Verse 26. 'Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in in its season.' 56. He who has tamed the flesh ought to give himself to contemplation. And he who gives labour to preaching. For what is signified by the name of the grave, but the contemplative life, which buries us as though dead to this world, while it hides within the inmost parts those it has taken up from earthly desires? For to the exterior life they had even been buried through contemplation, to whom Paul said: 'For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God' (Col. 3:3). [Old Chapter XXV.] The active life too is a grave, because it covers us as dead to evil works;
but the contemplative buries more perfectly, because it utterly separates us from all the actions of the world. Whosoever therefore has now tamed in himself the reproaches of the flesh, it remains that he exercise his mind through the pursuits of holy working; and whosoever now enlarges his mind through holy works, it remains that he extend it even to the secret pursuits of inmost contemplation. For neither is he a perfect preacher who either neglects the things to be done for the sake of the pursuit of contemplation, or postpones the things to be contemplated for the sake of the urgency of working. For hence it is that Abraham buries his dead wife in a double sepulchre (Gen. 23:19);
because doubtless every perfect preacher hides his soul, extinguished to the desires of the present life, under the covering of good working and of contemplation, that it may lie as it were insensible to carnal concupiscence under the active and contemplative life — the soul which before, feeling the desires of the world, was living unto death. Hence it is that the Redeemer of the human race by day displays miracles in the cities, and passes the night at the pursuit of prayer on the mountain, that He may hint to perfect preachers how far they should neither utterly forsake the active life through love of contemplation, nor wholly despise the joys of contemplation through excess of working; but that resting in contemplation they may drink in what, being occupied toward their neighbours, they may in speaking pour back.
For by contemplating one rises into the love of God, but by preaching one returns to the profit of the neighbour. Whence in Moses, when in sacrifice a heifer is slain (Num. 19:3), it is commanded that scarlet twice-dyed be offered together with hyssop and cedar-wood. For we slay the heifer when we extinguish the flesh from the wantonness of its pleasure. Which we offer with hyssop and cedar-wood and scarlet; because with the mortifying of the flesh we burn up the sacrifice of faith, of hope, and of charity. For hyssop is wont to cleanse our inward parts. And through Peter it is said: 'Purifying their hearts by faith' (Acts 15:9). Cedar-wood fails by no rottenness, because no end consumes the hope of heavenly things. Whence also through Peter it is said:
'He hath regenerated us unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away' (1 Pet. 1:3-4). Scarlet flames with a red colour, because it inflames whomsoever charity fills. Whence also in the Gospel the Truth says: 'I am come to send fire on the earth' (Luke 12:49). But the scarlet is commanded to be offered twice-dyed, that namely before the eyes of the inward Judge our charity may be coloured with the love of God and of the neighbour; so that the converted mind may neither so love repose for the love of God as to postpone the care and profit of the neighbour, nor so be occupied in serving for the love of the neighbour as, utterly forsaking repose, to extinguish in itself the fire of supernal love.
Whosoever therefore has already offered himself to God as a sacrifice, if he desires perfect things, it is necessary that he take care not only to extend himself to the breadth of working, but also to the heights of contemplation. [Old Chapter XXVI.] 57. The active life suits some, the contemplative others more. Each of the two is to be cultivated by each according to his disposition. But amid these things it is greatly to be known that the temperaments of minds are very diverse among themselves. For some men are of so idle a mind that, if the labour of occupation take hold of them, they succumb at the very beginning of the work;
and some are so restless that, if they have a vacation from labour, they labour more grievously, because they bear the tumults of the heart the worse, the more freely they have leisure for their thoughts. Whence it is necessary that neither the quiet mind enlarge itself to the exercise of immoderate work, nor the restless mind narrow itself to the pursuit of contemplation. For often those who could contemplate God in quiet have fallen, pressed by occupations; and often those who might live well amid human uses, being occupied, have been slain by the sword of their own quiet. For hence it is that certain restless spirits, while they seek out more in contemplating than they can grasp, break forth even into perverse dogmas;
and while they humbly neglect to be disciples of the truth, they become masters of errors. Hence through Himself the Truth says: 'If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is good for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire' (Matt. 5:29, 18:9). For the two lives, namely the active and the contemplative, when they are preserved in the mind, are held as it were two eyes in the face. For the right eye is the contemplative life, the left the active. But there are some, as we have said, who can by no means discreetly behold the highest and spiritual things, and yet take up the heights of contemplation, and therefore slip down into the pit of perfidy through the error of a depraved understanding.
