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The Cloud of Unknowing
Some things never change, including the human need to connect with our creator. Prayer and meditation on the divine are techniques that have been used for millennia to grow in the knowledge of God. Cloud of Unknowing documents techniques used by the medieval monastic community to build and maintain that contemplative knowledge of God. Scholars date the anonymous authorship of Cloud of Unknowing to 1375, during the height of European monasticism. Written as a primer for the young monastic, the work is instructional, but does not have an austere didactic tone. Rather, the work embraces the reader with a maternal call to grow closer to God through meditation and prayer.
138 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1370
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* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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June 15, 2025
What is the Cloud of Unknowing?
It is the Source to which we return when all our roads lead to ruin...
Walter Hilton was an Episcopalian mystic, who, like Thomas Merton, a full six centuries later, tirelessly made quiet, anxious Raids on the Unspeakable, searching for final answers in Medieval England.
He says he found them - and his and our Ultimate Destination - in the Cloud. Where is it, then?
For starters, it’s Above and Beyond us.
It is definitely receptive, and not coldly averse, to a heartfelt prayer or two. Or many more.
It contains our own Silent Crowd of Witnesses - to use Paul’s words - those saintly dear departed ones who now “know as (they) are known.” And know us.
And as I said, it is the Source of All Things.
It is Peace.
How does that compare to the source of our aches and pains and the prime driver for our anxious movements in this life, here on Earth?
Well, Sigmund Freud said our prime motivator in self-conscious adulthood, and the root of all our dread and anxiety, is our Primal Fear. The fear of separation from our mother. Freud said to conquer our anxiety in order to make it less compelling, we must Face this primal Fear. As Fear’s Source.
Head on.
By doing that, we become more in tune with our selves, and continue on more peaceably, “a stranger to strangers over undried seas”: but more well-adjusted. And that is the product of a successful Coming of Age.
But we need more. We need peace in our lives, and the restoration of our childhood sense of magic. How do we do that?
Simple, says Walter Hilton: we turn our lives over to the Cloud:
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow:
I learn by going where I have to go.
Sheer unrehearsed spontaneity!
Theodore Roethke’s words unveil the Cloud for us.
Have you got too many painful long files in your memory?
Do you long for help to sort them all out -
And take their weight off your shoulders?
Just upload them all to the Cloud of Unknowing:
It’s as simple as that.
It is the Source to which we return when all our roads lead to ruin...
Walter Hilton was an Episcopalian mystic, who, like Thomas Merton, a full six centuries later, tirelessly made quiet, anxious Raids on the Unspeakable, searching for final answers in Medieval England.
He says he found them - and his and our Ultimate Destination - in the Cloud. Where is it, then?
For starters, it’s Above and Beyond us.
It is definitely receptive, and not coldly averse, to a heartfelt prayer or two. Or many more.
It contains our own Silent Crowd of Witnesses - to use Paul’s words - those saintly dear departed ones who now “know as (they) are known.” And know us.
And as I said, it is the Source of All Things.
It is Peace.
How does that compare to the source of our aches and pains and the prime driver for our anxious movements in this life, here on Earth?
Well, Sigmund Freud said our prime motivator in self-conscious adulthood, and the root of all our dread and anxiety, is our Primal Fear. The fear of separation from our mother. Freud said to conquer our anxiety in order to make it less compelling, we must Face this primal Fear. As Fear’s Source.
Head on.
By doing that, we become more in tune with our selves, and continue on more peaceably, “a stranger to strangers over undried seas”: but more well-adjusted. And that is the product of a successful Coming of Age.
But we need more. We need peace in our lives, and the restoration of our childhood sense of magic. How do we do that?
Simple, says Walter Hilton: we turn our lives over to the Cloud:
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow:
I learn by going where I have to go.
Sheer unrehearsed spontaneity!
Theodore Roethke’s words unveil the Cloud for us.
Have you got too many painful long files in your memory?
Do you long for help to sort them all out -
And take their weight off your shoulders?
Just upload them all to the Cloud of Unknowing:
It’s as simple as that.
January 6, 2016
This beautiful, extraordinary and timeless book by an anonymous 14th century author is one of the greatest mystical treatises of any time in any religion. It is to be most warmly recommended to all true and sincere students of mysticism. It radiates the warmth of St. Francis de Sales, touches in a uniquely loving and gentle way on the sufferings on the soul immersed in the dark night of the spirit, offers guidance on ways of contemplation and the attainment of true humility, which, as the author asserts, is the prerequisite of self-knowledge preparing the way for the love of God which the purified soul must enter through the cloud of unknowing. This book is my steady companion along with Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Rumi and The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah.
August 20, 2009
Not a book for amateurs or spiritual tourists...only for serious readers with enough foundation to relate constructively to the message. Can be confusing at times ...I would recommend to someone with enough time for meditation and reflection (in solitude) and not to read on a vacation (especially with your family - your melancholic introspection may become annoying) or while waiting for your flight...you may miss your flight. Certainly a book to have on your shelf to go back to...
July 29, 2018
An esoteric medieval Christian text
17 January 2015
Well, most authors that I know want as many people to read their book as possible, yet with this guy (whoever he was, though it is believed that he was a monk) opens, and closes, the book with who he doesn't want to read this book, which is basically anybody who does not have some intense spiritual epiphany. Okay, the version I read was a translation from the Middle English text, and I am told (in the introduction) that a lot of the beautiful and flowery language has been lost in the translation (not surprisingly) so I am unable to really comment on the poetic form. However, I must say that I am probably one of those people that he didn't really want reading this book because, well, I didn't think all that much of it.
In a way, I am not surprised that it was written by a monk because the entire book is an exposition on God (that is the Christian god) and seems to be stuck entirely in the esoteric world. Personally, I really do not find any benefit from reading such books that have no connection to the world in which we live, not to say that I do not like esoteric writings – some of them can be quite good – but this seems to be clearly written by somebody who had no understanding of what the world was like outside the walls of his monastery.
The reason that I rate the book so low is because I find good Christian writers are able to actively engage in the world around them, and while I do not necessarily agree with what a lot of them write, I do know that the good ones live in the world and interact with real people, as opposed to the monks of the medieval world who shut themselves away to spend their lives contemplating the nature of God. It reminds me of the story of this guy back in Roman times who built himself a column and sat on top of it so that he could escape sin, yet it did not matter how high the column was he could not escape the world.
It is not that I have a thing against the monks of the medieval world though because they were active in preserving many of the texts that have been passed down to us from the classical world of the Greeks and Romans. Without these monks we would not have Homer or Cicero nor would have we have, surprisingly, Aristophanes (though it was suggested that as they transcribed his plays they would make comments about how dirty some of them were). As for this book though, while it may be short, it is probably one to give a miss because, beyond giving us an idea of how some monks spent their life contemplating God, there is not really all that much that I got out of it.
17 January 2015
Well, most authors that I know want as many people to read their book as possible, yet with this guy (whoever he was, though it is believed that he was a monk) opens, and closes, the book with who he doesn't want to read this book, which is basically anybody who does not have some intense spiritual epiphany. Okay, the version I read was a translation from the Middle English text, and I am told (in the introduction) that a lot of the beautiful and flowery language has been lost in the translation (not surprisingly) so I am unable to really comment on the poetic form. However, I must say that I am probably one of those people that he didn't really want reading this book because, well, I didn't think all that much of it.
In a way, I am not surprised that it was written by a monk because the entire book is an exposition on God (that is the Christian god) and seems to be stuck entirely in the esoteric world. Personally, I really do not find any benefit from reading such books that have no connection to the world in which we live, not to say that I do not like esoteric writings – some of them can be quite good – but this seems to be clearly written by somebody who had no understanding of what the world was like outside the walls of his monastery.
The reason that I rate the book so low is because I find good Christian writers are able to actively engage in the world around them, and while I do not necessarily agree with what a lot of them write, I do know that the good ones live in the world and interact with real people, as opposed to the monks of the medieval world who shut themselves away to spend their lives contemplating the nature of God. It reminds me of the story of this guy back in Roman times who built himself a column and sat on top of it so that he could escape sin, yet it did not matter how high the column was he could not escape the world.
