The God-Enlightened Guide

In what manner the souls are guided. Discourse 1.

...not have those persons who could introduce us into such a state? Truly, we can be certain that, should this second or mediate means Spiritual progress achieved through external help, such as books, mentors, or religious community. be absolutely lacking to us, nevertheless the first or immediate guidance Direct communication or influence from God to the soul without human intermediaries. will by no means fail us, unless it be through our own fault; and if this should be lacking to us, we may quite certainly lay the blame upon ourselves. One day we will also see in God the reason why we did not have these mediate means, and since we had to do without them, why we then also could not accept the immediate means and adapt ourselves to them—that is, why we were unable to make use of what God does and wants to do in an immediate way in and through us. This is for the reason that such immediate working original: "Bewirckung"; refers to the active influence of the Holy Spirit within the individual. is all too pure and spiritual, as well as too invisible and too far removed from our own light and understanding. To receive it, we would have to die to ourselves and go out from ourselves more than we either want to or can in the state we are in at that time, in order to learn to submit ourselves to this mediate Though the text says "mediate" (mittelbare) here, the context suggests the author may be referring to the difficulty of submitting to "immediate" guidance when external help is gone. guidance.

5. Here we have the reason why a great number of souls will never reach perfection, namely because they find no means and no guide who, according to the eternal counsel of God regarding them, is suitable for them; for so that