Christ Jesus His Godhead illuminates us in Contemplation It is Manhood shewes Action And even as he grows slenderly in Contemplation that sees not his Godhead to draw Light therefro so neither in Action moves he rightly that proposes not his Manhood for direction And as in the whole course of our Life there is alway somewhat to be done so this Manhood is alway to be borne before our eyes Secondly in Contemplation of the Passion Fervour and lively flames stirre up to Conformity and operation but abstract Contemplation of the Godhead alone produceth no such effect Thirdly in the one God is found in stability of strength and practise as well outer as inner In the other he is only found in the Inner but as for the outer all growes cold when need requires we goe forth to operation especially when the same requires any length of time In the one the soule when shee should act is left naked by sinking from her object whence shee borrowed her Light but in the other shee 's not so left because she retaines the same object in Contemplation that she does in Action 5. The one acquires us an Interiour but no exteriour habite The other enriches us with both 6. The Contemplation of the Passion containes those two wayes leading to God Abnegation and Affection But the Contemplation of the Godhead kindles indeed the Affection but shewes no such practise of Abnegation How shall any man be thought to love Jesus Christ that turnes his back upon him hanging on the Crosse that so losing fight of him he may give himselfe to Contemplation of the Godhead For the second point wee are not only to cleave fast to the Passion willingly and with all our might and not to the Godhead alone But also none ought to let himselfe be drawne from it No though he had some Inclination and a doore seemed to stand open For if upon every call which seems to lure aloft the Passion should be left it would never be possible to search out discover the depth of this Mysterie which as it is grounded not only in the heigth of the Godhead but also in the forsakennesse of the Manhood so that it may be throughly sounded both must be beheld and not the Godhead alone For as one climing a Tree cannot consider the height of it if he stare at the Top only never looking at the rootâ— So he that by Contemplation ascends the high Tree of the Myâ—â—erie of the Incarnation 〈…〉 possibly discerne the height 〈…〉 of if he aym only at the Godheâ—â— overlooking the forsaken and despised Manhood And as those two be conjoyned in the same person so they are to be beheld with one simple sight and not appart Where in my judgement many erre very much who finding some Light by beholding the Passion when by meanes thereof they should dive into the same with a steadier eye and search deeper to the Intimatest secrets of this stupendous Mysterie there to finde that supreame God cloathed with Mortall Flesh beaten with stripes boar'd with nayles and cruelly fastned to a Crosse till the ravisht Soule roar'd out and were forc't to goe forth of her selfe they on the contrary straight forsake the Manhood and imboldned by that small glympse they have got presse to arise to his naked Godhead whither nathlesse they attaine not but leave it as fluttering in the ayre Or if they seeme to approach it the same is so little that the Soule soone faints little bettered thereby wandring Light-mindedly untempered to endure the fulgour of Divine Light but thence held off remains a Vagress growing in no knowledge either of the Godhead alone by abstraction or of the Godhead Manhood together by the Passion In the Passion we finde the glorious Godhead suited to our Capacity which of it selfe is a Light inaccessible For as he that would see the Sunne darts not his eyes immediately upon his glistering rayes but taking a bason or some other vessell of water fits the same to his fight So may we say of the Godhead which hee that desires to see must hehold it in the Manhood wherein 't is adapted to the sight of the Soule And as he that will looke full at the Sun rather dazles the quicknesse of his sight witnesse they that will look on him in his eclipse so those souls which overtopping the Manthood presse to adhere immediately o the Godhead do no other but blind themselves Nor let them thinke that God inviteth them to his Naked Godhead when hee imparts that Light But he gives that Light that they may the better behold his Passion and not that they should prye up to his naked Godhead For if the Manhood were so sleightly to be left to proceed to the Godhead alone then were it granted and concluded that the Passion is scarce at al to be minded for it requires some Light If then having received that Light wee must straight flye to the naked Godhead dismissing the Manhood What then shall become of the knowledg of this Mysterie and the Imitation of the pattern of our Life But God by imparting such Light to us is so farre from inviting us to behold his naked Godhead that contrariwise hee gives the Soul endeavouring the same a touch of her mistake saying Turn away thy eyes from me for they have drove me away As if he should say So long as thou lookedst on my Passion thou sawst me and enjoyedst me after thy hearts desire both Manhood and Godhead at once But since thou withdrewest from thine eyes the glasse of my Passion which proportioned me to thy capablenesse and hast betook thee to behold my God-head alone the lustre of whose sight thy weak eves are not able to endure I have withdrawne my selfe from thy sight and fled far from thee Turn then away thine eyes from me and from my sole Godhead and fasten them on my Passion there thou shalt find me abundantly We are not therefore by help of such Light to soare aloft though God impart that Light unto us unlesse the Attraction of the holy Ghost be so Majesticall that it suspend all the powers of the Soule as by repture or extasie For then the soule her weake forces spent must let goe her hold and yeeld to the Rapt The Angel having wrestled long and strong with Jacob at length spying light said Let me goe T is morning The Angell represents our Lord Jacob the Christian Their wrestle that lowly and love-sicke duel acted betwixt God and his Spouse who finding him in his Passion cryes out I found him whom my soule loveth God of God Light of Light very God of very God begotten not made consubstantiall with the Father by whom all things were made And seeing that great God thus cloathed in our flesh and therein tortured with Torments rapt in amazement and drunke with his Love fastning her eye on him in this Agony and now enflam'd with Zeale and Love shee vowes never to goe thence but embracing
A Bright STARRE Leading to Centering in Christ our perfection Or a Manuell entituled by the Authour thereof The third part of the Rule of Perfection Wherein such profound Mysteries are revealed such mysterious imperfections discovered with their perfect cures prescribed as have not been by any before published in the English Tongue faithfully translated for the common good For hee that is entered into his rest hee also hath ceased from his owne workes as God did from his Heb. 4. 10. London printed by M. S. and are to be sold by Henry Overton in Popes-Head Alley 1646. The Epistle to the Reader Christian Reader AS in the world all men are nâ—t of an equall height and stature of body but some taller some shorter some weaker some strâ—nger so neither are all of one just even prâ—portion in spirituall light strâ—ngâ—h of faith in the kingdome of Christ some are dwarfs of Zacheus his pitch some againe of Saul's port taller by the head and shoulders then his brethren so the Kingdome of Christ some are babes some are children some are young men some are Fathers every one according to the measure of the gift of Christ Therefore that the bruised reede may â—ot be broken nor the smoaking flaxe quenâ—hed till judgement bee brought forth to â—ictorie there mâ—st not new wine bee put â—nto old bottles nor new cloth patcht to â—ld garments neither yet must either bee â—eglected but both carefully preserved by â—e suting of each to other for that purpose the scribe instructed unto the kingdome of heaven hath in his treasury things new an â—old not onely old nor onely new but old and new able to fit each size and to sute to each capacity not onely beating one base nor harping blindly on one string nor ever puzling about the first rudiments anâ— foundations of the Doctrines of Christ stinting the progresse of them to perfection by tying them to one forme and keeping them to one lesson being either unable or unskilfull to top up the work and to bring Israel not onely out of Egypt over the red sea through the barren Desart and serpentbiting wildernesse over Jordan into Canaan but there to give them a Sabbath of rest and cessation from all their troubles going on from strength to strength froâ— faith to faith from light to light sorting his dispensatioâ—s to the sutable capacitieâ— of all sorts that none may goe empty away driving gently the tender little ones thâ— females great with young bearing also anâ— suckling the insant helplesse babes in thâ— warme bosome of the spirit of tender lovâ— giving milke to babes and strong meate tâ— men able to digest the same their wits being exercised to discerne both between goâ— and evill The waters issuing from under the threhold of the Temple at the first thousand â—aces measuring were but to the anckles â—hallow for children at the second casting of the line it was to the knee thence to the chin and at the last unpassable shewing the varieties of sweetest delights and soul-solacing comforts adapted and squared forth for every degree stooping to the meanest capacity yet not there leaving them where it findes them but training trading them along till it hath brought them to the profound depths where the vessells of greatest capacity may flote as the arke on the top of the Deepe I having therefore observed the ever to be bewailed non-proficiency of many ingenuous spirits who through the policie of others and the too too much modesty and timerity of themselves have precluded the way of progresse to the top and pitch of rest and perfection against themselves as being altogether unattainable and have shortned â—he cut with a Non datur ultra and are become such who are ever learning but â—ever come to the knowledg of the trueth â—otwithstanding that no lesse true then old â—aying Not to goe forward is to goe backeâ—ard Pâ—ore soules after many yeares traâ—ell being found in the same place going the same pace without fruit as if they had reacht the highest at the first and that there were not yet more excellent things heighths lengths breadths depths of sweetnesses and fulnesses beyond measure in the Abysse of the Divine Vision That therefore the brightest Sun might not be clouded and the cleerest glory vailed from the eyes of poore suiters I have been induced to attempt the publishing of this most excellent and spirituall piece of incomparable price to the use and view of the more common and vulgar people in their owne Mother tongue not doubting but the light breaking forth it shall finde entertainment and leade and cause to grow up as calves in the stall It 's true the argument is perfection high hard and indeede almost unheard of amongst us though the Apostles practice in himselfe Phil. 3. 