Wisdom of the Mystics

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Wisdom of the Mystics <br><br>The soul that is

attached to anything, <br>however much good there may be

in it, <br>will not arrive at the liberty of divine

union. <br>For whether it be a strong wire rope or a

slender and delicate thread <br>that holds the bird,

<br>it matters not, if it really holds it fast; <br>for

until the cord be broken <br>the bird cannot fly.

<br>So the soul, held by the bonds <br>of human

affections, <br>however slight they may be, <br>cannot, while

they last, <br>make its way to God.<br><br>-- St. John

of the Cross <br><br>Let it be plainly understood

<br>that we cannot return to God unless <br>we enter first

into ourselves. <br>God is everywhere but not

everywhere to us. <br>There is but one point in the universe

<br>where God communicates with us,<br>and that is the

center of our own soul. <br>There He waits for us.

<br>There He meets us; there He speaks to us. <br>To seek

Him therefore we must <br>enter into our own

interior.<br><br>-- Bishop Ullathorne <br>Groundwork of Christian

Virtue<br><br>Though God is everywhere present, yet He is only present

to thee in <br>deepest and most central part of thy

soul. The natural senses cannot <br>possess God or

unite thee to him; nay, thy inward faculties of

<br>understanding, will and memory can only reach after God, but

cannot <br>be the place of His habitation in thee. But

there is a root or depth <br>of thee from whence all

these faculties come forth, as lines from a <br>center,

or as branches from the body of the tree. This depth

is the <br>unity, the eternity - I had almost said

the infinity of thy soul; for <br>it is so infinite

that nothing can satisfy it or give it rest but the

<br>infinity of God.<br><br>-- William Law <br><br>Do thou, in

the intent practice of <br>mystic contemplation,

<br>leave behind the senses and the <br>operations of the

intellect, and all things <br>that the senses or the

intellect can percieve, <br>and all things which are not

and <br>things which are, and strain upwards <br>in

unknowing as far as may be <br>towards the union with Him

who is <br>above all being and knowledge. <br>For by

unceasing and absolute <br>withdrawal from thyself and

<br>all things in purity, abandoning <br>all and set free

from all, <br>thou wilt be borne up to the <br>ray of

the Divine Darkness <br>that surpasses all

being.<br><br>-- Pseudo-Dionysius <br>Mystical Theology

<br><br>The soul utterly puts off itself and puts on divine

love; and being <br>conformed to that beauty which it

has beheld, it utterly passes into <br>that other

glory.<br><br>-- Richard of St. Victor <br><br>The highest

spiritual state of the soul <br>in this life consist in the

vision <br>and contemplation of truth, <br>wherein are

joys, and the full enjoyment <br>of the highest and

truest good, <br>and a breath of serenity and

eternity.<br><br>-- Augustine <br><br>To gauge the soul we must gauge

it with God, for the Ground of God <br>and the

Ground of the soul are one and the same...The highest

part of <br>the soul stands above time and know

nothing of time.<br><br>-- Meister Eckhart <br><br>Lord,

we are rivers running to Thy sea,<br>Our waves and

ripples all derived from Thee,<br>A nothing we should

have, <br>a nothing be Except for Thee.<br><br>--

Christina Rosetti<br><br>Digest Number 434:

<br><a href=ILOVEGOD

target=new>ILOVEGOD</a><br><br>Jaya Sri Radhey!