The author of the book entitled "De Spiritu et Anima" tells us (chap. xxi.)[33] that to ascend to God means nothing else than to enter into oneself. And, indeed, he who enters into the secret place of his own soul passes beyond himself, and does in very truth ascend to God.
Banish, therefore, from thy heart the distractions of earth and turn thine eyes to spiritual joys, that thou mayest learn at last to repose in the light of the contemplation of God.
Verily the soul's true life and her repose are to abide in God, held fast by love, and sweetly refreshed by the Divine consolations.
But many are the obstacles which hinder us from tasting this rest, and of our own strength we could never attain to it. The reason is evident—the mind is distracted and preoccupied; it cannot enter into itself by the aid of the memory, for it is blinded by phantoms; nor can it enter by the intellect, for it is vitiated by the passions. Even the desire of interior joys and spiritual delights fails to draw it inward. It lies so deeply buried in things sensible and transitory that it cannot return to itself as to the image of God.
How needful is it, then, that the soul, lifted upon the wings of reverence and humble confidence, should rise above itself and every creature by entire detachment, and should be able to say within itself: He Whom I seek, love, desire, among all, more than all, and above all, cannot be perceived by the senses or the imagination, for He is above both the senses and the understanding. He cannot be perceived by the senses, yet He is the object of all our desires; He is without shape, but He is supremely worthy of our heart's deepest love. He is beyond compare, and to the pure in heart greatly to be desired. Above all else is He sweet and love-worthy; His goodness and perfection are infinite.
When thou shalt understand this, thy soul will enter into the darkness of the spirit, and will advance further and penetrate more deeply into itself.[34] Thou wilt by this means attain more speedily unto the beholding in a dark manner of the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity, in Christ Jesus, in proportion as thy effort is more inward; and the greater is thy charity, the more precious the fruit thou wilt reap. For the highest, in spiritual things, is ever that which is most interior. Grow not weary, therefore, and rest not from thy efforts until thou hast received some earnest or foretaste of the fulness of joy that awaits thee, and has obtained some first-fruits of the Divine sweetness and delights.
Cease not in thy pursuit till thou shalt behold "the God of gods in Sion."[35]
In thy spiritual ascent and in thy search after a closer union with God thou must allow thyself no repose, no slipping back, but must go forward till thou hast obtained the object of thy desires. Follow the example of mountain-climbers. If thy desires turn aside after the objects which pass below thou wilt lose thyself in byways and countless distractions. Thy mind will become dissipated and drawn in all directions by its desires. Thy progress will be uncertain, thou wilt not reach thy goal, nor find rest after thy labours.
If, on the other hand, the heart and mind, led on by love and desire, withdraw from the distractions of this world, and little by little abandon baser things to become recollected in the one true and unchangeable Good, to dwell there, held fast by the bonds of love, then wilt thou grow strong, and thy recollection will deepen the higher thou risest on the wings of knowledge and desire.
They who have attained to this dwell as by habit in the Sovereign Good, and become at last inseparable from it.