opening to the source

"Do thou, then, in the intent practice of mystic contemplation,
leave behind the senses and the operations of the intellect, and
all things that the senses or the intellect can perceive, and all
things which are not and things which are, and strive upwards in
unknowing, as far as may be, towards the union with Him Who
is above all things and knowledge. For by unceasing and
absolute withdrawal from yourself and all things in purity,
abandoning all and set free from all, you shall be borne up to
the ray of divine Darkness that surpasses all being."
--Dionysius, Mystical Theology

"The point of Dionysius is that since the human senses and
intellect are incapable of attaining to God, they must be
'emptied' of creatures or purified in order that God may
pour His light into them. In this sense they are in complete
darkness in regard to created things but they are at the same
time filled with light from God. Hence, we can say that 'The
Divine Darkness is the unapproachable light in which God is
said to dwell.' When the faculties are emptied of all human
knowledge there reigns in the soul a 'mystic silence' leading
it to the climax that is union with God and the vision of Him
as He is in Himself."
--William Johnston, The Mysticism of The Cloud of Unknowing