The Kingdom of the Lovers of God
Van den rike der ghelieven (The Realm of the Lovers) stands as one of Jan van Ruysbroeck's most profound explorations of the mystical life, written during his mature period at the Augustinian monastery of Groenendaal outside Brussels. Composed in Middle Dutch sometime between 1335 and 1350, this treatise emerged from Ruysbroeck's pastoral concern for those seeking the deepest union with God, addressing both the heights of mystical experience and the practical discipline required to attain them.
Ruysbroeck structures his teaching around three ascending modes of spiritual life: the active life of virtue and good works, the interior life of devotion and contemplation, and the contemplative life of direct union with God. He argues that genuine mystical experience requires not the abandonment of moral effort but its perfection, insisting that the soul must be thoroughly purified through active virtue before it can receive the highest graces. The work's central insight concerns what Ruysbroeck calls the "common life" - a state where the mystic, having touched the divine ground, returns to active service while maintaining interior union. This prevents the quietistic error of remaining absorbed in contemplation while neglecting love of neighbor. Throughout, Ruysbroeck employs the metaphor of divine love as an eternal flowing forth and return, describing how the soul participates in the very life of the Trinity through self-emptying love.
The Realm of the Lovers influenced generations of Rhineland mystics and contributed significantly to the development of the devotio moderna movement. Ruysbroeck's insistence on balancing contemplation with active charity provided a theological framework that avoided both sterile activism and self-absorbed mysticism. Who should read this: serious students of Christian mysticism who want to understand the systematic development of contemplative theology, and experienced practitioners of contemplative prayer seeking theological grounding for advanced spiritual states. This is not an introductory work - it assumes familiarity with the basics of Christian spirituality and contemplative practice.