SENSUALITY | By A 14th Century Catholic Monk

In The Cloud Of Unknowing, a contemplative text, the author explores the concept of Sensuality as a faculty of the soul.

Sensuality is described as a power residing in the bodily senses, responsible for our physical awareness and experiences of the world.

It is divided into two aspects: one that attends to the necessities of the body, and another that caters to the desires of the bodily senses.

Before the advent of sin, Sensuality was obedient to the Will, acting as a servant. It never conveyed disordered likes or dislikes regarding bodily or spiritual matters.

However, “post-sin”, (Human’s veil of illusion into imagined separation) Sensuality has become disobedient unless guided by grace in the Will.

Sensuality, when uncontrolled, grumbles when the body lacks necessities, encourages excess in indulging bodily desires, and experiences discontent in the absence of pleasurable things.

It also delights in the presence of pleasing things and is displeased in their absence.

To counteract this disobedience, the anonymous author of The Cloud Of Unknowing, advocates for the rule of grace in the Will. This involves accepting the pain associated with the “original sin” with meekness and moderation, restraining Sensuality from excessive pleasure in the presence of comforts, and curbing lust in the absence of discomforts.

Failure to do so, leads to a life dominated by worldly pursuits and bodily pleasures, making it more bestial and carnal than either human or spiritual.

The Cloud Of Unknowing

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HERE BEGINNETH THE SIX AND SIXTIETH CHAPTER

“SENSUALITY is a power of our soul, recking and reigning in the bodily wits, through the which we have bodily knowing and feeling of all bodily creatures, whether they be pleasing or unpleasing. And it hath two parts: one through the which it beholdeth to the needfulness of our body, another through the which it serveth to the lusts of the bodily wits. For this same power is it, that grumbleth when the body lacketh the needful things unto it, and that in the taking of the need stirreth us to take more than needeth in feeding and fur- thering of our lusts: that grumbleth in lacking of pleasing creatures, and lustily is delighted in their presence: that grumbleth in presence of misliking creatures, and is lustily pleased in their absence. Both this power and the thing that it worketh in be contained in the Memory.

Before ere man sinned was the Sensuality so obedient unto the Will, unto the which it is as it were servant, that it ministered never unto it any unordained liking or grumbling in any bodily creature, or any ghostly feigning of liking or misliking made by any ghostly enemy in the bodily wits. But now it is not so: for unless it be ruled by grace in the Will, for to suffer meekly and in measure the pain of the original sin, the which it feeleth in absence of needful comforts and in presence of speedful discomforts, and thereto also for to restrain it from lust in presence of needful comforts, and from lusty plesaunce in the absence of speedful discomforts: else will it wretchedly and wantonly welter, as a swine in the mire, in the wealths of this world and the foul flesh so much that all our living shall be more beastly and fleshly, than either manly or ghostly.”

Description:

The Cloud of Unknowing, an anonymous work from around 1375 during the peak of European monasticism, is a significant exploration of contemplative prayer and meditation. This enduring text, designed as a guide for young monks, sets itself apart by avoiding the stern and didactic tone often found in instructional writings of its time.

Rather than imposing itself with severity, The Cloud of Unknowing creates a gentle and inviting atmosphere. It extends a warm, maternal call to readers, encouraging them to draw nearer to God through the practices of prayer and meditation. The author shares insights into the techniques employed by medieval monks to nurture and sustain a contemplative knowledge of God.

Beyond its immediate audience, The Cloud of Unknowing has earned recognition for its significance in a broader sense. It is a testament to the human understanding of the creator, regardless of time, location or religious umbrella.

In The Cloud of Unknowing, the encouragement of contemplative prayer and meditation can be seen as a form of devotion that goes beyond conceptual knowledge. The work advocates for a prayerful state where the practitioner surrenders intellectual understanding and enters into a deep, experiential communion with the divine. By emphasizing the cloud of unknowing as a symbol of the incomprehensibility of God.