Dark Night of the Soul

Rating:
Summary: Great... But Still a Bit Mysterious
Review: I read this book thinking (and probably pretentiously so) that I myself was passing through a 'dark night' of sorts. This, however, is dangerous. Reader beware - this book is written by a saint who is also a Doctor of the Church. It tells of the "aridity" and consolations the soul experiences when approaching God. To be honest, I found it quite frighting. I recommend it, but I advise mature handling of St. John of the Cross' words.

Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: I very highly recommend this book to anyone. It is written by Saint John of the Cross. It is a must read for all Christians.

Rating:
Summary: priceless
Review: John of the Cross is, for me, quite simply the crucial Christian contemplative; his dark night spirituality is still the absolute state of the art for anyone beyond the feel-good phase of a life of prayer. My copy of the excellent Cavanaugh-Rodriquez translation of John's collected works (which is the definitive scholarly translation, in my opinion, not the Peers version) is so well-thumbed it has to be be held together by tape. But I've always hesitated to recommend the works of John of the Cross even to people I am sure would benefit by his wisdom, because his writing is extremely difficult, a somewhat windy, dry, and arcane 16th-century style, dense with scriptural allusion and theological citation, repetitive, and, in several cases, literally unfinished. Mirabai Starr is clearly the gifted editor John has been waiting for. Her poet's ear and mystic's heart are just what was needed to bring the depth, lucidity, and loving essence of John's most famous work into a form that is accessible at last to a wider range of contemporary seekers. Her translation of "The Dark Night," and her beautiful and wise introduction, are exquisitely lucid. The language is fresh, the pacing crisp, and even the most difficult passages are made clear and musical, capturing both the joy and the genuine, sometimes terrifying challenge of the soul's journey into the deepest mysteries of God, into what T.S. Eliot, another Christian mystic who could sometimes use a translator, called "a condition of complete simplicity, costing not less than everything." Mirabai has shown us both the simplcity, and the absolute cost, of the deepest spirituality, in this gorgeous gift of a book, this labor of love, which seems to me to be destined to become a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant - but requires background for understanding
Review: John of the Cross's writings show the total intensity and detachment of one who has reached a point of union with God that is a sheer gift of grace. The Dark Night of the Soul is among the greatest writings of mystic theology and experience, and highly recommended for those who have some understanding of the concepts of which he writes. The total turning of the will to God, to a point where nothing on earth can satisfy the lover except union with the Beloved, is a marvellous and deeply moving "sight" - and the exquisite poetry here is one of the best expressions in the history of Christianity.

This said, it is essential that one have background in order to understand this work. (More easily understood introductions, such as Thomas Dubay's "Fire Within," should precede reading the Dark Night.) John is by no means writing of depression or misery, nor is his path one which is common to all (or indeed many) Christians. Let the serious Christian seeker approach this work with humility - it pre-supposes knowledge and an openness to divine love that is far from universal. And, above all, take John's cautions against self-deception to heart as much as he did.

Rating:
Summary: THIS is the translation to purchase
Review: Let me begin by saying that "Dark Night of The Soul" is my favorite book. I have public domain copies, Wiccan copies, ecclectic copies, etc. This translation comes the closest to John's ideas that I have yet to come across. The translator does not try to water down the text with personal bias.

But I also need to add that this is not easy to read. No translation of this work is.


Rating:
Summary: My All Time Favorite Book
Review: Next to Holy Scripture that is, but then again I do not consider the Bible to be compared with any other human work.

PROS - The first time I read DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL I couldn't understand it, but could tell it contained something worth study. The second time I read it, I began to glimpse that it spoke of something beyond me, but extremely important. The third time I read it, it made my theology feel like that of a preschooler. I finally went to stay in a monastery for a few days so I could be tutored in understanding this book. The next time I read it, it began to make sense. Though it is still over my head, today this is my all time favorite book, no matter who does the translation.

CONS - That being said, translation is very important to understanding this book. John was distinctly Christian. Any attempt to universalize his writings might yield something of value, but of far less value than John intended. Mirabai Starr's translation minimizes Christian references intentionally.

VERDICT - I personally give this and all other translations 5 stars. I am happy to have this translation in my library. However, it lacks some of the punch of others I have studied.

Rating:
Summary: Not Universal
Review: St. John of the Cross has been called the doctor of the soul. His explanation of the different Dark Nights are superb. A word of caution though, this experience is not necessarily universal, as some tend to believe. There have been saints and mystics, like Ramana Maharshi, who never went through the Dark Nights and still attained God-realization or union. Instead of stating that "these are the steps we take towards union with God", it may be more accurate to say that "some people experience these stages". The Dark Nights occur mainly within the Catholic church tradition. It is the resistance of the ego, in the way of dogma readily accepted, at the changes coming its way. Those free from this prejudice could effect the union without going through this often-terrible experiences. One last thing, even though certain ideas are timeless and represent basic unchangeable values, one must be careful to take literally experiences from hundreds of years back since the human being evolves constantly, brain, mind and body. Nil desperado! The spiritual life should be a joyous journey! Nor we have to be monks to attain God-realization.

