The eight and sixty chapitre. That noghwhere bodili is everywhere goostly; and how oure utter man clepith the werk of this book nowght.
Beyond Bodily Places
The author warns against taking the common counsel to gather powers within oneself in a bodily sense, and instead instructs the reader to be nowhere at all.
And in the same way, where another man would tell you to gather your powers and your wits wholly within yourself, and worship God there — though he speaks very well and very truly, yes! And no one more truly, if it is rightly understood — yet for fear of deception and of taking his words in a bodily sense, I don't want to tell you to do so.1 But this is how I will tell you. See to it that you're not within yourself in any way. And in short, I don't want you to be outside yourself either, nor yet above, nor behind, nor on one side, nor on the other.
Nowhere Bodily, Everywhere Spiritually
Through a question-and-answer the author explains that to be nowhere bodily is to be everywhere spiritually, and urges the reader to labor diligently in that nothing for love of God.
"Where, then," you say, "will I be?" Nowhere, according to you!2 Now truly you speak well; for that's where I want you. For nowhere in a bodily sense is everywhere spiritually.3 So look carefully that your spiritual work is nowhere bodily; and then, wherever that thing is on which you willingly work in your mind in its substance, there you surely are in spirit, as truly as your body is in the place where you are bodily.4 And even though all your bodily senses can find nothing there to feed on—for they think what you're doing is nothing—yes!5 So go on with this nothing—only do it for God's love.6 And don't leave off, therefore, but labor diligently in that nothing with a waking desire to will to have God, whom no one can know.7
The Precious Nothing
The author declares he would rather wrestle with the blind nothing than enjoy everything, and explains that this nothing is the all of the inner man, best felt than seen.
For I tell you truly that I would rather be so nowhere, bodily, wrestling with that blind nothing, than be so great a lord that I could, whenever I wished, be everywhere, bodily, merrily playing with all this something as a lord does with his own.8 Set aside this everywhere and this something compared with this nowhere and this nothing.9 Never mind if your wits can make no sense of this nothing; that's why I love it all the more. It is such a worthy thing in itself that they can make no sense of it.10 This nothing is better felt than seen, because it is utterly blind and utterly dark to those who have only looked at it briefly. Nevertheless, to speak more truly, a soul is more blinded in feeling it by an abundance of spiritual light than by any darkness or lack of bodily light. Who is it that calls it nothing? Surely it is our outer self, and not our inner.11 Our inner self calls it All, because from it it is well taught to understand all things, bodily or spiritual, without any special attention to any one thing by itself.
Read the original Middle English
And on the same maner, wher another man wolde bid thee gader thi mightes and thi wittes holiche withinne thiself, and worschip God there -- thof al he sey ful wel and ful trewly, ye! and no man trewlier and he be wel conseivid -- yit for feerde of disseite and bodely conceyvyng of his wordes, me list not byd thee do so. Bot thus wil I bid thee. Loke on no wyse that thou be withinne thiself. And schortly withoutyn thiself wil I not that thou be, ne yit aboven, ne behynde, ne on o side, ne on other.
"Wher than," seist thou, "schal I be? Noghwhere, by thi tale!" Now trewly thou seist wel; for there wolde I have thee. For whi noghwhere bodely is everywhere goostly. Loke than besily that thi goostly werk be noghwhere bodely; and than whersoever that that thing is, on the whiche thou wilfuly worchest in thi mynde in substaunce, o sekerly ther art thou in spirit, as verrely as thi body is in that place that thou arte bodely. And thof al thi bodely wittes kon fynde ther nothing to fede hem on, for hem think it nought that thou doste, ye! do on than this nought, elles that thou do it for Goddes love. And lete nought, therfore, bot travayle besily in that nought with a wakyng desire to wilne to have God, that no man may knowe.
For I telle thee trewly that I had lever be so nowhere bodely, wrastlyng with that blynde nought, than to be so grete a lorde that I might when I wolde be everywhere bodely, merily pleiing with al this ought as a lorde with his owne.
Lat be this everiwhere and this ought, in comparison of this noghwhere and this nought. Reche thee never yif thi wittys kon no skyle of this nought; for whi I love it moche the betir. It is so worthi a thing in itself that thei kon no skyle therapon. This nought may betir be felt then seen; for it is ful blynde and ful derk to hem that han bot lityl while lokid therapon. Nevertheles, yif I schal sothlier sey, a soule is more bleendid in felyng of it for habundaunce of goostly light, then for any derknes or wantyng of bodely lightte. What is he that clepith it nought? Sekirly it is oure utter man, and not oure inner. Oure inner man clepith it Al; for of it he is wel lernid to kon skyle of alle thinges, bodely or goostly, withouten any specyal beholdyng to any o thing by itself.
Notes
- 1 ↩ME 'and he be wel conseivid' is conditional ('if it is well conceived/understood'). 'Bodely conceyvyng' means construing spiritual counsel in a physical or localized sense, not merely sensual imagination.
- 2 ↩"by thi tale" = according to your telling/reckoning; rendered as "by your account."
- 3 ↩Chapter thesis: bodily "nowhere" equals spiritual ubiquity; "goostly" kept as "spiritually," not flattened to vague interiority.
- 4 ↩"in substaunce" rendered "in its substance" to keep the contemplative object's essential presence, not a vague mood or idea.
- 5 ↩"nought" here is the Cloud's technical "nothing": what the outer/bodily faculties dismiss as void, which the contemplative work deliberately embraces.
- 6 ↩"elles that" taken as the limiting condition (provided that / only so long as), not as "or else."
- 7 ↩"that no man may knowe" read as a relative clause on God (apophatic unknowability), not on the desire.
- 8 ↩ME nought / ought: kept as the Cloud's technical pair 'nothing' / 'something' (created things and sensory content), not ordinary negation or moral obligation.
- 9 ↩ME 'ought' here is aught/something (created being or content), paired against 'nought'/nothing; not the modern modal 'ought'.
- 10 ↩'They' continues 'thi wittys' from the previous sentence: the natural powers of understanding.
- 11 ↩Kept Pauline 'outer man' / 'inner man' rather than flattening to 'self,' matching ME 'utter man' / 'inner'.
The Cloud of Unknowing 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