Meister Eckhart & Christian Mysticism
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- Опубліковано 24 гру 2020
- Meister Eckhart is an influential, and often surprising, Christian theologian/philosopher/mystics whose writings & sermons have both inspired future thinkers in the catholic church, but also been condemned by the pope as heretical.
Sources/Further Reading:
McGinn, Bernard (2003). "The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart: The Man from Whom God Hid Nothing". Independent Publishers Group.
McGinn, Bernard (1992). "Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher". Classics of Western Spirituality Series. Paulist Press International, U.S.
McGinn, Bernard (1981). "Meister Eckhart: The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense". Classics of Western Spirituality Series. Paulist Press International, U.S.
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#Eckhart #Mysticism #Christianity
“I looked for God. I went to a temple and I didn’t find him there. Then I went to a church and I didn’t find him there. Then I went to a mosque and I didn’t find him there. Then finally I looked in my heart and there he was.”
- Rumi
God bless
Rumi obviously never went to Catholic communion.
I experience god in nature.
True ‘dat
ua-cam.com/video/0cxWG89BLpg/v-deo.html
This is so refreshing. As a priest, I spend most of my time preaching this exact message. Trying to make people understand that most people's understanding of Christianity today, is based on folk religion and not Christianity. Eckhart is a great hero of mine, and ironically is one of those 'I'm more spiritual than religious', many centuries ago. His use of 'ground' or 'earth' is a physical sciences terminology which translates perfectly to philosophy and spirituality. The earth of an electrical circuit is a good analogy.
ua-cam.com/video/iWeRfIN78yk/v-deo.html
Matthew how and why must you remain a priest? Or how's this where do you preach this exact message. I do not attend any church but would like to hear someones thoughts spoken about that message.
Most of my non- Christian friends and acquaintances’ understanding of Christianity today is based on the historical-and often unchristian-actions of institutional churches and particularly of people in positions of power in those institutions. Often racist, mysogonist, homophobic, sexually abusive and repressive actions that would have Jesus spinning in his tomb, were he still in that tomb, lol. Unfortunately, it seems to be human nature to create institutions of power, and for wounded people to be drawn to positions of power where they can express their woundedness by using power to oppress others.
Self-initiation Kabbalah bypasses The Cross and Grace. Blind leading the blind!
I'm sorry but Christianity is a religion of one book and that one book doesn't contain what Eckhart said about God. In fact during his time the church was against him and other mystics. The church was against seekers they just want people to believe and obey. Mysticism isn't about beliefs and obedience. It's going beyond the commandments and what's written in scriptures right into the realm of experience and church leaders are easily threatened by that. The mystics were indeed Christians but Christianity is an institution and not a way of seeking. The crude ways of the church is very much unlike Daoism, Bhuddism and the different paths under Hinduism, where questioning and finding one's own path is encouraged.
I have been a student of Eckhart for more than 30 years and after some time ordained a deacon and Benedictine monastic. This is the best summary of his teaching I have enjoyed.
Are you still a monk?
@@kselka1 Katia Yes, I am still a monk but not Roman Catholic which may surprise you. Benedictine monasticism has many branches beyond the Roman Church. Members of my order are not cloistered and may be married or celibate.
@@Barbarossa19 Are you orthodox? from what I know some monks follow the benedictine rule
@@Barbarossa19 Hi Bryn, I found your comment to be really striking.
Would you be willing to explain a little what your background is? I'll Google Benedictine monasticism, but yes it would be truly wonderful to hear more about your life.
777
Absolutely incredible thinking from Meister Eckhart, perhaps the greatest of the Christian mystics. I fear most Christians generally do have a very shallow understanding of Christianity themselves and Eckhart and Marguerite Porete offer a dimension of Christian experience most churches would shun. Richard Smoley's book "Inner Christianity" is a great read on Christian mysticism. Indeed a lot of similarities to Śūnyatā and Vedānta, my Buddhism professor wrote his dissertation on Meister Eckhart! Thank you for this video Filip as we celebrate the birth of the Word in us. Merry Christmas!
