That a man schulde travaile for to knowe his owen soule and the myghtes of it, and
The Necessity of Self-Knowledge
The soul must turn inward to examine its own powers and confront the root of sin, which is disordered self-love.
Root out the foundation of sin within it.1 Nevertheless, there is one work that is necessary and profitable to pursue. That work is for a person to look within, to know their own soul and its powers—its beauty and its foulness.2 In this inward reflection, you’ll be able to see the honor and dignity it possessed by nature from its first creation, and you’ll also see the wretchedness and harm of the sin you’ve fallen into.3 From this sight will come a great desire and longing in your heart to regain the purity and honor you’ve lost. You will also feel a loathing and a shuddering at yourself, with a strong will to destroy and beat down yourself and all the sin that keeps you from that dignity and that purity.4 This is a spiritual labor, hard and sharp at the beginning for anyone who works at it earnestly, for it is a struggle in the soul against the root of all sins, small or great—and that root is nothing but a person's false, disordered love of themselves.5 Out of this love, as Saint Augustine says, spring every kind of sin, mortal and venial. And truly, until this root is thoroughly searched out and deeply dug up, and as it were dried out by casting off all worldly and fleshly loves, a soul can never spiritually feel the burning love of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor have the intimate nearness of His gracious presence, nor clear sights of spiritual things by the light of understanding.67 This is the labor by which a man must draw his heart away from the fleshly love of all earthly creatures and from vain love of himself, so that his soul finds no rest in any fleshly thought or in earthly affection.
The Narrow Way of Christ
Christ calls his followers to the narrow path of self-denial, cross-bearing, and the mortification of earthly desires.
And if he does this, then insofar as the soul cannot readily find its spiritual rest in the love, the intimate presence, and the sight of Jesus, it must of necessity feel pain.8 This labor is somewhat difficult and narrow; yet it is the way Christ taught those who would be His perfect followers in the Gospel, saying: Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for the way that leads to life is narrow, and few find it. Strive to enter by this narrow gate, for the way that leads to heaven is narrow, and few people find it. And how narrow this way is, our Lord tells us elsewhere: If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. Again: Whoever hates his own soul in this world keeps it for eternal life.9 That is to say: Whoever wants to come after Me must forsake himself and hate his own soul. This means: Forsake all fleshly love, and hate your own fleshly life and the pleasure of all your fleshly senses for the love of Me; take up the Cross—that is, suffer the pain of this for a while—and then follow, that is, in contemplation of My humanity and My Godhead. This is a difficult and narrow way, for it is a slaying of all sins, as Saint Paul says: Put to death your members that are on the earth—uncleanness, lust, and evil desire.
The Internal Work of Mortification
The soul must transition from resisting external temptations to actively destroying the internal roots of sin.
Put to death the members that are on the earth—not the members of your body, but the members of your soul: unclean lust and disordered love for yourself and for earthly things.10 Therefore, just as your labor until now has been to withstand great bodily sins and open temptations of the enemy as if from outside, so now in this spiritual work within yourself, you must begin to destroy and break down the root of sin in yourself as much as you can. And so that you can easily bring it about, I'll tell you how it seems to me.
Read the original Latin
breke doun the ground of synne therinne.
Neverthelees, there is oon werke whiche is nedful and spedful for to traveile inne. And that is a man for to entre into himsilf, for to knowe his owen soule and the myghtes therof, the fairenesse and the foulenesse therof. In this inward biholdinge thou schalt mow see the worschipe and the dignité whiche it hadde bi kynde of the firste makynge, and thou schalt see also the wrecchidnesse and the myschief of synne whiche thou art fallen in. And of this sight schal come grete desire with longynge in thyn herte for to receyve agen that clennesse and that worschipe whiche thou hast lost. Also thou schalt fele a lothynge and a grisynge of thisilf, with a grete wil for to distroie and bere doun thisilf and al that synne that letteth thee fro that dignité and fro that clennesse. This is a goostli travaile hard and scharp in bigynnynge, whoso wole quykli travayle thereinne, for it is a traveile in the soule agens the ground of al synnes litil or mykil, which ground is not ellis but a fals mysrulid love of a man to himsilf. Oute of this love, as Seynt Austen seith, spryngeth alle manere of synne deedli and venial; and sothli until this ground be wel ransakid and depe dolven, and as it were up dried bi outecastynge of alle worldli and fleischli loves, a soule mai nevere fele goostli the brennande love of oure Lord Jhesu Crist, ne have hoomlinesse of His gracious presence, ne cleer sightis of goostli thinges bi light of undirstondynge. This is the travaile that a man bihooveth drawe out his herte from the fleischli love of alle ertheli creatures and from veyn love of himsilf, that his soule schulde no reste fynde in noo fleischli thought, ne in eertheli affeccion.
