The Cloud of Unknowing
83 chapters English Public domain
About this book
This is Evelyn Underhill's translation of the medieval spiritual guidebook called The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an anonymous English monk. At the core is a mystical approach to Christian prayer, in which God is found not through rote knowledge, but through 'blind love.' It has been described as Christianity with a Zen outlook. --J.B. Hare
Table of contents
83 chapters
01 Start Reading 02 Page Index 03 Introduction 04 Glossary 05 Prayer 06 Prologue 07 Table of the Chapters 08 Chapter 1: Of four degrees of Christian men's living, and of the course of his calling that this book was made unto 09 Chapter 2: A short stirring to meekness, and to the work of this book 10 Chapter 3: How the work of this book shall be wrought and of the worthiness of it before all other works 11 Chapter 4: Of the shortness of this work, and how it may not be come to by the curiosity of wit, nor by imagination 12 Chapter 5: That in the time of this work all the creatures that ever have been, be now, or ever shall be, and all the works of those same creatures, should be hid under the cloud of forgetting 13 Chapter 6: A short conceit of the work of this book, treated by question 14 Chapter 7: How a man shall have him in this work against all thoughts, and specially against all those that arise of his own curiosity, of cunning, and of natural wit 15 Chapter 8: That in the time of his work all the creatures that ever have been, be now, or ever shall be, and all the works of those creatures, should be hid under the cloud of forgetting 16 Chapter 9: That in the time of this work the rememberance of the holiest creature that ever God made letteth more than it profiteth 17 Chapter 10: How a man shall know when his thought is no sin; and if it be sin, when it is deadly and when it is venial. 18 Chapter 11: That a man should weigh each thought and each stirring after that it is, and always eschew recklessness in venial sin. 19 Chapter 12: That by Virtue of this word sin is not only destroyed, but also virtues begotten. 20 Chapter 13: What meekness is in itself, and when it is perfect and when it is imperfect. 21 Chapter 14: That without imperfect meekness coming before, it is impossible for a sinner to come to the perfect Virtue of meekness in this life 22 Chapter 15: A short proof against their error that say, that there is no perfecter cause to be meeked under, than is the knowledge of a man's own wretchedness 23 Chapter 16: That by virtue of this work a sinner truly turned and called to contemplation cometh sooner to perfection than by any other work; and by it soonest may get of God forgiveness of sins 24 Chapter 17: That a very contemplative list not meddle him with active life, nor of anything that is done or spoken about him, nor yet to answer to his blamers in excusing of himself 25 Chapter 18: How that yet unto this day all actives complain of contemplatives as Martha did of Mary. Of the which complaining ignorance is the cause
Audiobook
Listen to this edition
Audiobooks are coming soon
Narrated editions will appear here when they are ready to listen.
Membership
Support the archive
$10 / month
Helps fund new texts & growth
Unlimited highlights & annotations
Unlimited bookmarks
Ad free reading experience
Early access to new features
Early access to quality TTS Audiobooks
Priority support & feature requests
4,000 Points monthly for Search usage
Access to point system rewards and value
Cancel anytime. Helps us pay the bills.
Discussion
Community conversation
Discussions are coming soon
Join conversations around this text and its interpretations.
The Cloud of Unknowing
83 chapters English Public domain
About this book
This is Evelyn Underhill's translation of the medieval spiritual guidebook called The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an anonymous English monk. At the core is a mystical approach to Christian prayer, in which God is found not through rote knowledge, but through 'blind love.' It has been described as Christianity with a Zen outlook. --J.B. Hare
Table of contents
83 chapters
01 Start Reading 02 Page Index 03 Introduction 04 Glossary 05 Prayer 06 Prologue 07 Table of the Chapters 08 Chapter 1: Of four degrees of Christian men's living, and of the course of his calling that this book was made unto 09 Chapter 2: A short stirring to meekness, and to the work of this book 10 Chapter 3: How the work of this book shall be wrought and of the worthiness of it before all other works 11 Chapter 4: Of the shortness of this work, and how it may not be come to by the curiosity of wit, nor by imagination 12 Chapter 5: That in the time of this work all the creatures that ever have been, be now, or ever shall be, and all the works of those same creatures, should be hid under the cloud of forgetting 13 Chapter 6: A short conceit of the work of this book, treated by question 14 Chapter 7: How a man shall have him in this work against all thoughts, and specially against all those that arise of his own curiosity, of cunning, and of natural wit 15 Chapter 8: That in the time of his work all the creatures that ever have been, be now, or ever shall be, and all the works of those creatures, should be hid under the cloud of forgetting 16 Chapter 9: That in the time of this work the rememberance of the holiest creature that ever God made letteth more than it profiteth 17 Chapter 10: How a man shall know when his thought is no sin; and if it be sin, when it is deadly and when it is venial. 18 Chapter 11: That a man should weigh each thought and each stirring after that it is, and always eschew recklessness in venial sin. 19 Chapter 12: That by Virtue of this word sin is not only destroyed, but also virtues begotten. 20 Chapter 13: What meekness is in itself, and when it is perfect and when it is imperfect. 21 Chapter 14: That without imperfect meekness coming before, it is impossible for a sinner to come to the perfect Virtue of meekness in this life 22 Chapter 15: A short proof against their error that say, that there is no perfecter cause to be meeked under, than is the knowledge of a man's own wretchedness 23 Chapter 16: That by virtue of this work a sinner truly turned and called to contemplation cometh sooner to perfection than by any other work; and by it soonest may get of God forgiveness of sins 24 Chapter 17: That a very contemplative list not meddle him with active life, nor of anything that is done or spoken about him, nor yet to answer to his blamers in excusing of himself 25 Chapter 18: How that yet unto this day all actives complain of contemplatives as Martha did of Mary. Of the which complaining ignorance is the cause
Audiobook
Listen to this edition
Audiobooks are coming soon
Narrated editions will appear here when they are ready to listen.
