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Written by an anonymous English monk during the late fourteenth century, The Cloud of Unknowing is a sublime expression of what separates God from humanity and is widely regarded as a hallmark of Western literature and spirituality. A work of simplicity, courage, and lucidity, it is a contemplative classic on the deep mysteries of faith.
Lift up your heart to God with a humble impulse of love and have himself as your aim, not any of his goods ... Set yourself to rest in this darkness, always crying out after him whom you love. For if you are to experience him or to see him at all, insofar as it is possible here, it must always be in this cloud and in this darkness. -- The Cloud of Unknowing
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
About the Author
Christian philosopher and teacher Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) helped establish mysticism as a legitimate philosophy. She achieved international fame with the 1911 publication of Mysticism and wrote nearly 40 other books, including novels and poetry. The first woman invited to lecture on theology at Oxford, she was the religion editor for Spectator.
Kim Boykin has a Ph.D. in theology from Emory University. She teaches at Marymount College and is the author of Zen for Christians. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
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Product details
ASIN : B0046A9RU4
Language : English
File size : 174 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
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Print length : 138 pages
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4.5 out of 5 stars 730
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Top reviews from Australia
Alwyn Noronha
2.0 out of 5 stars Boring
Reviewed in Australia on 9 May 2020
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the book just meanders along until it gets so abstract it it becomes boring to go any further. I will still try and read through the book in time.
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Fr. Neville
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Australia on 15 December 2014
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This spiritual masterpiece demands attention no only in the Middle Ages.
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Samantha Harris
5.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating Guidebook to Contemplative Life
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 September 2019
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This is a classic guide for the true Contemplative who desires to seek God's face, the Mary who sits at Jesus's feet. It wasn't until about halfway through the book that I reached the practical insight so persevere.
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent translation of this incredibly valuable book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 March 2014
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I have struggled with other so called "modern" translation of this book that still sounded like old English to me. The language always got in the way of the deep spiritual concepts and wonderful guidance offered by the anonymous author. This translation keeps the beauty and warmth of the original, but allows ordinary readers like me to focus wholly on the concepts and advice he is offering, many of which need time and contemplation to be fully absorbed. I am thankful to the anonymous author for writing down his advice, and to Bernard Bangley for this excellent and loving translation.
14 people found this helpful
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James Maccabe
5.0 out of 5 stars none have done it better than this writer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 November 2016
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Evelyn Underhill really understood this ancient work by an unknown monk. If you want to understand this mystical book ,
none have done it better than this writer. Excellent!
7 people found this helpful
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Anne
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 July 2017
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I am growing in understanding of this text, but it could be a challenge for the general reader
3 people found this helpful
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Andy H
5.0 out of 5 stars ? ....
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 March 2020
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Great quality book, I am still to read and from other reviews - wish me luck!.
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Duncan Moss
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 December 2020
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A classic
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Aquinas
5.0 out of 5 stars I was disappointed and purchased Evlyn underhills translation instead which I find ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 July 2014
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I found this particular translation of the Cloud more difficult to understand. I thought the English would be more up to date than it is. I was disappointed and purchased Evlyn underhills translation instead which I find very beautiful and would highly recommend its simplicity.
8 people found this helpful
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S. Burns
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for any Christian who wants to learn more
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 January 2019
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Brilliant for students of Christian spirituality
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gerry divine
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2015
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Very good spiritual book full of insights
One person found this helpful
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E. Pascal-n
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 March 2018
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Thnak you so much
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PS
5.0 out of 5 stars Precious and helpful. A spiritual guide that is timeless ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 January 2017
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Precious and helpful. A spiritual guide that is timeless.
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Tony
5.0 out of 5 stars This book knows where it’s going
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 November 2017
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A book to stretch the mind
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Wren
4.0 out of 5 stars Mysticism
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 June 2014
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Very useful though the translation is not as easy to read as more recent trans;ations but it being available on Kindle means it can be easily available
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corricook
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 March 2016
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Great Thanks
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William Heath
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great classics of religeous contemplation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2014
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One of the great classics of religeous contemplation. For all those who seek and for those who believe they have found.
2 people found this helpful
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Happy Camper
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on 29 January 2016
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Great to have on my digital devices for a very cheap price. Highly recommend
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Judith Oldridge
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent condition!
Reviewed in Canada on 1 February 2013
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Excellent condition, and it was easy to obtain in Canada. It is a book well worth the money. We live in a small town, and don't have a book store for miles around! So this is such a blessing! Thank you so much!