It is not that I have a thing against the monks of the medieval world though because they were active in preserving many of the texts that have been passed down to us from the classical world of the Greeks and Romans. Without these monks we would not have Homer or Cicero nor would have we have, surprisingly, Aristophanes (though it was suggested that as they transcribed his plays they would make comments about how dirty some of them were). As for this book though, while it may be short, it is probably one to give a miss because, beyond giving us an idea of how some monks spent their life contemplating God, there is not really all that much that I got out of it.
December 9, 2022
How I loved this book! I was in high school and I wanted to be a nun. (Not that I carefully thought about all that would entail.)
I was young and I was in love.
Somehow I found out about "The Cloud of Unknowing," which I made my business to read. As a New York kid, I could go to the "great public library with every book." I found it. I read it.
Mystics Today Don't Have to Live as Nuns or Monks
Goodreaders, whether or not you received the memo yet, we're all living in the Age of Awakening. Nearly 10 years ago it began, and I'd strongly recommend that all my fellow lovers of God learn what that means. Learn from a reliable source, preferably somebody in Spiritual Enightenment.
Before this Age of Awakening, humanity lived during the Age of Faith. At that time, only renunciates had the slightest chance of attaining Enlightenment.
Yet that's no longer true. In the Age of Awakening, Spiritual Enlightenment can be a practical possibility. Moreover, seeking Enlightenment need not be either a dramatically supernatural calling nor your full-time job .
So here's my heartfelt recommendation to those of you who are not only attracted to books like this one but you yearn to live as renunciates.
* Doing this officially on purpose, or else secretly, or living as a half-and-halfer.
* As though it's really possible for lovers of God to succeed as renunciates without the support of an excellent spiritual guide and the support of a religious order.
* Please don't fool yourself about this.
Incidentally, fellow spiritual idealists...
Do You Have Any Idea How Frustrated and Unhappy Most Renunciates Are?
Look, I haven't met ALL Renunciates. But in my line of work I facilitate Energy Spirituality sessions for clients, some of who are either renunciates now or else they've come to me as ex-priests, ex-nuns, ex-monks.
Also I facilitate research from here in my pink office, reading "chakra databanks" with good skills of energetic literacy. Since all I need is a regular photograph, I've researched a lot of renunciate auras.
Long story short, and confidentiality intact, most of the renunciates I've encountered through research (including many famous spiritual teachers, definitely including many of the authors on this list) are NOT anywhere close to Spiritual Enlightenment.
Plus, as I've noted here, the ones I've personally helped in sessions... have not generally felt particularly fulfilled as human beings.
Consider that to be one of the dirty little secrets about seeking Enlightenment, or connection to God, or self-realization:
Romantization is so prevalent in the culture (and writing) around Enlightenment. Lies of omission and lies of commission, both. The hero worship is comparable to what pop culture gives today's celebs, all the way down to the so-talented reality show performers.
What If the Anonymous Author of "The Cloud of Unknowing" Were Here on Goodreads Right Now, Giving You Advice?
What if he were here, complete with a rare dispensation that allowed him to remember that long-ago life? You know, being able to compare and contrast, while still living fully in the present.
Do you honestly believe that he would recommend seeking God through a path of renunciation?
I doubt it. Were Anonymous living now, and provided that he understood how many people have been moving into Enlightenment as householders since the Shift on 12-21-12? I very much doubt he would advise anybody to chose the lifestyle of chastity, poverty, submission... and having to live with a group of (mostly) difficult fellow renunciates.
Live Here Now
As a spiritual teacher, I've helped many folks who are my contemporaries, yet they've been living as pretend householders, yet mostly they're secret renunciates. I love helping such people to have better lives. (And I've even coached some to learn how to live in Enlightenment as householders.)
Look, I don't have the status of Anonymous, no more than I know what he would say if reviewing his own book here on Goodreads. But I know what this contemporary spiritual teacher would say, and it's this:
* Do you consider an oxcart the latest, most exciting form of transportation?
* Are you grateful for modern dentistry? (Maybe you even brush-and-floss regularly)
Accept when and where you live. Then commit.
Because it doesn't honor God to live as though you're an old-time spiritual seeker. Living now, we can seek God in ways that work now.
I was young and I was in love.
Somehow I found out about "The Cloud of Unknowing," which I made my business to read. As a New York kid, I could go to the "great public library with every book." I found it. I read it.
Mystics Today Don't Have to Live as Nuns or Monks
Goodreaders, whether or not you received the memo yet, we're all living in the Age of Awakening. Nearly 10 years ago it began, and I'd strongly recommend that all my fellow lovers of God learn what that means. Learn from a reliable source, preferably somebody in Spiritual Enightenment.
Before this Age of Awakening, humanity lived during the Age of Faith. At that time, only renunciates had the slightest chance of attaining Enlightenment.
Yet that's no longer true. In the Age of Awakening, Spiritual Enlightenment can be a practical possibility. Moreover, seeking Enlightenment need not be either a dramatically supernatural calling nor your full-time job .
So here's my heartfelt recommendation to those of you who are not only attracted to books like this one but you yearn to live as renunciates.
* Doing this officially on purpose, or else secretly, or living as a half-and-halfer.
* As though it's really possible for lovers of God to succeed as renunciates without the support of an excellent spiritual guide and the support of a religious order.
* Please don't fool yourself about this.
Incidentally, fellow spiritual idealists...
Do You Have Any Idea How Frustrated and Unhappy Most Renunciates Are?
Look, I haven't met ALL Renunciates. But in my line of work I facilitate Energy Spirituality sessions for clients, some of who are either renunciates now or else they've come to me as ex-priests, ex-nuns, ex-monks.
Also I facilitate research from here in my pink office, reading "chakra databanks" with good skills of energetic literacy. Since all I need is a regular photograph, I've researched a lot of renunciate auras.
Long story short, and confidentiality intact, most of the renunciates I've encountered through research (including many famous spiritual teachers, definitely including many of the authors on this list) are NOT anywhere close to Spiritual Enlightenment.
Plus, as I've noted here, the ones I've personally helped in sessions... have not generally felt particularly fulfilled as human beings.
Consider that to be one of the dirty little secrets about seeking Enlightenment, or connection to God, or self-realization:
Romantization is so prevalent in the culture (and writing) around Enlightenment. Lies of omission and lies of commission, both. The hero worship is comparable to what pop culture gives today's celebs, all the way down to the so-talented reality show performers.
What If the Anonymous Author of "The Cloud of Unknowing" Were Here on Goodreads Right Now, Giving You Advice?
What if he were here, complete with a rare dispensation that allowed him to remember that long-ago life? You know, being able to compare and contrast, while still living fully in the present.
Do you honestly believe that he would recommend seeking God through a path of renunciation?
I doubt it. Were Anonymous living now, and provided that he understood how many people have been moving into Enlightenment as householders since the Shift on 12-21-12? I very much doubt he would advise anybody to chose the lifestyle of chastity, poverty, submission... and having to live with a group of (mostly) difficult fellow renunciates.
Live Here Now
As a spiritual teacher, I've helped many folks who are my contemporaries, yet they've been living as pretend householders, yet mostly they're secret renunciates. I love helping such people to have better lives. (And I've even coached some to learn how to live in Enlightenment as householders.)
Look, I don't have the status of Anonymous, no more than I know what he would say if reviewing his own book here on Goodreads. But I know what this contemporary spiritual teacher would say, and it's this:
* Do you consider an oxcart the latest, most exciting form of transportation?
* Are you grateful for modern dentistry? (Maybe you even brush-and-floss regularly)
Accept when and where you live. Then commit.
Because it doesn't honor God to live as though you're an old-time spiritual seeker. Living now, we can seek God in ways that work now.
October 12, 2017
In The Cloud of Unknowing, an anonymous 14th-century monk, a master of the practice of Christian contemplation, explores both the philosophy/theology behind the practice and the method of practice itself. He writes particularly for an unidentified younger monk who is considering the call to a contemplative life. The little book (about 100 pages) is the first such work in the English language, and has become a classic, influencing such later masters as St. John of the Cross and Teilhard de Chardin.
In down-to-earth but articulate prose that is often beautiful, the monk admonishes, warns, and encourages his younger colleague, from a decidedly Augustinian view of the world. The true contemplative must, he says, when he practices contemplation, shut out the external world and all thoughts of that world and turn his mind entirely on the God of pure love.
But there’s a hitch. The God of love, of all creation, cannot be known, cannot be conceived of with the human mind, which Augustine tells us is utterly depraved and cannot do anything pure. And so, in contemplation, the human mind confronts only a dark cloud of unknowing, to which the soul must cry out in love, persisting, demanding for love’s sake that the cloud reveal the God it hides. But God can only be experienced in the heart, through love, and only when God chooses to reveal God’s self to the open heart of the contemplative. And that is why all thoughts, images, desires of the outside world must be left under a cloud of forgetting.
The cloud of unknowing and the cloud of forgetting becomes the repeated refrain of the monk: “Just as the cloud of unknowing lies above you, between you and your God, so you must fashion a cloud of forgetting beneath you, between you and every created thing.” He offers much practical advice on how to reach this state of mind, and at the same time, sometimes with humor, he tempers the young monk’s aspirations, calling for patience and a level head.
Anyone interested in meditation--Christian, Buddhist, or whatever--should read The Cloud of Unknowing. It’s a classic of the genre for good reason.
In down-to-earth but articulate prose that is often beautiful, the monk admonishes, warns, and encourages his younger colleague, from a decidedly Augustinian view of the world. The true contemplative must, he says, when he practices contemplation, shut out the external world and all thoughts of that world and turn his mind entirely on the God of pure love.
But there’s a hitch. The God of love, of all creation, cannot be known, cannot be conceived of with the human mind, which Augustine tells us is utterly depraved and cannot do anything pure. And so, in contemplation, the human mind confronts only a dark cloud of unknowing, to which the soul must cry out in love, persisting, demanding for love’s sake that the cloud reveal the God it hides. But God can only be experienced in the heart, through love, and only when God chooses to reveal God’s self to the open heart of the contemplative. And that is why all thoughts, images, desires of the outside world must be left under a cloud of forgetting.
The cloud of unknowing and the cloud of forgetting becomes the repeated refrain of the monk: “Just as the cloud of unknowing lies above you, between you and your God, so you must fashion a cloud of forgetting beneath you, between you and every created thing.” He offers much practical advice on how to reach this state of mind, and at the same time, sometimes with humor, he tempers the young monk’s aspirations, calling for patience and a level head.
Anyone interested in meditation--Christian, Buddhist, or whatever--should read The Cloud of Unknowing. It’s a classic of the genre for good reason.
Read
January 15, 2015Fleshly janglers, open praisers and blamers of themselves or of any other, tellers of trifles, ronners and tattlers of tales, and all manner of pinchers, cared I never that they saw this book.
This book was not meant for me, and it certainly was not meant for YOU. And so I do the devil’s work in summarizing and introducing it here. (After a short description of the work I will entertain you with a mangled version of text snippets).
The Cloud of Unknowing can be fairly seen as a philosophy of ignorance, or so it would seem to those of us who are beastly and unghostly. The author writes to the true contemplatives of the church, and advises that the best way to God, for those who are able, is to direct their full attention, love, and effort to addressing themselves, in all meekness, to the cloud of unknowing that permanently stands between them and their God. To do so effectively, one must give no more thought or concern to this earth, the people in it, the past, sin, or even oneself or the goodness of God. That’s right, even God’s good works, the lessons of the scripture, miracles and God’s goodness are distractions that stand in the way of addressing ourselves to the naked God himself. It is a great travail, with both ecstasies and torments, and yet God can never be fully known in this life. But if we are in condition to receive his grace, and God grants it, we can be oned with God to the degree that it is permitted within this life, and that oneness, if it be achieved, is the only thing to persist in the eternal, while the duration of this life is so brief.
The lessons of this book place the work within a worldwide mystical tradition that goes well beyond Christianity, and if I stretched I’d probably find connections to Taoism, some versions of Sufism, various monist traditions, TM, or some other sort of thing. I’m a little lazy at the moment, and I’m sure the anonymous author of this work would not want me to be excessively curious or deceived by a devil-inspired wit.
Language: Reading this was a good experience in terms of exposure to a dialect of Middle English. It seems more accessible than Chaucer’s dialect, though it was written in the same era and the authors may have been contemporaries. I don’t know anything about how the original manuscript came to the form that I got off of the sacred-texts website. It seems likely that someone at some time modernized some spellings while retaining the Middle English grammar and diction.
Musings: The author engages in an interesting bit of grammar analysis to arrive at one part of his philosophy. He spends some time relating a lesson from the story of Martha and her sister Mary (not to be confused with the various other Marys of the New testament). Jesus visits the two sisters, Martha makes herself busy in preparing to feed and entertain Jesus, and Mary only sits at his feet adoring him. Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to make herself busy in helping, but Jesus excuses Mary and says she has chosen “the best part.”
The author of Cloud… notices that Jesus did not say “the better” part. So “the best”—being superlative—implies more than two options. There must be three parts, of which Mary chose the best. This, by analogy, the author extends to the idea that there are nominally two “lives” in the church, the “active” life and the “contemplative” life, as most contemporaries certainly acknowledged, but that these two lives actually consist of three “parts.” True “active” service, as good works, is the first part of active life. Contemplation of the mysteries, God’s work, scripture, and such, is “ghostly active,” but not “bodily active.” It is a sort of hybrid, and thus is the second part of active life as well as the first part of contemplative life. Friars and monks do this, so it is common to both “lives” in the church. But loving God in himself, and thus becoming meek, while pushing down all concerns of the world below the cloud of forgetting is the second part of contemplative life, the third of all the parts, the only part of life that has a chance to persist eternally, and is surely the “best.”
The author also goes to lengths to ensure that we don’t take literally certain metaphorical statements, or interpret bodily what is meant ghostly. And thus there are a few chapters warning us not to misunderstand such words as “in” and “up.” He speaks of the fact that, when Jesus bodily and ghostly ascended to heaven, his going up was only the most seemly way to appear to earthly viewers, but he could well have proceeded to his destination in any direction, or no direction. In this way, the author steals a jump on 20th Century string theorists by implying an extradimensional physics (I’m sure that was not his intent).
I could probably make an infinity of additional observations (the relationship between ghostly and bodily resembles method acting, achieving results by not caring about results is like good poker play, and the bodily workings of the contemplative are like the jnani whose outer self carries out its tasks mindlessly while the true self is realized...), but instead I will do a work that is part Godly and part devilish… or who knows. I will practice obscurantism by presenting a completely mangled quilt-work of some of the text’s most bizarre, interesting, or mysterious passages. It’s devilish surely, but perhaps I am also doing God’s work by keeping you ignorant of the true content of this work that was never really meant for you, because you’re not ready.
