Operate and work

Meaning

Operate and work are paired in Part I: entrance and preparation · unit 7 to describe body, soul and spirit acting together in agreement. The passage then relates that concord to the human heart's purification alongside the work's successive progress. The verbs therefore concern coordinated activity, not merely the mechanical execution of a procedure. The English preserves both simultaneity, 'at the same time', and succession in the surrounding work. The author's moral demand is that the practitioner and the art should not diverge; pursuing wealth for pride and vanity is presented as incompatible with the desired outcome.