Translator's Note: This marvelous hymn of Saint-Martin offers a particularly clear and lucid glimpse into the entire theosophical "way of the heart" advocated by the Unknown Philosopher. The path of Saint-Martinist inner theurgy, as a radical interiorisation (not "abandonment") of the theurgy of his "first school" (the Elus Coens), and insofar as it carries its own distinct emphases in juxtaposition with that school and with that of other theosophers, is all laid out here in condensed form, with Saint-Martin's characteristically bold and sometimes startling mode of delivery. It is well worth careful study for anyone interested in Saint-Martin's writings as delineating an actual "path" of spiritual ascent.
"God the Brother"
by Louis Claude de Saint-Martin
The
true manner of asking for help—is it not to go courageously to seek it where it
is?
And
is it not through action that strength is nourished?
Also,
he only is great who struggles, because this is the sole means of enjoying our
strength,
And
because the first secret to being raised above our darkness and our faults is
to lift ourselves there.
It
is for the ordeals which God sends us that we have the right to pray, and not
for the wrongs that we commit against ourselves by our cowardice.
When
thy heart is full of God, employ verbal prayer, which then will be the
expression of the Spirit, as it must always be.
When
thy heart is dry and void, employ silent and concentrated prayer; it is this
which will give to thy heart the time and means of warming and filling itself.1
Thou
shalt soon learn to know, through these simple secrets, what are the rights of
the soul of man,
When
Living Hands, to press out its corruption, have squeezed it, and when it hath
then regained its free range through its natural elasticity.
Thou
shalt soon learn to know what is thy soul’s authority over air, over sound, over light and over darkness.
Watch!
Watch as long as thou are in the midst of the sons of violence! They would
persuade thee that they can do something, and they can do nothing.
How
could they be the friends of truth, when the comparisons that they present
to us are always false?
Within
apparent beings there remains no impression of the action of true beings; that
is why the darkness cannot comprehend the
light.
If
thou wishest to comprehend this light, do not compare it to anything of what
thou knowest.
Purify
thyself, ask, receive, act: all the work is in these four heart seasons.
To
purify oneself—is this not prayer, since it is a battle?
And
what man would dare march into battle without purifying himself, since he
cannot take a step without placing his foot upon the steps of the altar?
It
is not enough to have no doubts about the power of the Lord--it is even more
needful to not doubt thine own!
For
He hath given thee a power, since He hath given thee a Name, and He doth not
ask more of thee than to make use of it.2
Do
not therefore leave the entire work to the charge of thy God, since He hath wished
to leave something for thee to do!
He
is ready to pour all blessings without ceasing into thee; He asketh only that
thou keep watch over the evils which surround thee, and to not suffer thyself
to be surprised.
His
love, for thy sake, hath driven out these evils from the Temple; would thine
ingratitude go so far as to grant them reentry?
Man,
man! Where is to be found a destiny which surpasseth thine, since thou art
called to fraternal amity with thy God, and to work in concert with Him!
--Chant 8 from THE MAN OF DESIRE (L’HOMME
DE DESIR) (1790)
translated by Seth Edwards, 2016
title by Robert Amadou
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES:
1. Silent prayer has been well known among mystics and contemplatives--Catholic and Protestant--throughout the history of Christianity. For a classic theosophical account of the method, see Boehme's The Supersensual Life, as well as Johannes Kelpius' indispensable--and probably more immediately accessible--little treatise, A Short, Easy and Comprehensive Method of Prayer.
2. This would appear to be a reference to the ancient practice of invoking God's Name, which is indeed a magnificent form of "quitessential prayer" and high theurgy that is to be found in every major spiritual tradition in the world (japa in Hinduism, dhikr in Islam, nembutsu in Pure Land Buddhism, to name only three). In a Christian context the Name is usually that of Jesus, either in short or long formulas, i.e. the Name itself or the Name as embedded in a longer prayer, such as the Eastern Orthodox "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me!" The use of the Name of Jesus is thought to contain infinite blessings, as the Name is not separate from the Named and its invocation can indeed be seen as Eucharistic. It has been known since at least the time of the Desert Fathers, in both Eastern and Western Christianity (and of course it has roots in the Bible itself), although it seems to have been more prominent as a spiritual method in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, and specifically in Hesychasm (see The Way of the Pilgrim and the Philokalia for the Orthodox perspective). However, with the rise of Christian Kabbalism in the Renaissance, the Name of Jesus was manifested in a new form in the West as the "Pentagrammaton," IHShVH (the Hebrew Tetragrammaton IHVH with the addition of the letter Shin--see the black-and-white inverted heart image from Boehme above for a fine visual synthesis of this lore.) Saint-Martin has extremely interesting things to say about the Tetragrammaton, the Pentagrammaton, and God's Name in general in his writings. He speaks specifically of the practice of invoking of God's Name in his Theosophic Correspondence, with his own "rule" for its use, so it is clear that he was familiar with this method of prayer.
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