Between Time and Eternity

John of Angels on The Conquest of the Divine Kingdom
Edited and translated by
Pedro And Ann-Lawrie Aisa And Mackenzie Brown

Source: Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 3, No. 4. (Autumn 1969) © World Wisdom, Inc.
www.studiesincomparativereligion.com

Editorial note: This is a continuation of the article that appeared in the Summer 1969 (Vol. 3, No. 3.) issue. The endnotes are numbered accordingly.

PART II

IV

Friar: That is truly a great thing, and a man ought not to relax nor cease praying until God permits him to drink at least one swallow of such water.

Master: If you were to drink even a single drop you would no longer thirst after vain things, nor transitory creatures, for your thirst would then be only for God and his love, in which the more you grow, the more you profit by divine union. The more thoroughly united and profoundly committed to God you are, the more clearly you will know him, and thus known, he must inevitably be loved with greater ardour. That is the goal of our works and exercises. There all are ordered and all end. If you lack this love, all your labors (although they may surpass those that have been suffered and are being suffered by all the men of the world and the devils) are vain and fruitless, as you will find lengthily written in our Triunfos.[29] Finally, you will have only as much sanctity as you have charity, and no more. And if it seems to you that I place too much stress on this, hear the great Augustinian father, who says that if you wish to fulfil with perfection all that is explicitly or implicitly contained in the divine Scriptures, keep in your soul true charity, for it is the object of the Law and of the prophets. The apostle says to his pupil Timothy: "The goal of the precept is pure charity, of good conscience and sincere faith".[30] In which words, although there is much to be noted, I only want you to see for the present that "precept" does not mean special or sole commandment, but all that which is commanded and ordained in the law, which, being as it is, directs itself to the maintenance and development of charity. It is the keystone of the spiritual structure, and if it is endangered, all which rests on it is endangered. With this you will understand that difficult place in the writings of St. James: "Whoever offends in one point of the law, is offending in all".[31]

Friar: I have never understood how this could be possible; Why must the adulterer be indicted or punished as a murderer? Or the thief as an adulterer?

Master: The declaration of the apostle, superficially understood, may not seem to be true, but if we apply what has already been said of charity, what the apostle says is found to be important and reasonable. If all other precepts are dependent upon this virtue of charity or selfless love extended to God and to one's fellow man., it clearly follows that, by not observing it, one is untrue to all the virtues. Conversely, if a person is lacking in any virtue, charity is itself diminished. Ina circle you will see this very clearly, for all the lines which are formed from the center to the circumference communicate with the center, where they meet and unite. Could one possibly touch this center without touching all the lines?

Friar: It does not seem so.

Master: Very well. The truth is, that the center of the Law and the prophets is selfless love, and all other precepts, as I have said, are precepts within this charity. They end in it and proceed from it. Therefore if one violates it and injury is done to it, all receive injury and whenever any of the others is violated, charity is offended and all are offended in it, being all one in it, like the lines in the center. Although each one, considered in itself, seems different from the others on the circumference, as the precepts of not to steal, not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to swear, and so forth, seem different, the lines are not different in the center nor are the precepts different within. Thus Saint James is finally understood, and for good reason you are left with a concern for charity.

Friar: Indeed very much! And also with a great desire to know how one may love God with perfection, so that one might achieve that which the Saints have achieved so quickly by this means.

Master: The way is taught by the most divine Lord, who asks only that, in return for all that we and other creatures owe him, we give love. He says to love Him with all your heart, with all your soul, all your mind, all your power and all your virtue.[32]

Friar: This use of words with such subtle meanings confuses me greatly. In order to really understand this imperative, I need someone to throw light upon such terms as heart, soul, mind, power and virtue.

Master: I would very much like to excuse myself from answering, because it is a matter of considerable difficulty and requires a higher knowledge of spiritual matters than I possess. So you will have to be content with my telling you what I happen to know, which is simply what the Saints say and what philosophy teaches us.

Friar: No more could be asked of you.

Master: Observe, then, that as a foundation of religious doctrine, it is held that in each man there are actually three men: the animal, the rational and the divine. In each of these there is a power which perceives and another power which fears or desires that which is perceived—depending upon whether it seems damaging or beneficial. The "animal-man" acts and perceives by the five exterior senses sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch and all that which is perceived by these senses is transmitted to the brain. Then, by certain images and fantasies this man views things there, organizes them and retains them in his memory. Accompanying this sensitive power is another natural power of appetite, with which this man desires these exterior things (riches, friends, pleasures and other delights of this kind) and flees from adverse things which are contrary to him. This appetite is called animal or sensual, and is the affective force that moves solely through the activity of the senses. Whoever lives according to this man, lives according to sensuality—not very different from the way the brutes live. In this aspect we are without nobility and are subject to corruption and death.
    The second man, who is said to be rational, has a certain power, which is called reason, whose function it is to weigh all things and to see which is good and which is bad, which is true and which is false. This power draws conclusions from premises, and draws insensible things from things which are felt. It is a power that in its operation does not use any corporal organ, as the preceding one does. It involves free will, which moves toward embracing and doing all that reason dictates and teaches. Others call it rational affect or the appetite of reason. He who exercises this power makes himself rich with wisdom and virtues, which grow according to the amount he desires them. The more of them he attains, the greater is his desire to fully possess them. This life in itself is imperfect, because something is always lacking which is above human reason. It is in the end defective, because outside of God there is nothing which can satisfy the hunger of the rational animal.
    The third man is characterized by supreme and pure intelligence. This is the cognitive force of the spirit which immediately receives a certain natural light from God, by which the truth of religious principles is recognized, once the terms are known. To this pure intelligence corresponds a soft, agreeable and pure love of the spirit which immediately receives an inclination towards the supreme good. Those who utilize this amorous power and obtain a familiarity with God are lifted so high at times that, hushing for a time their understanding, they forget themselves and all things together and are engulfed by God and transformed in Him. Ruysbroeck called the life of this third man divine life, because in this life God is carefully contemplated and the soul is united with Him through love, and he enjoys and tastes as much as there is of this sweetness. He melts and renews himself continually in Him, and this is the road of rapture and elevation above all our powers to a state where God himself rules us. The soul undergoes this transformation and is lit with a divine light, as is the air with the rays of the sun, or as iron by the heat of the flame.[33]
    Also I want you to know that the spirit (ánima) of man is called such principally because it enlivens and animates the body, and in those forces of the spirit, known as understanding, memory and will, shines the image of the Holy Trinity.[34]  According to the superior man, or pure intelligence, the soul is the spirit or intimate part, or consciousness, or depth, endowed with such nobility that there are no words to describe it. This intimate sanctuary of the consciousness cannot be filled or satisfied by any created thing, but only by the Creator with all His immensity and greatness. Here He has His peaceful abode, as in heaven itself. Nor is it necessary that we look for Him outside of ourselves when we wish to converse with Him. To the degree that we do not banish Him through sin, He is inseparably there, in this, His sanctuary, prepared to hear us and to show us mercy—although at times He is so hidden as to appear to be absent. For which reason we must here commit to Him all the efforts of our soul with strict attention and reverence. From this spirit, or intimate part, or center, or apex of the spirit proceed all its forces, just as rays proceed from the sun. And these forces return to their center and source through dedicated charity and sincere concern for God. Blessed is the man who knows how to arrive at this center by perfect resignation, because one hour of such effort is worth more, in gaining pardon from sins and obtaining of grace, than many years of other efforts, no matter how lofty and acceptable. God works in the soul so converted, such profound things that it itself does not understand them. But with those who dull these precious faculties and interior powers, He has no intercourse nor communication. And this is the greatest misery which the rational creature can suffer.

V

Friar: Frankly, I am amazed and beside myself to hear what you say. I never realized that there are within us such great riches nor that there exists such a wonderful and satisfying center.

Master: You will find very few who know this, because most are given to external things, without attempting to enter into themselves to seek this treasure and converse with that Lord who says: "My kingdom is within you".

Friar: It seems that with what has been said I should now readily understand the commandment of love, which has always been so obscure to me. If you were willing to explain it, I should be greatly consoled.