14. and 15. and precept unto the Hebrewes cap. 6. 1. all things â—end to perfection groane after perfection are at rest in perfection and are restlesse till perfection And truly the method is so orderly the arguments so convincing and the experience thereof so insensibly penetrating thâ— secrets and inwards that I doubt not but upon the due and serious consideration hereof many shal fall downe and say Surely the Lord is in it or as Jacob Surely the Lord is and was in this though I knew it not but I must admonish thee that this is the third and last part of The rule of Perfection and therefore beginnes where they end this is as the uppermost step in Jacobs Ladder this end reacheth into the heavens as the other hath it's foot fastened on the earth this is the top of our ascent to God the other the lowest of his descent to us The first is called the exteriour will consisting in all practices and exercises of the outward man in full latitude to the law of God The second is called the interiour will conâ—aining of and consisting in contemplation and sweetest meditation of the inner-man whereby the soule hath delitious touches and tasts amorous imbraces and twinings of armes with her love yet is this but the act and image of the soule being so farre below and short of God and his reall possession as the image is short of God and imagination short of fruition The third is called essentiall will which is ever practised in the life supereminent where not man but God acts lives and is and all other beings as false are annihilated by him then and there alone is God all in all This first second and third part may â—e compared to the outward inward and inmost Temple all might enter the first court so must all enter the first part the practicall obedience of the outward man none but the Priests might enter the inner so none but those that are made Priests and Kings to God can enter the second part which is the interiour will practised in spirituall and Divine meditations Into the third none entered but the High Priest Jesus Christ so none can enter into this
the two precedent Wils are to be drawn and reduc'd to this whereof we now treat And all our actions outward and inward bodily and spirituall to be perfected in this Will 1. viz. To wit or that is to say In the unity of the Divine Being without any backsliding at all And if this word Will seeme to stumble any man by raising some Image or bringing to minde some other Object then may he at his pleasure let it fall and hold fast the word Being or God though indeed not so much matter need bee made of the word as for the simplification of the minde which in these three words Will Being God discerns one and the same thing Now betwixt the Interiour and Essentiall Will â—s this difference The one goes before the other followes The one is the mean the other the end The one interiour the other intimate the one unitive the other transformative The one almost essentiall the other altogether The one hath certaine Images yet very subtil the other is pure naked and without all forms In the one the soul yet moves somwhat in the other shee 's at perfect Rest In the one shee 's active in the other passive as receiving the influence and intimate operation of her Bride-groome And as the Interiour arises from the Exterior so the Essentiall arises out of the Interiour CHAP. II. That this Essentiall-Will may not be come to by any meane of Man with Reasons assuring the same HAving now understood the Nature perfection height of this Will it followes that wee prescribe a mean to attaine thereto A meane I say without meane For 't is impossible that any act meditation thinking aspiring or working can bee of sufficient force thereto No discourse exercise nor Rule nor any meane to bee here enterposed betwixt God and the Soule But even this onely End without any meane to draw us to it and raise us to the blessed vision and contemplation thereof And this accordeth with St. Bon. who saith that here the highest speculation of all others as that of the Trinity by St. Dyon is to bee left Not that the same is not good and excellent but because there is another more supreme apprehension in the mind of Man by which only the highest spirit is most wonderfully arrived in the Eye of the understanding must be strongly borne downe because in this Contemplation 't will alwaies apprehend that which the affection tends to whence it is that the greatest stay in our Rising is the strong-cleaving of the understanding to the Desire the which must nethelesse bee strongly borne downe because it conceits either phantastically circumscriptibly or in some limited manner And still as much as in this Rising the understanding mixes it selfe with the desire so much impurity is there And againe as far as the eye of the understanding is blindfolded which will not bee done without hard practise and labour so much is the eye of the desire in her reach mounted more freely and eminently without compare And now the desire is to forsake all consideration and love of sensibles also the beholding of all Intelligibles and rise up pure without admixttion of the understanding to that satisfyer of her longing whom in her extent shee knowes that she may bee the more intimately united to him For since this being is plainely supernaturall it falls not within the bounds of sense or understanding surpassing mans capacity it cannot bee comprehended 'T is not laid hold on but without us but when we bend to any yearnings or acts whatsoever we remaine within our selves 'T is not receiv'd but when Man suffers But the Soule producing acts is agent This being is above us but our owne acts below us And therefore saith St. Bon. wee are here to desist from all naturall incurvation and perception All thinking in operation how spritely soever it be is lesse then wee But this being is greater The double looke is quickly gone The single eye stands fixt in one He therefore that stoops to the Creature I meane to any Meane act or operation perceives not the Creator That this being may bee received it onely must be minded but intellectuall discourses glide us away 'T is then only comprehended when it comprehends and possesses us which befalls not so long as wee are entangled in our owne thinkings acts and workings 'T is most simple therefore unconceivable to any other but a throughly refined understanding No searching knowledge is able to transforme This is the office of Love onely So often as the senses or understanding are distracted about any working the soule is also posted to the same object and must needes consequently bee writhen bended below her selfe and cannot therefore flye above her selfe And thus 't is evident that in this matter no help of any Mean of Man is to be sought Nor is it once to be thought that this Being may be approached by any Reason or discourse of the Understanding but contrariwise such discourses acts are to be utterly abandoned and all working of the Understanding to be strongly held below as Dion to Timothy See saith hee that in rising to mystical Visions viz. The Divine Being thou forsake thy wits by a strong contrition and all workings of thy understanding and all knowables and invisibles and arise as unknowingly as may be possible to the Vision of him which transcends all substance and knowledge I therefore conclude That since all aspirings meditations and discourses are here of no use and since the wit judgement and reason of Man must fall before the Divine Glory And since all acts and workings of the Understanding are to be forsaken I conclude I say that no humane or active Meane may be found to attaine thereto This Being can no otherwise bee comprehended then as it gives it selfe to be comprehended Nor otherwise understood then as it opens it selfe to be understood Nor be seen in any other manner then as it gives it selfe to be seene Noâ— be tasted knowne possessed but as it gives it selfe to bee tasted knowne and possessed It suffers it selfe to be comprehended when how and by whom it pleaseth It offers it selfe to be understood tasted and enjoyed when how and by whom it lusteth But our intellectuall powers are unusefull and good for nothing CHAP. 3. Of the first Mean A Mean to be found without a Meane Passive not Active nor consisting in Acts of the Minde And the same two-fold ALthough as we have shewed no meane of Man is of sufficient power to attain the Vision of this Being yet a divine Mean may be found able to compass the same And though not Active or Actual wherein Man may doe somewhat yet passive or essentiall wherein Man doing nothing suffers By reason of which resting from action I call it a Meane without Mean For as thereby 't is granted us to attaine our highest felicity and therefore it may be rightly termed a Meane So inasmuch as all workings of the Minde are
