Six points, Böhme taught, must be understood by anyone who would grasp the divine nature and its relation to creation. These are not dogmas but doorways — each opening onto a vast landscape of contemplation.
The first point concerns the divine will. "Before all things is the will," Böhme wrote. "Not a will that wills something outside itself, for there is nothing outside it. The will wills itself. It is pure desire, pure motion, without object or limit."
"The will is the father of all existence.
It desires, and through desiring creates.
It knows not what it desires,
For it desires before there is anything to know.
This is the first mystery: desire precedes its object."
The second point concerns the drawing in — the contraction by which the infinite will limits itself to become something particular. "The will draws itself inward," Böhme explained, "and in this drawing creates a darkness, a density, a ground. Without this contraction, nothing could exist. All would remain in the infinite blur of pure potential."
The third point is the breaking forth — the expansion that follows contraction. "What is compressed must eventually explode outward. The darkness of the second point gives birth to fire. And fire, unable to remain in its own burning, transforms into light."
"Darkness is the mother of light.
Contraction is the mother of expansion.
Every death gives birth to life.
This is not metaphor but the very structure of being."
The fourth point concerns love. "When light breaks forth from fire," Böhme taught, "it does not destroy the fire but transforms it. The fierce heat becomes gentle warmth. The consuming flame becomes illuminating radiance. This transformation is love — the fire that does not burn but nurtures."
The fifth point is the speaking word — the Logos that gives form to all things. "From the interaction of will, darkness, fire, and light emerges the Word. The Word is the expression of the whole process. It speaks creation into being. Every creature is a word spoken by the divine."
The sixth point concerns the sound — the echo of the Word that continues to reverberate through all creation. "The world is not static," Böhme declared. "It is a continuous speaking. The sound never stops. Listen, and you will hear the divine voice in every moment."
Teaching 16
All creation emerges through a pattern: will desires, contracts, breaks forth as fire, transforms into light through love, speaks the Word, and reverberates as continuous sound. This process happens eternally, in every moment, in every soul.