God may be gotten and held by love, but never by thought.
— Cloud of Unknowing, Ch. 6.
Divine Friendships, a monthly series exploring Christian contemplative and devotional classics, continues Monday, September 13, with The Cloud of Unknowing. The work was written anonymously, probably by a cloistered monk, in England sometime in the latter half of the 1300s. The book advises that oneness with God cannot be obtained by knowledge and intellect, but by meeting God in the realm of “unknowing”. This is done by a simple but intense contemplation that places all other thoughts and desires under a “cloud of forgetting” to focus on a “naked intent” and a “dart of longing love” from the heart for God.
The ideas underlying the book are rather simple but it is not easy reading. The starting point for the contemplative is not the intellect but the fusion of heart and will into a “naked intent” for God and a “dart of longing love” for God. When the humble heart seeks to contemplate God’s very Self, apart from all his goods, it encounters a barrier, a darkness, a cloud of unknowing.
This darkness and this Cloud is . . . betwixt thee and thy God, and . . . thou mayest neither see Him clearly by light of understanding in thy reason, nor feel Him in sweetness of love in thine affection. (Ch. 3.)
This Cloud of Unknowing is the place where the contemplative encounters God and one should strive to stay in this darkness for as long as one can continuing to cry out in love to God.
This is work to stay or return to this cloud of unknowing. It is a place where God cannot be fully thought, but where he can be fully loved. By continual work, one can rise higher and higher from sin and nearer and nearer to God.
If one reaches this cloud of unknowing one should try to stay there or get back there, by putting a “cloud of forgetting” beneath oneself and between oneself and all created things.
For although it be good to think upon the kindness of God, and to love Him and praise Him for it, yet it is far better to think upon the naked being of Him, and to love Him and praise Him for Himself. (Ch. 5.)
Instead of looking below yourself (to all the creatures and works of God), focus on looking above yourself to the darkness of the cloud of unknowing. Try to pierce the darkness above you with a “sharp dart of longing love” (Ch 6.), and do not be concerned about what is below you, however, good it may be.
Put visions of angels and saints and visions of heaven under this cloud of forgetting. Put the Passion of Christ under this could of forgetting. Surely he that seeketh God perfectly, he will not rest him finally in the remembrance of any angel or saint that is in heaven. (Ch. 9.)
Put all thoughts of creatures under the cloud of forgetting — but primarily yourself. You shall find when you have forgotten all creatures and even yourself, there shall still between you and God a naked feeling of your own being. But this feeling is normally only fleeting. (Ch. 43.)
The author recommends using a short prayer word like “God” or “Love” to put oneself between the cloud of unknowing and the cloud of forgetting. Don’t study or be preoccupied with words (or knowledge) for spiritual communion will not come from study but from grace. (Ch. 39.) No other words are needed because this little single word word represents God in all his fullness and nothing less than the fullness of God. It is the short prayer that pierces heaven. (Ch. 37.)
This word shall be thy shield and thy spear . . . . With this word, thou shalt beat on this cloud and this darkness above thee. With this word, thou shall smite down all manner of thought under the cloud of forgetting. (Ch. 7.)
One cannot presume to do this work without first cleansing the conscience. (Ch. 28.)
Those who have been great sinners before this work, will find the work harder. But oftentimes they will make further progress more quickly than those who have not. This is by the grace of God. (Ch. 29.)
After having been cleansed, the thought of prior sin may come up, or new stirrings to sin. They should all be put under a thick cloud of forgetting. As often as these stirrings arise, they should be beaten down. (Ch. 31.)
If you can’t beat these stirrings under the cloud of forgetting, the author recommends two devices. First, keep looking towards the cloud of unknowing. Second, surrender to these stirrings and acknowledge your weakness (meekness). This meekness is an invitation to God’s grace. (Ch. 32.)
Prayer is nothing else but a devout intent directed to God for getting good or removing evil. If the focus is on removing evil, the author recommends using “Sin” as the prayer word. Do not focus on a particular sin or vice for this will have the effect of drawing you further from the cloud of forgetting, and all sins are the same in that they separate us from God. Instead of contemplating your own sins in detail, think of sin as a lump, an obstacle to reaching the cloud of forgetting. And this lump is nothing other than yourself. (Ch. 36.)
It is hard work to put everything under the cloud of forgetting, but it is done with the help of grace. Also one cannot break through the cloud of unknowing by one’s own efforts. Only God can do this. This part is God’s work alone. God will sometimes send a beam of ghostly light to penetrate the cloud of unknowing and show some of His private self to you, which may not and cannot be spoken. Then will your own affection be inflamed with the fire of God’s love. This is the work of God. (Ch. 26. )
The author recommends doing this work of contemplation continuously. He draws on the story of Martha and Mary from Luke’s gospel to assert that it is a mistake to think that one should not embark on a contemplative life, without first taking care of one’s material needs. God it seems will stir the actives to support the contemplatives. God will provide the contemplative either an abundance of necessities or strength in body and patience in spirit to bear need.
The work of this book is not meant for everybody. The author recommends that only those called to the contemplative life should attempt the work.
Want to learn more about The Cloud of Unknowing? Join me online Monday, September 13, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm to discuss. Click here to register for the event.