These therefore the contemplative life, taken up beyond their strength, compels to fall from the truth, whom the active life alone could humbly have kept in the state of their uprightness. To whom the Truth rightly says that which we have before mentioned: 'If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is good for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.' As if He said openly: When with fitting discretion thou art not sufficient for the contemplative life, hold the active alone more safely. And when in that which thou choosest as great thou failest, be content with that which thou attendest to as least;
so that, if through the contemplative life thou art compelled to fall from the knowledge of the truth, thou mayest at least be able, through the active life alone, one-eyed, to enter the kingdom of heaven. Hence again He says: 'He that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone of an ass be hanged about his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea' (Matt. 18:6). What is signified by the sea, but the present world; what by the ass's millstone, but earthly action? Which, while it binds the neck of the mind through foolish desires, sends it into the circuit of labour.
There are therefore some who, while they forsake earthly actions, and rise up to the pursuits of contemplation with humility set aside, beyond the powers of their understanding, not only cast themselves into error, but also divide certain weak ones from the bosom of unity. He therefore who scandalizes one of the least, it were better for him that, with a millstone bound about his neck, he be cast into the sea, because doubtless it could have been more expedient for the perverse mind that, occupied with the world, it should transact earthly business, than that through the pursuits of contemplation it should have leisure unto the ruin of many. Again, unless to certain minds the contemplative life were more suited than the active, the Lord would in no wise say through the Psalmist: 'Be still and see that I am God' (Ps. 46:10). [Old Chapter XXVII.]
58. What power fear and love have toward contemplation. But amid these things it is to be known that often love excites even sluggish minds to work, and fear restrains restless ones in contemplation. For the anchor of the heart is the weight of fear; and for the most part it is shaken by the surge of thoughts, but is held fast by the bonds of its discipline; nor does the tempest of its own restlessness drag it to shipwreck, because on the shore of divine love perfect charity binds it tight. Whence it is necessary that whosoever hastens to the pursuits of contemplation should first subtly interrogate himself how much he loves. For the engine of the mind is the force of love, which, while it draws it from the world, lifts it on high.
First therefore let him examine whether, seeking the highest things, he loves; whether, loving, he fears; whether he knows either to comprehend by loving things unknown, or to venerate by fearing things not comprehended. For in contemplation, if love does not excite the mind, the torpor of its tepidity darkens it; if fear does not weigh it down, the sense lifts it through empty things to the cloud of error; and when the door of secret things is opened to it too slowly, it is repelled the farther from it by its very presumption; because it desired to burst in upon that which, not finding, it seeks; and when the proud mind takes error for truth, whither it as it were stretches its step within, it tends outward. For hence it is that the Lord, about to give the law, descended in fire and smoke (Exod. 19:18);
because He both illuminates the humble by the brightness of His manifestation, and darkens the eyes of the proud by the mist of error. First therefore the mind is to be wiped clean from the appetite of temporal glory, and from all delight of carnal concupiscence, and then to be raised to the keen edge of contemplation. Whence also when the law is received, the people is forbidden from the mountain, that namely those who with minds still weak desire earthly things may not presume to consider things sublime. Whence also it is rightly said: 'If a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned' (Exod. 19:12-13). For a beast touches the mountain, when a mind subjected to irrational desires raises itself to the heights of contemplation.
But it is struck with stones, because, not sustaining the highest things, it is slain by the very blows of the supernal weight. 59. What perfection is necessary for attaining it. They therefore who strive to lay hold of the summit of perfection, when they desire to hold the citadel of contemplation, let them first prove themselves in the field of work by exercise, and let them anxiously know whether they now inflict no evils upon their neighbours, whether they bear with equanimity evils inflicted by their neighbours, whether when temporal goods are set before them the mind is in no wise dissolved by joy, whether when they are withdrawn it is not wounded by excessive sorrow;
and then let them weigh whether, when they return within to themselves, in that they search out spiritual things, they in no wise drag with them the shadows of corporeal things, or if perchance drawn along they drive them off with the hand of discretion; whether, desiring to see the uncircumscribed light, they press down all the images of their own circumscription; and whether, in that which they seek to attain above themselves, they conquer what they are. [Old Chapter XXVIII.] Whence now it is rightly said: 'Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance.' For the perfect man enters into the grave in abundance, because he first gathers together the works of the active life, and afterwards utterly hides from this world the sense of the flesh, dead through contemplation. Whence also fittingly it is subjoined:
'As a heap of wheat is brought in in its season' (same verse). 60. Action ought to precede contemplation. For the time of action is first, of contemplation last. Whence it is necessary that every perfect man should first exercise his mind in virtues, and afterwards store it up in the granary of repose (cf. Luke 8:35). For hence it is that he whom the legion of demons left at the Lord's command, sits at the feet of his Saviour, receives the words of doctrine, and desires to depart together from his own region with the Author of salvation; but nevertheless the Truth Himself, who conferred salvation upon him, says to him: 'Return first into thy house, and tell how great things the Lord hath done for thee.'
