Chapter VII

Showeth the means of coming unto the Same.

IF thou wouldst enter on the Way of Contemplation,

Thou must take the path that leadeth Thereto.

The same is a conscience pure and undefiled, —

A simple and well-regulated life,

A modest demeaning of thyself,

And temperance in outward things.

Thou must restrain the ungoverned desires of Nature 16,

Supplying her wants with wisdom and discretion,

Ministering, in the world without, to all who need, in love and mercy ;

And, in the world within, emptying thyself of every vain imagining ;

Gazing inward with an eye uplifted and open to the Eternal Truth ;

Inwardly abiding in simplicity, and stillness, and in utter peace. 67

So shalt thou bring with thee

A burning earnestness of Love,

A fiery Flame of devotion, leaping and ascending into the very Goodness of

God Himself ; A loving longing of the soul to be with

God in His Eternity ; A turning from all things of self into the freedom of the Will of God, With all the forces of the soul gathered into the unity of the Spirit ; Thanking and glorifying God, and loving and serving Him, in everlasting reverence.

So lovingly following this life of virtue, Thou mayest hope to come to the Life of

Contemplation. And, if thou abidest faithful to thy God and to thyself, Then, in the hour when He shall manifest

Himself, Thou shalt behold His Face.