“Yet contemplation is not vision, because it
sees 'without seeing' and knows 'without knowing.' It is a more profound depth
of faith, a knowledge too deep to be grasped in images, in words, or even in
clear concepts. It can be suggested by words, by symbols, but in the very
moment of trying to indicate what it knows, the contemplative mind takes back
what it has said, and denies what it has affirmed. For in contemplation we know
by 'unknowing.' Or, better, we know beyond all knowing or 'unknowing.’” —Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation