The Quest for the Ultimate Goal

Guyon says that she has written the book for friends who seek a closer relationship with God. She spends the book offering ways of achieving this. Those methods include some specific advice, including that you must be willing to continually turn inward because it's only at the very center of your being that you will find the Lord. Guyon says this isn't as difficult as it seems because God is like a magnet, pulling you inward farther once you have turned in that direction.

Guyon also explains that abandonment is required and says that it's human nature to be reluctant to abandon the self in favor of God. She says that, with the realization of the rewards of this relationship, it's easy to give up the self in favor of this deeper ideal.

Guyon says there are several steps or phases of growth...