know that manner of Action to be holy and commended in Spirituall Life as Aspirings and other Gestures of that kinde yeelding a Sensible Comfort And therefore since it seems to do them so much good they forsake not the use thereof though in their hearts they well know that those same be great Impediments in this Life as also all the other defects and failings which usually we meet with in our Comtemplation and Union from which they bee never quite freed how subtilly soever the same have winded in and hid themselves That therefore we may returne to our purpose the soul how highly soever inlightned and seated in lofty contemplation yet straight discovers here some wandrings and imperfections exceeding secret which blown away shee followes her Bridegroomes Lure with a stronger Mount and swifter Motion pursuing the threed of the Divine Wil before drawn into practise in the first and second part more essentially And these imperfections be three The first is a too much boy ling of the desires and fervours in the Soule which savours too much of Action disturbs the sweet peace and quiet Rest of her Bridegroome in her and crosses his sole ful and perfect working and absolute soveraignty over her where-through shee neither lets her selfe be perfectly illuminate nor rises to the rosie kisses and chaste embraces of her Lover but remains as it were writhen down into her selfe The second is a certain hidden thin and unknowne Image of the Divine Will which the Soule retaines vailing her from seeing it essentially The third is that shee does not instantly behold her Bridegroome as really present and more-present then her self and more within her then her selfe and more shee then her selfe but as one resiant in Paradise or some other-where more remote from her then she from her selfe whence it was that neither so lively faith nor so firme hope nor so ardent Love nor so ravishing entercourses past betweene them as otherwise should befall Yet look I not that she should perfectly discern all these failings till shee have reached the following degrees because they can hardly be perceived till they be corrected by the Divine Spirit And these three Imperfections doe directly oppose the three following points and perfections handled in the three next Chapters And therefore we will treate of them al together that the one may remedie the other The Second Point CHAP. 5. Of the too much Boyling of the Desires and of the flowing of the same Desires into God Where is shewed a simple and essentiall rise of the Minde T Is not my purpose by this too much boyling of the Desires to reprove those sacred Desires which in God are found in his Being or so far forth as they be ordered aright but so far as they are ill ordered or have some complement annexed which hinders their fulnes perfect consummation Deification free entry spentnesse and dying in God This hinderance is no other but the too much boyling of them 1. Active Active I say excluding the passive which is ever still without noise without Acts profound and godlike But the Active on the other side impatient unconstant superficiall too much smelling of Man and of the nature and operation of Man And this twofold species of the Desires may fitly be resembled to two waters whereof the one is muddy bubling and full of murmur yet but shallow the other cleare smooth and still yet extream deep Therefore this boyling of the Desires though good in the Beginginning is here to be rejected Not that good desires are to be refused but their Imperfections Not that we should forsake them but perfect them nor yet lose them but refine and fulfill them in God For as seed is not lost because cast in his place but changed and multiplied as we see in a graine of corne that it perisheth not though thrown into the ground but is changed and encreased So neither doe good Desires perish when they be terminated in God but are purified multiplied and perfected And as the grain of corne unlesse it first corrupt and dye bringeth not forth Increase So neither doe good Desires ever take their effects i. Union and Transformation unlesse they first be exhausted or fal sound asleep in God Whence is that saying of our Saviour Except a grain of corn falling into the earth dye it bringeth no fruit But if it dye it bringeth much fruit As also at first the graiue is needfull so in the end it must needs corrupt that wheate may grow up 'T is thus with good Desires and their Annihillation that they may obtaine their Union with God But as in this corruption the grain is improperly said to be corrupted but rather to be altered or changed into Corne So also wee say improperly that these good Desires are nothing but rather changed and transformed into Union Howbeit as the graine is never at length returned the same but remaines for ever transformed or altered into Corne as into his effect and last end and perfection So neither are these good Desires ever after to be begun again but to persevere transformed into Union as into their effect and crowne of compleatnesse Lastly as the grain is not to be cast in every earth nor at al times but very carefully both commodiousnesse of place and opportunity of season is to be observed In like manner good desires are not every where to be annihilated but in God alone Nor yet in every exercise but only in that of the Union Nor yet sodainly in the beginning but in the time allotted for that purpose which is even after the Exercise of the Active Life well drawn into practise is accomplisht Where plainly appeares how much they are blinded that thinke they must alway be doing and never rest from such fervent Acts Yearnings And much more they that in such manner of working imagine the true Union to be placed and condemn the contrary for faulty and stilnesse for nothing worth which is flat contrary to the doctrine of Dionysius before cited Chap. 2. who also saith in another place That our Intellectuall workings must be cut off that we may send in our selves so much as may be into the Superessentiall Shine But the Soul shal cure this failing and impediment in her Journey and found Union by emptying of her fervours into God Not that she must work any thing but onely suffer such working The Emptying here of the burning Desires into God is the exchanging of the practicke Love with the fruitive or a finall rest and full satisfaction of the desires in God where the Desire is swallowed up and passes into possession This word emptying intimates two things 1. Death and Life or Losse and Gaine Because inasmuch as the Desire flowes out of the Soule 't is extinct and dies but inasmuch as 't is ended in God it receives more Increase and lives more then ever before Therefore I listed not use the word Annihilation as if they were made nothing in God But
I said Emptying of the Desires into God because they are preserved in him Nor did I call it a preservation of the Desires but an Emptying Intimating thereby that they are not afterward felt in the soule for that they be sublime also because of the lively sweet working of God in the soule who thus transformes the Desire into the thing desired Also this change contains three things A cleer Manifestation of the thing desired A full satisfaction of the Desires and a Rest of the same For the first this Manifestation of the thing desired which is God comes not all at once but successively and as it were by steps according to the Increase of our Love For first God abideth in the Soul but shee knows him not Then he declares himselfe to her but obscurely Then more clearly and as it were in full Noon-day All which steppes are exprest by the Spouse in the Canticles For first 't is plaine by these words I sought him but found him not where wee may see two things One that God was in her the other Shee knew him not Whereof the first is apparent in the words I sought since 't is wel known and Augustine affirmes shee sought him no where without herselfe neither could she The other That shee knew not that he was in her is cleare in the words following I found him not The second step of this Manifestation is when God declares himselfe to be in the soule yet obscurely and more by certain effects such as fervent desires and holy inspirations then by any essentiall knowledge The which appears in these words of the Bride I caught him Nor will I let him goe For in saying I caught him shee shews shee doubted not but she had him Yet in adding Till I bring c. shee intimates that possession was not sure enough insinuating that her Desires were not yet filled with the Beholding end enjoying of him but that should be when shee had brought him into her Mothers house And this is when the Bridegroom doth not only present himselfe as a Lord but even as a very Bridegroome not only by whispering Inspirations but also by secret Touches trayning the Soule not as a Tutor by Rules but as an affianc't Lover by amorous allurements Yet since this Enjoyance and Vision of her Dearest hath not yet reacht the top of her extent she ceases not to cry to him Who shal give me thee my brother sucking the Duggs of my Mother that I may finde thee abroad and kisse thee The which at length she attains to in the third step of this Manifestation much cleerer and excellenter then the former and which is then ascended when as the Bridegroome drawes so neere his Bride that shee sees his very shadow even his God-like Image whereunder she curiously surveyes him keepes company with and muses on him chusing there to set up her Rest saying I sate under the shadow of him whom I loved There she hears him There she adores him There shee entertains his familiar parleyes amorous discourses and sugred expressions There shee receives the promises of Life the token of contract and full assurance of solemnizing of the Wedding There shee imbosoms and kisses him There she gets the Jewels Chains and Wedding Garments And lastly there she 's inabled to stand the Essential spritely entercourses of her Bridegroome under whose shadow shee sits till the day dawn and the shadows decline Yea even till the Wedding day and Essentiall Vision when that vaile or shadow whereunder she saw him shall vanish and passe away For which Wedding and happy Vision day shee waites with deepe sighes hanging on him with undenyable Importunity Show mee thou whom my soule loves where thou lyest in the Noone-day ô my Joy ô Center of my Heart where and