-------------------------------------------------
LOOK up now, weak wretch, and see what thou art. Keep thou the windows and the door, for flies and enemies assailing. All men living in earth be wonderfully holpen of this work, thou wottest not how. Whoso heareth this work either be read or spoken of, and weeneth that it may, or should, be come to by travail in their wits, shall fall either into frenzies, or else into other great mischiefs of ghostly sins and devils' deceits; through the which he may lightly be lost, both life and soul, without any end. It is but a sudden stirring, and as it were unadvised, speedily sprinting unto God as a sparkle from the coal. Such a proud, curious wit behoveth always be borne down and stiffly trodden down under foot. I would leave all that thing that I can think, and choose to my love that thing that I cannot think. Love may reach to God in this life, but not knowing. All the whiles that the soul dwelleth in this deadly body, evermore is the sharpness of our understanding in beholding of all ghostly things, but most specially of God, mingled with some manner of fantasy; for the which our work should be unclean. Yeah, and if it were lawful to do—as it is not—put out thine eyes, cut thou out thy tongue of thy mouth, stop thou thine ears and thy nose never so fast, though thou shear away thy members, and do all the pain to thy body that thou mayest or canst think: all this would help thee right nought. Yet will stirring and rising of sin be in thee. Meekness in itself is nought else, but a true knowing and feeling of a man's self as he is. And therefore swink and sweat in all that thou canst and mayest, for to get thee a true knowing and a feeling of thyself as thou art. They say, that God sendeth the cow, but not by the horn. Virtue is nought else but an ordained and a measured affection, plainly directed unto God for Himself. 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. As it were a cloud of unknowing, thou knowest not what, saving that thou feelest in thy will a naked intent unto God. Ween not, for I call it a darkness or a cloud, that it be any cloud congealed of the humours that flee in the air, nor yet any darkness such as is in thine house on nights when the candle is out. Thou art well further from Him when thou hast no cloud of forgetting betwixt thee and all the creatures that ever be made. Time is made for man, and not man for time. Man shall have none excusation against God in the Doom, and at the giving of account of dispending of time, saying, "Thou givest two times at once, and I have but one stirring at once." In one little time, as little as it is, may heaven be won and lost. Proud scholars of the devil and masters of vanity and falsehood, there be two manner of lives in Holy Church. Ofttimes it befalleth that some that have been horrible and accustomed sinners come sooner to the perfection of this work than those that have been none. Some of those that seem now full holy and be worshipped of men as angels, and some of those yet peradventure, that never yet sinned deadly, shall sit full sorry amongst hell caves. Cherishingly dry thine ghostly eyen; as the father doth the child that is in point to perish under the mouths of wild swine or wode biting bears. And no wonder though thou loathe and hate for to think on thyself, when thou shalt always feel sin, a foul stinking lump thou wittest never what, betwixt thee and thy God: the which lump is none other thing than thyself. Sit full still, as it were in a sleeping device, all forsobbed and forsunken in sorrow. This is true sorrow; this is perfect sorrow; and well were him that might win this sorrow. Yet in all this sorrow he desireth not to unbe: for that were devil’s madness and despite unto God. I tell thee truly, that the devil hath his contemplatives as God hath his. Truly I mean no unworship to her nor to them. They travail their imagination so indiscreetly, that at the last they turn their brain in their heads, and then as fast the devil hath power for to feign some false light or sounds, sweet smells in their noses, wonderful tastes in their mouths; and many quaint heats and burnings in their bodily breasts or in their bowels, in their backs and in their reins and in their members. And they say that they be stirred thereto by the fire of charity, and of God’s love in their hearts: and truly they lie, for it is with the fire of hell, welling in their brains and in their imagination. This is because they have but one nostril ghostly. As I have conceived by some disciples of necromancy, in what bodily likeness the fiend appeareth, evermore he hath but one nostril, and that is great and wide, and he will gladly cast it up that a man may see in thereat to his brain up in his head. The which brain is nought else but the fire of hell, for the fiend may have none other brain; and if he might make a man look in thereto, he wants no better. For at that looking, he should lose his wits for ever. Who that will not go the straight way to heaven, they shall go the soft way to hell.
Have no wonder thereof, for it is the condition of a true lover that ever the more he loveth, the more he longeth to love. That perfect stirring of love that beginneth here is even in number with that that shall last without end in the bliss of heaven, for all it is but one. Then shalt though feel thine affection inflamed with the fire of His love, far more than I can tell thee, or may or will at this time. For of that work, that falleth to only God, dare I not take upon me to speak with my blabbering fleshly tongue: and shortly to say, although I durst I would do not. Rather it pierceth the ears of Almighty God than doth any long psalter unmindfully mumbled in the teeth. If thou ask me what discretion thou shalt have in this work, then I answer thee and say, right none! It is the condition of a perfect lover, not only to love that thing that he loveth more than himself; but also in a manner for to hate himself for that thing that he loveth. Surely what beastly heart that presumeth for to touch the high mount of this work, it shall be beaten away with stones. Stones be hard and dry in their kind, and they hurt full sore where they hit. They hurt full sore the silly soul, and make it fester in fantasy feigned of fiends. Shortly, without thyself will I not that thou be, nor yet above, nor behind, nor on one side, nor on other. “Where then,” sayest thou, “shall I be? Nowhere, by thy tale!” Now truly thou sayest well; for there would I have thee.
Lo! Ghostly friend, in this work, though it be childishly and lewdly spoken, I bear, though I be a wretch unworthy to teach any creature, the office of Bezaleel: making and declaring in manner to thine hands the manner of this ghostly Ark. Not what thou art, nor what thou has been, beholdeth God with His merciful eyes; but that thou wouldest be.
For EXTRA BONUS MATERIAL see comments shortly!
This book was not meant for me, and it certainly was not meant for YOU. And so I do the devil’s work in summarizing and introducing it here. (After a short description of the work I will entertain you with a mangled version of text snippets).
The Cloud of Unknowing can be fairly seen as a philosophy of ignorance, or so it would seem to those of us who are beastly and unghostly. The author writes to the true contemplatives of the church, and advises that the best way to God, for those who are able, is to direct their full attention, love, and effort to addressing themselves, in all meekness, to the cloud of unknowing that permanently stands between them and their God. To do so effectively, one must give no more thought or concern to this earth, the people in it, the past, sin, or even oneself or the goodness of God. That’s right, even God’s good works, the lessons of the scripture, miracles and God’s goodness are distractions that stand in the way of addressing ourselves to the naked God himself. It is a great travail, with both ecstasies and torments, and yet God can never be fully known in this life. But if we are in condition to receive his grace, and God grants it, we can be oned with God to the degree that it is permitted within this life, and that oneness, if it be achieved, is the only thing to persist in the eternal, while the duration of this life is so brief.
The lessons of this book place the work within a worldwide mystical tradition that goes well beyond Christianity, and if I stretched I’d probably find connections to Taoism, some versions of Sufism, various monist traditions, TM, or some other sort of thing. I’m a little lazy at the moment, and I’m sure the anonymous author of this work would not want me to be excessively curious or deceived by a devil-inspired wit.
Language: Reading this was a good experience in terms of exposure to a dialect of Middle English. It seems more accessible than Chaucer’s dialect, though it was written in the same era and the authors may have been contemporaries. I don’t know anything about how the original manuscript came to the form that I got off of the sacred-texts website. It seems likely that someone at some time modernized some spellings while retaining the Middle English grammar and diction.
Musings: The author engages in an interesting bit of grammar analysis to arrive at one part of his philosophy. He spends some time relating a lesson from the story of Martha and her sister Mary (not to be confused with the various other Marys of the New testament). Jesus visits the two sisters, Martha makes herself busy in preparing to feed and entertain Jesus, and Mary only sits at his feet adoring him. Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to make herself busy in helping, but Jesus excuses Mary and says she has chosen “the best part.”
The author of Cloud… notices that Jesus did not say “the better” part. So “the best”—being superlative—implies more than two options. There must be three parts, of which Mary chose the best. This, by analogy, the author extends to the idea that there are nominally two “lives” in the church, the “active” life and the “contemplative” life, as most contemporaries certainly acknowledged, but that these two lives actually consist of three “parts.” True “active” service, as good works, is the first part of active life. Contemplation of the mysteries, God’s work, scripture, and such, is “ghostly active,” but not “bodily active.” It is a sort of hybrid, and thus is the second part of active life as well as the first part of contemplative life. Friars and monks do this, so it is common to both “lives” in the church. But loving God in himself, and thus becoming meek, while pushing down all concerns of the world below the cloud of forgetting is the second part of contemplative life, the third of all the parts, the only part of life that has a chance to persist eternally, and is surely the “best.”
The author also goes to lengths to ensure that we don’t take literally certain metaphorical statements, or interpret bodily what is meant ghostly. And thus there are a few chapters warning us not to misunderstand such words as “in” and “up.” He speaks of the fact that, when Jesus bodily and ghostly ascended to heaven, his going up was only the most seemly way to appear to earthly viewers, but he could well have proceeded to his destination in any direction, or no direction. In this way, the author steals a jump on 20th Century string theorists by implying an extradimensional physics (I’m sure that was not his intent).
I could probably make an infinity of additional observations (the relationship between ghostly and bodily resembles method acting, achieving results by not caring about results is like good poker play, and the bodily workings of the contemplative are like the jnani whose outer self carries out its tasks mindlessly while the true self is realized...), but instead I will do a work that is part Godly and part devilish… or who knows. I will practice obscurantism by presenting a completely mangled quilt-work of some of the text’s most bizarre, interesting, or mysterious passages. It’s devilish surely, but perhaps I am also doing God’s work by keeping you ignorant of the true content of this work that was never really meant for you, because you’re not ready.