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in Canada on 10 April 2017
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The book is great but this translation isn't.
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Andrew McDonald
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on 24 October 2014
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An excellent translation of an important read for any serious Christian who desires to pray more effectively.
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Nancy Wanda Neumann
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring
Reviewed in Canada on 5 October 2014
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This is a book of constant inspiration
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Elsie
4.0 out of 5 stars Cloud of Unknowing:The classic of Medieval Mysticism
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 September 2012
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The book arrived promply and in excellent condition. This is a book to read slowly and savour the depth of meaning within the words. An excellent book for a study group.
2 people found this helpful
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Susan Roddy
5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, I hope to grow into it
Reviewed in Canada on 12 November 2015
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Fascinating, nonsensical, brilliant, I hope to grow into it.
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Avid Reader
2.0 out of 5 stars This version is still in "ancient" English
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 December 2012
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We tried the book and the principles and encouragement s are excellent. However, we found it too distracting perpetually having to decipher the "ancient" style of English. After a short trial, we sent it back and with the refund, bought a different version in modern English.
4 people found this helpful
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Mr Peter Essex
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 June 2016
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Cannot understand the old English text
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Sujittra Chaturongkul
5.0 out of 5 stars He makes me feel that there's still something good left of our humanity.
Reviewed in the United States on 27 August 2015
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I bought it for the reason that it says it's a Christian classic, and also I'd heard a lot about this book while reading about Christian mysticism. It's such a great book. The author is warmhearted, witty, genial, down-to-earth, very mature, contemplative, deep type of a guy. After I left the book for a while, I had the sense of a "true peace" and a "comfort with God" ( his words in quotations ) when coming back to it.
Evelyn Underhill writes the Introduction and says " The MS from which it was made is unknown to us." It's still controversial who the author really was. But it was written around the latter half of the fourteenth century, England. There are so many things around and about him such as his other books, his being a cloistered monk, his being a Carthusian etc. which are still uncertain and unprovable.
No doubt that the book is a mystical treatise. It talks about how to get to God by going over the cloud of unknowing leaving behind the cloud of forgetting. All just have to be between you and God, other things else have to be forgotten. It's the "speedily springing unto God as a sparkle from the coal." There are two kinds of the church life, the active life and the contemplative life. The active life is the life of busying with all kind of religious activities such as helping the poor, the needy, and doing other charity works. The contemplative life "should be occupied, in reading, thinking, and praying" and "contemplative sitteth in peace with one thing." His view of praying is that, "Prayer in itself properly is not else, but a devout intent direct unto God, for getting of good and removing of evil." And God is, " The everlastingness of God is His length. His love is His breadth. His might is His height. And His wisdom is His deepness."
The quotations were just to let you know of how he writes and his main ideas. I would recommend this book for anyone, religious, or mystic. I love the author so much, he makes me feel that there's still something good left of our humanity.
35 people found this helpful
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Paul Towers
5.0 out of 5 stars An invitation of unknowing
Reviewed in the United States on 29 November 2017
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This is an excellent book concerning the understanding and practice of the contemplative life. Its purpose is clear and written by one who experiences this life. I would recommend the Cloud of Unknowing to anyone who desires a closer encounter with God.
15 people found this helpful
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Kay Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars A very useful translation
Reviewed in the United States on 6 January 2013
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The very simple language of this translation makes this spiritual classic available to those who might otherwise find it difficult to understand. I use it in a contemplative prayer group which I facilitate in a prison for inmates with psychological disorders. Many of them are illiterate or nearly so. We are moving very slowly through this book because it has stirred up the best discussions we have ever had., They are really getting it. I have used other more beautiful translations with better educated groups and many just don't like the book. I think it might be useful for children. This book really fills a need.
43 people found this helpful
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L. Reffett
4.0 out of 5 stars Know and Experience God's Depth and Love.
