The Cloud of Unknowing
The Cloud of Unknowing is a spiritual guide for Contemplative Prayer. It was written by an unknown author in the late Middle Ages.
Translation
This is a very famous work. It is available in many translations.
Some of those translations are antiquated. People often find them quite difficult to read.
We are fans of the translation by Carmen Acevedo Butcher. It is very readable. Yet it strikes us as accurately translated and faithful to the text.
Introduction
The Cloud of Unknowing is a spiritual guide for contemplative prayer.
It was written by an unknown author in the late Middle Ages.
It suggests the way to know God is to abandon any practice of meditation, and instead surrender to the realm of Unknowing.
This teaching parallels The Dark Night by John of the Cross. And it parallels Room 4 of The Interior Castle by Teresa of Ávila.
The Cloud of Unknowing consists of 75 chapters. They are very brief.
Here is our summary of each chapter:
Chapter 1
There are four stages in our relationship with God:
- Common
- Special
- Singular
- Perfect (that is, “pure”)
God calls us to advance through those stages.
His will is that you gaze upon him.
Chapter 2
In our spiritual lives, many of us lack zeal. We are slothful.
The author calls us to wake up to our spiritual need, and to take action.
Only love — not knowledge — can bring us to God.
Chapter 3
We are to turn away from distractions, and turn toward God.
This pleases God.
At first, what we experience will be unfamiliar. Darkness.
The author uses “darkness” in the same way as the Spanish mystics — a haze; a Cloud of Unknowing; a Cloud of Forgetting.
Forget everything you know. Set yourself to rest in this darkness as long as you can.
Chapter 4
This project of turning toward God is simple and brief.
It just requires that you will it to happen.
The love of Jesus will be our help.
Chapter 5
During our time of turning toward God, we must remove our focus from the created realm.
Chapter 6
You might wonder, “How shall I meditate on God?”
The answer is that you do not.
Chapter 7
If you encounter distractions, simply turn your focus back to God. And stir your love for God.
When you are distracted, you can get yourself back on track by saying a one-syllable word such as GOD or LOVE.
That word is your primary tool in this spiritual pursuit.
Chapter 8
You may be tempted to revert back to your meditative practice.
Reverting will increase your feelings of devotion. But it will arrest your spiritual growth.
It is best to throw that impulse into the Cloud of Unknowing.
Chapter 9
If we revert back to a meditative practice, we will be focused on things which are not God.
More beneficial is a blind stirring of love for God.
Chapter 10
If you have a distracting thought, you may feel grieved. What do you do with that grief?
If you fully consent to the distraction, then it is sin for you.
If the distraction is merely pleasing, then just let it go.
Chapter 11
Weigh each distracting thought.
As a disciple of the Perfect One, don’t be careless about it.
Chapter 12
Stay focused on the Cloud of Unknowing. Practice longing love.
Despite your practice, sin still lurks within you. Over the course of time, it will be destroyed by this practice.
Chapter 13
To be meek is to know yourself.
On the one hand, we know our shortcomings and our sins.
On the other hand, we know the abundant love and worthiness of God. This is our focus.
Chapter 14
We want to arrive at perfect meekness.
The route to perfect meekness must necessarily go through imperfect meekness.
Chapter 15
Many people say our meekness is improved by remembering our wretchedness and sins.
However, some people do not sin deliberately. They are ready to be contemplatives.
They should not grovel over past sins. Instead, they should focus on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 16
Growth in the spiritual life isn’t so much due to sorrow. Nor does it stem from meekness.
Rather, growth in the spiritual life is because we love God much.
Chapter 17
Martha was busy with many tasks. But Mary was centered on the love in her heart.
That was the best and holiest part. It was one thing that is necessary.
Contemplatives model their life after Mary.
Chapter 18
Martha complained about Mary. And actives complain about contemplatives.
Chapter 19
Actives complain about contemplatives.
Contemplatives should not be alarmed. People complain about them out of ignorance.
Chapter 20
If our lives are taken up with loving God by contemplative prayer, we will not need to stick up for ourselves against our critics.
The all-powerful God will defend us against our critics.
Look at how the Lord Jesus Christ defended Mary from Martha’s complaint.
Chapter 21
The Lord Jesus Christ said Mary chose the best part. What does that mean?
Here are the stages of the spiritual life:
- Good — Good deeds
- Better — Meditation
- Best — Contemplation
The first two stages are part of the active life. That’s where Martha was at.
The third stage is what Mary chose. It is in the Cloud of Unknowing.
Chapter 22
Mary represents a person who is truly converted and is called to the grace of contemplative prayer.
Mary loved Jesus completely. Jesus loved Mary even more.
Chapter 23
If our lives are taken up with loving God by contemplative prayer, he will answer us and take care of our needs.
He will prompt other people to give us the necessities of life.
Chapter 24
The essence of love is your naked intent.
A student of contemplative prayer intends to love God by means of contemplative prayer.
And student of contemplative prayer intends to love their neighbor by means of contemplative prayer.
Chapter 25
During contemplative prayer, we do not think about anyone in particular.