Chistianism and Buddism have a lot of similarities, more than ee think, even if there are between miles and miles of land.
There is a lot to be explored and appreciated in Christian mysticism and theology. And the comparisons one can draw between these various religious traditions is really an academic guilty pleasure for me.
Thank you Noah, you've been part of this channel for a long time and I appreciate you veterans sticking around. Merry Christmas!
Paul in the Bible literally rebukes two early Christian Gnostics but okay buddy keep assuming most Christians dont understand their own religion. You’re a fool
@@jayden1085 No need for Fundies like you around here mate.
Christianity is about how wicked we are and how much of a need of the savior Jesus Christ we have , he death and resurrection
I am amazed at how aligned I am with Eckhart’s teaching having never studied any of his works. This is an incredible commentary that is having a deep impact in me.
This was also my relation in respect to M. Eckhart. I had unknowingly practiced Christian Mysticism pursuit of the Divine. This opens the door to honoring transpersonal “experiences” (or “awareness” as our video author has put it) as essential to spirituality. “Mysticism” itself is scary and even taboo for the literalists who cannot transcend their own limitations.
Dr Rowan Williams former archbishop of Wales and Canterbury did a series of lectures on the mystics. His lecture on Eckhart is superb. St John of the Cross is also excellent.
@@byronofcascadia8629
🐟 07. GOD (OR NOT):
There has never been, nor will there ever be, even the SLIGHTEST shred of evidence for the existence of the Godhead, that is, a Supreme Person, for the notion of an omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent Deity is both profoundly illogical and extremely incongruous, to put it mildly. At the risk of seeming facetious, any person who believes in a gigantic man (or woman) perched in the heavens, is a literal moron.
Why would the Absolute require, for instance, unlimited power, when there is naught but the Absolute extant? Of course, theists would argue that when God creates the material universe, He requires total power and control over His creation (otherwise He wouldn’t be, by definition, the Supreme). However, that argument in itself easily falls apart when one understands the simple fact that time is a relative concept and therefore has no influence on the eternal, timeless Absolute. The same contradiction applies to omnipresence. The ONLY omni-property that comes close to being an accurate description of Ultimate Reality is omniscience, since The Monad knows absolutely everything (i.e. Itself).
The English word “PERSON” literally means “for sound”, originating from the Latin/Greek “persona/prósōpa”, referring to the masks worn by actors in ancient European theatrical plays, which featured a mouth hole to enable the actors to speak through. Therefore, the most essential aspect of personhood is that the individual possesses a face. The fact that we do not usually refer to a decapitated body as a “person”, seems to confirm this claim. If you were confronted, simultaneously, with a severed head and a decapitated body, and asked to point to the person, would you point to the head or point to the body? I'm sure most everyone would indicate the head, at least in the first instance, agreed?
Theists, by definition, believe that there is a Supreme Deity (God or The Goddess), which incorporates anthropomorphic characteristics such as corporeal form (even if that form is a “spiritual” body, whatever that may connote), with a face (hence the term “PERSON”), and certain personality traits such as unique preferences and aversions. Of course, they also believe that their fictitious God or Goddess embodies the aforementioned omni-properties, but as clearly demonstrated above, that is also a largely nonsensical, fallacious assertion.
Of course, the more INTELLIGENT theists normally counter with “But God is not a person in the same sense as we humans are persons. God is an all-powerful spiritual being, without a body. He is all-knowing, all-loving and present everywhere”. In that case, God is most definitely not a person in the etymological sense, and not even a person in the common-usage of the word. When did you last hear anyone refer to an omnipresent “entity” as being a person? The mere fact that theists use personal pronouns in reference to their non-existent Deity (usually the masculine pronoun “He”), proves that they have a very anthropomorphic conception of Absolute Reality. If God is not a male, then why use masculine pronouns? If God is, in fact, male, then why would the Supreme Person require gender? Does God require a female mate in order to reproduce? The most popular religious tradition, Christianity, claims that God is “Spirit”, yet “spirit” is a very vague and undefined term.
Incidentally, the term “person” can be (and, in my opinion, should be) used in reference to any animal that possesses a FACE, since most humans do not accept the fact that animals are persons, worthy of moral consideration. In recent times, animal rights activists have been heard referring to animals in such a way (as persons). The fact that vegans are still relatively rare in most nations/countries, seems to validate this assertion (that most humans do not see other animals, like birds, fish, and mammals, as persons), otherwise, non-vegetarians/non-vegans would have no qualms about saying such things as “I'm planning to consume three persons for dinner tonight” (in reference to three animals). Those who reject the assertion that animals are persons, would necessarily refuse to accept any intelligent extraterrestrial species as persons.
Many otherwise intelligent theists, particularly the members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (a radical Indian cult first established in the United States of America in the late 1960’s by a truly delusional retired pharmacist named Mr. A. C. De), HONESTLY believe that the Ground of All Being is a youthful Indian gentleman with dark-blue-tinged black skin colour, who currently resides on His own planet in the “spiritual” world, and spends His days cavorting around with a bunch of cowherd girls! If one were to ask those ISKCon devotees how Lord Krishna manages to incorporate relative time into the timeless realm (since it takes a certain amount of time for Him to play his flute and to frolic with His girlfriends), then I’m not sure how they would answer, but they would undoubtedly dismiss the argument using illogical semantics. I’m ashamed to admit that I too, was previously one of those deluded religionists who believed such foolish nonsense. Thankfully, I managed to break-free from that brainwashing cult, and following decades of sincere seeking, came to be the current World Teacher himself.
Common sense dictates that Ultimate Reality must NECESSARILY transcend all dualistic concepts, including personality and even impersonality. However, only an excruciatingly minute number of humans have ever grasped this complete understanding and realization. Neither Eternal Beingness, Unlimited Consciousness, nor Blissful Quietude (“sacchidānanda”, in Sanskrit) necessitate personality. See Chapter 06 to properly understand the nature of Ultimate Reality, and Chapter 03 to learn how to distinguish mere concepts from (Absolute) Truth.
The wisest theologians will, when hard-pressed, admit that the primary reason for theists referring to Ultimate Reality as personal in nature, is because the Absolute has some kind of MIND (by which they really mean some degree of Universal, Infinite Consciousness). However, it is indeed possible (and in fact, is the case) that the foundation of being is Pure Consciousness Itself. Universal Consciousness (“puruṣa” or “brahman”, in Sanskrit) can and does include all characteristics of Pure Being, such as unconditional love, unadulterated awareness, et cetera, and we humans are, quintessentially, of the same Nature. In other words, we are, fundamentally, “God” (“tat tvam asi”, in Sanskrit).
Most arguments for the existence of a Supreme Creator God are actually arguments for the INTELLIGENT DESIGN of the perceivable universe, and not for the Intelligent Designer being a person as such. As explicated elsewhere, the phenomenal sphere is naught but an appearance in consciousness. Therefore, to assert that there is a cause of all causes is a legitimate contention, but to abruptly attribute that first cause to be a male or female (or even an androgynous) Deity, is a non-sequitur. There is no evidence for any phenomena without conscious awareness.
Cont...
There are at least FOUR possible reasons why many persons are convinced of the existence of a Personal God (i.e the Supreme [Male] Deity):
1. Because it is natural for any sensible person to believe that humans may not be the pinnacle of existence, and that there must be a higher power or ultimate creative force (an intelligent designer). However, because they cannot conceive of this designer being non-personal, they automatically suspect it must be a man (God) or a woman (The Goddess) with personal attributes. One who is truly awakened and/or enlightened understands that the Universal Self is the creator of all experiences and that he IS that (“tat tvam asi”, in Sanskrit). Also, some theists use teleological arguments, claiming that humans have an INSTINCTIVE disposition towards worshipping God. This may be so, but that is not evidence of Ultimate Reality being personal in nature. Again, that thou art - the worshipper and the worshiped are of the same essence.