-------------------------------------------------
LOOK up now, weak wretch, and see what thou art. Keep thou the windows and the door, for flies and enemies assailing. All men living in earth be wonderfully holpen of this work, thou wottest not how. Whoso heareth this work either be read or spoken of, and weeneth that it may, or should, be come to by travail in their wits, shall fall either into frenzies, or else into other great mischiefs of ghostly sins and devils' deceits; through the which he may lightly be lost, both life and soul, without any end. It is but a sudden stirring, and as it were unadvised, speedily sprinting unto God as a sparkle from the coal. Such a proud, curious wit behoveth always be borne down and stiffly trodden down under foot. I would leave all that thing that I can think, and choose to my love that thing that I cannot think. Love may reach to God in this life, but not knowing. All the whiles that the soul dwelleth in this deadly body, evermore is the sharpness of our understanding in beholding of all ghostly things, but most specially of God, mingled with some manner of fantasy; for the which our work should be unclean. Yeah, and if it were lawful to do—as it is not—put out thine eyes, cut thou out thy tongue of thy mouth, stop thou thine ears and thy nose never so fast, though thou shear away thy members, and do all the pain to thy body that thou mayest or canst think: all this would help thee right nought. Yet will stirring and rising of sin be in thee. Meekness in itself is nought else, but a true knowing and feeling of a man's self as he is. And therefore swink and sweat in all that thou canst and mayest, for to get thee a true knowing and a feeling of thyself as thou art. They say, that God sendeth the cow, but not by the horn. Virtue is nought else but an ordained and a measured affection, plainly directed unto God for Himself. 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. As it were a cloud of unknowing, thou knowest not what, saving that thou feelest in thy will a naked intent unto God. Ween not, for I call it a darkness or a cloud, that it be any cloud congealed of the humours that flee in the air, nor yet any darkness such as is in thine house on nights when the candle is out. Thou art well further from Him when thou hast no cloud of forgetting betwixt thee and all the creatures that ever be made. Time is made for man, and not man for time. Man shall have none excusation against God in the Doom, and at the giving of account of dispending of time, saying, "Thou givest two times at once, and I have but one stirring at once." In one little time, as little as it is, may heaven be won and lost. Proud scholars of the devil and masters of vanity and falsehood, there be two manner of lives in Holy Church. Ofttimes it befalleth that some that have been horrible and accustomed sinners come sooner to the perfection of this work than those that have been none. Some of those that seem now full holy and be worshipped of men as angels, and some of those yet peradventure, that never yet sinned deadly, shall sit full sorry amongst hell caves. Cherishingly dry thine ghostly eyen; as the father doth the child that is in point to perish under the mouths of wild swine or wode biting bears. And no wonder though thou loathe and hate for to think on thyself, when thou shalt always feel sin, a foul stinking lump thou wittest never what, betwixt thee and thy God: the which lump is none other thing than thyself. Sit full still, as it were in a sleeping device, all forsobbed and forsunken in sorrow. This is true sorrow; this is perfect sorrow; and well were him that might win this sorrow. Yet in all this sorrow he desireth not to unbe: for that were devil’s madness and despite unto God. I tell thee truly, that the devil hath his contemplatives as God hath his. Truly I mean no unworship to her nor to them. They travail their imagination so indiscreetly, that at the last they turn their brain in their heads, and then as fast the devil hath power for to feign some false light or sounds, sweet smells in their noses, wonderful tastes in their mouths; and many quaint heats and burnings in their bodily breasts or in their bowels, in their backs and in their reins and in their members. And they say that they be stirred thereto by the fire of charity, and of God’s love in their hearts: and truly they lie, for it is with the fire of hell, welling in their brains and in their imagination. This is because they have but one nostril ghostly. As I have conceived by some disciples of necromancy, in what bodily likeness the fiend appeareth, evermore he hath but one nostril, and that is great and wide, and he will gladly cast it up that a man may see in thereat to his brain up in his head. The which brain is nought else but the fire of hell, for the fiend may have none other brain; and if he might make a man look in thereto, he wants no better. For at that looking, he should lose his wits for ever. Who that will not go the straight way to heaven, they shall go the soft way to hell.
Have no wonder thereof, for it is the condition of a true lover that ever the more he loveth, the more he longeth to love. That perfect stirring of love that beginneth here is even in number with that that shall last without end in the bliss of heaven, for all it is but one. Then shalt though feel thine affection inflamed with the fire of His love, far more than I can tell thee, or may or will at this time. For of that work, that falleth to only God, dare I not take upon me to speak with my blabbering fleshly tongue: and shortly to say, although I durst I would do not. Rather it pierceth the ears of Almighty God than doth any long psalter unmindfully mumbled in the teeth. If thou ask me what discretion thou shalt have in this work, then I answer thee and say, right none! It is the condition of a perfect lover, not only to love that thing that he loveth more than himself; but also in a manner for to hate himself for that thing that he loveth. Surely what beastly heart that presumeth for to touch the high mount of this work, it shall be beaten away with stones. Stones be hard and dry in their kind, and they hurt full sore where they hit. They hurt full sore the silly soul, and make it fester in fantasy feigned of fiends. Shortly, without thyself will I not that thou be, nor yet above, nor behind, nor on one side, nor on other. “Where then,” sayest thou, “shall I be? Nowhere, by thy tale!” Now truly thou sayest well; for there would I have thee.
Lo! Ghostly friend, in this work, though it be childishly and lewdly spoken, I bear, though I be a wretch unworthy to teach any creature, the office of Bezaleel: making and declaring in manner to thine hands the manner of this ghostly Ark. Not what thou art, nor what thou has been, beholdeth God with His merciful eyes; but that thou wouldest be.
For EXTRA BONUS MATERIAL see comments shortly!
September 25, 2018
Es un libro con frecuentes cambios de escenarios y saltos temporales, que al principio me ha costado un poco saber "donde" estaba. Conforme vas avanzando te vas adentrando en la historia y lo vas entendiendo.
Partimos de un hecho. Una muerte. Y a partir de ahí, todo son dudas, sospechas, un barco que parece que va a la deriva y que antes o después va a escollar, que afectará tanto al ámbito laboral como al familiar de nuestro protagonista. Me ha gustado ese clima de duda, de incertidumbre, de temor, incluso de desesperación a veces, que ha sabido transmitir el autor.
Es un libro que gira o que trata de hasta que punto una carga genética se puede llegar a heredar. ¿Qué credibilidad le darías a una persona cuando sospechas de su lucidez debido a su predisposición genética?, ¿cuantos descendientes pueden haberse visto afectados? y ... a pesar de tus dudas ¿tendrá algo de razón?.
Es un libro salpicado de citas y frases:
.... "Supongo que el miedo es como.. la cabeza de la medusa. Todo ese mar de tentáculos braceando. Quizás el amor sea también así. Y el odio. Quizás sean así todas las grandes emociones."
.... "La memoria es un estigma, mancha, enigma."
.... "La nada es peligrosa. ... Nada bueno llena un vacío."
.... " continuó mirando por la ventana con unos ojos capacitados para la visión, aunque no para la comprensión, como si tanto su mente como su corazón estuvieran sumidos en un estado de rigor mortis. "
No es mal libro, sin embargo, creo que no recomendaría su lectura.
Valoración: 6,5/10
Lectura: septiembre 2018
Partimos de un hecho. Una muerte. Y a partir de ahí, todo son dudas, sospechas, un barco que parece que va a la deriva y que antes o después va a escollar, que afectará tanto al ámbito laboral como al familiar de nuestro protagonista. Me ha gustado ese clima de duda, de incertidumbre, de temor, incluso de desesperación a veces, que ha sabido transmitir el autor.
Es un libro que gira o que trata de hasta que punto una carga genética se puede llegar a heredar. ¿Qué credibilidad le darías a una persona cuando sospechas de su lucidez debido a su predisposición genética?, ¿cuantos descendientes pueden haberse visto afectados? y ... a pesar de tus dudas ¿tendrá algo de razón?.
Es un libro salpicado de citas y frases:
.... "Supongo que el miedo es como.. la cabeza de la medusa. Todo ese mar de tentáculos braceando. Quizás el amor sea también así. Y el odio. Quizás sean así todas las grandes emociones."
.... "La memoria es un estigma, mancha, enigma."
.... "La nada es peligrosa. ... Nada bueno llena un vacío."
.... " continuó mirando por la ventana con unos ojos capacitados para la visión, aunque no para la comprensión, como si tanto su mente como su corazón estuvieran sumidos en un estado de rigor mortis. "
No es mal libro, sin embargo, creo que no recomendaría su lectura.
Valoración: 6,5/10
Lectura: septiembre 2018
February 16, 2017
Reading any medieval Christian mystic is difficult, but this made Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross look easy. I think part of the trouble I had was with a poor translation that left lots of old English words in old English. That said, if you are into mystic writings then you ought to check this one out. I enjoy reading a chapter or so of such books each day. There are many nuggets in it that are water for the soul.
"For at the first time when thou dost it, thou findest but a darkness; and as it were a cloud of unknowing, thou knowest not what, saving that thou feelest in thy will a naked intent unto God. This darkness and this cloud is, howsoever thou dost, betwixt thee and thy God, and letteth thee that thou mayest neither see Him clearly by light of understanding in thy reason, nor feel Him in sweetness of love in thine affection. And therefore shape thee to bide in this darkness as long as thou mayest, evermore crying after Him that thou lovest."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Locations 507-510). . Kindle Edition.
"for it sufficeth enough, a naked intent direct unto God without any other cause than Himself. And if thee list have this intent lapped and folden in one word , for thou shouldest have better hold thereupon , take thee but a little word of one syllable: for so it is better than of two, for ever the shorter it is the better it accordeth with the work of the Spirit. And such a word is this word GOD or this word LOVE. Choose thee whether thou wilt, or another; as thee list, which that thee liketh best of one syllable. And fasten this word to thine heart, so that it never go thence for thing that befalleth. This word shall be thy shield and thy spear, whether thou ridest on peace or on war. With this word, thou shalt beat on this cloud and this darkness above thee."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Location 630). . Kindle Edition.
"love may reach to God in this life, but not knowing. And all the whiles that the soul dwelleth in this deadly body, evermore is the sharpness of our understanding in beholding of all ghostly things, but most specially of God, mingled with some manner of fantasy; for the which our work should be unclean . And unless more wonder were, it should lead us into much error."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Locations 677-679). . Kindle Edition.
"if thou wilt stand and not fall, cease never in thine intent: but beat evermore on this cloud of unknowing that is betwixt thee and thy God with a sharp dart of longing love, and loathe for to think on aught under God, and go not thence for anything that befalleth."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Locations 736-738). . Kindle Edition.
"Meekness in itself is nought else, but a true knowing and feeling of a man's self as he is."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Location 756). . Kindle Edition.
"For at the first time when thou dost it, thou findest but a darkness; and as it were a cloud of unknowing, thou knowest not what, saving that thou feelest in thy will a naked intent unto God. This darkness and this cloud is, howsoever thou dost, betwixt thee and thy God, and letteth thee that thou mayest neither see Him clearly by light of understanding in thy reason, nor feel Him in sweetness of love in thine affection. And therefore shape thee to bide in this darkness as long as thou mayest, evermore crying after Him that thou lovest."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Locations 507-510). . Kindle Edition.
"for it sufficeth enough, a naked intent direct unto God without any other cause than Himself. And if thee list have this intent lapped and folden in one word , for thou shouldest have better hold thereupon , take thee but a little word of one syllable: for so it is better than of two, for ever the shorter it is the better it accordeth with the work of the Spirit. And such a word is this word GOD or this word LOVE. Choose thee whether thou wilt, or another; as thee list, which that thee liketh best of one syllable. And fasten this word to thine heart, so that it never go thence for thing that befalleth. This word shall be thy shield and thy spear, whether thou ridest on peace or on war. With this word, thou shalt beat on this cloud and this darkness above thee."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Location 630). . Kindle Edition.
"love may reach to God in this life, but not knowing. And all the whiles that the soul dwelleth in this deadly body, evermore is the sharpness of our understanding in beholding of all ghostly things, but most specially of God, mingled with some manner of fantasy; for the which our work should be unclean . And unless more wonder were, it should lead us into much error."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Locations 677-679). . Kindle Edition.
"if thou wilt stand and not fall, cease never in thine intent: but beat evermore on this cloud of unknowing that is betwixt thee and thy God with a sharp dart of longing love, and loathe for to think on aught under God, and go not thence for anything that befalleth."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Locations 736-738). . Kindle Edition.
"Meekness in itself is nought else, but a true knowing and feeling of a man's self as he is."
Anonymous (2010-10-07). The Cloud of Unknowing (Kindle Location 756). . Kindle Edition.
May 30, 2018
"Perciò anche se è bene talvolta pensare in particolare alla bontà e alla perfezione di Dio, e per quanto questo possa rivelarsi illuminante e costituire una parte della contemplazione stessa, tuttavia nel nostro lavoro tutto ciò deve essere ricacciato in basso e ricoperto da una nube d'oblio. E tu devi camminarvi sopra con vigore e con zelo, sotto la spinta di un devoto e gioioso slancio d'amore, nell'intento di perforare quell'oscurità che ti sovrasta. Colpisci, dunque questa fitta nube della non conoscenza con la freccia acuminata del desiderio d'amore e non muoverti di lì, qualunque cosa capiti".
July 29, 2011
As I described under "The Way of The Pilgrim", The Jesus Prayer or "The Prayer" is a short, formulaic prayer esteemed and advocated within the Eastern Orthodox church:
“Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, Υἱὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐλέησόν με τὸν ἁμαρτωλόν.”
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
The prayer has been widely taught and discussed throughout the history of the Eastern Churches. It is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice, its use being an integral part of the eremitic tradition of prayer known as Hesychasm (Greek: ἡσυχάζω, hesychazo, "to keep stillness"). It is similar to the repetitive recital of the rosary, the use of prayer beads, chanting, or a mantra.
The prayer is particularly esteemed by the spiritual fathers of this tradition (see Philokalia) as a method of opening up the heart (kardia) and bringing about the Prayer of the Heart (Καρδιακή Προσευχή). The Prayer of The Heart is considered to be the Unceasing Prayer that the apostle Paul advocates in the New Testament. St. Theophan the Recluse regarded the Jesus Prayer stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the Holy Name of Jesus.
Ties to a similar prayer practice and theology appear in this fourteenth century work of an unknown English monk. The Cloud of Unknowing will teach you that what separates you from God is all your thoughts and hopes and ideas about what God is. You must let go of all your internal dialogue and pass through the cloud of unknowing by emptying yourself of everything. Simple repetitive prayer can help by emptying the mind.
“Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, Υἱὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐλέησόν με τὸν ἁμαρτωλόν.”
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
The prayer has been widely taught and discussed throughout the history of the Eastern Churches. It is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice, its use being an integral part of the eremitic tradition of prayer known as Hesychasm (Greek: ἡσυχάζω, hesychazo, "to keep stillness"). It is similar to the repetitive recital of the rosary, the use of prayer beads, chanting, or a mantra.
The prayer is particularly esteemed by the spiritual fathers of this tradition (see Philokalia) as a method of opening up the heart (kardia) and bringing about the Prayer of the Heart (Καρδιακή Προσευχή). The Prayer of The Heart is considered to be the Unceasing Prayer that the apostle Paul advocates in the New Testament. St. Theophan the Recluse regarded the Jesus Prayer stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the Holy Name of Jesus.
Ties to a similar prayer practice and theology appear in this fourteenth century work of an unknown English monk. The Cloud of Unknowing will teach you that what separates you from God is all your thoughts and hopes and ideas about what God is. You must let go of all your internal dialogue and pass through the cloud of unknowing by emptying yourself of everything. Simple repetitive prayer can help by emptying the mind.
April 12, 2025
The Cloud of Unknowing was written by an English monk from the East Midlands (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire) in the second half of the fourteenth century.