Reviewed in the United States on 16 August 2014
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The book is written by an anonymous English monk of the 14th Century, and he starts out with a warning - Only those who are serious in being a "perfect follower of Christ" is to read this book. I found this book very helpful in understanding how to go beyond meditation, and the monk states the exercise is "to hold nothing in your mind, but place yourself in the presence of God." The cloud of unknowing is a reference to a spiritual reality that we do not always know what may be blocking or hindering our relationship with God. We cannot completely know or understand God, but in this exercise, we do not use our mind, thoughts, feelings, or even self, to try to understand God. We simply place ourselves in the presence of God, and He come to us in a deeper way. I am currently reading, Open Mind, Open Heart by Thomas Keating, which seems to be expanding on this monk's work and the contemplative life. Keating states, "God's first language is silence." God meets you in the silence, and you "let God draw your love up to the cloud, for he who seeks God perfectly will not take his rest of any angel or saint." We do not ask God for anything or seek enlightenment in this exercise. We do not engage in thoughts about God or put any image in our mind which becomes a spiritual cloud, obscuring our quiet time with God. It is like being in a room with a friend you love and trust, and you know each other so well that you do not need to talk, but you are just enjoy being together, enjoying each other's love and company. This exercise is not to replace other forms of pray or the study of God's Holy Word, perhaps through Lectio Divina, where you Red, Reflect, Respond, and Rest in the Scripture and God. I will end this with how the monk ends his book, "Blessings to you, Spiritual Friend, and I beseech Almighty God that true peace, sane counsel, and spiritual comfort in God with abundance of grace always be with you, and with all those who on earth love God. Amen."
26 people found this helpful
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Silence
5.0 out of 5 stars As close as possible
Reviewed in the United States on 12 December 2018
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This translation is as close to exact as possible (I guess) given the history of its existence and of the English language.
This copy I sent to my brother who has a degree in (protestant) theology and objects to my being Catholic.
If he can understand it.
Thank you.
4 people found this helpful
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Asuvas
4.0 out of 5 stars It is my favorite translation. The format gets only 2 stars
Reviewed in the United States on 18 October 2014
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The actual text gets 5 stars. It is my favorite translation. The format gets only 2 stars; it is hard to read in my Kindle, as the pages are laid out like images--if you enlarge them so you can read it, the text doesnt wrap, and the lines grow longer until half the sentence is off the page.
16 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Horrendous translation
Reviewed in the United States on 3 January 2021
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The translation of this beautiful text obscures the glorious beauty of the book. If anyone ever actually spoke in "thees and thous" and "untos and wherefors" I have no doubt no two people ever understood the meaning of the speaker.
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Patricia A. Long
2.0 out of 5 stars Seeing through the Cloud
Reviewed in the United States on 3 June 2013
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I first read this book many, many years ago when I was a third degree Discalced Carmelite, We read it as a group and had discussions facilitated by a semi-cloistered Carmelite nun. It was such a beautiful book by a Catholic brother who totally gave himself over to God. It was so inspiring.
So, I decided to read it again. But this time I had trouble understanding the language he used. However, I plodded on, occasionally running into a sparkling jewel of a thought that I could meditate on. I never did finish it though because it was just too much work without a "interpreter."
10 people found this helpful
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R. Mcmillen
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on Biblical Contemplation but Middle English can be a challenge
Reviewed in the United States on 9 January 2021
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Love the content but I had some problems understanding this version. Bought an Audible version in modern English to continue my study.
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Jessica
2.0 out of 5 stars I should not have wasted my money on it
Reviewed in the United States on 27 September 2017
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This book is not complete; this is not the complete book and the print is so small, even if you don't need glasses, it takes a magnifying glass to read it. I should not have wasted my money on it.
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William D. Curnutt
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic on the contemplative life
Reviewed in the United States on 3 January 2012
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This short book written hundreds of years ago by an unknown Monk is interesting, concise, humbling and relevant even today for the Christian who is seriously curious about delving into the spiritual realm of a contemplative.
This is not a "scholarly" writing, but that of a mentor to his friends whom he wants to instruct on how to go deeper in their walk with Christ. Some of the writing is a bit difficult at first to understand, you must read with a meditative reading style. I would alsonsuggestnreading it out loud as it will help with your attention and understanding.
The author expresses that this will be a difficult read for someone knew to the thoughts of a contemplative lifestyle. He recommends that you need to read this through two or three times to fully grasp the thoughts and lessons.
He also acknowledges that this task will be hard work. It doesn't come easy. It doesn't come quickly. It is a calling from God. But after all the hard labor the rewards are worth it.
I think that this translation by Harper Collins is well done and worth your consideration.
Enjoy!
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Charlie White
5.0 out of 5 stars Clearly, an inspired text
Reviewed in the United States on 20 April 2014
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For those willing to invest the time in wading through this book, with it's olde English prose, you will be rewarded with a treasure of insight . For those unwilling (or unable) to invest the time, you might want to find something a little more suited for your available time. The blessings shall be the same, if you follow your desires for grace.
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TDR
5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Classic of Catholic Literature!
Reviewed in the United States on 11 November 2006
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Written by an anonymous Monk in the 1300s, you will find this book to be very different than many other Catholic reads. As a Catholic, I found this book to be refreshing and thought-provoking, and yet even more proof that there are so many different sides to Catholicism, Catholic thought, and Catholic practice. At times, the book has a very Eastern feel to it- almost Buddhist-like- and yet at other times, it has much more of a classic-medieval-Christian feel...
However, please be forewarned: (1) Even though this version of the book is translated into modern English, the sentences can still be rather long, and are not very concise at times (at least when compared to most modern English writing). So you may find yourself having to re-read some sentences, and/or contemplating the meaning of what you just read- which for me was worth the effort, but may not be for everyone... We are not talking brain-surgery here, but I think you get the idea. (2) This book was written a very long time ago, in a different age with different outlooks on the world- and I think there are strong indicators in certain chapters that the author assumes his readers will (for the most part) be people who are in some religious order of some sort from his time period. Consequently, some readers may find this book interesting, but not that practical for every day use in their lives. However, I also think that there is a large set of people, (especially many Catholics), who will find this book, in addition to being a fascinating read, to also (with its different approach) be very useful in their quest for deeper spirituality.
Sample (from one of the more concise paragraphs): ...Do not hang back then, but labor in it until you experience the desire. For when you first begin to undertake it, all that you will find is a darkness, a sort of cloud of the unknowing; you can not tell what it is, except that you experience in your will a simple reaching out to God. This darkness and cloud is always between you and God, no matter what you do, and it prevents you from seeing Him clearly by the light of understanding in your reason and from experiencing Him in sweetness of love in your affection. So set yourself to rest in this darkness as long as you can, always crying out for Him whom you love. For if you are to experience Him at all, insofar as it is possible here [that is, in this existence], it must always be in this cloud and in this darkness...
There are many chapters, but they are very short. Most will find reading a chapter a day a very realistic goal. I hope you enjoy this highly regarded classic as much as I did!
84 people found this helpful
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C. V. Sawyer
3.0 out of 5 stars The cloud of unknowing
Reviewed in the United States on 19 June 2014
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A bit too esoteric for what I sought, The Cloud of Unknowing is very deep. Though it would serve as a perfect introduction to the contemplative life, I was hoping for a shortcut. Another weak human here.
6 people found this helpful
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S. Crayne
1.0 out of 5 stars Botched Kindle edition
Reviewed in the United States on 17 June 2015
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I had read about half of the William Johnston translation in an old copy of an Image paperback. I have old eyes- the forty year old pb had small print- so, knowing Underhill's own writing, I ordered her translation today on my Kindle, for the bargain price of 99 cents. Big mistake. I just deleted it without reading. It's just about illegible: no Table of Contents, formatted in some weird way with footnotes first, I couldn't make any sense of it.
10 people found this helpful
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Ziprgun5
5.0 out of 5 stars An enigma and paradox in a conundrum wrapped in a cloud. Essential reading.
Reviewed in the United States on 2 February 2015
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This classic deserves a reading by any religious person on earth – no matter what the religion (re=again;ligare=to attach; ie, to reattach), there comes moments in a person seeking that are drier than a bone in the desert. But when you reach the cloud of unknowing you know it. It's an enigma a paradox in a conundrum wrapped in a cloud.
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Clarice Jane Mullikin
5.0 out of 5 stars The writing style is unique but the understandings I gleaned ...
Reviewed in the United States on 19 March 2018
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The writing style is unique but the understandings I gleaned as I studied this along with St. John of the Cross 'Dark Night of the Soul' was gratifying.
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JPra
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on 4 October 2020
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Great book and seller.
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Dennis McCown
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful spiritual insights’
Reviewed in the United States on 25 November 2019
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Challenging English but well worth the effort!
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mary a echols
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 29 April 2017
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Wonderful addition to my spiritual library.
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Desiree Valenzuela
5.0 out of 5 stars for anyone interested in the tradition of Christian meditation
Reviewed in the United States on 25 March 2013
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this was written in the 13th century, by an obviously intelligent, well educated, and warm-hearted monk with a real desire to help others. Not all meditation traditions/techniques derive from eastern (Hindu, Buddhist, etc) sources- a common misconception which I once believed myself. The language has been updated, but certainly not dumbed-down. God Bless our unknown author for sharing this with us... the methods described in this book are not easy, quick-fix, psycho-babble of the sort to be found in all too many modern books on the subject of meditation. But they are very well worth the time and effort for the sincere seeker of God and His truth. A very old Christian monastic tradition with ancient roots, just waiting to be discovered and put to use by the rest of us. Highly reccomended.
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