lectures16+17-第10章
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as 〃levitation;〃 stigmatization; and the healing of disease。
These phenomena; which mystics have often presented (or are
believed to have presented); have no essential mystical
significance; for they occur with no consciousness of
illumination whatever; when they occur; as they often do; in
persons of non…mystical mind。 Consciousness of illumination is
for us the essential mark of 〃mystical〃 states。
The cognitive aspects of them; their value in the way of
revelation; is what we are directly concerned with; and it is
easy to show by citation how strong an impression they leave of
being revelations of new depths of truth。 Saint Teresa is the
expert of experts in describing such conditions; so I will turn
immediately to what she says of one of the highest of them; the
〃orison of union。〃
〃In the orison of union;〃 says Saint Teresa; 〃the soul is fully
awake as regards God; but wholly asleep as regards things of this
world and in respect of herself。 During the short time the union
lasts; she is as it were deprived of every feeling; and even if
she would; she could not think of any single thing。 Thus she
needs to employ no artifice in order to arrest the use of her
understanding: it remains so stricken with inactivity that she
neither knows what she loves; nor in what manner she loves; nor
what she wills。 In short; she is utterly dead to the things of
the world and lives solely in God。 。 。 。 I do not even know
whether in this state she has enough life left to breathe。 It
seems to me she has not; or at least that if she does breathe;
she is unaware of it。 Her intellect would fain understand
something of what is going on within her; but it has so little
force now that it can act in no way whatsoever。 So a person who
falls into a deep faint appears as if dead。 。 。 。
〃Thus does God; when he raises a soul to union with himself;
suspend the natural action of all her faculties。 She neither
sees; hears; nor understands; so long as she is united with God。
But this time is always short; and it seems even shorter than it
is。 God establishes himself in the interior of this soul in such
a way; that when she returns to herself; it is wholly impossible
for her to doubt that she has been in God; and God in her。 This
truth remains so strongly impressed on her that; even though many
years should pass without the condition returning; she can
neither forget the favor she received; nor doubt of its reality。
If you; nevertheless; ask how it is possible that the soul can
see and understand that she has been in God; since during the
union she has neither sight nor understanding; I reply that she
does not see it then; but that she sees it clearly later; after
she has returned to herself; not by any vision; but by a
certitude which abides with her and which God alone can give her。
I knew a person who was ignorant of the truth that God's mode of
being in everything must be either by presence; by power; or by
essence; but who; after having received the grace of which I am
speaking; believed this truth in the most unshakable manner。 So
much so that; having consulted a half…learned man who was as
ignorant on this point as she had been before she was
enlightened; when he replied that God is in us only by 'grace;'
she disbelieved his reply; so sure she was of the true answer;
and when she came to ask wiser doctors; they confirmed her in her
belief; which much consoled her。 。 。 。
〃But how; you will repeat; CAN one have such certainty in respect
to what one does not see? This question; I am powerless to
answer。 These are secrets of God's omnipotence which it does not
appertain to me to penetrate。 All that I know is that I tell the
truth; and I shall never believe that any soul who does not
possess this certainty has ever been really united to God。〃'254'
'254' The Interior Castle; Fifth Abode; Ch。 i。; in Oeuvres;
translated by BOUIX; iii。 421…424。
The kinds of truth communicable in mystical ways; whether these
be sensible or supersensible; are various。 Some of them relate
to this worldvisions of the future; the reading of hearts; the
sudden understanding of texts; the knowledge of distant events;
for example; but the most important revelations are theological
or metaphysical。
〃Saint Ignatius confessed one day to Father Laynez that a single
hour of meditation at Manresa had taught him more truths about
heavenly things than all the teachings of all the doctors put
together could have taught him。 。 。 。 One day in orison; on the
steps of the choir of the Dominican church; he saw in a distinct
manner the plan of divine wisdom in the creation of the world。
On another occasion; during a procession; his spirit was ravished
in God; and it was given him to contemplate; in a form and images
fitted to the weak understanding of a dweller on the earth; the
deep mystery of the holy Trinity。 This last vision flooded his
heart with such sweetness; that the mere memory of it in after
times made him shed abundant tears。〃'255'
'255' Bartoli…Michel: vie de Saint Ignace de Loyola; i。 34…36。
Others have had illuminations about the created world; Jacob
Boehme for instance。 At the age of twenty…five he was
〃surrounded by the divine light; and replenished with the
heavenly knowledge; insomuch as going abroad into the fields to a
green; at Gorlitz; he there sat down and viewing the herbs and
grass of the field; in his inward light he saw into their
essences; use; and properties; which was discovered to him by
their lineaments; figures; and signatures。〃 Of a later
period of experience he writes: 〃In one quarter of an hour I saw
and knew more than if I had been many years together at an
university。 For I saw and knew the being of all things; the Byss
and the Abyss; and the eternal generation of the holy Trinity;
the descent and original of the world and of all creatures
through the divine wisdom。 I knew and saw in myself all the
three worlds; the external and visible world being of a
procreation or extern birth from both the internal and spiritual
worlds; and I saw and knew the whole working essence; in the evil
and in the good; and the mutual original and existence; and
likewise how the fruitful bearing womb of eternity brought forth。
So that I did not only greatly wonder at it; but did also
exceedingly rejoice; albeit I could very hardly apprehend the
same in my external man and set it down with the pen。 For I had
a thorough view of the universe as in a chaos; wherein all things
are couched and wrapt up; but it was impossible for me to
explicate the same。〃 Jacob Behmen's Theosophic Philosophy; etc。;
by Edward Taylor; London; 1691; pp。 425; 427; abridged。
So George Fox: 〃I was come up to the state of Adam in which he
was before he fell。 The creation was opened to me; and it was
showed me; how all things had their names given to them;
according to their nature and virtue。 I was at a stand in my
mind; whether I should practice physic for the good of mankind;
seeing the nature and virtues of the creatures were so opened to
me by the Lord。〃 Journal; Philadelphia; no date; p。 69。
Contemporary 〃Clairvoyance〃 abounds in similar revelations。
Andrew Jackson Davis's cosmogonies; for example; or certain
experiences related in the delectable 〃Reminiscences and Memories
of Henry Thomas Butterworth;〃 Lebanon; Ohio; 1886。