which are exactly the opposite to those which used to keep us alive;
at last death comes through an complete end of life. God unrelentingly pursued our life into all its hiding places; for it is so corrupt, that when hard pressed, it fortifies itself in its refuges, uses the holiest and most reasonable pretexts for its existence; but, being followed into its last retreat, in a few souls (alas! how few!) it has to abandon them altogether. 47. No pain then comes from the means which caused our death, which are exactly the opposite to those which used to keep us alive; the more reasonable and holy the latter appear, the more unreasonable and defiled the others look. 48. But after death - which causes the soul to depart from self, that is, lose every self-appropriation; for we never know how strongly we cling to things until they are taken away, and he who thinks that he is attached to nothing is often greatly mistaken, being bound to a thousand things, unknown to himself - after death, I repeat, the soul is entirely rid of self, but not at first received into God. There still exists a something, I know not exactly what, a form, a human remnant; but that also vanishes. It is a tarnish which is destroyed by a general, unclear suffering, having no relation to the means of death, since they are passed away and completed; but it is an uneasiness arising from being turned out of self, without being received into its great Original. The soul loses all possession of self, without which it could never be united to God; but it only gradually becomes fully possessed of Him by the new life, which is wholly divine.
CHAPTER 6. UNION WITH GOD: BUT NOT YET RECOGNIZED. 49. As soon as the soul has died in the embraces of the Lord, it is united to Him in truth without any intermediary; for in losing everything, even its treasures, it has lost the means which were in them; and even these greatest treasures were only intermediaries. So from that moment it is united to God; but does not recognize it, or enjoy the fruits of its union, until He enlivens it and becomes its life principle. A bride fainting in the arms of her husband is closely united to him, but she does not enjoy the blessedness of the union, and may even be unconscious of it; but when he has looked at her for some time, fainting from excess of love, and recalls her to life by his tender caresses, then she sees that she is has the one her soul loves, and that she is possessed by him.