This has the effect of changing our heart. It makes us more loving of all people.
Chapter 26
To live a contemplative life is difficult. That is because during contemplative prayer, you must let go.
To do that, you need special grace. Or a long-term commitment to ordinary grace.
Chapter 27
Which people should live the contemplative lifestyle?
Anyone who dedicates themselves to it.
Chapter 28
To begin contemplative prayer, you must have a clean conscience.
Repent of your sins. Confess them.
Chapter 29
Practice contemplative prayer. Be patient, Persist. Endure challenges. Don’t judge other people.
Chapter 30
Don’t speak out about another person unless you feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit during contemplative prayer.
Chapter 31
When you first start out in contemplative prayer, you will face distracting thoughts and sinful impulses.
Be brave. Cover them with the thick cloud of forgetting.
Chapter 32
Here are two tactics to help.
Tactic 1. When a distracting thought intrudes, pretend you don’t even notice it.
Tactic 2. Give up. You are in the hands of God anyway.
Chapter 33
Keep trying. Work hard. Stick with it. Don’t give in to the fear of failing.
In the future, it will become second nature to you.
Chapter 34
Contemplative prayer is God’s work. We don’t chose it. Rather, he calls us to it.
Contemplative prayer is a gift. There are no strings attached.
If you have been called to contemplative prayer, you have been given the aptitude for it.
Chapter 35
Every beginner in contemplative prayer must practice three skills: reading, reflecting, and praying.
Those three so interdependent that they are nearly inseparable.
We read or listen to God’s word. Then we reflect on it. Finally, we are ready for contemplative prayer.
Chapter 36
People who are diligent in contemplative prayer have a different experience of the spiritual life.
Both simple awareness and flashes of insight are more common.
Chapter 37
The prayer of true contemplatives is unrehearsed and goes directly to God.
They rarely use words. If they do, their words are few.
Chapter 38
A short prayer penetrates heaven.
That is because you pray it fully.
Chapter 39
Prayer is an intense longing for God, nurturing everything good and removing anything evil.
When we pray, we should not use many words. Instead, use just one word: sin, or God. Or whatever word God nudges you toward.
Pray simply. Pray often.
Chapter 40
Saturate your soul with your prayer-word.
If you possess God, you will be sinless. And if you are sinless, you will have God.
Chapter 41
What sort of self-control does it take to practice contemplative prayer? None at all!
But in every other area of life, practice moderation. Do neither too much nor too little.
Because you love God, be as healthy as possible for you.
Chapter 42
How do you balance the many area of your life? By working at contemplation.
Work at contemplative prayer, and do not stop. Those other areas will fall into place. You will have a beneficial indifference to them.
An excess of contemplative prayer will bring self-control in every other area. Abandon yourself to it. Persist, and you can’t go wrong.
Chapter 43
Reject any understanding or feeling that is not God. Forget your self and your own accomplishments.
Try to even forget yourself.
Chapter 44
Our self-centeredness is an obstacle to knowing and feeling God.
How can we destroy our self-centeredness? With godly sorrow and longing.
Chapter 45
It is easy to be deceived about these things.
Some people are over-zealous about small matters. Others see contemplative prayers as their own achievement. Still others mistake their nascent spiritual experiences with the real thing.
So seek guidance from a spiritual mentor.
Chapter 46
Don’t exert yourself too hard. Instead, just be enthusiastic.
The answer is not brute strength, but joy.
Chapter 47
We should hide the longing of our heart from God. This will wean you from a dependence on your emotions.
God is spirit, and those who want to be united with him must be sincere in spirit.
We are better off when we devote ourselves to finding joy in the work of contemplative prayer, and practicing it peacefully.
Cast your longing into the deepest depths of your spirit.
Chapter 48
Sometimes God gives us a foretaste of eternity. Our senses are set on fire, and we overflow with sweetness of delight.
This experience can bubble up into joy and devotion.
But mistrust all other spiritual experiences, such as consolations and sounds, gladness and ecstasies that come from an unknown source.
Such an experience might be good. Or evil.
Just keep exercising yourself in this blind, heartfelt, joyful longing of love that is contemplation.
Chapter 49
Let love guide you. It is the essence of all goodness.
You might receive delights or consolations. They are incidental. They are not the goal.
Chapter 50
If you experience physical delight or a spiritual gift, take no notice of it. Welcome it, but don’t value it.
Otherwise you risk loving God because of those sweet feelings.
Some contemplatives experience those pleasant feelings regularly. Other contemplatives experience them rarely.
Chapter 51
Humbly bow to love.
Interpret these things in a spiritual way, not a literal way.
If you interpret them in a literal way, arrogance and overconfidence are sure to follow.
Chapter 52
Beginners in contemplative prayer try to force their way. They strain to have spiritual experiences like they read in books.
They are ripe for the devil to deceive them paranormal experiences.
Chapter 53
Some people call themselves contemplatives. But they are counterfeits.
In public they distort their face to mimic a spiritual experience. Yet they lash out at other people. They are pompous or rude, domineering or arrogant.
