St. John of the Cross - The Ascent of Mount Carmel

The following verses were written by St. John of the Cross, the Spanish mystic of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, after having spent many months imprisoned in a small cell in Toledo, in 1578. These verses are from his drawing "The Ascent of Mount Carmel," which contained instructions for climbing to the summit, the high state of union:

To reach satisfaction in all

desire its possession in nothing.

To come to the knowledge of all

desire the knowledge of nothing.

To come to possess all

desire the possession of nothing.

To arrive at being all

desire to be nothing.

To come to the pleasure which you have not

you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.

To come to the knowledge which you have not

you must go by a way in which you know not.

To come to the possession you have not

you must go by a way in which you possess not.

To come to be what you are not

you must go by a way in which you are not.

When you turn toward something

you cease to cast yourself upon the all. 

For to go from the all to the all

you must leave yourself in all.

And when you come to the possession of the all

you must possess it without wanting anything.

In this nakedness the spirit finds

its quietude and rest.

For in coveting nothing,

nothing raises it up

and nothing weighs it down,

because it is the center of its humility.