damned, when they leave these mortal Bodies?
His Master answered^ The Soul needeth no going forth; only the outward mortal Life and the earthly Body do at Death sepa- rate themselves from the Soul. The Soul hath Heaven and Hell in itself before; as it is written, * The Kingdom of God cometh Of the Super-Sensual Life. 105 ' not with outward Observation; neither shall they say, lo here, ' or lo there, it is, for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.' And whether of the two States, viz., either Heaven or Hell, shall be manifested in the Soul, in that it standeth.
37. The Scholar. — Doth it not enter into Heaven or Hell, as a Man entereth into a House, or goeth through a Door or Pas- sage, into another Place?
The Master. — No, there is no such Kind of entering; for Heaven and Hell 2x^ present everywhere, and it is but the turning of the Will either into God's Love, or into his Anger, that intro- duceth into them. And that cometh to pass in this Life, dLCcord- ing to the saying of St. Paul, * Our Conversation is in Heaven;' and Christ saith also, * My Sheep hear my Voice, and I know * them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal Life, * and none shall pluck them out of my Hand.*