The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart

THE PILGRIM IS ORDERED TO ENTER THE INVISIBLE CHURCH

{New Bridles and Spectacles^

" Meanwhile, to strengthen thee in this, and that thou mayest truly understand the joy to which I have now called thee, I will send thee among my other servants, who have already forsaken the world and given themselves up to me, that thou mayest behold their ways." " And where, O my Lord," quoth I, " shall I find them ?" He answered: " They dwell in the world dispersed among the others, but the world knows them not. But that thou mayest know them, and also that thou mayest be safe from the deceits of this world, in which, till I call thee to me, thou wilt dwell, I will, in place of the glasses and bridle which thou borest before, lay on thee my yoke (which is obedience to me), that thou mayest henceforth follow none but me. And I will give thee also these spectacles. If thou gazest through them carefully, thou wilt be enabled to see better both the vanities of the world and the delights of my chosen." (Now the outward border of these spectacles was the Word 295

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of God, and the glass within it was the Holy Ghost.) " Go now," He said : " go to that spot that thou didst pass by before, and thou wilt behold things that, without these aids, thou couldst not have beheld."

( The True Christians in the midst of the Pretended Ones^ and wherein they differ?)

2. And now, remembering where I had gone astray before, I arise and go forth eagerly and in haste ; thus, though the tumult of the world surrounded me, I now no longer perceived it. I then enter a church that was named "Christianity," and then, seeing in its innermost part, that was the chancel, what seemed a curtain or screen, I immediately approach it, heeding not those sectarians who were wrangling in the aisles. Then only I duly understand what this spot was — to wit, "Praxis Christianismi " ^ ; that is, " the truth of Christianity." Now, this screen was two-fold ; the outer screen, that appeared but indistinctly, was of dark colour, and was named " Contemptus Mundi " — contempt of the world ; the second innermost one was " Amor Christi " — the love of Christ. By these two screens, as I saw, this spot was separated and divided from the others. He, however, who has passed through the innermost portal incontinent becomes somewhat different from other men ; he is full of bliss, joy, and peace.

1 I have here, as elsewhere, transcribed Komensky's Latin quotations verbatim, and given his own translation.

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( There are but few True Christians, and wherefore ?)

3. Then I, standing yet outside and gazing, witness a wondrous and astounding thing: many thousands of men passed by the sanctuary, but did not enter it. Whether they saw it not, or merely heeded it not, or whether, viewed from outside, it appeared evil to them, I know not. I saw also that many who were learned in Scripture — priests, bishops, and others who thought highly of their holiness — went around the sanctuary; some, indeed, looked in, but did not enter; and this appeared mournful to me. I saw also that when one came somewhat nearer, a light flashed on him through a crevice, or a sweet fragrance was wafted towards him, so that he could but seek how to arrive at this spot. But even of those who began to seek the door and look around them, many turned back when the flash of the world again struck them.

(The Necessity of New Birth.)

4. But the truest reason why so few arrived there was, as I saw when stepping close to the screen, the very severe examination which they underwent there. For he who desired to enter there had to forsake all his goods, his eyes and ears, his mind and heart ; for it was said that he who would be wise before God must become simple of mind ; he who wished to know God must forget

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everything else ; he who wished to possess God must desert everything else. Therefore, some who would not forsake their goods and their learning, contending that such things are helpful to heaven, remained outside and entered not. I saw also that they not only examined the garments of those that were admitted, whether somewhat of earthly vanity was not hidden therein, but they also (a thing unusual elsewhere) took asunder their heads and hearts, that nothing unclean to God might defile His dwelling. This could not, indeed, be done without pain, but by means of heavenly medicine it was done so successfully that it increased rather than diminished the vital power ; for in the place of the blood that streamed forth in consequence of the pricking and cutting, a fire was kindled in their limbs which transformed a man into a different one. Then such a man wondered within his mind why he had hitherto loaded himself with such useless burdens, such as the things the world calls wisdom, glory, pleasure, riches ; and verily they are but burdens. Here I beheld how the lame skipped, the stammerers spoke eloquently, dull men confounded philosophers, those who had nothing declared that they possessed everything.

( The Church is the Contrary of the World.)

5. Seeing this from the entrance, I now went farther beyond the screen and viewed all things — first those that were common to all, then those that belonged to the divers callings — with unspeakable

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delight. I see here that everything was contrary to the ways of the world. In the world I beheld everywhere blindness and darkness, here clear light ; in the world deceit, here truth ; in the world everything was full of disorders, here there was the purest order ; in the world I had seen struggling ; in the world care and grief, here joy ; in the world want, here abundance ; in the world slavery and bondage, here freedom ; in the world everything was hard and heavy, here everything was easy ; in the world there were dangers everywhere, here there was sheer safety. Of this will I narrate somewhat more fully.

CHAPTEH XLII

THE LIGHT OF THE INWARD CHRISTIANS

{The Twofold Light of the Tnie Christians^

The world and he who struggles in it is ever guided by public opinion ; the one clings to the other with regard to their conduct, and they pick their way fumbling as blind men, stopping short and stumbling now here, now there. Yet there dawns on these a twofold clear inward light — the light of reason and the light of faith — and both these are guided by the Holy Ghost.

