Tao Te Ching
Madame Guyon Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon
1648 – 1717 CE
Madame Guyon, Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon (1648 - 1717)
French mystic, key advocate of Quietism, strong influence on the Quakers and other anti-materialistic Christian traditions; Madame Guyon was widowed at 28 having already borne 5 children. Advocating the ‘prayer of quiet’ and interior realization - teachings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross - she ran afoul of the Roman Catholic Church’s emphasis on believing in only external authority, was branded a heretic, and imprisoned in the Bastille for 7 years. Praying all the time and finding her God in every detail of life, she exemplified belief in basic goodness, the sacredness of all experience, and a genuine, European, Wu Wei tradition.
Lineages
Christian Humanism Poets Women of Wisdom
Eras
Chinese
Qing dynasty (1644 – 1912 CE)Sources
Quotes by Madame Guyon (9 quotes)
“I have never found any who prayed so well as those who had never been taught how”
from Autobiography of Madame Guyon
Chapters:
12. This Over That
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from Autobiography of Madame Guyon
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“It is harder to die to our virtues than to our vices… our attachments are the stronger as they are more spiritual.”
from Autobiography of Madame Guyon
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“Nothing less than a divine operation can empty us of the self.”
from Autobiography of Madame Guyon
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“The more we learn what humility is, the less we discover of it in ourselves”
from Autobiography of Madame Guyon
Chapters:
67. Three Treasures
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“Whenever we endeavor to bring about our own perfection, or that of others, by our own efforts, the result is simply imperfection.”
from Autobiography of Madame Guyon
Chapters:
57. Wu Wei
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“No one will gain all without having lost all.”
from Autobiography of Madame Guyon
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“The more wants we have, the further we are from God”
from Autobiography of Madame Guyon
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“Let no one ask a stronger mark of an excellent love to God than that we are insensible to our own reputation.”
from Autobiography of Madame Guyon
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