Thanks, Phil. That is a fine summary of a rich topic.

Here's a passage from Ruusbroec's "The Sparkling Stone" that illustrates the perpetual differentiation between creature and Creator, and how the human self is never dissolved into Divinity, even during the most unified state of infused contemplation:

"If the spirit observes itself when it is on fire in love, it will be aware of distinction and difference between itself and God; but when it is consumed in this fire, then it is onefold and without distinction and accordingly feels nothing but unity, for the measureless flame of God's love consumes and devours all that it can enfold in its own self(p. 159)."


John Ruusbroec: The Spiritual Espousals and Other Works, The Classics of Western Spirituality, 1985.