The third life. On Ruusbroec's mysticism

We live in times where Christians are sensitive to injustices in the world. One cannot proclaim the gospel and tolerate structures of injustice. Ours is a life of spiritual activism. And this it should be.

Ruusbroec, one of the famous mystics in Christianity, became a monk at the age of 60 to focus on the contemplative life. Previously he was active in the religious life as a priest. But for him the time was ripe for something more, deeper, different.

He was, amongst others, a spiritual father for De Groote, who initiated the Modern Devotion, which, in turn, produced Thomas a Kempis and his Imitation of Christ.

The New Devotion was an activist movement. But if one reads the Imitation carefully, the influence of Ruusbroec is clear. It is also a book with clear contemplative moments, focussing on the interior life. But even then, it is in general strongly about the art of life and about the praxis of spirituality.

How should one reflect on these two facets? The interiority of Ruusbroec and the praxis of the New Devotion?

Traditionally, mysticism, we say, always reveals a praxis. The encounter with God and union with God shows itself in an encounter with others. Divine love reaches out to others and care for creation.

Here the active live brings, so to speak, closure. Which made me think of Ruusbroec. He is famous for his Spiritual Wedding in which he takes Matthew 25:6 (the parable of the ten women) as point of departure: Look (1), the bridegroom comes (2). Go out (3) and meet him (4). These four aspects function on three levels:

There is first of all, surprisingly, in Ruusbroec, the great contemplative, a focus on the active life. He begins here and not with contemplation. One grows in God’s image in the working life, the via activa. When God touches you, you pursue a virtuous life, struggle against sin, grows in knowledge, learn to know Jesus better. Live from nature and creation.

There is, however, a further dimension which has to do with the inner life. One grows in the image of God through the desire for intimacy. The via illuminativa nurtures friendship with God. Though spiritual exercises are important and the active life necessary, the interior life moves beyond the sacraments and these exercises. One is open for the eternal love of God. Here one sees the soul before God.

But then follows the even deeper level, the via unitiva, the contemplative life. One grows in the image of God when one experiences God in love. One gives up all knowledge to experience complete purity and clarity. But for this one has to wait. It is given, not grasped. One waits by living a life of purity, longing for God with a burning love. One waits for it in darkness by giving up everything that one normally considers as light. One waits for the Son of God who is the light which penetrates and shines in this darkness. This is about eternal life, about the space beyond knowledge. This is where God touches the spirit. This is where one is united with God, bringing complete joy and fulfillment. One is swimming in the ocean of God's being.


Some believers find this too much. Ruusbroec also wrote that this third life is not for all. And we see it, for example, in the New Devotion, who, perhaps because of the exigence of their time, decided that the active life is for them the challenge which they had to opt for.

But in our broken world, where life itself is no longer regarded as life, where activism is mechanical and therefore often superficial and self-serving, we may be called to take Ruusbroec's third life more seriously. Spirituality and mysticism is, after all about the divine intervention, the divine touch, transformation in the image of God. It is to be given the Holy Spirit which speaks in our heart beyond all understanding, bring us into the holiness of God. And, does not Scripture speak of the time when God will be everything in all? Paul's eschatology ultimately comprises being "with God" forever. We will enter the glorious presence of God (2 Thess.1).


Ruusbroec is well known for his remark that the one who contemplates God should respond immediately and reach out when a poor man asks for water. There is, therefore, indeed restrictions to the contemplative life.

And yet, all our activism and works will not represent or create paradise. There is also the moment when we shall finally give up the active life, when we shall be taken up in eternal light. Ruusbroec writes that the One who has experienced God's love, hungers for more. How different would this world be when people of faith will be driven by the deep hunger for love, over and over again.