how I shall find thee ô my God naked without vaile without Image shadow or obscurity Which lowly desire her inflamed Lover not able to withstand strips himself before her according to her wishes letting her see him in a manner not only unutterable but also incomprehensible And this makes up the fourth step which againe is so much eminenter then all the rest that not only they that have never proved cannot conceive it but even others that sometimes have tasted it are not able to comprehend the Lustre thereof since it transcends all Imagination working of the Understanding wit reason and judgment of Man because 't is done without Man For as the Bridegroome humbles himselfe below himselfe So his Bride rebounds herselfe above herselfe mutually meeting to celebrate the Marriage In this step she sings I turned to my Beloved and he to me that she might declare their Actuall Union and their Mutuall enjoyance of each other in Spirit and Trueth And againe in another expression thereof shee saith My Beloved shall lodge beâ—weene wy Breasts Next after this full Manifestation follows a full Satisfaction oâ— the Desires by necessary consequence The more this Manifestation is encreased the more is thâ— desire filled So that when the Manifestation is in her full cleernesse then is the desire compleatly satisfied First in that vehement longing desire God was though hâ— shewed himselfe but obscurely Thâ— more that Desire blazed the moâ— did God discover himselfe therein aswell because of his great Lighâ— Glory and familiarity as of thâ— soules larger Capacity So thâ—â— when at length the Desire is streamed up to her highest pitch Goâ— also opens himselfe in full perfection Whereupon the soule beholding him in her selfe as in a manifest Vision hath whatsoever she câ—â— long for and her desire is fullâ— contented As wee see a Vessell oâ— Spunge that drencht in the Sea are filled to the Brim which when they be full are able to hold no more so the Desire being fulfilled and satisfied can wish for no more For since 't is true that nothing can let in more then it can containe according to that of the Philosopher All that is received is received according to the measure of the Receiver It followes that neither can the Desire stretch it self to wish for any more when 't is full For as the receipt of a Vessell is the measure of his hollownesse So the Capablenesse of the Desire is her Contention in desiring And as that hollownesse once filled the Vessell is full So this Appetite being satisfied the Desire can hold no more But surely this Appetite is satisfied by the Manifestation of God in the Soule and consequently the Desire is filled all particular Acts being brought to a fuâ— point and all working ended iâ— the end Whence necessarily arisâ— the third point that is the dyinâ— of the same Desires acts and woâ—kings because the desire being fuâ— vanishes and the acts working having reacht the Marke doe ceaâ— to bee For as the graine wheâ— once it hath brought forth cornâ— appeares no more so these Desireâ— Acts and workings having tooâ— their effect i. Fruition of Goâ— doe cease any further to be
the second blemish of contemplation mentioned cap. 4. which Image was so impalpable and spritely that the soule in the Inner will could never discover the same but stood alway perswaded that she saw this will in his owne Being without any forme or vaile at all Yea nor could she ever perceive that Image till she was cleansed thereof there being no imperfect thing imputed to him for imperfect that knowes nothing more perfect But the soul there knew no better because this Image was the highest and puresâ— that ever she saw Whence it was that shee could never know the same for imperfect though now she sees it to be so when she 's purged of it If any aske How then can she winde her selfe out thereof if shee cannot know it Answer That must be done by fervour of Love which is Gods own worke and not the soules anâ— which consists more in suffering then in doing This working oâ— the love of God is so inward mighty and powerfull that it worke more livingly in the soule then ever she felt before And this pull iâ— so violent that it ravishes her morâ— then ever without her selfe Thiâ— fire of Love is unquen chable thaâ— it consumes all her impurities And lastly so strict is this Union that shee is all exhausted in God in whom all her Imperfections be drown'd lost and brought to nothing And by the same worke shee gets a new Light and a far other Capacity then ever she had triall of and is thereby enabled to worke extatically and supernaturally without and above her selfe and all her naturall and humane Understanding wherein stands the second effect of this uncloathing Illumination For here she is made drunk and giddified with such abundance of Light that shee is covered therewith as with a garment transformed into it and made one with the Light it selfe For since in this most strict union God the fountaine and Well-spring of this universall inaccessible Light is more profound inward and nigh to the soule then shee to her selfe and that in this Lovely union no secret of the Bridegroom usefull for her to know is kept from her It followes that this mystery full of all joy and ravishment is revealed to her that her Bridegroome the Eternall God is found within her Him she beholds in her selfe after her hearts desire without vaile or Image seeing him as at full noon-day how he rests within her as in his owne Tabernacle exercising a sweet and familiar operation within her And whilst shee sees tastes and proves how he is nearer to her then her selfe and how she is more hee then shee is her selfe and that she possesses him not as something nor as her selfe but more then all things and more then her selfe According to this Light shee so demeanes her selfe that all her Joy Life Will Love and Sight are much rather in him then in her selfe and that because she knowes him farre more excellent and worthy then her selfe and hath found him more delicious and sweet then her selfe And lastly sees him more faire and glorious then her self And again having learned by proofe that he is all things and her selfe nothing and that in him is all beauty goodnesse and pleasure in her selfe nothing but bitternesse of evill In him alone she stayes in him she dwells in him she lives and nothing at all in her selfe Whence it followes that shee is all in God all to God all for God and all God but nothing in her selfe nothing to her selfe nothing for her selfe and nothing her selfe She all is conversant in the Divine Will Spirit Light and Power but nothing in her owne Spirit Will Light and owne or naturall working In that Power in that Spirit in that Light with an unmoveable eye shee beholdeth this Essentiall Will or Divine Being as 't is said In thy Light shall wee see Light Here she discovers hidden and unsearchable secrets Here lies her way open to Light unaccessible Here she unfolds unutterable Mysteries Here she viewes wonders Here she swims in endlesse joyes For being united with God none of these mysteries secrets and wonders can bee kept from her For since God hath shewed her himselfe how shall he hide any needfull secret from her And now having found within her selfe the fountaine of all sweetnesse and the Well-spring of all Pleasures Delights and Joyes how shall she but be drowned in the Sea of this spirituall Deliciousnesse and ingulft in the whirling torrent of this Celestiall Blisse Or how shall the abstrusest secrets of God be shut before her to whom he hath bared and laid open his Bosome Or how shall his Mysteries bee sealed up from her to whom he hath revealed himselfe face to face Who indeed is a secret God CHAP. VII The fourth Point Of the nearenesse or ever instant Vision and presence of the happy-making end THe fourth and last step of this Meane followes next after this Uncloathing of the Spirit i. The Propinquity or neare Assistance of this Being which is no other thing but the continuall presence or habit of Union passing between God and the soule where-through the soule being cloathed with God and God with the soule doe live mutually in themselves without any withdrawing back-sliding or interspace For he that dwells in Love dwels in God and God in him Where the soul followes her Bridegroom so light and swift so strong and eager and runs after him with such earnestnes thirst and unsatiablenesse clinging to him with a full Inclination of love and bond unloosable that they be as the body and the shadow she following the Lamo whithersoever he goes whose savour sweetnesse and lovelinesse have so enamoured ravisht and invincibly stole her away that in the depth of her heart she conceives a horror of herself utterly abandoning all her own thoughts of her self and all sense of sweetnes from her selfe that she may suck in the sweetnesse of this substance that she may eternally cast her self thereinto and lose her selfe there never to be found againe resting even there that for the naked love of the same Being Whence it is that she deadly hates all whatsoever brings therwith the least feeling of delight in her selfe or casts in so much as a thought of her selfe or that sayes shee 's one and her Bridegroome another In whom she so exposes her selfe to be dissolved wasted and annihilated together with all created things that in comparison thereof shee disdaines to live Here she opens her selfe and entertaines this Being not as a vessell receives what it holds but as the Moon does the shine of the Sun Here she throwes abroad her white and Lilly armes to fold and close-inchaine her Lover but much closer is shee embrac't and inchained by him Here she enlarges all the circumference of her Minde to draw in this Infinite but on the other side she feeles her selfe most ravishingly swallowed up in it Nor can she finde what to doe to rebound the assault and conquest of this Love but only yeeld