2. Because they may have experienced some kind of mystical phenomenon or miracle, which they mistakenly attribute to “God's grace”, but which can be more logically explicated by another means. As explained, all such phenomena are produced by the TRUE Self of all selves (“Paramātman”, in Sanskrit). I, the author of this Holy Scripture, have personally experienced very powerful, miraculous, mystical phenomena, which I formerly ascribed to the personal conception of God (since I was a Theist), but now know to be caused, ultimately, by the Real Self. The Real Self is synonymous with “The Tao”, “The Great Spirit”, “Brahman”, “Pure Consciousness”, “Eternal Awareness”, “Independent Existence”, “The Ground of All Being”, “Uncaused Nature”, “The Undifferentiated Substratum of Reality”, “The Unified Field”, and “The Source of All”, etc.
3. Because they may have witnessed the deeds or read the words of an individual who seems to be a perfect person - in other words an incarnation of the Divine Principle (“Avatāra”, in Sanskrit). To be sure, such persons do exist, but that does not necessarily prove that the Supreme Truth is inherently PERSONAL. An Avatar is a man who was born fully enlightened, with all noble qualities, but not necessarily perfect in every possible way. For example, very few (if any) of the recognized Avatars in human history taught or practiced veganism. We atheists are patiently awaiting the time when the Perfectly-Loving God will publically show Himself to His beloved creatures, rather than merely sending imperfect representatives to this planet, under the guise that they are “fully divine”. This is known as the “Problem of Divine Hiddenness”.
Of course, this will never ever occur, because, as I think that I have sufficiently demonstrated, a Supreme Personal God is a logical impossibility.
4. Because they may have been CONDITIONED by their family, society and/or religious organization over many years or decades. Unfortunately, we humans are very gullible. Due to low intelligence and lack of critical analytical skills, the typical person believes almost anything they read or hear from virtually any source, no matter how unreliable. During a visit to one's local place of worship on any given weekend, one will notice a congregation of sheepish individuals nodding in agreement with practically every nonsensical, inane word pontificated by their deluded so-called “priest”, imam, mullah, rabbi, guru, monk, or preacher. Even the current World Teacher, despite his genius intellect, was once a thoroughly-indoctrinated religious fundamentalist, before he awoke to a definitive understanding of life, and composed this holiest of texts.Having stated the above, the worship of the Personal Deity (“bhakti yoga”, in Sanskrit), is a legitimate spiritual path for the masses. However, the most ACCURATE understanding is monistic or non-dual (“advaita”, in Sanskrit). If one wishes to be even more pedantic, the ultimate understanding is beyond even the concept of nonduality, as the famous South Indian sage, Śri Ramana Maharishi, once so rightly proclaimed.As an aside or adjunct, it seems that virtually every religious organization, particularly those originating in Bhārata (India), claims to have been founded by an Avatāra, but that’s simply wishful thinking on the part of their congregations. Only a great sage or World Teacher can POSSIBLY recognize an enlightened being, what to speak of an Incarnation of the Divine. The typical spiritual aspirant, even one who may seem to be a highly-exalted practitioner, has very little idea of what constitutes actual holiness. Frankly speaking, many famous (infamous?) religious leaders were some of the most vile and contemptible characters in human history, particularly in this Epoch of Darkness (“Kali Yuga”, in Sanskrit).
It is high time for humanity to awaken from all INANE superstitions such as the belief in a Personal God/Goddess that created the Universe.“God is greater than God.”
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“Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language.”*************
“Where there is Isness, there God is. Creation is the giving of isness from God. That is why God becomes where any creature expresses God.”
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“There is something in the soul that is so akin to God that it is one with Him... It has nothing in common with anything created.”
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“The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge. ... The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”Eckhart von Hochheim O.P. (AKA Meister Eckhart),German Roman Catholic Priest.
“God is merely one of man's concepts, a symbol used for pointing the way to the Ultimate Reality, which has been mistaken for the Reality itself. The map has been mistaken for the actual territory.”
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“Worshippers may derive some sort of satisfaction or peace of mind, through worship of a concept such as God (created by themselves), but it is a futile process, from the viewpoint of experiencing one's true nature.”
