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Meister Eckhart & Christian Mysticism

Let's Talk Religion・36 minutes read

In Europe, Christianity faces skepticism due to misunderstanding and is seen as outdated and irrational compared to Eastern religions. Meister Eckhart's mysticism and theology emphasize unity with God beyond traditional concepts, involving detachment to reach a complete union with the divine.

Insights

  • Misunderstandings about Christianity in secularized Europe stem from a shallow comprehension of its theological depth, leading to misconceptions and misrepresentations in popular culture, particularly regarding the concept of mysticism.
  • Meister Eckhart, a significant figure in European Christian history, introduced a unique mysticism that emphasized unity between the soul and God, going beyond traditional Christian theology. His teachings, influenced by Eastern religions and Christian mystics, focused on the indistinct unity with God, challenging conventional beliefs and leading to controversy over accusations of heresy.

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Recent questions

  • Why is Christianity viewed skeptically in Europe?

    Due to misconceptions and perceived irrationality.

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Summary

00:00

"Christianity in Europe: Misunderstood and Mystical"

  • In secularized Europe, being religious is often viewed as embarrassing and irrational, with Christianity being the primary target of skepticism.
  • Christianity is perceived as outdated and irrational, with beliefs in a divine figure seen as silly, contrasting with Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism.
  • Misunderstandings about Christianity stem from a shallow understanding of its theological depth, leading to misrepresentations in popular culture.
  • Christian theology and mysticism share similarities with Eastern religions like Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, and Taoism.
  • Meister Eckhart, a German Dominican friar, is highlighted as a significant figure in European Christian history, known for his mysticism and philosophy.
  • Eckhart's early life is obscure, but he entered the Dominican order, becoming a friar and engaging in teaching and preaching.
  • The Dominican order emphasized the use of philosophy, particularly Aristotelianism, to complement theology, contrasting with the Franciscans.
  • Eckhart's career involved teaching theology and philosophy, moving between different cities, holding prestigious positions within the Dominican order.
  • Eckhart's sermons, primarily in Middle High German, were emotionally vibrant, contrasting with his Latin prose works, leading to controversy and accusations of heresy.
  • Eckhart's teachings revolved around the concept of the "mysticism of the ground," emphasizing the indistinct unity between the soul and God, beyond traditional Christian theology.

16:16

Eckhart's Uniting with God: Complete Identity

  • Eckhart's concept of uniting with God differs from previous Christian mystics, emphasizing a complete identity rather than just intimacy.
  • Influenced by 13th and 14th-century Christian mystics like Mechthild of Magdeburg and Marguerite Porete, who expressed oneness with God.
  • Eckhart was likely familiar with Marguerite Porete's work, "The Mirror of Simple Souls," which led to her execution.
  • Eckhart was influenced by scholastic philosophers and theologians like Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas, as well as the Beguines.
  • Eckhart's theology goes beyond the concept of ground or grunts, delving into complex topics like God, the soul, creation, and ethics.
  • Eckhart's theology is apophatic, emphasizing that nothing can be said or grasped about God, who is beyond description or understanding.
  • Eckhart identifies God with transcendental qualities like being, existence, goodness, and truth, stating that only God possesses these qualities.
  • Eckhart's in quantum principle explains that created beings participate in God's qualities, like goodness, as they are nothing in themselves.
  • Eckhart views God as transcendent of the world yet immanent in all things, using paradoxes to highlight the limitations of human understanding.
  • Eckhart's metaphysics involves divine outflow and inflow, where everything, including the Trinity, emanates from and returns to the divine ground.

32:20

Eckhart's Detachment: Emptying for Divine Union

  • Eckhart's concept of detachment involves emptying oneself of created things to return to the silent desert of the soul, where God reveals himself.
  • Detachment leads to an awareness of God's indistinction to all things and the unity of our ground, culminating in a knowledge that is essentially a non-knowledge.
  • The soul must be completely empty to be filled by God, akin to the eye seeing color because it lacks color itself.
  • God, for Eckhart, is considered nothing in the sense of being no thing, with his essence being an incomprehensible abyss or nothingness that encompasses all things.
  • Detaching from created things means detaching from nothingness and returning to absolute fullness, leading to the birth of the word in one's soul and participation in the sonship of Christ.
  • Eckhart's mystical way involves giving up the nothingness of the created self to become the divine nothing that encompasses all things, allowing God to fill the soul.
  • Breaking through into the divine ground involves going beyond all images and ideas, even beyond God himself, to achieve complete union with the divine.
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