over her selfe for ever in a naked harmlesse and everlasting conversion and fast cleaving to God in whom she abideâ— so unmoveable that as the Apostle sayes she puts him on For by this solid looke she beholds only him by this simple Conversion shee loses all Creatures and by the unchangeablenesse thereof she utterly forgets them all It followâ— therefore that all her forces arâ— bent upon him alone that she understands loves and ecchoes him alone and so is absolutely cloathed with him and transformed into him For as on her part the soule with all her powers lyes open to God so also on his part God with all his Joys everlastingly infuses himselfe into her And the more innocently she turnes to him the more overflowingly hee poures himselfe into her And on the other side the more overflowingly he infuses himselfe into her the more inflamedly she turnes to him so that by an unexpressible entercourse of reciprocall Love they mutually cut and intwine themselves for ever passing away the possession of themselves to each other Hence then and from this Virgin-like and constant turning to God proceeds this habite of Union or continuall presence of the divine Being Now betweene this step and that of Uncloathing of the Spirit is this Difference In uncloathing we obtaine only a bare Union buâ— in this wee finde the custome and ducation of the same The causes of this Step of Continuation are Light and Love For here she not only discernes God in her but also that nothing else â— in her so that shee hath pierc't sâ— deepe into the profundity of heâ— owne nothing and knowne the same so throughly that she plainly sees all other things also vanish away which because they seem'â— to be somewhat overclouded heâ— with Outer Darknesse whereunto also is annexed an assurance of thâ— same knowledge and a practise which is habitualiz'd by Love so inflamed and alluring rapturouâ— and liquefactive that giddyeâ— therewith swinckt and dissolveâ— into God she sees all other things passe away consum'd and return to nothing Whence it is that shee sees nothing hut God And because the causes themselves are habituall their effect is so too For this Annihilation in this step is so customary in the Soul that seeing all brought to nothing shee remaines in thought suspended in a vast emptinesse or nothing in such wise that she can neither see any thing nor containe any thing no not her selfe when shee 's rightly therein Which huge Vacuity or Emptinesse may rightly bo resembled to a faire skye cleare without cloud and is a certaine God-like Light In this Light is also found Love not distinct so coelestially warming inflaming and burning the soule and that so secretly simply inwardly that it raises no motion to buckle this calme in the Soule but rather she is so secretly led and so sweetly comprehended that she dissolves and vanishes still more and more to the further encrease of this Calme and stilnesse This wildernized solitarinesse oâ— this Nothing is that whereof the Bridegroome speaketh I will lead her into the Desart and there I wiâ— speake to her heart And because the Infinitenesse of this Nothing iâ— now grown familiar and habituâ— to her having now by proof piercâ— to the ground thereof and likewise thir Love which dissolves anâ— transforms her into him Hence â— is that their effect is also continâ—al i. an ever-present disposednesâ— to this Union or a continuall aâ—sistance and neere Vision of thâ— Being And thus is this last vailâ— Contemplation blowne awaâ— which was that the soule did nâ— straightway behold her Bridegroome as really present and neerer to her then her selfe more within her then her self and more she then her selfe but as one sitting in heaven or some other place further from her then her selfe For all this Imperfection is here done away the soule in this step seeing cleerely and tasting by her owne Experience how infinitely more inward her Beloved is then she to her selfe And by this step of continuall and customary Union shee ever converses with him without doubt or wavering so as this Soule lives eternally in the Light for ever with her caelestiall Spouse Nor can Darknesse Death or Devill ever hurt or come neere her but the Devill shall vanish from her presence Death shall dye before her face And the Darknesse of Utter-works shall be no darkenesse with thee And the Night of the Active Life shall be as light as the day of the Contemplative Life As is her Darknesse so is her Light And this is the true Active and Contemplative Life in one not separated as many thinke but conjoyned and at the same time this kind of Active Life being also Contemplative heâ— Outer works inward her bodily Spirituall and her temporall eternall Thus both making one Of the Second Meane CHAP. VIII That this mean is no other but the Divine Will manifested in Annihilation which consisteth in two points Knowledge and Practise Of the first Point THe second Meane is more remote from Sense then the other and more Supernaturall naked and perfect For whereas the other works so nakedly and above Nature only or at least chiefly when the soul is taken up without her selfe by force of the Actual pul of the Divine Will this workes also when that pull is not much actuall but only virtuall The other Mean is spritely naked and above Nature when the soule is elevated and uncloathed This continues also naked and supernatural when one is employed in Outer actions tangled in formes and cumbred with businesse changing the outward into inward bodily into spirituall and naturall into supernaturall by help of this Mean Though indeed the other rightly conceived and duely practised accomplishes the same thing but not in open view as shall be seen But here I pray that this Meane be well understood For it pertains oneIy to those that bee throughly inlightned and are able to stand it Now this Meane shall be no other but the Beginning and the ending Even this Divine will which is never to be left And this point shal be so cleared by the otheâ— Point of Annihilation which opposes it that so contraries set against each other may appeare more clearely That therefore wâ— may bee united to this Essentiall Will we must alway see it And that we may alway see it we muâ— see nothing but it And that weâ— may see nothing but it we muâ— know nothing but it and after this Knowledge frame our Life Here therefore are required two Points 1. That we be assured thaâ— nothing is but this will 2. Thaâ— we draw this Knowledge into practise And all the strength of this second Meane shall stand in these two Points the which in and by this will shall be perfected and accomplisht without ever departing a haires breadth from the same For the first point This Will shall shew and confirme to us that nothing is but it And that it shall doe easily if we consider the nature thereof For since
things are nothing and though a Man have the knowledge of this nothing of their Annihilation yet may he want the practise Wherefore both these points are equally necessary in this matter as wee said before that God alone may be seen alwayes who is the end of this Annihilation But now to practise this thing duely First I admonish the Reader to pluck up his spirits here that they may worke more supernaturally and I say not further from sense then before but flat contrary thereto For where before he annihilated them when they were absent here he must also annihilate them present Which to doe and that this Annihilation may bee cleare and apparent we will here distinguish it into Active and Passive Passive is when the man himselfe and all other things are cast asleep vainly und be made nothing I call it passive because 't is onely suffered The Imperfections whereof wee have blowne away in the former Chapter The Active Annihilation is when the Man himselfe and all other things are annihilated not onely sufferingly as in the Passive but doingly I meane by Light in the Understanding as well naturall as supernaturall wherein he sees and most infallibly knowes that all those things are nothing and rests upon this knowledge in despight of feeling The one of these Annihilations lives when all Image and feeling of the Creatures is gone The other continues also firme and sure even whilst they remaine after sense and yet by means of this light are seene to bee nothing The one consists in Knowledge drawne from Experience when a man sees himselfe brought to nothing as 't is said I am brought to nothing The other consists in Knowledge true indeed yet not seeming so after sense but after understanding Of these two the Active is more perfect for two reasons Strength and Duration For strength because together with it selfe it nothings all other things Not onely when it sailes with the actuall blast and breath of this Will or Divine Being but even then also when the soule feels drought and barrennesse annihilating all things felt as well as those which be gone and vanisht The which point requires carefull Attention For thus it annihilates as well all things that remain after feeling as also that same which annihilates them i. the owne Understanding and Knowledge with all manner of working thereof Not enduring that any thing whatsoever Image nor feeling remaine but only God For strength also because neither a multitude of outward affaires nor abundance of inward or intellectuall workings can hinder this Annihilation or distract the man himself For strength againe Because 't is not onely farre distant from sense but flat contrary thereto So that it annihilates things not onely when the minde in abstractions rides above them but even then when 't is conversant among them looking on them as if it looked not whence necessarily arises Duration which is the second perfection of Active Annihilation And both these perfections are not so perfectly found in the Passive Annihilation which stayes alwayes the Actuall Lure of God There be many that both know and practise the Passive but few the Active And so they no sooner fasten on any worke bodily or spirituall but they easily sinke fall downe and become divided and so live alwayes in languishing and unsatisfiednesse of spirit These two Annihilations make to a two-fold Love fruitive and practick whereon stands the whole spirituall Life The Passive tends to the Fruitive Love the Active to the Practick For in as much as these two Loves are never perfect till in the Practick love wee can enjoy God even as in the Fruitive 'T is therefore expedient that this