7. Thus, in her ascension towards divinity, the soul advances until,
having risen above everything that is foreign to her, she alone with
Him who is alone, beholds, in all His simplicity and purity, Him from
whom all depends, to whom all aspires, from whom everything draws
its existence, life and thought. He who beholds him is overwhelmed
with love; with ardor desiring to unite himself with Him, entranced
with ecstasy. Men who have not yet seen Him desire Him as the Good;
those who have, admire Him as sovereign beauty, struck simultaneously
with stupor and pleasure, thrilling in a painless orgasm, loving
with a genuine emotion, with an ardor without equal, scorning all
other affections, and disdaining those things which formerly they
characterized as beautiful. This is the experience of those to whom
divinities and guardians have appeared; they reck no longer of the
beauty of other bodies. Imagine, if you can, the experiences of those
who behold Beauty itself, the pure Beauty, which, because of its
very purity, is fleshless and bodiless, outside of earth and heaven.
All these things, indeed are contingent and composite, they are not
principles, they are derived from Him. What beauty could one still wish
to see after having arrived at vision of Him who gives perfection to
all beings, though himself remains unmoved, without receiving anything;
after finding rest in this contemplation, and enjoying it by becoming
assimilated to Him? Being supreme beauty, and the first beauty, He
beautifies those who love Him, and thereby they become worthy of love.
This is the great, the supreme goal of souls; this is the goal which
arouses all their efforts, if they do not wish to be disinherited of
that sublime contemplation the enjoyment of which confers blessedness,
and privation of which is the greatest of earthly misfortunes. Real
misfortune is not to lack beautiful colors, nor beautiful bodies,
nor power, nor domination, nor royalty. It is quite sufficient to
see oneself excluded from no more than possession of beauty. This
possession is precious enough to render worthless domination of
a kingdom, if not of the whole earth, of the sea, or even of the
heavens--if indeed it were possible, while abandoning and scorning all
that (natural beauty), to succeed in contemplating beauty face to face.