Itinerarium mentis in Deum

1. But since we may contemplate God not only outside us and within us, but also above us — outside through the footprint, within through the image, and above through the light which is signed upon our mind, which is the light of eternal Truth, since our mind itself is formed immediately by the Truth itself — those exercised in the first mode have already entered the court before the tabernacle; those in the second have entered the holies; those in the third enter with the high priest into the holy of holies, where above the ark are the Cherubim of glory overshadowing the propitiatory; through which we understand two modes or steps of contemplating the invisible and eternal things of God, of which one turns on the essentials of God, the other on the properties of the persons.

2. The first mode first and principally fixes its gaze on being itself, saying that he who is is the first name of God. The second mode fixes its gaze on the good itself, saying that this is the first name of God. The first regards above all the Old Testament, which chiefly preaches the unity of the divine essence; whence it was said to Moses: I am who am; the second the New, which determines the plurality of persons, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Hence our master Christ, wishing to raise the young man who had kept the Law to evangelical perfection, attributed the name of goodness to God principally and precisely. No one, he says, is good but God alone. Damascene, then, following Moses, says that he who is is the first name of God; Dionysius, following Christ, says that the good is the first name of God.

3. Wishing, then, to contemplate the invisible things of God as regards the unity of essence, let one first fix his gaze on being itself and see that being itself is so most certain in itself that it cannot be thought not to be — for the purest being occurs only in full flight from non-being, as does nothing in full flight from being. For just as utterly nothing has nothing of being nor of its conditions, so contrariwise being itself has nothing of non-being, neither in act nor in potency, neither according to the truth of the thing nor according to our estimation. But since non-being is the privation of being, it does not fall in the intellect except through being; but being does not fall through another, for everything that is understood is understood either as non-being, or as being in potency, or as being in act. If, then, non-being cannot be understood except through being, and being in potency except through being in act; and being names the pure act itself of being: being, then, is what first falls in the intellect, and that being is what is pure act. But this is not particular being, which is constricted being, for it is mixed with potency, nor analogous being, for it has least of act, since it least is. It remains, then, that that being is the divine being.

4. Wondrous, then, is the blindness of the intellect, which does not consider that which it first sees and without which it can know nothing. But just as the eye intent on the various differences of colors does not see the light through which it sees the rest, and if it sees, does not note it, so the eye of our mind, intent on particular and universal beings, does not note being itself outside every genus, though it first occurs to the mind, and through it other things. Whence it most truly appears that as the eye of the bat holds itself to light, so holds itself the eye of our mind to the most manifest things of nature; for, accustomed to the darkness of beings and the phantasms of sensibles, when it beholds the very light of the highest being, it seems to itself to see nothing — not understanding that this darkness itself is the highest illumination of our mind, as, when the eye sees pure light, it seems to itself to see nothing.

5. See, then, being itself most pure, if thou canst, and it meets thee: that it cannot be thought as received from another; and hence it is necessarily thought as altogether first, which can be neither from nothing nor from anything. For what is through itself, if being itself is not through itself nor from itself? — It meets thee also as lacking all non-being, and hence as never beginning, never ending, but eternal. — It meets thee also as having in itself in no way except what is being itself, and hence as with nothing composite, but most simple. — It meets thee as having nothing of possibility, for everything possible in some way has something of non-being, and hence as supremely most actual. — It meets thee as having nothing of defectibility, and hence as most perfect. — It meets thee lastly as having nothing of diversity, and hence as supremely one.

Being, then, which is pure being and being simply and absolute being, is primary, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect, and supremely one being.

6. And these are so certain that the opposite of them cannot be thought by one understanding being itself, and one of them necessarily infers another. For because it is simply being, therefore it is simply first; because simply first, therefore it is not made by another, nor could it have derived its power by itself, therefore eternal. Again, because first and eternal, therefore not from others, therefore most simple. Again, because first, eternal, and most simple, therefore there is in it nothing of possibility mixed with act, and therefore most actual. Again, because first, eternal, most simple, most actual, therefore most perfect; to such nothing at all is lacking, nor can any addition be made. Because first, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect, therefore supremely one. For what is said through all manner of superabundance is said in respect of all. What is also said simply through superabundance cannot possibly belong except to one alone. Whence if God names the primary, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect being, it is impossible for him to be thought not to be, nor to be except one alone. Hear, then, O Israel, thy God is one God. — If thou seest this in the pure simplicity of mind, thou art in some way suffused with the illumination of eternal light.

7. But thou hast whence to be lifted into wonder. For being itself is first and last, is eternal and most present, is most simple and greatest, is most actual and most unchangeable, is most perfect and immense, is supremely one and yet all-embracing. — If thou wonderest at these with pure mind, thou art suffused with greater light, while thou seest further: that therefore it is last, because first. For because it is first, it works all things for itself; and therefore it must be the ultimate end, the beginning and consummation, alpha and omega. — Therefore most present, because eternal. For because eternal, it does not flow from another nor fail from itself nor run from one to another: therefore it has neither past nor future, but present being only. — Therefore greatest, because most simple. For because most simple in essence, therefore greatest in power, for power, the more united it is, the more infinite it is. — Therefore most unchangeable, because most actual. For because it is most actual, therefore it is pure act; and what is such acquires nothing new, loses nothing had, and hence cannot be changed. — Therefore immense, because most perfect. For because most perfect, nothing better, nobler, nor worthier can be thought beyond it, and hence nothing greater; and everything such is immense. — Therefore all-mannered, because supremely one. For what is supremely one is the universal principle of all multitude; and hence it is the universal cause of all things — efficient, exemplifying, and terminating — as the cause of being, the reason of understanding, and the order of living. It is, then, all-mannered not as the essence of all things, but as the super-excellent and most universal and most sufficient cause of all essences; whose power, because supremely united in essence, is therefore supremely most infinite and most manifold in efficacy.

8. Turning back again, let us say: since, then, the purest and absolute being, which is simply being, is primary and last, therefore it is the origin of all and the consummating end. — Since eternal and most present, therefore it spans and enters all durations, as at once existing their center and circumference. — Since most simple and greatest, therefore wholly within all and wholly without, and hence it is the intelligible sphere whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere. — Since most actual and most unchangeable, therefore abiding stable it gives motion to all things. — Since most perfect and immense, therefore it is within all, not included, without all, not excluded, above all, not elated, below all, not prostrate. — But since it is supremely one and all-mannered, therefore it is all in all, though all things are many and it is but one; and this because through the simplest unity, the most serene truth, and the most sincere goodness there is in it all powerfulness, all exemplarity, and all communicability; and hence from it and through it and in it are all things, and this because omnipotent, omniscient, and all-mannerly good — to see which perfectly is to be blessed, as was said to Moses: I will show thee all good.