Active Annihilation mediate to annihilate the Acts of this Practick Love which otherwise might hinder that enjoying and raise so many middle walls between God and the soule As therefore the Passive Annihilation nothings all things by deading all our feeling of them and transchanging them into enjoying Love So the Active annihilates them also still remaining though in sense wee feele them transforming them into fruitive Love So that the Love which without this Active Annihilation were meerly Practick may thus become fruitive And so by this Active Annihilation we shall continually enjoy God whether we worke and produce Acts or no. But as the same falls not under sense but is onely spirituall and supernaturall So the enjoyance to which it leads us is not perceived in our feeling but in spirit and transcends nature CHAP. XII That this Active Annihilation consists in equalling the Passive The practise of it in Light and Remembrance THE Perfection of this Active Annihilation consists in equalling the Passive in a Death of all things and in a Passive Annihilation after the spirit though not after feeling And the signe shewing it to be absolutely perfect is when it annihilates the things which we perceive by sense as verily as if wee perceiv'd them not And even in the face of all these sensibles brings as Invincible faith peace and union with God as among those things which are already lost and nothing For thus a man seeing sees not when hee holds not the same Formes in Meditation and Debatement And so he lives in a perpetuall Death and dyes in an eternall Life buried in Triumph of Conquest like that valiant Champion Eleazar intomb'd in the glory of his victory when crusht with the fall of the Beast he ended his dayes For this Beast which hee slew is the whole sinsible world which when wee kill and bring to nothing we also slay and annihilate our selves and so are buried as it were thereunder and our Life is hid with Christ in God The summe of the practise of this Annihilation consists in two things Light and Remembrance The use of the Light is generall The use of Remembrance is to raise us again when we forget and grow distracted For the first This Light is no other but a pure simple naked and habituall Faith which Reason helps Experience ratifies and confirmes Nor falls it under sense nor hath any acquaintance therewith yea it resists the same But it resides in the Crowne of the soule and beholds God without any Meane I say 't is pure excluding all help of the senses so as all in vaine should any prop or assurance bee groped for from them which are utterly to bee renounc'd First because the helpe of that Devotion which is had from the senses endures not but this Faith is lasting Secondly because when sensible Devotion is had 't is not certaine but variable But this Faith is conâ—ant Nor is it sufficient to renounce the senses unlesse we also annihilate them because they be erroneous and lying perswading â—s to believe that things arâ— Conâ—â—ariwise this faith is lightsome and points us to walk in the spirit Secondly I call it simple to cut of all multiplicity of Reasoning as a thing repugnant to the purity of this Faith First because it makes it humane where it
confounded together Now that wee may see what place is meete for the one and what for the other these 2 Annihilations make to a two-fold Love The Passive to an enjoying Love i. to a naked beholding Union and enjoyance of God The Active to a practicke Love i. to our Outgoing Lively and faithful working whether bodily or spirituall So then the proper place of the Passive Annihilation is when wee lye prostrate to the Fruitive Love Because the Passive reduces all Motions and workings to nothing avants all forms and Images and so leads us to the fruition of God The Place for the active Annihil is when we are to follow the Practick Love For by this Annihil as by a certain transcendence of the Mind all our works acts operations as wel of the body as soul are nothing'd so going out without going out working without working Being without Being living and yet dead we transforme the practick Love into the fruitive change the Active Life into the Contemplative Enjoy God by Faith in working and Action as fully as in rest and ease which is the Top and spire of Perfection And these are the proper places of the two Annihilations They erre therefore that disorder them and alter their right courses using indeed a Passive AnnihilatioÌ„ savoring Acts and Operations as some doe when they should faithfully worke in the Practicke Love And practising the Passive Annihilation producing Acts as many do when they should suppresse them and enjoy God by Fruitive Love The first run upon a false rest the other a hurtfull Activenesse Some thorow a too much Retirednesse hide their Talent Others through superfluousnesse of working fall short of God But that these two extreames may be combin'd and both the Mistakes amended it remaines that we now shew the times agreeing to these two Annihilations the not knowing whereof brings the two foresaid Errours There be three sorts of Active love or working Exteriour Interiour and Intimate Exteriour imployed in bodily labours Interiour in discourses and studies Intimate in renewing of workings and prayer For the first Though bodily works they be only yet are they not to be neglected when obedience engagement love or discretion â—alls and requires them In which thing we are to sticke close to the rule of the exterior Wil. And if that Rule require them not it shall be no wisedome to forsake the Fruitive Love to goe to doe them For though the Active Annihilation reduces all to Nothing yet such â— Liberty is not expedient as runs â—s wittingly upon Impertinencies He that loves danger shall perish thereiâ— And hee that linkes hard tyes not â—rong Yea he that willingly sets himselfe aworke about needlesse things cannot duely practise this Annihilation But if on the other side hee refuse to doe such workes after the same Rule he incurres a dull rest the more to be feared because vailed with a false vizard of Contemplation concerning the Interiour working as Studies discourse or giving ones selfe to the Spirit The limits of necessity are not to be transgrest superfluities warily to be avoyded the which are never free from Passions Affections and Negligence wherein if we be not watchful no small Immortification vexation arises in the soul which encrease swel there the more the lesse we account them such being dawb'd over with a vain Tincture of perfection Whereout of necessity arises an inordinate dangerous liberty of Mind pouring it self forth into all kind of phantasticke thoughts and losing the bridle to fleshly Imaginations and ridiculous discourses whereout of necessity arises an inordinate and dangerous liberty of Mind pouring it selfe forth into all kind of phantasticke thoughts whereby all Passions have their free entry Pride Selfe-conceit Ambition Suspition Rash Judgment Contempt of our Neighbours the false Joy Sadnesse Feare Anger Envy and of Miseries what not which nathelesse a Dulnesse unsensiblenesse of the evill makes to be little troubled at all prick of Conscience being blunted wherto great heede is to bee taken But if it appeare by this Rule that the Wil of God requires his Industry in Studies Discourse c. and yet hee hangs backe therefrom 't is a sluggish faint-heartednesse though vail'd under pretext of of piety or addicting himselfe to the Spirit Touching the Intimate working as renewing of our practise in contemplation c. 'T is only then to bee produc't when by reason of Gods working withdrawn and our owne waxing faint or because of feeble and sluggish Nature the Minde is sunke as it were yawning and grows heavy and le ts fal from her memory this Blessed-making object Yet so long as by the Pul and Inworking of the Bridegroom or by strength or rowsing of the Minde or even by patient cleaving to God or by simple Remembrance she can persevere in Union with God in the Fruitive Love 'T is not best to forsake the Passive Annihilation and the Fruitive Love that depends thereon to take in hand by acts to practise the Active Annihilation provided that by simple Remembrance she stand to her part For there it is that the soule is so transported inlarg'd inlightned and united to God there she tasts the chaste embraces sweet entercourses and divine kisses there she sees her selfe sublim'd ennobled and glorified with Angels at the coelestiall Table There she relishes the fruits of her Mortification the treasures of her Repentance and the Comforts of all her Selfe-denyalls and of those weapons shee found out to make war upon her selfe for attaining the Kingdome of Heaven which is to be got by violence Let her not therefore I say forsake this Passive AnnihilatIon and the Fruitive Love descending therefrom No though she feel not those comforts but find this Fruitive Love so bare to her feeling that shee lose all her owne feeling and assurance of comfort which is the satisfaction of Nature And this is the true Rest wherein both her faithfulnesse is tryed and the soule is seated in a true poverty of Spirit patience and essentiall Resignation of her selfe There whatsoever of Man remaines in the soule is done away There the Death ended and the conquest atchieved There is the ghost given up betweene the hands of God and lastly there is the Man transformed whole into God For by this constancy and Death God lives and reignes in him and in him accomplishes all his workes By this Rest and ceasing from Acts is pure abstraction and Uncloathing of Spirit attained too wherein the Soule is spung'd of all errours and impurities and practises all vertues and perfections though essentially and without multiplicity For here is used a marvailous defence watchfulnes of heart which not only can endure no consent or delight but even not the least feeling or thought of Sinne they being open enemies to this Rest and Annihilation so that here all Passions are appeased Affections mortified and Motions restrained Here love is ordered Desire bridled Joy tempered Hate killed Sadnes mitigated Vain hope extinct
