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DocumentDIALOGUES ON THE SUPERSENSUAL LIFEPREFACEPrefacePREFACEPREFACEPREFACEPREFACEPREFACEPRELIMINARY NOTESentences Selected from Jacob Behmen's Treatises "Regeneration" and "Christ's Testaments"101111 (continued)121314151617181919 (continued)20212223242627282930Dialogue IMasterDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterMasterDiscipleMasterMasterDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterMasterDiscipleMasterDIALOGUE ONEDialogue OneMasterDiscipleDisciple (continued)MasterDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterDIALOGUE ONEMasterMaster (continued)DiscipleMasterMaster (continued)DiscipleMasterMaster (continued)DiscipleMasterMaster (continued)Dialogue OneDialogue OneDialogue IIDialogue TwoDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterDialogue TwoDialogue TwoMasterDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterMasterDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterDiscipleMasterDialogue TwoBetween Junius, a Scholar, and Theophorus, his Master, concerning Heaven and HellTHE SUPERSENSUAL LIFEDIALOGUE THREEDialogue ThreeThe Supersensual LifeDialogue ThreeMasterScholarMasterScholarMasterScholarMasterScholarMasterScholarMasterDialogue ThreeDialogue ThreeThe Way from Darkness to True IlluminationThe Soul saidThe Devil saidThe Soul saidThe Devil saidThe Soul did so and what happened thereuponThe Devil came to the SoulThe Soul did soJesus Christ met with the SoulHow Christ brought in the SoulWhat Christ saidWhat the Soul saidThe Devil came to it againThe Soul sighedThe Devil's OppositionThe Condition of the SoulDialogue FourThe distressed Soul answeredThe enlightened Soul saidThe distressed Soul terrifiedThe enlightened Soul came again, and spoke to the troubled SoulThe distressed Soul saidThe enlightened Soul saidThe poor Soul saidThe enlightened Soul saidThe Poor Soul's PracticeDialogue FourThe distressed Soul saidThe enlightened Soul saidThe Distressed Soul's Course

Jakob Boehme · 104 of 150

DIALOGUE THREE

in it a shining Light, and a new glorious Life. And then the Soul is in Heaven, and is a Temple of the , and is itself the very Heaven of God, wherein he dwelleth. Lo, this is the entering of the Will into Heaven; and thus it cometh to pass.

Be pleased, Sir, to proceed, said the Scholar, and let me know how it fareth on the other side.

The Master said: The godly Soul, you see, is in the hand of Christ, that is in Heaven, as he himself hath told us; and in what manner this cometh to be so, you have also heard. But the ungodly Soul is not willing in this life-time to come into the Divine Resignation of its Will, or to enter into the Will of God; but goeth on still in its own lust and desire, in and falsehood, and so entereth into the Will of the Devil. It receiveth, thereupon, into itself nothing but wickedness; nothing but lying, pride, covetousness, envy and wrath; and thereunto it giveth up its Will and whole Desire. This is the of the Will; and this same or vain shadow must also in like manner be manifested in the Soul, which hath yielded itself up also to be its servant; and must work therein even as the Love of God worketh in the Will; and penetrate it all over, as fire doth iron.

And it is not possible for this Soul to come into the Rest of God, because God's Anger is manifested in it, and worketh in it. Now when a body is parted from the Soul, then beginneth the Eternal Melancholy and Despair, because it now findeth that it is become altogether , even a most vexatious to itself, and a distracting Fury, and a self-tormenting Abomination. Now it perceiveth itself disappointed of every Thing which it had before fancied, and blind, and naked, and wounded, and hungry, and thirsty, without the least prospect of ever being relieved, or obtaining so much as one drop of the water of Eternal Life. And it feeleth itself to be its own vile executioner and tormentor; and is affrighted at its own ugly dark form, and fain would flee from itself if it could, but it cannot, being fast bound with the chains of the Dark Nature, whereinto it had sunk itself when in the flesh. And so, not having learned or accustomed itself to sink down into the Divine , and being also strongly possessed with the Idea of God, as an angry and jealous God, the poor Soul is both afraid and ashamed to bring its Will into God, by which deliverance might possibly come to it. The Soul is afraid to do it, as fearing to be consumed by so doing, under the apprehension of the Deity as a mere devouring Fire. The Soul is also ashamed to do it, as being confounded at its own nakedness and monstrosity, and therefore would, if it were possible, hide itself from the Majesty of God, and cover its abominable form from his most holy eye, though by casting itself still deeper into the Darkness. Therefore it will not enter into God, nay, it cannot enter with its false Will; yea, though it should strive to enter, yet can it not enter into the Love, because of the Will which hath reigned in it. For such a Soul is thereby captivated in the Wrath, yea, is itself but mere Wrath, having by its false Desire, which it had awakened in itself, comprehended and shut itself up therewith, and so transformed itself into the nature and property thereof.

And since also the Light of God doth not shine in it, nor the Love of God enclose it, the Soul is moreover a great Darkness, and is withal an anxious Fire-source, carrying about an Hell in itself, and not being able to discern the least glimpse of the Light of God, or to feel the least spark of his Love. Thus it dwelleth in itself as in Hell, and needeth no entering into Hell at all, or being carried thither, for in what place soever it may be, so long as it is in itself, it is in the Hell. And though it should travel far and cast itself many hundred thousand leagues from its present place, to be out of Hell; yet still would it remain in its hellish source and darkness.

If this be so, how then cometh it, said the Scholar to Theophorus, that an Heavenly Soul doth not in the time of this life perfectly perceive the Heavenly Light and Joy, and the Soul which is without God in the World, doth not also here feel Hell, as well as hereafter? Why should they not both be perceived and felt as well in this life as in the next, seeing that both of them are in Man, and one of them as you have shewed, worketh in every man?

To whom Theophorus presently returned this answer: The Kingdom of Heaven is in the operative and manifestative of itself by Faith. They who carry God within them, and live by his Spirit, find the Kingdom of God in their Faith, and they feel the Love of God in their Faith, by which the Will hath given up itself unto God, and is made Godlike. All is transacted within them by Faith, which is to them the evidence of the Eternal Invisibles, and a great manifestation in their Spirit of this Divine Kingdom, which is within them. But their natural life is nevertheless encompassed with flesh and blood; and this standing in a contrariety thereto, and being placed through the Fall in the principle of God's Anger, and environed about with the