Membership
Support the archive
$10 / month
Helps fund new texts & growth
Unlimited highlights & annotations
Unlimited bookmarks
Ad free reading experience
Early access to new features
Early access to quality TTS Audiobooks
Priority support & feature requests
4,000 Points monthly for Search usage
Access to point system rewards and value
Cancel anytime. Helps us pay the bills.
Discussion
Community conversation
Discussions are coming soon
Join conversations around this text and its interpretations.
The archive, offline Own the Wisdom of the Ages Every text in the library on a single USB drive. Read offline, cite freely, keep forever. No subscription required.
Get the drive $127.00
The Cloud of Unknowing
83 chapters English Public domain
About this book
This is Evelyn Underhill's translation of the medieval spiritual guidebook called The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an anonymous English monk. At the core is a mystical approach to Christian prayer, in which God is found not through rote knowledge, but through 'blind love.' It has been described as Christianity with a Zen outlook. --J.B. Hare
Table of contents
83 chapters
01 Start Reading 02 Page Index 03 Introduction 04 Glossary 05 Prayer 06 Prologue 07 Table of the Chapters 08 Chapter 1: Of four degrees of Christian men's living, and of the course of his calling that this book was made unto 09 Chapter 2: A short stirring to meekness, and to the work of this book 10 Chapter 3: How the work of this book shall be wrought and of the worthiness of it before all other works 11 Chapter 4: Of the shortness of this work, and how it may not be come to by the curiosity of wit, nor by imagination 12 Chapter 5: That in the time of this work all the creatures that ever have been, be now, or ever shall be, and all the works of those same creatures, should be hid under the cloud of forgetting 13 Chapter 6: A short conceit of the work of this book, treated by question 14 Chapter 7: How a man shall have him in this work against all thoughts, and specially against all those that arise of his own curiosity, of cunning, and of natural wit 15 Chapter 8: That in the time of his work all the creatures that ever have been, be now, or ever shall be, and all the works of those creatures, should be hid under the cloud of forgetting 16 Chapter 9: That in the time of this work the rememberance of the holiest creature that ever God made letteth more than it profiteth 17 Chapter 10: How a man shall know when his thought is no sin; and if it be sin, when it is deadly and when it is venial. 18 Chapter 11: That a man should weigh each thought and each stirring after that it is, and always eschew recklessness in venial sin. 19 Chapter 12: That by Virtue of this word sin is not only destroyed, but also virtues begotten. 20 Chapter 13: What meekness is in itself, and when it is perfect and when it is imperfect. 21 Chapter 14: That without imperfect meekness coming before, it is impossible for a sinner to come to the perfect Virtue of meekness in this life 22 Chapter 15: A short proof against their error that say, that there is no perfecter cause to be meeked under, than is the knowledge of a man's own wretchedness 23 Chapter 16: That by virtue of this work a sinner truly turned and called to contemplation cometh sooner to perfection than by any other work; and by it soonest may get of God forgiveness of sins 24 Chapter 17: That a very contemplative list not meddle him with active life, nor of anything that is done or spoken about him, nor yet to answer to his blamers in excusing of himself 25 Chapter 18: How that yet unto this day all actives complain of contemplatives as Martha did of Mary. Of the which complaining ignorance is the cause
Audiobook
Listen to this edition
Audiobooks are coming soon
Narrated editions will appear here when they are ready to listen.
Membership
Support the archive
$10 / month
Helps fund new texts & growth
Unlimited highlights & annotations
Unlimited bookmarks
Ad free reading experience
Early access to new features
Early access to quality TTS Audiobooks
Priority support & feature requests
4,000 Points monthly for Search usage
Access to point system rewards and value
Cancel anytime. Helps us pay the bills.
Discussion
Community conversation
Discussions are coming soon
Join conversations around this text and its interpretations.