Chapter 54
Contemplative prayer has a good influence on body and soul.
It makes them wise and attractive, both physically and spiritually.
They can read the temperament and needs of the people around them.
They overflow with wisdom and compassion and insight.
Chapter 55
The devil gives some people a zeal for God that is based on legalism. They seem like zealous church leaders.
They set out to destroy sin in other people. They criticize people for their faults. They attack.
Chapter 56
Concerning the people mentioned in the previous chapter, they can easily fall much further.
They and their friends trust their own opinions too much.
That is because they have no contemplative grounding in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 57
Beginners in contemplative prayer are rushed. That causes them to misinterpret spiritual teachings.
They remake God in their own image.
They are vulnerable to deceptions from the devil.
Yet they still see themselves as sincere and on the right path.
Chapter 58
Some saints had miraculous visions. Those visions were given to reveal spiritual truths.
In our own lives, we should not strain our imaginations to force a similar vision within ourselves.
Instead, we should act with sincerity. And be ready to help one another.
Chapter 59
The Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven.
However, that does not teach us to strain our imaginations upward during Contemplative Prayer.
Instead, during Contemplative Prayer, we should forget our time and place and body.
After all, Contemplative Prayer is spiritual work. It is removed from motion and location.
Chapter 60
Many people imagine heaven is in the direction of up.
Because of that, during Contemplative Prayer, they try to strain their imagination upward.
However, the route to heaven is not measured by directionality but by our desire.
Whenever we’re in love, we’re already there.
Chapter 61
Physical things are subject to spiritual realities. The body submits to spirit.
Don’t take spiritual truths literally. For example, up or down, behind or ahead.
Instead, understand spiritual truths in a spiritual way.
Chapter 62
Material things are outside your soul and below you. That is, inferior to you.
Angels and transformed souls are above you. That is superior in purity, although equal with you in the natural order.
Our mind is gifted with three principal powers:
- Soul
- Mind
- Reason
Those major powers are taken up with spiritual concerns.
Beyond those, our mind is gifted with two secondary powers:
- Imagination
- Sensuality
Those minor powers are taken up with physical matters.
Chapter 63
The mind is the major faculty of the soul. It contains reason, will, imagination, and sensuality.
But the main thing it does is comprehend.
Chapter 64
The soul has two other special strengths: reason and will.
Reason helps us distinguish good from bad.
Will helps us choose the good that had been selected by reason.
Chapter 65
Imagination helps us form mental images of anything.
Apart from the work of grace, our imagination can run wild.
Chapter 66
Sensuality affects and controls our body’s perceptions. It is how we experience the created realm.
Chapter 67
If we are ignorant of our soul’s powers, we will misinterpret spiritual instruction. We will misinterpret Contemplative Prayer.
Chapter 68
During Contemplative Prayer, do not withdraw into yourself. And don’t go outside yourself.
When you are nowhere physically, you are everywhere spiritually.
This cannot be explained. It just is. And it is of infinite worth.
Chapter 69
Contemplative Prayer totally changes our interior being.
That is because at first, we see nothingness. That is the Cloud of Unknowing.
What stands out to us is own sins and misery.
But if we persist, there will be growth and peace.
Chapter 70
Where our five senses end: that is where our spiritual experience begins.
Where our spiritual understanding ends: that is where we begin to know God by grace.
So stop trying to work with your five senses. Abandon them.
St. Dionysius said that the best knowledge of God is that which is known by not-knowing.
Chapter 71
God works differently in different people.
Some people experience the perfection of contemplation during rare moments of ecstasy.
But other people experience it whenever they want, on any day.
Chapter 72
Don’t use your own experience as a rule of thumb to judge other contemplatives. Avoid close-minded ways of thinking.
Chapter 73
The Ark of the Covenant prefigures contemplative grace.
The three men who were most involved with the Ark of the Covenant represent three contemplative ways:
- Moses
- Bezalel
- Aaron
Moses
Moses was on the mountain. God showed him how to make the Ark.
This represents advancing in Contemplative Prayer by grace alone.
Bezalel
Bezalel was in the valley. He built the Ark according to the design from Moses.
This represents advancing in Contemplative Prayer using a blueprint provided by others, but relying on our own skills.
In our day, the great mystical writers have a ministry like Bezalel. They provide us a blueprint.
Aaron
Aaron was in the temple. He saw and handled the Ark.
This represents advancing in Contemplative Prayer through the teachings of others.
In our day, many people can be like Aaron. They can gaze upon the Ark of Contemplation.
Chapter 74
If the idea of Contemplative Prayer does not resonate with you, abandon it. Look for some other way of praying.
If, on the other hand, the idea of Contemplative Prayer does indeed resonate with you, stay with it. Act upon it.
Chapter 75
How can you tell if God is calling you to Contemplative Prayer?
First, are you prepared for it?
Second, is it on your mind all the time, attracting your attention more than any other spiritual discipline?
Third, do you find no peace in anything else?
RESOURCES
Great Books about Contemplative Prayer
Contemplative Prayer Terminology
Bible Verses on Contemplative Prayer
Homepages:
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.