第 9 节
作者:翱翔1981      更新:2021-02-27 00:27      字数:9321
  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。
  Similarly with Saint Teresa。  〃One day; being in orison;〃 she
  writes; 〃it was granted me to perceive in one instant how all
  things are seen and contained in God。  I did not perceive them in
  their proper form; and nevertheless the view I had of them was of
  a sovereign clearness; and has remained vividly impressed upon my
  soul。  It is one of the most signal of all the graces which the
  Lord has granted me。 。 。 。  The view was so subtile and delicate
  that the understanding cannot grasp it。〃'256'
  '256' Vie; pp。 581; 582。
  She goes on to tell how it was as if the Deity were an enormous
  and sovereignly limpid diamond; in which all our actions were
  contained in such a way that their full sinfulness appeared
  evident as never before。  On another day; she relates; while she
  was reciting the Athanasian Creed
  〃Our Lord made me comprehend in what way it is that one God can
  be