A 16th-century mystic, St. John of the Cross was also a Carmelite monk who helped reform the Order. In this book, he addresses pride, avarice, envy, and other human imperfections. He also provides an extended explanation of Divine love, and describes methods of conversion through prayer, submission, and purification.
Amazon.com Review: As a Carmelite monk, the 16th-century Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross was well trained in the systematic theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. In Dark Night of the Soul, St. John's sharply organized mind gives clean shape to his mystical belief in a loving Being somewhere outside the realm of feeling, thought, or imagination, who can only be known through love. Dark Night of the Soul describes the process of purgation, first of senses, and then of spirit, that precedes the soul's loving Union with God. To quote from this book would detract from the coiled power of its tightly focused picture of the soul's progress; suffice it to say that there has never been a better book for discouraged Christians. When you cannot understand what or why you believe, but you find yourself unable to abandon faith, look to St. John for help. --Michael Joseph Gross
Deep i enjoy devotional type books. Dark Night of the Soul however has a depth and sobriety to it that the modern books lack. you can almost feel the slower rhythms from the day in which it was written. i don't believe it is impossible for the modern-day Believer to attain this depth of soul-devotion but the monastics definitely have an edge on us. it will challenge you and bring you to a deeper level of devotion if u are commited to it.
excellent I became familiar with this when I was in college and I had difficulty with mental illness.
I am very different from other people in the way I think. I have something like severe autism caused by brain injury combined with a high tendency to think about and want to please other people.
today I was thinking about some feedback I got and I realized that it is all going wrong b/c of my tendency to blame others, among other things.
I am very different from other people. I need to work out conversations via grammatical or other, mathematical, rules. this is like autism and it reflects that my injury started to show up in the 6th grade, when I was diagramming sentences.
and the thing is when you are different you want to be the same.
but this book, it doesn't really matter the specifics of the language b/c the concept, of dealing with something huge and coming out the other side, is very important to me.
I am almost 40 and facing this issue.
my tendency is to panic and blame people rather than take responsibility for being different. whatever that means. I don't know what that means.
it's OK, I have to trust that there will be another side for me when I come out of this whatever it is, this passage through acceptance.
Difficult To Read This book was very difficult to read because it doesn't use contemporary colloquial English.
According to critics and scholars, E. Allison Peers did an outstanding job translating this work. Without a doubt: it is so (I assume.)
According to me, I need a translator to translate this translation into a work that I can understand easily.
I blame my lack of education for my troubles reading and understanding this book, of course.
However, to those people out there with just a basic education, like me, be warned: reading this book will be an arduous effort. A very difficult effort indeed.
I've found a more accessible translation online:
http://www.karmel.at/ics/john/dn.html
Other than that, it is a remarkable and inspiring work.
I believe this book could be understood better if previously one had read the works of Bernadette Roberts. In fact, I think that reading only the first outlined title would suffice.
What is Self?: A Study of the Spiritual Journey in Terms of Consciousness,
The Path to No-Self: Life at the Center
The Experience of No-Self: A Contemplative Journey
Tough read I had a really hard time with the subject matter. One better have a very strong constitution to read this....
Dark Night of the Soul Perfect condition and received promptly.
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