The second SECTION. In what all Devotion and spiritual life consisteth.
YOu who aspire to spiritual life, know there are three sorts of man in you alone, the Vegetal, Animal, and Intellectual; and that all your * 1.1 perfection consisteth in putting the Vegetal and Ani∣mal man under the feet of the Intellectual. A great number of men are now adays vegetals, that is to say, who so live as if they had no other soul but the ve∣getative as plants, and lead the very life of the mush∣rome. Others are animal, who make their souls wholy evaporate in sensual love, in choler, rage, in brutishness. Few shall you find who are intellectual, who work with reason and understanding. And be∣hold wherein consisteth our excellencie and repose, to wit, in raising the intellectual man, many times currishly trampled on under the feet of concupi∣scence, to his proper sphaer, which is the knowledge and union with God.
To arrive to this point, it is good to note a wor∣thy doctrine of Hugo of S. Victor, to wit, that there * 1.2 is above us a creating Trinitie, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; in us a created Trinitie, understanding, me∣morie, will; about us, a dangerous Trinitie, titillati∣on, delectation, consent; under us, an unhappie Tri∣nitie, into which we fall by sin, ignorance, weakness, impuritie. Reason falleth into a triple ignorance, of good and evil, of true and false, of suteable and dis∣proportionable. Memorie into three kinds of thoughts; affectionate, being such as concern sensu∣alitie; burdensom, as appertaining to the toyls of life; idle, as all vain thoughts are. The will suffereth it self to be surprized with three kinds of nets, which are concupiscence of flesh, concupiscence of eyes, and ambition of life.
A man reduced to this state, resembleth King Ne∣buchadnezzar, who went out of his throne to eat hay with brute beasts; so the miserable man, after he hath forsaken the seat of reason, goeth into the stable with his bestial passions. The true and onely means to free your self from such unhappiness, and to re∣turn to your first dignitie, is to open your heart to the graces and lights of the Holy Ghost, and to dis∣pose your self to practice of vertues, which directly resist these three plagues of spiritual life, ignorance, weaknesse, impuritie. These are the three monsters which a spiritual man ought necessarily to subdue, that he afterwards may enjoy an assured repose.
Now to the end you may the more perfectly un∣derstand the difference between the carnal and spi∣ritual man, I will in this discourse following set their characters before your eyes.
The character of the carnal Man.
THis is a man who liveth according to man, that * 1.3 is to say, according to himself, who applieth all to himself, and makes of himself his scope, his end, his Divinitie. He goes whither he list, he converseth by humour and phantasie, he sleepeth when he will, and as much as he will; he eats, & drinks, & laughs, without rule or measure; he speaks without discretion or reservati∣on. All that which is sweet to the smelling, soft in touch∣ing, pleasing to the eye, delicate to the tast, charming to the ear, seems to be created for him. He passionately seeks after it, and hath no other law in his passions but the power of his bruitishness, nor maketh any distinction of things permitted and prohibited in the licence of all pleasures.
All spiritual actions are hatefull to him: his soul, after * 1.4 it hath lost the good for which we were made, wandereth at random in the vast emptiness of creatures, and issueth out by the gates of all the senses, to glut its concupiscence.
If it happen he be deprived the contentments he pur∣sues (as oftentimes the Divine providence frameth ob∣stacles enough against his depraved desires) he entertain∣eth himself with the idea of his pleasures, that he may leave nothing in his soul untainted with corruption, he makes his memorie guiltie by the representation of his passed lust; he heareth without voice, he smelleth with∣out odour, he tasteth without relish, he sees without co∣lours, he toucheth without bodie, and createth imagina∣rie sins to gain real torments.
All his pastime is onely among dogs, horses, curiosities * 1.5 of the throat, or love. All women, who have made any impression on his thoughts, are perpetually remembered in his discourse: one in his opinion is fair, and another courteous; one is rude; and another wily; this is plain, and that painted: the head-dressing of one pleaseth, the chopin of the other: behaviour is gracefull in this, dis∣course in the other.
In the end this immortal spirit is fixed to flesh, and sold to lust, to serve as an instrument for devils in this life, and to afford feuel for the flames of Divine venge∣ance in the life to come.
The character of the spiritual Man.
THe spiritual man is properly be, who treadeth in the paths which the Saviour of the world traced * 1.6 out unto us by his example: who contemneth the prosperities which Jesus Christ despised, who fear∣eth not the adversities which he most couragiously hath endured, who freely teacheth what he taught, who doth what he did, who hopes what he promised, and followeth where he led the way.
This is he who meditateth how to satisfie reason, not sensuality, who more willingly acteth that which may edifie than delight; who rebateth the point of carnal de∣sires, by spiritual pleasures, who subjecteth the flesh to