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading for the discerning mind
Review: St. John of the Cross has written a fascinating work that gives great insight into Catholic mystical spirituality. As an Evangelical, engaged in study of A.W. Tozer, I was directed to this work through his writings.
There are elements of the Dark Night of the Soul that I think are right on the money. There are also elements that are seriously wanting. I am not here referencing general Catholic practices such as iconography. I engaged in this work with a determination to ignore such references and get to the meat of what he is saying.
My most serious concerns with this work are that it 1) it goes too far in emphasizing feeling over knowledge. I recognize that there are elements of knowing God that are not completely intellectual, yet I believe John of the Cross takes this too far.
2) I believe that the pursit of God does not have to be (and is not intended to be) a painful endeavor. I am here contradicting an essential element of this work. The Lord's yoke is easy and His burden is light. Trusting in Him daily is a restful, peaceful experience. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are not painful things.
3) This book has one other serious problem. It tends to make the grounds by which we approach God our own personal purity rather than the blood of Jesus. This, I believe, is why the endeavor becomes so painful, and is the reason why this night is actually so dark for so long. The feeling of alienation from God is a direct and necessary consequence of attempting to approach God through our own merit (I don't mean here for justification [which is also by the blood of Jesus], but in prayer and for intimate fellowship), even (especially?) when we rightly recognize that we have none to begin with (as John of the Cross does) and seek God to purify us before we approach Him.
For the committed Christian who would seek intimacy and communion with God, I would recommend (and even purchase for them) Watchman Nee's book, The Normal Christian Life, or Hannah Whitall Smith's book, The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life rather than Dark Night of the Soul.

Rating:
Summary: Mystical work of Art.
Review: St. John of the Cross is truly a superb Saint and Mystic. Through his writings You can see how your own spiritual journey may not always be easy. If you are looking for a book that will not only inform you of the dark night, but also give you a self evaluation of your own life, then this is the book for you. In parts it may seem that St. John is peering into your soul and speaking directly to you. The wonderful thing about this book is that no one will have the same experence of it. Everyone who reads it will read it in light of where they are in their own lives. the reflection and thoughts of this Holy man will force you to look inside yourself to find what you need to do to reach the Ultimate union with God. St John of the Cross...Pray For Us!

Rating:
Summary: watershed in ascetical and mystical theology
Review: St. John of the Cross is unique in the history of Western mysticism. Before St. John of the Cross, at least ten centuries witness the development of ascetical and mystical theology without attaining the totality for which St. John of the Cross is justly celebrated. He achieves this wholeness because in his own life he manifests the ascent of Mount Carmel of which he speaks, the journey of the soul from departure to purgation to union with God in the perfection that precedes the immediate entry of the soul into eternal beatitude. Only too well does the Catholic Church assign St. John of the Cross the title of Mystical Doctor, "Doctor Mysticis." In the centuries that follow, the Church may honor great mystics--we may note, for example, the contemporary friar, Padre Pio, who has been graced with the sublime epithet of the "second St. Francis"--yet it must be argued that no one since St. John of the Cross has united to the same extent such a holy life with lofty theology.

What I would like to do is to highlight this work as a watershed in ascetical and mystical theology. There are important antecedents. The pattern of spiritual life as a journey toward God in progressively higher stages of perfection is found in the writings of the early Orthodox Church, for example, St. Isaac the Syrian. The Greek Fathers in particular are significant in developing the theology of negation or apophatic theology to which St. John of the Cross is indebted. As the High Middle Ages approaches, there takes place a flowering in individual mysticism, notably, beginning with the ardent intimations of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, then culminating in the charming, to some extent legendary accounts of St. Francis of Assisi. In the second Founder of the Franciscans, St. Bonaventure, we come across a more developed statement of ascetical and mystical life as it progresses in three stages--purgative, illuminative, and unitive. By the time we reach the Late Middle Ages, we find a mature statement of ascetical and mystical theology in England and the Low Countries, exemplified by Bl. John Ruysbroeck, The Seven Steps of the Ladder of Spiritual Love, with which St. John of the Cross was no doubt at least acquainted. None of these mystics, however, have had the same lasting impact on later generations as St. John of the Cross.

To the present day, an understanding of St. John of the Cross is a necessary part of the training of spiritual directors, even those who do not follow directly in the Carmelite tradition. This universal application bespeaks the clarity, accuracy, and depth by which he outlines the essential features of the soul's journey toward God. With St. John of the Cross, the spiritual director is provided with an impeccable map of the spiritual life. Purgation is indispensable, not merely of the senses, but above all, of the spirit. Divine union entails the unmitigated cleansing of the soul. If St. John of the Cross is uncompromising, the reader understands it is only as it should be. Hence, the famous "todo y nada" found in the Ascent of Mount Carmel, another important work:

Para venir a gustarlo todo,
no quieras tener gusto en nada;
para venir a poseerlo todo,
no quieras poseer algo en nada.

To reach satisfaction in all
desire its possession in nothing.
To come to possess all
desire the possession of nothing.

The Dark Night of the Soul further derives its power from the testimony of St. John of the Cross' life. Indeed, his life reads like his poetry.

In the quiet of sleeping hours, we see his pilgrim soul hearkening to the delicate call of religious life.

On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings--oh, happy chance!--
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest.

In his windowless 6' x 10' cell, imprisoned, abused, abased, hauled out every so often for public flogging by his brothers in religion, we see him crafting the exquisite lyrics by which he celebrates his divine transformation.

Oh, night that guided me,
Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover,
Lover transformed in the Beloved!

Ulcers afflicting his legs and back, we see him lying in his cell in destitution, abjection, and mortal distress, interiorly rapt in eager anticipation of his final union with God.

I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies.

St. John of the Cross is the paragon of Spanish Catholicism at its finest--fiery, soaring, impassioned, unconditional, all-consuming.