the two former Wills in the third HAving now shewed the Time and Place of working it remains that we declare the manner And first for the Exteriour and Interiour working whose Time Place though they be the same in this Essentiall as in the Exterior Will after the Rule of things Commanded Forbidden and Indifferent whether bodily or spirituall which Law is never to be abrogated under any cloake of Perfection whatsoever yet in the manner of working they differ as far as the Supereminent Life excels the Active For he that is a Worker in this third is also to accomplish the Duties of the first and yet not to descend nor give backe thereto Wherefore in the practick Love and outward workings as in bodily Workes as also in the inward Love or Working as to labour for vertues to meditate to repell vices and temptations to quench passions and affections none of these are to be done as in the Exteriour Will by setting before our selves this Essentiall Will and divine Being or because God is or that God may be Assuredly knowing that thus a dwelling is prepared for God who will thus shine in the soule where contrariwise by our Selfe-will and Darknesse we should neither enjoy God nor behold this Being So that when we doe any outward Good works either by embracing Vertue or rejecting Sin and Passions we doe it not here by directing any Intention but by knowing most surely simply and plainly that so God will be Where in working contrary not God should be but we our selves so far forth as in us lay nor for us No nor yet as touching God himselfe so far sorth as we could withstand it And thus through our Sinne and Selfe-will and by preventing God we should set up our selves and so advance our owne Sinne and Passion for a God and an Idol But take heed that I say not in doing these or these things God will be there i. in those things or then and at such a time but simply and indefinitely God will be For the word Being or God abstracts from here and now so that thee is not onely in such a Good worke but every where as that Soule most plainely proves that sees her selfe by this Practise swing'd along in a strange Maze without herselfe in this Being and rapt therewith as in a Dissolution of all things thereinto Nor knows she whether she touch the ground Neither say I The Soul should then see God but simply see him iâ— not as beginning from thence forwards but as being from the beginning or rather without all beginning For in him she sees eternity without beginning and end Besides since all Active Life as exercise of Vertues and contention against Vices as also the Contemplative Life are drawn to this Essentiall and since consequently the practise of them consists in these two points wee are here no lesse to take heart never to slide away from this All and this Nothing then wee were in the other two lives to persevere in the Divine Will and Selfe-denyall Resting ever assured that as oft as we lose the Divine Being and finde our selves as some-what so often we stray from the Divine Will Perfection and follow our owne will and evill We should therefore alwayes hold fast this All and this Nothing but chiefely when wee practise any thing which is of Vertue and perfection or avoid any thing tending to errour and Imperfection Nor are our Affections and Passions to be pampered under cloake of Active Annihilation by conceiting a false hope of making them nothing thereby For that cannot be done because the very Affection it selfe the Passion and false being is the absence of the true Being So that To be willingly imperfect and also to be annihilated do no lesse contradict each other then to be and not to be both at once For to be subject to passions is that being which diametrally â—hwarts Annihilation Not-being Such Annihilation therefore is counterfeite and good for Nothing but to excuse excuses in sins Yet this I mean only of those Passions and Temptations whereto free consent is given For otherwise those Passions and Temptations whereto our Reason renounces to give consent though wee feele them sticke never so strong in the Soule yet are they to be nothingd by mean of the Active Annihilation And so we neede confesse nothing in them but this All as in the first part wee acknowledged nothing but the will of God Where note that if a Man really and truly beare downe all passions and imperfections by his owne nothing and the Divine All he shall at length returne victorious in a finall and triumphant Conquest of them all and become so throughly stablisht fortified and inthron'd iâ— this practise that hee shall tast infinite more pleasure from this mortification of himselfe then he ever before tasted in slavery to his own will and lust For to him that attaines hither all the paine contradiction and sorrow which hee suffered in fighting against his owne will and desire is suddenly changed into Joy and Blisse whilst in stead of himselfe he enâ—oyes not any grace or vertue but God himselfe for whose alone sake he thus denyes himselfe And thus it is cleere what manner of working is to bee observed in the Outer and Inner Operation i. That they are not to be produc't in the Exterior Will or according thereunto but through and in the Essentiall Will which is God himselfe Not that Outward works are to be despis'd on neglected but done after a perfect manner bodily turned into spirituall and the Active Life drawn up to the Contemplative â—nd the Exteriour and Interiour Wills to the Essentiall And this shall suffice for the place time and â—anner of working For the second Interiour Will â—â—d working therein I know no need here to speake thereof both because 't is but as an effect of the â—â—st and also because 't is contained as perfectly in these two as a â—â—ane within two extreams Now having seen the way of practick Love or working outward and inward we come to the Intimate working the use whereof useth to befall in Prayer when the Soule as we have said finds her self foyl'd and forgetfull of God But now how pure how simple and spritely this working ought to be how little acquaintance it should have with our Senses is manifest from the very name and epithite of Intimate For since hare Intimatenesse Purity and Spirituality are but one and the same thing it followes that inasmuch as nothing is more inward then that which is intimate that nothing is more pure or spirituall And therefore there is such exceeding purity and spritelinesse required in this working lest it should disturb the soul from the Union and Fruitive Love sinke her too neer to Nature and writhe her too much into her self but contrariwise rather immediately fix her in Union and seat her in the Divine Being far distanc'd from her selfe and transcending Nature Many faile in this Rule of
Intimate Acts some more some lesse For some there be that make no end of producing fervent acts and naturall workings running thereby so much further from the true union and essentiall Contemplation as they thinke by doing to â—ome neerer And so much the more sticking in themselves and â—heir owne Nature as they thinke they live in God and his Being for such workings are neither â—ntimate nor pure but exteriour â—nd uncleane And these faile not onely in the â—urity and profoundnesse of worâ—ing but also in the Time For they alwayes act leaving no room for Fruitive Love Others worke with no lesse violence and tempest of Natural Motions then these doe but not so oft but only when they feele the heavinesse and drowsinesse of Nature and these erre in the Intimate working of this Life though they hold the due time Lastly some there are that produce Acts so halfe sleeping indeed much finer Acts then those others yet not pure enough for that Intimate purity here required But stiâ— they breath their own Motions â—â— Naturall strength and Langour â—â— satisfie Nature But in this place I take the moâ—â— pure intimate and perfect working to bee that which stands in a sole simple and pure Remembrance oâ— God and is produc't by pure anâ— naked faith whereof Chap. 12. because that alone is the true Meane twixt the said Extreames of false Rest and hurtfull Activity and is the sole Intimate working which immediately sets the soule in Union and enjoying Love and wasts her into the Divine Being For this Remembrance opposes it selfe against that false Rest Drowsinesse and Heavinesse of Nature ever â—owsing the Soule and making her attentive to her All. On the other side it opposes the hurtful Activenesse because it works not so much by Naturall Motion as by pure â—aith which is supernaturall and an infused vertue nor so much by Man as by this Being and this All who with his glory inspiration and Light smiting and allarming â—er up trumpets upon her walls I am here The Imperfections whereby we â—y faile in this pure Remembrance are declared Chap. 12. which may be all drawn to these 2. heads to Adde and to Diminish For to diminish i. to be lesse employed then in a sole pure and simple Remembrance is to slide into one of the Extreams the False Rest For no Man can doe lesse but hee that 's layd dull and halfe asleepe To adde also i. to joyne other Selfe-Acts whereby to come nigher to God then we thinke we can do by this Naked Faith and Remembrance is to fall into the other extreame of Hurtfull working For he that thus betakes himselfe againe to his own Acts goes as far backe as he that being unaccustomed to work nakedly and supernaturally by true pure faith and not finding there his old staffe of feeling grows male-contented with this pure and naked Remembrance and falls to redouble hiâ— owne manifold Acts and so withdraws this Being the further from him by seeking it after so uncouth a manner Yet if at first for the little practise a Man hath had in the production of such pure working any act hap to breake out more then a simple Remembrance the same may be nothing'd by Active Annihilation And the same directioÌ„ belongs also to them in whom this Remembrance seems to imitate Acts. And contrariwise hee that findes his pulse too slow let him recover by this simple Remembrance when his Soule is so falling and drowsie Which Remembrance though I may say t is rather to be received as the worke of God then as ours yet that hinders not but we may have it for seeking