The unknown author makes it clear from the beginning who the book shouldn't be read by and who should read it - those inclined by grace to share in the highest level of contemplative activity now and then.
There are seventy-five chapters ranging from a description of the four levels of Christian life through to how to determine whether you as the reader is called by God to perform this work via a description of the faculties of the soul.
The cloud of unknowing is found between the reader and God and only proper contemplation will allow the reader to witness God.
The unknown author makes it clear from the beginning who the book shouldn't be read by and who should read it - those inclined by grace to share in the highest level of contemplative activity now and then.
There are seventy-five chapters ranging from a description of the four levels of Christian life through to how to determine whether you as the reader is called by God to perform this work via a description of the faculties of the soul.
The cloud of unknowing is found between the reader and God and only proper contemplation will allow the reader to witness God.
December 20, 2018
This is a book of spiritual counsel by an anonymous 14th century spiritual director. In mediaeval English a spiritual director would have been called a "ghostly father" (or "ghostly mother" if a woman such as Julian of Norwich). The one being directed would be called a "ghostly friend." A "ghostly" reader such as myself never actually finishes such books because they have no plot—the "ghostly" realm is timeless. Actually what the author calls "unknowing" is what we Christians refer to as "centring prayer"—it doesn't differ from Buddhist and Hindu practices that we know as Zen or TM except in the terminology. It is basically a simple means to open your mind entirely to God.
July 29, 2008
It's not that this book was bad, exactly, but I just didn't think that it accomplished what it was trying to do. Another book delving into perception versus reality, this time with latent paranoid schizophrenia thrown in, all with the intent (so I felt) of drawing the reader into the cloud of unknowing as if they were experienceing it rather than just reading about it. I don't know if it was the format or the length, but it just didn't happen for me. Instead, I felt like we just had the classic case of an unreliable narrator who is somewhere between announcing and trying to hide that fact. By the time I got to the twist at this end, I thought "so this is it?" Not that I had been expecting the twist all along, but that I hadn't expected this book to need one if it had in fact created for me feelings of doubt and unreality instead of just describing them for me in unsatisfying snippets and quotes. I probably would have liked it better had it been straight up detective novel; a little more The Usual Suspects and a little less Fight Club.
February 20, 2017
"If you can sit and do nothing, then you can do virtually anything." This is the heart of contemplation.
November 27, 2018
Summary: A classic on contemplative prayer in a new modern translation.
The Cloud of Unknowing is perhaps one of the greatest works on contemplative prayer. We don't know the author but it was written in the 14th century in Middle English. This edition is a re-publication of a 2009 translation by Carmen Acevedo Butcher in an inexpensive paperback format.
It seems that many of the spiritual classics we read come to us in stuffy, Victorian English. Butcher's translation strives for a simplicity and informality of conversation between a spiritual director and a directee, and this is one of the most winsome aspects of this work.
To give you both a sense of the work and the significance of the title, here is a brief passage in which the author describes the experience of beginning to contemplate:
"The first time you practice contemplation, you'll only experience a darkness, like a cloud of unknowing. You won't know what this is. You'll only know that in your will you feel a simple reaching out to God. You must also know that this darkness and this cloud will always be between you and your God, whatever you do. They will always keep you from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your intellect and will block you from feeling him fully in the sweetness of love in your emotions. So be sure to make your home in the darkness."
One of the critical themes running through the work, true to the apophatic tradition out of which it comes, is that God cannot be known with our minds but only in our love--"we can't think our way to God." Contemplation is best pursued according to this author by simple reflection on a single word--"sin" and "God" are the two commended to us. He discourages trying to attain an experience of God through the senses, and encourages dismissing both our thoughts and feelings into a "cloud of forgetting."
What I found attractive in this work is its wisdom and sense. We are assured that longing for God is enough, as this will open us to a deeper understanding of God. He discourages strenuous physical exertions that enervate and weaken us. He stresses the value of pursuing our contemplation accompanied by a spiritual director. He identifies four stages of spiritual maturity, with no sense that one is "better" than another, but only reflect a progress in love for God:
The ordinary which is our active life in the world
The special, where one continues to live an active life but also longs for God and begins to contemplate.
The singular is where contemplation becomes the focus of one's life, praying without ceasing in love toward God.
The perfect, where we are with God, as we pass from this life into God's presence.
The work itself consists of 75 brief "chapters" often connected to one another, that seems especially fitted for devotional reading of one or a few chapters a day.
Butcher's translation includes an introductory essay and recommendations for further reading, including renderings in the Middle English, works on English mysticism and Christian mysticism more broadly, as well as reference resources. Her notes also offer explanations for her translation and other helpful background.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
The Cloud of Unknowing is perhaps one of the greatest works on contemplative prayer. We don't know the author but it was written in the 14th century in Middle English. This edition is a re-publication of a 2009 translation by Carmen Acevedo Butcher in an inexpensive paperback format.
It seems that many of the spiritual classics we read come to us in stuffy, Victorian English. Butcher's translation strives for a simplicity and informality of conversation between a spiritual director and a directee, and this is one of the most winsome aspects of this work.
To give you both a sense of the work and the significance of the title, here is a brief passage in which the author describes the experience of beginning to contemplate:
"The first time you practice contemplation, you'll only experience a darkness, like a cloud of unknowing. You won't know what this is. You'll only know that in your will you feel a simple reaching out to God. You must also know that this darkness and this cloud will always be between you and your God, whatever you do. They will always keep you from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your intellect and will block you from feeling him fully in the sweetness of love in your emotions. So be sure to make your home in the darkness."
One of the critical themes running through the work, true to the apophatic tradition out of which it comes, is that God cannot be known with our minds but only in our love--"we can't think our way to God." Contemplation is best pursued according to this author by simple reflection on a single word--"sin" and "God" are the two commended to us. He discourages trying to attain an experience of God through the senses, and encourages dismissing both our thoughts and feelings into a "cloud of forgetting."
What I found attractive in this work is its wisdom and sense. We are assured that longing for God is enough, as this will open us to a deeper understanding of God. He discourages strenuous physical exertions that enervate and weaken us. He stresses the value of pursuing our contemplation accompanied by a spiritual director. He identifies four stages of spiritual maturity, with no sense that one is "better" than another, but only reflect a progress in love for God:
The ordinary which is our active life in the world
The special, where one continues to live an active life but also longs for God and begins to contemplate.
The singular is where contemplation becomes the focus of one's life, praying without ceasing in love toward God.
The perfect, where we are with God, as we pass from this life into God's presence.
The work itself consists of 75 brief "chapters" often connected to one another, that seems especially fitted for devotional reading of one or a few chapters a day.
Butcher's translation includes an introductory essay and recommendations for further reading, including renderings in the Middle English, works on English mysticism and Christian mysticism more broadly, as well as reference resources. Her notes also offer explanations for her translation and other helpful background.
___________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
October 25, 2023
This book was written by an unknown monk in the 14th century. It started out pretty well, as I was intrigued by the idea that there is a veil drawn between us and God. This veil is our lack of understanding about who God is. This veil creates a cloud of unknowing as most people don't know who God is. The author says that most people aren't serious enough in their life to overcome this cloud to get to know God for who He is. Only those who are contemplatives can even begin to break through this cloud. But being a contemplative is difficult. There are many distractions.
So, I was willing to go along with this. But then it just kind of stayed there. It didn't really move past this contention. It gave examples of ways people get distracted and how to avoid this from happening, but it wasn't clear (to me at least) what you could do but pray and learn from other devout people how they avoided being distracted. And that's pretty much it.
So, I was willing to go along with this. But then it just kind of stayed there. It didn't really move past this contention. It gave examples of ways people get distracted and how to avoid this from happening, but it wasn't clear (to me at least) what you could do but pray and learn from other devout people how they avoided being distracted. And that's pretty much it.