{The Light of Reason?^

2. For although those who enter must put away and renounce their reason, yet the Holy Ghost returns it to them, purified and refined, so that they are, as it were, full of eyes ; wherever they go in the world, whatever they see, hear, smell, taste above them, under them, around them, everywhere they see the footsteps of God, and they know how to turn everything to piety. Therein are they wiser than the wisest philosophers of the world, whom by just judgment God blinds, so that though vainly imagining that they know everything, they 300

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know nofcbing ; neither what they have nor what they have not ; neither what they do, nor what — though it were their duty — they do not, nor to what purpose they go hither and thither, can they conceive. Their learning is but on the surface, mere gaping from outside ; to the innermost kernel, which is God's glory poured forth everywhere, they do not penetrate. But the Christian in everything that he sees, hears, touches, smells, tastes — sees, hears, touches, smells, tastes God ; for he is certain in his mind that all this is clear truth, not vain fancy.

{The Light of Faith:)

3. Then the light of faith gleams on him so brightly that he can already see and know, not only that which is before him, but also everything that is absent and invisible. In His work, God has truly revealed that which is on high, above the heavens, and in the abyss beneath the earth, as well as what was before the world, and what will be after it. The Christian, believing in this, has all this clearly before his eyes, though the world does not conceive it. The world will believe but in that which it sees, touches, holds in its hand. The Christian, on the other hand, is so wholly absorbed in invisible, absent, future things that those that are before him disgust him. The world ever demands proof ; the Christian thinks the Word of God alone sufficient. The world seeks bonds^ pledges, pawns, seals ; the Christian sets up faith

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alone as a security for all things. The world examines things for her own purpose in divers fashions, distrusts, tests, suspects. The Christian relies fully on the truthfulness of God. And whereas the world will ever cavil, doubt, question, feel uncertain, the Christian hath ever Him in whom he can place his entire confidence, whom he can obey, and before whom he can humble himself ; therefore the light of faith gleams on him, and he can see and know what things are unchangeable, and must be so, even though he cannot grasp them by the light of reason.

( The Wo7tders of God seen in this Light, The Course of the World:)

4. And looking at this light, I behold wondrous, most wondrous, things — more than I dare tell. Yet I will say somewhat. I beheld the world before me as a vast clock-work, fashioned out of divers visible and invisible materials ; and it was wholly glassy, transparent and fragile. It had thousands, nay, thousands of thousands, of larger and smaller columns, wheels, hooks, teeth, dents ; and all these moved and worked together, some silently, some with much rustling and rattling of divers fashions. In the middle of all stood the largest, principal, yet inyisible wheel ; from it the various motions of the others proceeded in some unfathomable manner. For the power of the wheel penetrated through all things, and directed everything. How this was done, I was not, indeed, able fully to fathom ; but

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that it was truly done, I saw very clearly and evidently. Now, this appeared to me both wondrous and most delightful : though all these wheels shook continually, and sometimes vanished for a time — for the teeth and dents, and even the wheels and little columns, were sometimes displaced and fell to pieces — yet the general movement never stopped ; for by some wondrous contrivance of this secret direction all that was wanting was ever replaced, filled up, renewed.

{How Everything is ruled by the Secret Ordinance of God.)

5. I will speak more clearly : I saw the glory of God, and how heaven and earth, and the abyss, and all that can be imagined beyond the world as far as the endless limits of eternity, were full of His power and divinity. I saw, say I, how His omnipotence penetrated everything, and was the foundation of all things ; that all that befell in the whole wide world was according to His will, the smallest things and the greatest ; that also I saw.

{Particularly among Men})

6. And, that I may speak of men generally, I saw how all, both good and bad, live only in God and with God, thus only move and remain in existence, and how all their every movements and breath comes from God and by means of

1 This refers to the heading of the previous paragraph.

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His power. I saw also how His seven eyes — each one a thousand times brighter than the sun — penetrate the whole earth, see everything that befalls in the light or in darkness, openly or secretly, and even in the deepest depths, watching thus over the hearts of men. I saw also how His mercy was poured out on all His creation, and, of all, most wondrously on men. For I saw how He loved all, sought their welfare, suffered the sinners, pardoned the transgressors, called to Him those who went astray, received those who returned to Him, waited for those who tarried, spared the stubborn ones, overlooked those who offended Him, pardoned the contrite, embraced those who humbled themselves, taught the ignorant, comforted the sorrowful, warned men from falling, raised up those who had fallen, gave to those who implored Him, granted gifts even to those who implored Him not, opened to those who knocked, went Himself to visit those who did not knock, allowed those who sought Him to find Him, appeared Himself to those who sought Him not,

{^He is the Terror of the Evil.)

7. But I saw also His awful and terrible rage against the stubborn and ungrateful, and how His wrath pursued and overtook them whitherward they might go ; thus was it impossible to escape from His hands, and terrible to fall into them. All God's subjects, indeed, saw how the awfulness and majesty of God rules everything, and how, according to His will only, all great and small things befall.