since this Divine Being and Light is ever present and stands at the Doore and knockes And because also that Naked Faith whereby wee behold the same bides alway in the soule and is habituall And thus the Intimate working is plaine For as in the foregoing chapter the due time and place are shewed where and when the three kinds of working in the practick Love are to be exercised So here is declared the manner they are to be done in And thus t is cleer how the two former Lives are drawne to and practised in this third without shrinking a Jot from the practise thereof down to the other For as the Philosopher is not to begin again and undergoe the Schooles and rules of Grammar So he that hath wonne the Tower of this Supereminent Will is not to sinke or slide to the two fore-past Lives Not that he should neglect outward Workes â—ut fulfill them perfectly in this â—hird Life and Will transforming â—odily into ghostly and the Aâ—tive Life into the Contemplative â—d that not without due respect â—o the Time Place and manner as before CHAP. XVI That the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is perpetually to be practised and alway to be had seene before the eyes of the soule AS for the Practise of the Passion according to the condiâ—ion of this Exercise it is alway â—o be held before our eyes as one and the same with this All associate to the Flesh and Nature of Man Where note well that I say one and the same For so shall the Contemplation thereof yeeld aâ—undance of fruit as shall appeare But because many conceit that this Practise and Contemplation of the Passion suites onely with young pupills and such as converse only in the Active Life but not in the Supereminent supposing it most excellent to adhere to the Deitie by perfect Union 'T is therefore a matter of high Consequence in our present purpose to say somewhat thereof And though the Brevity whereto I confine my selfe in this Manuall do scarse permit the thread of our discourse to be spun longer yet in asmuch as the Passion is so unevitable that it makes an Essential parâ— of this Rule I may not passe it in silence the rather because the Devotion of many and the wavering of some about the resolution hereof requires thus much And for the first point to secure them that the Passion ought alway to be had before our eyes t is plaine by that of Exodus And looke that thou make it like the Pattern shewed thee in the Mount Which say the Fathers is meant of the Passion of Christ And how ardently God desires to commend the Contemplation thereof to us appeares First by the word Looke which awakes us to a solid and profound Insight and consideration inasmuch as infinite secrets be there inclosed which bee hidden from the outer-eye and which reâ—aine invisible without a good â—xt watchfull long and through-lighted sight not in the Active and Illuminate Life but even in the Contemplative which also will â—carcely prove quickâ— and clâ—ere eâ—ough to comprehend them but â—ven twinkle â—or weaknesse in be â—olding and conceiving the same Besides since GOD is there though in form of Man t is most just and godly that every where we give him profound adoration and honour For what soule can endure when shee
Despair rejected Fear put to flight Presumption abased Wrath paâ—ified and shortly to stay here all Inordinatenesse of the Soule is rectified and reformed But if even the least passion affection or Inordinatenesse get head there is then no perfect rest no Passive Annihilation till they be conquered If we seek Vertues How profound humility is it thus to nothing our selves How invincible Patience thus to waite How strong constancy thus to persevere How lovely Long-suffering to attend God so long with so fixt and faithfull an eye How chast Virginity to present our selves thus simple Lastly what Faith livelier whaâ— hope surer what Love more ardenâ— then is found in this Annihilatioâ— and Rest Though indeed all these Vertues suckt up as it were in the Infinite of Divinity are there practised more essentially as in their Fount and wel-spring then actually They erre therefore who being forsaken of a perceivable or experimentall Union turne their bach straightway upon this Annihilation Death and expyration leaping backe to themselves and rebetaking them to their own actâ— refuse to endure this Rest Emptinesse and poverty of Spirit this will of God and All-spritely entercourse Supercelestiall or Essentiall Illumination though indeed the true and Divine Wisedome and naked seeing of God is only attained in this Annihilation Rest Expiration and Death So that in this their flying backe returning to themselves they doe no other but far estrange themselves from all pure and empyreall knowledg and from al union and transformation into God and so bide alwaies â—raitned within themselves and their owne bowels and in the fetâ—ers of the old Man as wee have clearely shewed But they that be otherwise minded that they may the better pamper nature and their owne feeling are pleased to let themselves be deluded under a false â—ew of vertue saying that in this Annihilation they ought to coâ—perate with God and not to rest when indeede the more they rest thus the more they worke and lesse the lesse they rest though unexperienc't ones can hardly beleeve it For this way of working is spirituall and Godlike and far from feeling and common working of Man which can never unite the soule to God immediately But let them say what they please If they would throughly search the depth of their minde they should finde that no other thing but selfe-love unfaithfulnes faint-heartednesse selfe-seeking and impatience of spirit calls them backe from this Annihilation how much soever nature bulwarkes her selfe under a faire pretence of Vertue Some there be who in this Annihilation have many yeares hung â—â— the doore of persecution withouâ— assaying to enter because when by ceasing from their owne Acâ—â— and by Annihilation of themselves they should have anchored in God they returned back into their own Countrey by renewing their owne Acts and humane workings who neverthelesse being shewed their failing have easily found passage through this gate But though the greatest part of Spiritualls incline to this extreame yet it may bee â—â—d some there are that lean the other way to a rest too much taking â—â—â—reames for meanes and the false â—est for the true We will therefore â—â—ke each of theÌ„ known froÌ„ other The false Rest is Rest taken in â—â—ture not in God wherein neiâ—â—er in Nature nor yet in God â—y operation is exercised And â—us it may bee knowne from the â—â—e and good rest The false is â—deede a Rest but not Annihilaâ—on and it nourisheth in it selfe â—ch selfe Love The good Rest is absolute Annihilation perfecting the whole man The false is turn'd from God reflected upon it selfe The true is turned from it selfe reflected upon God The false seeks consolatioÌ„ solace the true content with God alone le ts goe all other things The false is busied about an Imaginary death Annihilation the true about a Reall one The false eanes more then too much upon the old Man and selfe-will the true counts it selfe altogether vile The false sets down it selfe as the end wherein to rest the true is taken as a meane to come to God The false makes the soule dull darke and ignorant in vertues the true inriches her with the contrary ornaments The false-loosens and benumnes the conscience clumpsing making it heedlesse of grosse imperfections â— the true sharpes it and makes it sensible of the least blemish The false presents sadnesse and impatience when duties of obedience or love are to bee undergone the true teaches Resignation and Joy The false having little sound Mortification takes paines more in hiding then in subduing imperfections witnesse their life that follow it sitting downe without the true Rest the true rejoyces in true MortificatioÌ„ heâ—rtily rooting out all imperfections Lastly the false puffes up with Ambition and suggests a high conceit of it selfe the true holds low with humility bringing in Selfe-contempt And to conclude the one without any cleaving to or Remembrance of God makes the highest end the owne ease never intending to produce any inward act how much soever it sees it selfe sunke falne asleepe and degenerate into pure nature The other is never without some cleaving to God and Remembrance of him but is ever armed with some though very spirituall and alwaies disposed to reare it selfe againe whensoever it feeles it selfe sliding or slipt into pure nature through heavinesse of the Mights and drowsines of the faculties of the soule And these bee the differences betweene these two Rests and the signes whereby they may be knowne And above the rest the last is the chiefe being a most remarkable difference and plaine and sufficing by it selfe without more Neverthelesse if here a little forgetfulnesse of God creepe on us through frailty yet are wee not therefore to waver and cast all away as a false rest but onely for so much not for all i. for that space of time wherein wee persevered forgetfull of God but for no longer And by diligent watch to redeeme the time and not by heavie faint-heartednesse to give over all No nor can that bee the false rest if that heavinesse proceed of frailty and against the Will For the false rest is voluntary Loe there the three kindes of working Exteriour Interiour and Intimate the extreames and the meanes The inordinate working which is the false-liberty The Idle-ease which makes the false rest And that which comes in due time wherein consists the holy Activenesse according to the course and exercise of the Active Annihilation as abovesaid And when the time requires not that wee goe forth to such action and practise of Love by the Active Annihilation then is it right that we bide rooted and grounded in Vnion enjoying love by the Passive Annihilation And thus you see the proper times of these two Annihilations as before you saw the places CHAP. XV. The manner of passing forwards in the three kinds of Working Exterior Interior and Intimate Where is shewed the drawing of the Active and Contemplative Life to the Supereminent And the Practise of