Note 303 — Chapter III

This first Night is treated of at length in the first book of the Montée du Carmel, and in the first of the Nuit Obscure. The supernatural sensuous enjoyments, alluded to, are described in the Montée du Carmel, liv. II. ch. xi. They are placed in the second Night,—the compensation not taking place immediately; and their recipient is on no account to rely on them, or desire their continuance (p. 444). By ‘sense,’ John understands, not the body merely, but the least disorder of the passions, and all those imperfections so common to beginners which arise from an undue eagerness for religious enjoyments, such, for example, as what he calls spiritual avarice, spiritual luxury, spiritual gourmandise, &c.