November 13, 2021
The old world phrasing and composition won’t be to everyone’s taste but I really loved this short, inspirational text. Written in the 14th century by a now unknown monk, readers receive a gift of contemplations that ring with clarity and certain refreshing purity that’s not attached to a person or personality. The author clearly achieved some sort of epiphany, a spiritual awakening or realization. While the monk’s basis is from the Christian tradition and uses language associated with Christianity for certain concepts, the message is a more universal one. Joy and the truth of one’s pure self can’t be found in the world of material objects, forms, and concerns. Joy, truth, consciousness of one’s highest nature, is to be found in unknowing the world of everyday concerns and in the silent contemplation of being, of beingness. It is with the consciousness of being that one understands God and man’s relationship to God and to mankind.
I listened to this as an audiobook on my daily walks and truly enjoyed the meditations. The old English styling worked well for me, serving as a fresh take on some universal ideas. A print version would be a nice addition to allow for easier re-reading and contemplation. I also find it easier to pause reading of a physical book when I want to sit and “be” with an idea or thought for awhile.
From a historical perspective, I found the introduction by the author interesting and, in some ways, funny and sad. He warns against the sharing of the manuscript and the ideas in it. Clearly he was living in a time where there was a rigid and proscribed way to practice Christianity. The teachings of Jesus, the understanding of one’s Christ-like nature, were narrowly defined by the church and any inspirational thought outside the church’s accepted understanding was…unacceptable. I suppose a text that points to enlightenment by doing away with material goods and rituals (no matter how well intended) and focusing on a personal relationship with God or one’s beingness, would have been antithetical to the church teachings of the time. The author only wants students of the text to share with others who are likewise open to the teachings in the book. Funny, because in today’s modern world spiritual teachers (looking at you Deepak) want to spread their books and find as many readers as possible. Sad because we don’t really know the author’s full motivation in writing those words – was it self-protection? A desire to protect the ideas in the manuscript and not have them destroyed? Or was he seeking an elitist, limited number of followers, who are privy to the teachings, privileged in their enlightenment?
As I said in the first paragraph, I found the meditations to be pure and clear, not imbued with a sense of personality or personal agenda. If I were to embrace the teaching, I wouldn’t be concerning myself with the history of the writer and treatment of the text or context of the time in which it was written – all material concerns. But alas, I’ve not yet overcome the human mind’s curiosity, much less its contradictory thoughts. I haven’t yet achieved peace of mind and maybe I enjoy my curiosity and investigative process a little too much.
I listened to this as an audiobook on my daily walks and truly enjoyed the meditations. The old English styling worked well for me, serving as a fresh take on some universal ideas. A print version would be a nice addition to allow for easier re-reading and contemplation. I also find it easier to pause reading of a physical book when I want to sit and “be” with an idea or thought for awhile.
From a historical perspective, I found the introduction by the author interesting and, in some ways, funny and sad. He warns against the sharing of the manuscript and the ideas in it. Clearly he was living in a time where there was a rigid and proscribed way to practice Christianity. The teachings of Jesus, the understanding of one’s Christ-like nature, were narrowly defined by the church and any inspirational thought outside the church’s accepted understanding was…unacceptable. I suppose a text that points to enlightenment by doing away with material goods and rituals (no matter how well intended) and focusing on a personal relationship with God or one’s beingness, would have been antithetical to the church teachings of the time. The author only wants students of the text to share with others who are likewise open to the teachings in the book. Funny, because in today’s modern world spiritual teachers (looking at you Deepak) want to spread their books and find as many readers as possible. Sad because we don’t really know the author’s full motivation in writing those words – was it self-protection? A desire to protect the ideas in the manuscript and not have them destroyed? Or was he seeking an elitist, limited number of followers, who are privy to the teachings, privileged in their enlightenment?
As I said in the first paragraph, I found the meditations to be pure and clear, not imbued with a sense of personality or personal agenda. If I were to embrace the teaching, I wouldn’t be concerning myself with the history of the writer and treatment of the text or context of the time in which it was written – all material concerns. But alas, I’ve not yet overcome the human mind’s curiosity, much less its contradictory thoughts. I haven’t yet achieved peace of mind and maybe I enjoy my curiosity and investigative process a little too much.
July 26, 2020
I am becoming more and more interested in models of psychology that predate and do not anticipate Freudian psychoanalysis, not because Freud was anything but brilliant, but because of the numerous ways that Freud has been misappropriated to suture the dilemmas of the bourgeois rather than essentially change them for everyone's betterment. "The Cloud of Unknowing" manages to suggest some nuances to our understanding of our relationship to God and contemplation that can be used to rethink modern psychology. It is an especially valuable work for the monastic, but also helpful for the introvert, as it is addressed to those who are hermits or who practice as a solitary life. I even find the author's lack of naming himself powerful, for he wants to accrue no credit to himself, but give all to God's glory. (Historians do know that the author was male because of the provenance of the manuscript, so I use the exclusive gender pronoun here.) It is definitely a work to which I will return and I recommend to others seeking spiritual succor.
July 1, 2024
"I tell you this: it is more profitable to your soul's health, more worthwhile, more pleasing to God and the hosts of Heaven -yes, more helpful to your friends, natural and spiritual, dead or alive- that you should have this blind outreaching love to God, this secret love pressing upon the cloud of unknowing, that you should have this as your spiritual affection, than that you should contemplate and gaze on the angels and saints in heaven, and hear the happy music of the blessed.
Do not be surprised at this. See it once (and by grace you can), get hold of it and feel it, and you will see it always."
Do not be surprised at this. See it once (and by grace you can), get hold of it and feel it, and you will see it always."
February 18, 2021
There isn't a book by Thomas H Cook that I don't love, but is perhaps my favorite. A history of family mental illness, misunderstood genius, devotion, & the fear of what lurks inside each of us, this book just grabs you & doesn't let go. A young boy drowns, & his mother holds the father responsible, though the law cannot. In her tragic genius, she thinks she finds a witness to the act. When I grasped what she was going to use as evidence, I gasped, & wept for her. Also under the title The Murmur of Stones, read this book.
January 27, 2022
My first journey into Christian mysticism. I found it strange, like language reaches its stopping point when one reaches into detailed spiritual matters. But, nonetheless, I did learn about what prayer and getting "nearer" to God really means: it is to reach into the Cloud of Unknowing, attempting to raise thyself up a spiritual dimension, and to press into the dark of divinity. Keep up the journey, even if thou feel lost! For the light is there, it is just that we humans are plagued with our bodily nature to see it.
October 21, 2017
This book written in 1375 by an anonymous christian monk describes an approach to spirituality not dissimilar from the 'dark night.' As we approach God who is unknowable we go from active life into contemplation allowing us to see the heap of body and sin that we are and the infinite distance we are from God. We enter into faith, belief in the unknown, and hope, awaiting what is expected, but ultimately it is mystery, a cloud on unknowing. In this unknowing however we come to know the unity of love, and identify that love as God.
July 7, 2019
Thanks Mr Cook, finally a five star read! All the usual literary references are included but with a little more background this time. I wonder why all these quotes are so important to the author, as every book is filled with them.
This was an interesting look at schizophrenia and how it is passed on through heredity. Again, this was depressing and dark but beautifully written. I wish he would surprise me with a happy story 😊
This book was also titled The Murmer of Stones
This was an interesting look at schizophrenia and how it is passed on through heredity. Again, this was depressing and dark but beautifully written. I wish he would surprise me with a happy story 😊
This book was also titled The Murmer of Stones
October 21, 2022
Thomas H. Cook's other books have woven stories of psychological intrigue and kept me flipping pages as the stories flow and motivations become slowly apparent. This one, while containing the requisite kinks, didn't capture my imagination or leave much of a haunting aftertaste as, say, The Chatham School Affair, his best.
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September 24, 2020I can't rate a classic! I am glad I read this unusual book and will reread it. I will highlight one quote that I hope I can live by--
"Who is the God you seek?...The God who made me, redeemed me and led me to this moment." I think that is the essence of trying to be more contemplative.
"Who is the God you seek?...The God who made me, redeemed me and led me to this moment." I think that is the essence of trying to be more contemplative.
November 8, 2008
I guess I'm not as into the contemplative life as I thought. Woof.
May 9, 2019
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September 20, 2024
Cursed gnostic garbage.
February 2, 2024
Today (i) reason doesn’t support a belief in God, and (ii) contemplative practices can lead to mystical experiences, but (iii) mystical experiences don’t justify a belief in God.
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