And yif he doo thus, thanne in as mykil as the soule mai not fynde redili his goostli reste in the love and in the hoomli presence and in the sight of Jhesu, it schal nedynge fele peyne. This travaile is sumdel streit and narwgh, and neverthelees it is a wai whiche Crist techid to hem that wolden ben His perfight folweres in the Gospel, seiande thus: Contendite intrare per angustam portam; quoniam arta est via que ducit ad vitam, et pauci inveniunt eam (Luke 13:24; Matthew 7:13-14). Stryve ye for to entre bi this streite gate, for the wai that ledeth to hevene is narw, and fewe men fynden it. And hou streite this wei is, oure Lord tellith in another place thus: Si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me (Matthew 16:24). Item: qui odit animam suam in hoc mundo, in vitam eternam custodit eam (John 12:25). That is for to seie: Whoso wole come aftir Me, forsake hymsilf and hate his owen soule. That is for to seie: Forsake alle fleischli love and hate his owen fleschli lif and the likynge of alle his fleischli wittis for the love of Me; and take the Cros, that is to seie suffre the peyne of this for awhile, and thanne folwe, that is to seie in contemplacioun of My manhede and of My Godhede. This is a streit weie and narwe, for it is a sleynge of alle synnes, as Seynt Poul seith: Mortificate membra vestra, que sunt super terram, immundiciam, libidinem, concupiscenciam malam (Colossians 3:5).
Slee youre membris upoun erthe - not youre membris of bodi, but the membris of thi soule, as unclenne lust and unskilful love to youresilf and to erthili thinges. Therfore as thi travaile hath ben here bifore for to agenstonde grete bodili synnes and open temptaciouns of the enemye as hit were fro withoutin, right soo thee bihoveth now in this gostli werk withinne thisilf, bigynnynge for to distroie and breke doun the ground of synne in thisilf, as mykil as thou mai. And that thou myghtest redili bringe it aboute, I schal telle thee as me thenketh.
Notes
- 1 ↩Hilton’s “ground of sin” is the root foundation of sin in the soul (developed in the next section as false, misruled self-love), not merely surface faults.
- 2 ↩myghtes = faculties/powers of the soul (not political might).
- 3 ↩worschipe here means honor/excellence of the soul, not liturgical worship.
- 4 ↩grisynge = shuddering horror/revulsion, not mere dislike.
- 5 ↩ground of al synnes = root/foundation of sin; rendered as 'root' for clarity while keeping the structural image continued in s7 (ransacked, dug, dried).
- 6 ↩hoomlinesse = intimate, home-like familiarity with Christ's presence; rendered 'intimate nearness' to avoid archaic 'homeliness'.
- 7 ↩deedli and venial kept as mortal and venial (technical moral theology).
- 8 ↩ME hoomli presence = spiritual intimacy/familiarity with Christ (Hilton’s ‘homeliness’), not modern ‘homely’.
- 9 ↩Latin animam / ME soule here follows the Gospel idiom; the next sentences gloss it as renouncing fleshly self-love and fleshly life, not self-destruction.
- 10 ↩ME unskilful love means love that lacks spiritual skill or measure—immoderate, undiscerning self-love—not mere technical incompetence. Rendered as 'disordered love.'
Scala Perfectionis (The Scale of Perfection) companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent