The Dark night of the Soul according to St. John of the Cross

Saint John of the Cross  Born: June 24, 1542, was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, a Roman Catholic saint, a Carmelite friar and a priest.

The dark night narrates the journey of the soul to mystical union with God. St. John calls it dark night because the destination is unknowable. The mystical path to union between the soul and God follows three stages: the cleansing or purifying stage, the path to enlightenment or illumination, and the stage of union. These are difficult paths that require the soul to purge itself of its sins and appetites and discard the worldly activity of the senses and the flesh.  Only then can the soul, now purified experience the bliss of divine union.

 As in the 14 century classic, “The Cloud of Unknowing”, the text points to a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer.

Christian contemplation refers to several practices with the aim at looking at, or gazing at, being aware of God or the Divine.

Some theologians see meditation as distinct from prayer, but others do not; those who make a distinction define meditation as inwardly directed, and prayer as directed to something outside the self.

In the Christian tradition the goal of contemplative practices is moral purification and a deeper understanding of the Bible; or a closer intimacy with God/Christ, for the mystic stream of the tradition.

Contemplative prayer usually involves the silent repetition of sacred words or sentences, with focus and devotion.

Contemplative reading or contemplation involves thinking deeply about the teachings and events in the Bible.

Sitting with God is silent meditation, usually precedes contemplation or reading, in which one focus his mind, heart and soul on the presence of God.

Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion.

Christian meditation aims to fill the mind with thoughts related to biblical pages of Christian devotion.

The bible mentions meditation about 20 times, fifteen times in the book of Psalms.

In Eastern traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Daoism) meditation is usually practiced with the purpose of transcending the mind and attaining enlightenment.

Returning to the Cloud of Unknowing.

The Cloud of unknowing was written around the year 1380 by an anonymous English monk.

The underlying message of this text is that the way to God is to abandon consideration of God’s particular activities and attributes and to surrender one’s mind and ego to God, the Realm of Unknowing, at which point one may begin to glimpse the nature of God.

If we want to have a relationship with God's love, we have to come from the heart. Being smart or well educated helps us to know about God, but God responds to humility and love, not to pride.

Between us and God, there is a cloud of unknowing. We cannot know God with words or ideas. We can only know God with love.  We have to humble ourselves and seek God with the prayer of one’s heart. We were created in God's image and prayer of the heart will inspire our relationship with Him.

If our prayer is not from humility and love, our relationship will be a fantasy that will exist only in our imagination.

When we come to this cloud of unknowing in prayer, the author suggests that we put everything and everybody we know under a cloud of forgetting, and focus our thoughts on the Lord himself and his love and our relationship with him.

When we are in love with someone, we are not thinking about what we are going to get from them. So forget about anything God is going to do for us. We need to forget about God making us rich, or happy, or healing our ailments, or our relationships. We need to put all these ideas behind a cloud of forgetting. God is a lot smarter than we are, and if we turn our life over to Him and trust Him, He will do a much better job of running our life than we ever can.

Only prayers of love from your heart can pierce the cloud of unknowing. If any thoughts pass through our mind ignore them! Love doesn't use words. Love just wants to enjoy the presence of the lover. If we have trouble keeping thoughts out of our mind, we need a word, such as love, to keep our mind busy. We need to repeat the word Love or the word God every time we find that our mind is wandering, and then our prayer comes back into focus.

What about good thoughts you may say? Ignore them! Our own thoughts come between us and God. If we let a good thought take root in our mind, our mind will start to wander into all sorts of places. Focus on the relationship with Him and His love. His love will purify our heart and heal us. Our relationship with God is everything.

There's a story in the bible where Jesus is having a meal at the home of two sisters. Martha was rushing around making sure everything was perfect, and her sister Mary was just sitting at his feet enjoying his presence. Martha started complaining that her sister was being lazy and not helping, and Jesus interrupted. He said to Martha: "don't criticize your sister, she has chosen the better thing". Our relationship with God is everything.

If we want to have a relationship with God we have to spend time with Him. And the more time we spend with Him, the more His love spills over and fills our heart. And the more of God's love we have in our heart, the more it spills over and flows into the hearts of our spouses, friends and neighbors.

God's love does not criticize, but is patient with our shortcomings, and takes every opportunity to lift us up when we fall down in order to make our life better. So the more of God's

love we have in our heart, the more patient we will be with our shortcomings and the people around us. And the more we will find opportunities to make their lives better. Then we'll find that people will respond to us in the same manner. So every time we find yourself criticizing someone’s behavior, remember God's patience with us, and just love them. A perfect lover only remembers love.

Sometimes in this prayer, we will experience feelings of bliss, and all sorts of wondrous things. Yet we need to ignore them, not be attached to them, otherwise it engages our mind and makes it wander.

Feelings, miracles, and the thoughts are often imaginations of our brain and mind; they all belong to the earth, to matter. They do not belong to Spirit. They can only distract us from our relationship or union with God. They can also lead to pride. They come between us and God and separate us from His love. We need to look past them, and seek God for Himself and His love and His relationship with us.

So where is God? Does he sit on his throne beyond the stars? Is this cloud of unknowing in the sky somewhere? The author implies, don't strain your imagination thinking about this. Forget time, place, and your own body. Don't look for God beyond the stars or within your heart or anywhere! When you forget what time it is, where you are, and forget your own body -- spiritually you are everywhere! For God is beyond the beyond, and if you are to find him, you are going to have to go into the nowhere, into silence. So when you pray, find God in the nowhere and stay there as long as you are able.