Master: To love God with all your heart is to love him with all your will and desire, in such a way that you want nothing which is opposed to God, outside of God, or above God. I mean to say that, having removed all creatures from your heart, you must offer it wholly to the Creator, in order that He only and He alone may possess it. To love God with all your soul is to love Him with all the animal-man, having in control all the five senses, and keeping them removed from all indulgences which could offend the divine eyes. You must use the senses not to sin nor to please yourself, but rather to honor and glorify your Lord. To love God with all your mind is to persevere in true faith with sound understanding, trusting in God without reservation or false views. Or, in accordance with the doctrine that I have given you, to love God with all your mind is to enter into yourself, always intent on Him, with a pure and sincere love, undiluted by any other love which is alien or adulterous, for it is certain that no other but God can really fill our soul.
    Finally you must love with all your might. All the strength in you, interior and exterior, must be employed and consumed according to His highest approbation, without any contemplation of self-interest. You may be sure that you will in due course receive the glory and other gifts and mercies that God customarily gives to His friends. In a word, I want you to know that the various aspects of this commandment clearly demonstrate that God our Lord wants you all for Himself, without there remaining in you any room for other created things which could make war with or contradict His will. It is necessary that you rid yourself of all such things in order that God can dwell in you as in His temple, for it is not possible that He make His dwelling place within you while your corrupted self remains. Have you never seen a great Prince take lodging, entering in a village along the road, in the house of a rustic laborer?

Friar: Indeed I have seen it.

Master: Well, then, just as the laborer welcomes the Prince into his poor little house by emptying it of all his valuables, without leaving a thing, large or small (because the Prince carries with him all the furnishings and adornment worthy of his person) so, in order that God may dwell in a soul He asks that it first be emptied of the love of all creatures including itself. The Ecclesiasticus says: "Write wisdom in your heart in the time of emptiness and note well that he whose heart is least occupied with the world is the one most filled with wisdom”.[35] The wisdom that knows and nourishes the soul is received to the degree that our hearts are vacant and are emptied, not only of the love of creatures, but also of the acts of interior and exterior feelings. Once these are put aside and silenced, the pure soul flies to its Creator and undergoes at this time the transformation wrought by the Holy Spirit, which works great marvels in the soul which is thus pure and empty. Before this divine Spirit in the beginning of the world came walking on the waters and made them fertile and produced so many lives, it is said that the earth was vacant, which is to tell us (speaking to the interior man) that the region of our hearts must be cleared of all creatures so that it can better receive the coming of Him who fills it wholly, who is God.[36]
    How emptied was the heart of him who, speaking of charity and imperfect knowledge, said to the people of Corinth: "When that which is perfect is come, you must do away with that which is partial and small. When I was small, I spoke and understood as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things".[37] Everything is small and childish which is not God, and the knowledge that one has by means of creatures, is as darkness compared to that light which God infuses in the soul cleared and free of them. In truth, whoever plays with these transitory things in his mind and gives them a place in his heart, is a child. In order to grow up he must push them aside and free himself for the Creator alone.
    The Prophet Jeremiah (and holy King David in agreement with him) says that before God, as in prayer, we must pour out our hearts like water—meaning that nothing should remain within them, neither thought, nor affection for creatures, so that we may find ourselves alone with His Majesty.[38] In the 138th Psalm it is written: "The night is the illumination for my delights". To my view, what those words mean in the spiritual sense is that by freeing ourselves of our present concern for creatures (for these are darkness, as I said in the 15th chapter of the Triunfos) we find the delights and subtle pleasures of the contemplative soul, whose will at this time is activated and working or receiving great gifts and riches from its celestial Husband. God, in order to symbolize this freeing of the heart, commanded in his ancient law that the altar where the perpetual flame of sacrifice burned be hollow and empty.[39] In order that this be understood, He makes transpire that which occurs in the Holy Sacrament of the altar, when at the voice of the priest the bread abandons its own substance and the body of Christ succeeds it, leaving only the outward signs of bread. After the consecration, in the substantial sense, it is the body of Christ, and in the accidental sense only is it bread. I mean to say that there is no substance there of bread, even though all the outward signs are there, and for that reason it is called transubstantiation. Therefore, He wishes that, at His call, by which he converts us to Himself, all creatures, including ourselves, should depart from our hearts leaving this dwelling free and vacant for Him. Even so did that divine Apostle who in carnal flesh dared to say: "I live, yet Christ, not I, lives in me".[40]  This is to say that, in the spiritual sense, the accidental part of me is man, but the substantial is of God. This is how God wants us to be for Him: accidentally men and substantially gods, ruled by His spirit and in accordance with His will. This excludes all things which are possessed and excludes all misplaced loves, because, as a Prophet has said: "The cavity of our heart is narrow and there is not room for two in it; the canopy of this love is small and cannot cover more than one”.[41]

Friar: It seems that you are saying that the just cease to be men and become gods in essence, just as by virtue of the words of the consecration the bread ceases to be bread and becomes the body of Christ.

Master: I do not quite say this. I am speaking of transformations of love, all of which are accidents. I say that in loving God I don't cease to be what I am in respect to essence, but only accidentally. I am saying that the soul transformed in God by love lives more for God than for itself, because it desires and follows not what the exterior man asks, but that which God ordains. Therefore since this soul dwells more where it loves God than where it gives life to the body, it follows that it is more a part of God which it loves than it is of itself. And in this sense you can say that the just are accidentally men and substantially gods, for they are ruled and live by the Divine Spirit. It is like molten steel which continues to be steel although dressed with the qualities of fire, appearing more fire than steel in essence—although truthfully it is not fire except by participation, as the just are gods only by participation in the Divine.

Friar: This certainly is an admirable doctrine, father, except that two things sit badly with me. First, the idea that I can live without myself, as you say the Apostle lived. Second, the idea that the rational spirit being only one, should have such different faculties and carry out such varied tasks as though it were many spirits.

Master: Your points are well taken. The spirit is one in respect to its essence and substance; and according to the doctrine of Duns Scotus and other men of Paris, there is no real distinction between the spirit and its powers.[42] Saint Thomas, however, says that there is a real distinction between the spirit and its powers, which considered in their diverse respects, are sometimes called accidents, and sometimes considered as virtually the natural properties of the same spirit.

Friar: Let us, if you do not mind, leave these differences for the schools to argue about and say with Isidore that the powers are aspects of the spirit, that they are the same with it, and that due to the diversity of tasks with which the spirit is occupied, it has diverse names.[43]

Master: This is how it seemed to Duns Scotus, and following him now, let us say that the spirit is one, since everyone has it, but that there are in it diverse faculties or virtues, which the Lord gave it as instruments for work, except that with their little use they are confused in us and are not in that state of readiness which is required for such high exercises as these. So it is necessary to first cleanse and dress oneself carefully. By which I want you to know, Desirous son, that in order to perfectly convert yourself to God, understanding and reason must serve as tutors to the bestial and sensual man, removing him from all the profane likes and delights, of thoughts and words as well as actions, in order that in this way you can achieve perfect mortification and negation of yourself. You thereby bring this man to such a point that from then on he does not labor because of exterior feelings nor spend himself for creatures, but rather in accordance with that which sound reason dictates and understands to be the will of God. This mortification of the natural self will be very annoying and difficult for you at first, but in the eyes of God will be very well accepted and will give off a fragrance like the softest aroma, the most exotic incense. Keep your understanding free of perplexing doubts, let it be, as I have said, founded in Catholic faith, in accord with and completely responsive to the holy church.
    Offer your will to God with perfect abnegation, cleared and free from desire, affection or inclination towards any of the creatures of the world. And keep, so far as possible through divine grace, your memory empty and vacant of images and forms of all that which is not God. See to it that these mundane concerns are purged and made submissive to your spiritual center, where God dwells and is present. There you can adore and revere and embrace Him with the firm ties of intimate love. Take care that in the same way that you are led to see and know the material sun by its rays, so also by these very mundane concerns you are led and carried to understanding, and from under-standing to the secret of the spirit, and from there finally to God. You will also realize that our spirit is in this world midway between time and eternity; and if it elects to walk with exterior things and is converted to time, that is, if it is made temporal by loving temporal things, it will without doubt forget eternity. Then all that which is divine will be diminished in it and will pass it by and leave it far behind. Just as things seem smaller than they really are when viewed from a distance (and the farther away the smaller, and with even more distance are not even recognizable) so the divine things which are far' from our heart come to be judged as small by those who do not know how to contemplate eternity. And because our flesh wars with our spirit, it is exasperating for the spirit to have as would-be friends in its earthly or natural place, all these temporal and worldly things when the spirit doesn't even have its kingdom here. It is in exile, for its true friends are in heaven. Therefore it is necessary to arm ourselves against the flesh and conquer it with strict penitence in order that it does not brazenly return and rise against the spirit. Do you want, then, to conceive in your soul a singular devotion and ardor against yourself? Just imagine that you are now dead, for in a brief while, like it or not, you must die, and consider at the same time that your soul is parted from your body and joined with eternity. You will then see how little you care about those injuries and wounds that might happen to your body on earth and how little you care about that which occurs in the world. Also, remember how heedless the martyrs were of their bodies, even before they were parted from their souls, having merely thought that shortly they would have to leave them.

VI

Friar: I am very gratified with what you have said, both in regard to the supreme commandment of divine love and in regard to the purification of the forces of the spirit. The only thing which I need now to know is that which you seem to have deliberately omitted, and that is the first thing I asked concerning the living and not living of Saint Paul—a thing which has always been difficult for me, because it seems impossible for one man to exemplify at one time, the words: "I live and I do not live".

Master: I was given a good opportunity to explain this passage of the Apostle when in my Triunfos I spoke of the transformation or death or mortification of love. Since I said so much there, I was ignoring your question. However, since you do not excuse me from answering, I shall try to relieve your doubts. Saint Dionysus cites this passage.[44] Because what he had said appeared difficult to his pupil, as it has appeared to you, he purposely set to work to clarify it. Among other notable things worthy of his exalted understanding, he says that divine love causes ecstacy, which is to say, it takes those who love out of themselves and does not let them belong to themselves, but rather to the loved thing. Because the love of the Apostle for Christ was so great that he was not his own nor did he live for himself, but completely for Christ, he dared to say that he lived and did not live, and that his life was Christ. This is as if he had more clearly said: "I am made God by love or love has transformed me in Christ, and I am a Christ of love". Two things presuppose this ecstatic love of Saint Paul, which must be considered in whomever suffers this ecstacy as he did: the first is the natural being of whom it is said, "I live"; the second is the being of grace, who says, "I do not live, because Christ lives in me". The corrupted natural being wanes in this condition, while that of grace grows so that the spirit feels Christ within itself more than it feels itself. So, concerning the first life, he lives as if he were not living, because he heeds only the second life and says he lives in it. And how much more justification has a man for praising himself more because Christ lives in him than because he himself lives! Oh, if you allowed Christ to work in you how it would inflame your will, how your understanding would sharpen and how your memory would come alive in order that, not you within yourself, but He in you would live and you would be truly another Christ through love. Like Saint Paul, you would have the power to convert many souls to his service as he did! This is that union so desired and so sought by Christ himself, who after the supper, when close to Death, speaking with so many truths, with his Father, says: "My Father, I have given to my disciples, for their participation in my union, the glory which you gave me, so that they may be one as you and I are—I in them and you in me, that they be consummated in one and that the world may know you sent me and that you loved them as you loved me".[45]

Friar: That is certainly a superb flight!

Master: It is a flight no less than that of the proud eagle, that makes us gods in God and christs in Christ and sons in the Son, in order that what the Prophet said may be verified: "I said, Gods you are and sons of the Majesty all".[46] Here is where the practice arose of calling Christ the vine and ourselves the shoots, to better signify this close union that he desired between Him and us.[47] Also he called himself leaven because the dough after seasoning is a whole with it and, as they say, a part of its nature.[48] Oh, absent and vain heart! gather yourself a bit into yourself, or better said, into your Christ, who is no other than yourself, and finally understand that from here forward you have nothing more to desire than to be man-god in Christ, diminishing yourself, in order that you may glorify yourself with the Apostle saying: "I am living, and I am not living. Christ lives in me". Because with this you will have understood what it is to be substantially Christ and accidentally man, I want to say what it means to have Christ living more in us than we ourselves and how one carries out that strict commandment of love required of the heart, spirit, mind and all interior and exterior forces.
    What I have said will be enough for today, advising you in conclusion that the greatest loss to the soul comes from not keeping open the entrance to its intimate interior, where God is, and where no desire exists for any creatures. Therefore, whomsoever by his great negligence and carelessness loses this openness, loses in one hour more of the spiritual and interior gifts than he could earn if in this time he were to learn all the Scriptures. This is because all of them were ordered and written so that with their help we might be a complete and pure sacrifice for God our Lord. Therefore, I ask as emphatically as I can that, freeing yourself from all distraction, you dwell within yourself and withdraw all your efforts and feelings so far as divine grace permits, from useless exterior actions. Retire to the secret interior, and closing the door of your heart against the vain images and fantasies that distract the spirit, dwell alone with your Lord God, who built His holy temple within you. He who, without the hindrance of creatures, that is, with purity and simplicity, draws near to God, becomes one with Him and is superior to all the images and forms of creatures. And since grace flows abundantly from this interior into a man and augments the forces and powers of his spirit, all of these labor by means of it with happiness and enthusiasm. Here is where you must offer all to God and abandon yourself, living completely in Him, flowing like melted liquid in Him, and adoring Him in spirit and truth. In order that you may conserve this interior in intercourse and celestial conversation with your God, see that this flow is neither of words nor of works through the exterior sensations, for the more words and works, the more there will be distractions and accidents. I advise you that here, more than in any other exercise, is our health and spiritual well-being. Believe me, if you constantly dwell in your interior, you will lose yourself. Then you must restrain the natural man so that it is not distracted and does not wander this way and that. It is certain that a single idle conversation will distract you and many such will impede the peace of your soul. You are also warned that, although by the grace of God all sins are now beaten down and dead in you, the inclination and cause persevere always with you and with these tendencies you have to war continuously during your mortal life.

Friar: And what if I should not feel God within me?

Master: Then work with all your power until you find Him again, exiling from yourself all which would or could be an impediment. Choose death before doing anything against the will of God or consenting to a sin, however minor it might be, and do not trouble yourself in pleasing any creature outside of God. Be content with the good part of Mary, without making persistent complaints, like Martha, for this is not usually done except by those of little spirit or good in their souls. I beg you one and many times, do not go outside of that sacred dwelling place within you, for it could be that you will pay for one hour of absence with many years of frustration and even with the possibility of never more re-entering yourself. Devote yourself without interruption to interior solitude, and, speaking in secret, say to yourself: "He whom I seek is not comprehensible by feeling nor by intelligence, but pure souls may embrace and receive Him. This I profess and seek, and whatever might come to me, be it prosperity or adversity, I must suffer it and rise above it and continue my way. Our father friar Pedro de Alcántara recollected himself with only these words: "Return, my soul, to your rest (which is the interior center) for there your bountiful God awaits you".[49] He said that with this verse his soul, as if ashamed and dismayed by wandering at random, withdrew within itself and awaited the approach of its Husband. Do keep your heart free of verbiage, for very few words are enough for this seclusion and many are likely to impede it. Therefore, be silent, repose and submit. Trust in God, and do your part with good will. Believe me that very shortly you will be marvellously enlightened with knowledge of the most perfect paths of interior life. And this is enough for you to know how to walk within yourself, which is what I most wish you to glean from talking with me.

Friar: Blessed be God for giving me such a true and sincere master. I do not intend to depart from this teaching in the slightest, nor to tire myself in reading other books. I only ask humbly that you do not conceal from me those paths and roads which you say are in the interior life.

Master: I, son, am very weary and you must reflect well upon what you have heard. The night invites us to be silent, and it is right that we respect it.

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———.The Mystics of Spain, London, 1951.

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