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| Seeing God For in this darkness is born and shines an incomprehensible light, which is the Son of God, in whom we see eternal light. And in this light we become seeing; and this Divine light is given in the simple vision of the spirit, in which the spirit receives the clearness which is God Himself, without intermediary, and becomes without interruption this clearness which it receives. See this dark clearness, in which we contemplate all that we desire, while the spirit is passive - this clearness is so great that the loving contemplative, in the depth where he reposes, sees and experiences nothing save an incomprehensible light, and according to the simple nudity which envelopes all things, he sees and apprehends the same light by which he sees, and nothing else. This is the first condition of becoming seeing in the Divine light. Happy are the eyes which thus see, for they have eternal life. Ruysbroek At times God comes into the soul without being called; and He instils into her fire, love, and sometimes sweetness; and the soul believes this comes from God, and delights therein. But she does not yet know, or see, that He dwells in her; she perceives His grace, in which she delights. And again God comes to the soul, and speaks to her words full of sweetness, in which she has much joy, and she feels Him. This feeling of God gives her the greatest delight; but even here a certain doubt remains; for the soul has not the certitude that God is in her. And beyond this the soul receives the gift of seeing God. God says to her, 'Behold Me!' and the soul sees Him dwelling within her. She sees Him more clearly than one man sees another. For the eyes of the soul behold a plenitude of which I cannot speak: a plenitude which is not bodily but spiritual, of which I can say nothing. And the soul rejoices in that sight with an ineffable joy; and this is the manifest and certain sign that God indeed dwells in her. And the soul can behold nothing else, because this fulfils her in an unspeakable manner. This beholding, whereby the soul can behold no other thing, is so profound that it grieves me that I can say nothing of it. It is not a thing which can be touched or imagined for it is ineffable. Blessed Angela of Foligno The loving contemplative feels himself.to be that same Light by which he sees, and nothing else. John of Ruysbroeck We abide in darkness so long as we walk in belief and not in beholding. St. Bernard of Clairvaux Within my own being I gaze upon the Creator of the world. and I unite myself with Him. Simeon the New Theologian Those who have not yet seen him, look! Look! Lin-chi There is no longer any need to believe, when one sees the truth. Al-Alawi We have only to gaze, naught else. Al-Harraq Supreme, beyond the power of speech to express, Brahman may yet be apprehended by the eye of pure illumination. Pure, absolute and eternal Reality – such is Brahman, and 'thou art That'. Shankara He is the Light of all lights which shines beyond all darkness. It is vision, the end of vision, to be reached by vision, dwelling in the heart of all. Bhagavad Gita No man has seen God. St. John's Gospel He will never have full joy in us until we have full joy in him, truly seeing his lovely blessed face. Julian of Norwich If I had the tongue of an angel, and thou hadst an angelical understanding, we might very finely discourse of it. But the spirit only sees it, and the tongue cannot advance towards it. For I can use no other words than the words of this world; but now the Holy Ghost being in thee, thy soul will well apprehend it. Boehme The holy light of faith is so pure that, compared with it, particular lights are but impurities; and even ideas of the saints, of the Blessed Virgin, and the sight of Jesus Christ in his humanity are impediments in the way of the sight of God in His purity. J.J. Olier How may we perceive our own nature? That which perceives is your own nature. Hui-hai Look upon every man, woman, and everyone as God. Vivekananda back to top |
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