Unity of the Living Ground

“When the inward and God-seeing man has attained to his Eternal Image, and in this clearness, through the Son, has entered into the bosom of the Father; then he is enlightened by Divine truth, and he receives anew, every moment, the Eternal Birth, and he goes forth according to the way of the Light, in a Divine contemplation. And here [is where] our highest blessedness consists.
“You should know that the heavenly Father, as a living ground, with all that lives in Him, is actively turned towards His Son, as to His own Eternal Wisdom. That same Wisdom, with all that lives in it, is actively turned back to the Father, that is, towards the very ground from which it came forth. … But where this wonder is understood and tasted without amazement, there the spirit dwells above itself, and is one with the Spirit of God; and tastes and sees without measure, even as God, the riches which are the Spirit itself in the unity of the living ground, where it possesses itself according to the Way of the uncreated essence.” ~John of Ruysbroeck
Man’s Eternal Image
Why would Ruysbroeck say that something happens when “man has attained to his Eternal Image”? He says that because our Eternal Image is our soul, not our physical body. So when the Bible says that we were created in God’s Image, it has two meanings. One is that it is our soul which is in the Image of God, not our body, and two, created in His image is also a way of saying that God creates everything by forming an image of it in His mind. It is the same way we, as God’s children, create. The difference is that when God creates an image of something in His mind, that thing now exists, whereas, when we create, say a statue in our mind, we still have to go throw the process of carving the statue. So when Ruysbroeck writes of one who has “attained his Eternal Image,” he means a person who has awakened their spirit and developed it into a conscious soul.
Divine Truth
One who has fully developed his or her spiritual faculties does know Divine Truth. This is not found by reading any book or listening to any person speak. It comes from oneness with God and oneness with the All. Such people don’t have to guess at what is true and what is false, they know. This is the Knowing that the Gnostics call Gnosis.
Way of Light
Ruysbroeck says that we achieve this Eternal Oneness and Enlightenment by “going forth according to the Way of the Light.” He is correct that this is the way to spiritual awakening, and eventually full enlightenment, but how does one go forth “according to the Way of Light”? Ruysbroeck couldn’t be specific because of restrictions in his time, but today we can say that this Way of Light is to practice Spiritual Sun-gazing with the Spiritual Sun, which requires instruction from a knowledgeable teacher. It also requires one to be fully devoted to God.
Sees Without Measure
Ruysbroeck adds that one who has achieved this level of enlightenment “ tastes and sees without measure, even as God”. This is possible because when we have achieved oneness with God, then naturally we see, hear, and know everything that God does.