For when we perceive however little of the divine knowledge, we now are unwilling to return to human things, and refuse to be burdened with the necessities of our neighbours; we seek the repose of contemplation, and love nothing else but that which refreshes without labour. But the Truth sends us, healed, to our house, and commands us to relate what has been done with us, that namely the mind may first sweat in work, and afterwards be refreshed through contemplation. [Recension XVIII.] 61. The figures of contemplation and action: Rachel and Leah, Mary and Martha. The great merits of the active life, the more excellent of the contemplative. Hence it is that Jacob serves for Rachel and receives Leah, and it is said to him:
It is not the custom in our land that we should give the younger in marriage before the elder (Gen. 29:27). For Rachel means 'a vision' or 'a beginning'; but Leah is called 'laborious.' And what is designated by Rachel but the contemplative life, and what by Leah but the active life? For in contemplation the beginning, which is God, is sought; but in action one toils beneath the heavy burden of necessities. Hence Rachel is beautiful but barren, while Leah is bleary-eyed but fruitful; because, doubtless, when the mind seeks the leisure of contemplation, it sees more but begets fewer children for God; whereas when it directs itself to the labour of preaching, it sees less but brings forth more.
After the embraces of Leah, therefore, Jacob came to Rachel, because every perfect man is first joined to the fruitfulness of the active life, and afterward is united to the repose of the contemplative. For that the contemplative life, though lesser in duration, is greater in merit than the active, is shown by the words of the sacred Gospel, in which two women are related to have done differing things. For Mary, listening to the words of our Redeemer, sat at His feet; but Martha busied herself with bodily services. And when Martha complained against Mary's leisure, she heard: 'Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her' (Luke 10:41-42).
For what is expressed by Mary, who sat listening to the Lord's words, but the contemplative life? What is signified by Martha, occupied with outward services, but the active life? Yet Martha's care is not reproved, while Mary's is even praised; for great are the merits of the active life, but greater those of the contemplative. Hence Mary's part is said never to be taken away, because the works of the active life pass away with the body, whereas the joys of the contemplative grow stronger from their very end. This the prophet Ezekiel well and briefly expresses when, contemplating the flying living creatures, he says: 'And the likeness of a man's hand was under their wings' (Ezek. 10:21).
For what can we understand by the wings of the living creatures but the contemplations of the saints, by which they fly across to the highest things, and, forsaking earthly things, poise themselves amid heavenly ones? What do we take the hands to be but their works? For when they expand themselves in love of neighbour, they administer even bodily the good things in which they abound. But their hands are under their wings, because they surpass the works of their action by the power of contemplation. [Old Vulgate 29] 62. By the name of the sepulchre eternal rest can be understood.—By the sepulchre may be understood not only our contemplation in this life, but the rest of the eternal and inmost reward; in which there is rest so much the more truly, as the life of corruption is the more perfectly slain within us.
He therefore enters the sepulchre in abundance, who, after the heaped-up works of the present life, being fully dead to his own mutability, is hidden in the secret place of the true light. Hence too it is said through the Psalmist: 'Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, from the disturbance of men' (Ps. 30:21). And an added comparison well commends this, when it is subjoined: 'As a heap of wheat is brought in in its season.' For the grain in the field is touched by the sun, because in this life the human soul is illumined by the regard of the light on high; it receives the rains, because it grows rich by the utterance of truth; it is shaken by the winds, because it is exercised by temptations; and it carries the chaff growing along with it, because daily it endures against itself the worse life of sinners;
and being brought to the threshing-floor it is pressed by the weight of threshing, that it may be loosed from its connection with the chaff; because our mind, placed under the heavenly discipline, while it receives the scourges of correction, withdraws the purer from the fellowship of carnal men; and, the chaff being left behind, it is led to the granary, because, the reprobate remaining outside, the elect soul is raised up to the eternal joys of the heavenly dwelling. Well therefore is it said: 'Thou shalt enter the sepulchre in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in in its season'; because, when after affliction the just find the rewards of the heavenly country, it is as though after the pressings the grains are carried to the granary; and in an alien time indeed they feel the blows, but in their own time they rest from the blow.
For to the elect the present life is an alien time, whence Truth also says to certain still-unbelieving men: 'My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready' (John 7:6). And again: 'This is your hour, and the power of darkness' (Luke 22:53). Therefore one enters the sepulchre in its own season like a heap of wheat, because he attains eternal rest who first, that he may be free from the chaff to be burned, feels here the pressings of discipline. But Eliphaz, since in the course of his speech he named a tent, stones, beasts, seed, herbs, and a sepulchre, himself intimates that he did not say these things according to the letter, when immediately after all this he subjoins: