Where you are is where you are not

mce — Fri, 12 Sep 2003 02:18:33 +0000

You say I am repeating
Something I have said before. I shall say it again.
Shall I say it again? In order to arrive there,
To arrive where you are, to get from where you are not,
You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.
In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through the way in which you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know
And what you own is what you do not own
And where you are is where you are not.

4 Quartets (East Coker)

This extended portion of East Coker is taken from San Juan de la Cruz (Subido). Therefore Eliot’s involuted introduction of the citation:
You say I am repeating
Something I have said before. I shall say it again.
Shall I say it again?

has de ir por donde no eres

mce — Fri, 12 Sep 2003 01:44:54 +0000

Para venir a gustarlo todo,
no quieras tener gusto en nada;
para venir a saberlo todo,
no quieras saber algo en nada;
para venir a poseerlo todo,
no quieras poseer algo en nada;
para venir a serlo todo,
no quieras ser algo en nada;
Para venir a lo que no gustas,
has de ir por donde no gustas;
para venir a lo que no sabes,
has de ir por donde no sabes;
para venir a poseer lo que no posees,
has de ir por donde no posees;
para venir a lo que no eres,
has de ir por donde no eres.
Cuando reparas en algo,
dejas de arrojarte al todo;
para venir del todo al todo,
has de dejarte del todo en todo,
y cuando lo vengas del todo a tener;
has de tenerlo sin nada querer.

San Juan de la Cruz, Subida al Monte Carmelo (1.xiii.11)

Gigantomachia » San Juan de la Cruz

Where you are is where you are not

has de ir por donde no eres