No man is worthy of heavenly consolation who has not first practiced diligently in the school of holy contrition. If your hard mind is to be softened / your closed heart is to be opened again / then go into your chamber and do not let the tumult of the world in. As the Scripture says: in your chambers speak to your heart / until it becomes sore and soft.
Here is the English translation of the text you provided:
Since I was a monk, I believed I must be lost if I felt any carnal desire, such as lust, anger, hatred, envy, and the like, toward a brother. I tried many things, confessing every day, but it did not help; for such desires kept returning.
No one can be enlightened unless he is first purified, purified and completed; nor can anyone be united with God unless he is first enlightened, so there are these three ways: purification, enlightenment, union.
The path of following Heaven’s Will in a state of empathy with God is not one that many people can find through common sense. I would like to tell you, however, that a person who opens his or her original mind and exercises keen insight can discover a new consciousness by which to perceive the spirit world and the Will of God, who is alive and carries out His work in the world of reality.
God dwells where there is total unity. Where would you want to meet God? At the top of a hill? In New York? The place to meet God is in your heart and mind.
If you make yourself a dwelling place of God then you do not have to go to God; God will come to you.
© BLI - Thomas Schuh 2024