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“What is seeking? Seeking is 'you' wanting to know God. Whatever you know is an object, and you are the subject. So if you want to know God, what does it mean? You are the subject and God is the object, but what exists is the other way around. God is the Subject and you are the object.”
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“The final understanding: There is and never was a seeker. At that understanding’s cusp, you see yourself, at last, not as the person, but as God Himself. The person is an object, but You are the subject in which all objects arise. You are the experiencing of everything that arises. When You recognize this, You no longer care whether this or any person has reached the final understanding, because You’ve ceased identifying as a person. You realize You are not the person. You are God experiencing Yourself through the person.
Now, You see this always has been the case. Even when experiencing the illusion of separateness, You were God. You recognize that You, as God, do this through and as every person who has lived or ever will [live].”
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“Each person’s apparently stable separate identity, each human’s sense of independent authorship of their actions, is part of the plan. It is how God plays, how God rolls, how God roles. God ‘dresses-up’ as each person with their quirks, puts them in boring or interesting settings, and then experiences what happens. Far from being a screw-up in need of fixing, it is how the universe experiences itself.”Ramesh S. Balsekar,Indian Spiritual Teacher.
@@gunner678 Bishop Williams is a very wise person and an excellent writer.
Meister Eckhart was ahead of his time for sure, the West is still asleep when it comes to this level of understanding. Thank you for putting this presentation together, such great flow!
i agree
I’m just learning this
@@arturhashmi6281 Masses -M = *asses
Because the West is the only nation not founded on Kabbalah-Mystery Religions mysticism . Keep it in your own countries!
@@factsdonotlie2u247 exactly. The west was founded by the hypocrital church, killing the masses
The west has a more romanticized view of the Far Eastern Religious tradition, is actually exactly the same thing people of the far east sees western Religion, just Christianity and eastern religion swap places, so in places like China, Japan, etc, "western religions" are the "cool" thing while the traditional Asian religions are seen as "old lame" stuffs lol.
@Tian333 yup in China they are not seen as "cool" or "hip" at least by most young people. While Christian symbols are seeing as cool. Take Japanese anime evangelieon for example it has heavy usage of Christian symbols cuz the author thought they just looked cool. Lmao
interesting. im from the Philippines. Christianity is the major religion here but i prefer Eastern philosophy and religions. i think it's because we grew up in it and seen its dogmatic, mindless side. when something is unfamiliar, we look for its essence more.
Yeah, absolutely! In Japanese pop culture christianity is always represented as cool, dark and goth. Castlevania game series, and its sucessor Bloodstained, are one of the most famous examples.
Also I've read the (Untranslated, unfortunately) japanese visual novel called "Danzai no Maria", and the authors certainly has gone through the heaps of research to recreate the fantastic feel of christian mysticism (The plot revolves around the theme of herecy, as the main heroine is the exorcist who uses her bond with a demon to exorcise other demons from the posessed, and her relationships with more orthodox exorcists, who are using the angelic powers).
These pieces of art have stimulated me to research semitic religions like contemporary religious institutions never could.
Probably, we HongKongers has a Cantonese slag 'The rice/meals of neighbors always smell better'. I agree Buddhism is really cool, just not the Chinese style Buddhism where we have too many god like beings and practices that exchange earthly favors, making it not much different from folk deities or common misconception of following Christ will give you good grades, better schools, greater profits in business etc. People tend to forget Jesus was a blue collar carpenter (not the doctors, lawyers, accountants and wealthy wives we commonly find on Sundays), died naked, among criminals, didn't have His own tomb (donated by one of His secret followers?). Sigh...
What does Far Eastern Religious mean?
This was amazing, thank you. I first heard of Meister Eckhart when I was interested in Zen Buddhism and read a book by D.T. Suzuki called "Mysticism: Christian and Buddhist" which is largely about Eckhart and the similarities with Buddhist ideas. I highly recommend it to anyone.
I noticed the similarities in my teens. Makes great sense. The truth is true. It is not alterable.
I’ve been struggling to reconcile my Christian faith with my experiences of meditation. This provides some light. Thanks so much!
I humbly submit that you don't need to reconcile your meditation with Christianity - unless of course you are following some strange meditative path . It's really that Christianity has to reconcile itself with meditation . In Luke 17 Vs 21 Christ says that " the kingdom of heaven is within you " and meditation is a valid way to find God in that interior space 🕊️
I've freshly reread New Testament, right after I went through Dharma/Buddha's teachings and I came to a conclusion that Jesus Christ and Siddartha Gautama were much more compatible than people want to admit.
@@whiteobama3032 For me an Enlightened person is an Enlightened person is an Enlightened person . That is they are at one with the Divine . The teaching may be slightly filtered by the cultural setting of the historical setting in which they appeared but the core message inevitably has to be very very similar . There can only be One Truth ultimately . It is better to stick to one path once on it , but not to make an idol of that path 🕊️
Bible says to meditate on good things I wonder what you were meditating on
Place all of the religious stories in correct time together and you will see the truth through the mosaic. There was no faith needed then, because, they witnessed it. Once you see the mosaic, you must look at the mosaic of the teachings. Keep the universal and discard the rest. That may still be wrong, but at least you aren't going off of a zealots pet peeve.
Up until the mention of trinity it felt as though I was listening to a Sufi philosophy. God's essence to many philosophers is the same despite of their religion.
The same things were shown to me to, kinda freaky.
This is the issue with eckharts teaching.
That's because there's one religion and many paths.
@@misssarahashplant31 pluralism is fallacious. They have contradictory claims.
@@codymarkley8372 you've missed Eckhart's point. In the Ground, the very concepts of pluralism and contradiction are in the end meaningless.
This is easily one of the best videos of Christian Theology i have ever seen. And one of the most interesting figures I have never heard of. I am in love with this video.
Very kind of you! I'm glad you like it!
You should know that it is a complete misrepresentation of Eckhart and Dominican theology.
Fr. Gregory Pine does a much better job of presenting the Dominican mystic tradition in video form.
@@carsonianthegreat4672What does Lets Talk get wrong?
@@kadenelijah9329 Sincerely, I don´t know.
@@carsonianthegreat4672Greg pine touches little boys on the genitals
One of my favorite Christian mystics , along with Julian of Norwich.
Excellent presentation.
Very interesting to recognize Eckhart's orthodoxy despite all controversy. Reading his expositions on theology and the transcendent nature of reality is basically reading the Holy Fathers of the Church with a German taste; at the same time, when he talks about the birth of the Word in the soul, it is very similar to what Saint Bernard of Clairvaux had to about it in his sermons on Advent about a century earlier. When you mention what Eckhart says on detachment, for example, it is very similar to what Bernard says about the Holy Virgin, that [not only was she obviously detached from all things unholy and disgraceful, but also] despite being honoured above all saints and angels, she remains the most humble, making herself nothing but the handmaid of the Lord [being thus detached from all things joyful and honourable as well, as one should be, offering it all to God] (and there is nothing more Orthodox than the Fathers of the Church and Saint Bernard, one of the most revered saints ever). It is all also very similar to the Eastern Orthodox doctrines of hesychasm, and what we can find in the west in such works as the Cloud of Unknowing.
Good video. It'd be great if you could do more videos on Christianity - it seems a lot of people especially young athiests only know of Christianity as a stereotyped evangelical fundamentalism, and have no knowledge of the bulk of Christian thought and tradition.
A different side of christianity isn’t going to convince atheists. What needs to happen is all christians need to accept that atheists have no need of any side of christianity and leave them alone. The sooner christians let that go the happier christians will be. Atheists are living their lives not spending any time at all worrying about it.
@@leadwithgreeneconomy Oh, please. Like their aren't atheists who are as dogmatic and endlessly proselytizing as any evangelical. And just as ignorant. Those the the people he is addressing here.
I’ve barely started the video but your comments about the “man in the sky” stuff was interesting. I’m an atheist and I’ve heard other atheists make that argument and it’s not a very good one. It patronizes people and puts them off whatever you have to say. It also forestalls any exploration of religious history or culture or thought.
I had a simmilar reaction, it is a very good segway into this video, so I really cannot critizise it. But I guess, that many Atheists that still like spirituality and came from christendom, were put off by the worldliness of the church, in particular, the vatikan.
You sound like a much more thoughtful type of atheist.
‘Man in the sky’ is a common Reddit tier strawman “argument”
I mean, I try to be. I find religion interesting as a cultural phenomenon, the way it’s affected and been affected by society, history, politics. And I like hearing what people believe and why they think that way.
You say that, but here in the bible belt it isn't as crazy as you'd think. There are plenty of people who will tell you that heaven and hell are real physical places and god is a real "person". They believe that Jesus had the power to bring men back from the dead with just a shout.
As an atheist-leaning guy who occasionally flirts with pantheism, I agree that the "Man In The Sky" argument is a pretty crappy one.
I got a book of Eckhart's works for Christmas this year so I was really excited to see that you had uploaded a video about him on the same day ^_^
What great synchronicity!
Did not expect that I'd watch a 45 minute video about a Christian mystic today. Awesome video, man. I can tell you put a lot of work into this. I'm certainly one of those people who tend to dismiss Christian philosophy and romanticize exotic schools of thought. I've never heard anything like Eckhart's conception of the 'ground' and how god and existence flow from and into it. Furthermore, the idea of annihilating everything that separates you from god and the 'In quanum principle' has obvious parallels to non-dual/Buddhist thinking about dissociating from the ego. I'm going to be checking out some more of your videos for sure.
Not even got started...777
An excellent talk, and very appropriate for Christmas Day. My own favourite statement of Eckhart is, 'The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me'. My own spiritual practice is rooted in Theravada Buddhism - as was that of Maurice Walsh, one of Eckhart's major translators. As for paradoxes, every word we speak or write is divisive - it immediately splits the world into that which the word defines, and everything else. In which case, any attempt to speak about Oneness is, by definition, doomed to failure. Perhaps the only way past this problem is to view words as provocations to direct experience, rather than mere descriptions. 'The map is not the territory', etc. But that statement has its own inbuilt difficulties, of course...
"God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere" is also good. It isn't Eckhart's, but I think he and, definitely, Henry Suso liked to employ it.
@@LetsTalkReligion I vaguely recall that it comes from Nicholas of Cusa.
@@jackpayne4658 You might be right!
Thanks for this video! As a Christ-centered Quaker myself, I regularly find myself shocked at how narrow peoples' perception of Christianity often is. Even when talking to people with a full understanding of how diverse Islam or Buddhism or any other religion is, I will often find that these same individuals have a blind spot where they view Christianity as a universally oppressive monolith. I have had more atheists tell me I'm "not a real Christian" when I explain Quaker theology to them than Evangelicals, by far. I think some of this has to do with the way that Christianity is presented to them, so I very much appreciate when people try to talk about the diversity of thought actually present in this religion.
Can you recommend some books aside from the bible?
@@craigjackson6883 It's hard to provide book recommendations for such a broad subject.
For a look into the diversity of early Christianity, I'd look into the source texts of various early Christian "heresies", like the books of the Nag Hammadi library, the Gospel of Marcion, The Acts of Paul and Thecla, or the Gospel of Judas. The texts themselves can be about as hard to read as the bible, though I find them endlessly fascinating, but there are a lot of secondary sources that discuss these in more understandable language. A couple of my favorites are "The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels and "Lost Scriptures" by Bart Ehrman. Most of Ehrman's work, actually, is focused on the diversity of early Christianity and is rock solid. Aside from these "heretical" texts, there are some writings by more recognized Church fathers worth reading from this early period, one of my favorite being Origen, often cited as the father of Christian Universalism, the rejection of the idea of eternal punishment.
Meister Eckhart, discussed in this video, is a very good example of medieval Christian mysticism, and his commentaries on the books of the bible are fascinating. While less my speed, Francis of Assisi was also a fascinating character during this period and texts by and about him are interesting reads.
For more modern Christian movements, there are also additional source texts to get information on them. Quakers often write testimonies and the like, and the testimonies of major Quaker thinkers and activists like George Fox and Benjamin Lay are out there. The Rastafarians have the Holy Piby and Kebra Negast. Mormons have The Book of Mormon and The Pearl of Great Price. And so on. Other traditions that would often call themselves Christians, such as many expressions of Voudon and Santeria, do not have source texts persay, but do have mountains of fascinating work written about them.
Also, I know you said "besides the bible" but there I feel it's also worth mentioning that there is no "the bible", and that sampling different bibles will also provide some additional exposure to the diversity of these traditions. Catholic bibles have 7 more books than Protestant bibles do, the so-called "Catholic Apocrypha". The Ethiopian Orthodox bible contains another 6 books not in the Catholic bible, including the Book of Enoch much loved by fantasy writers. Even the most commonly accepted canon texts are often in dialog with each other, with writers in one part of the bible vehemently disagreeing with, and sometimes directly calling out, writers in other parts.
It's important to remember that the bible isn't a book. It's an anthology of books written by different writers at different times in different cultures across 3 continents over about 2500 years, often compiled from oral traditions that were repeated for many generations before being written down. It's simply incorrect to view it as a single text, and there is more diversity in this anthology than many modern mainstream Christians like to admit.
@@rodneyroach3038 Agreed.
Stoked to know we got Quakers on the tubes. Keep showing up. Ya'll are waaaaay underrepresented. I want to know more about you.
I don't think you understand Islam. It's just rules and laws. I defy you to find any spirituality in the Quran. It's not there. It's an off shoot of Judaism, also rule based and not spiritual.
Just wanted to stop by to thank you for your video which I found simple to follow and deeply inspirational. Meister Eckhart's teaching hit a cord in me and you have certainly helped to keep the message alive. All the best.
I would say a better translation for Eckharts idea of "ground" into English would be "Foundation". Seems to keep more of the important philosophical undertones, I would say
Eckhart was not interested in philosophical undertones, his texts are straightforward and direct.
The best translation of 'Grunt' or ground is consciousness.
Simply because it is all there is.
As in any dream.
Remember that change in perspective when you awaken from a dream: while dreaming you identified with the 'I' but once awake you realize that was wrong. You were the whole dream, all of it.
THAT is the single message of Meister Eckhart.
Meister Eckhart repeated it in every German sermon if you can read between the lines and take into account his restrictions because he was a leading member of the catholic church. And it was seven centuries ago.
So try to change perspective in real life, wonder if you have the right perspective at this very moment.
What if life is a dream, a collective dream?
It is that simple.
And it is divine.
But your mind might prevent you from hearing it, especially if you think you are your mind.
As you do in any dream.
True! Der Grund in German means the reason. Which definitely has an overlap with the underlying meaning of Foundation as knowing the reason to something establishes it’s foundation
Excellent! As an Advaitan, I am a big fan of both Eckharts. I hope you will create a playlist on Christian Mystics, including the women mystics you reference in this video. Also, I'd love to view talks on Thomas a Kempis and Brother Lawrence of the Ressurection. Thank you!
Excellent!! Thank you for articulating Eckhard's teachings and philosophy so eloquently and understandably. This helped me immensely! This was my favorite video of yours to date. Keep up the excellent content. Your channel and content are among my favorites! 🙏❤
Thank you for explaining Eckhart's beliefs and also providing the historical context of his contemporaries, especially the fate of Marguerite Porete. It really brings home how his exploration of the deeper meaning of Christian theology required a huge risk to his physical safety, even for a man of his position. One tattletale monk might have triggered a heresy trial at any moment! I really look forward to seeing more of your videos. This one was extremely well-done.
Wonderful episode. Thank you very much. It is true that his unmanifest "Ground" can be found in most mystical traditions (The "Ayn" of Qabalah, "Parabrahman" in Vedanta, Dharmakaya for Dzogchen, etc.), but that doesn´t diminish the tremendous strength and conviction of his words, especially when he had a more rigid environment than the one surrounding the mystics of those other traditions.
Loving every minute. Impressed, excited, joyful for this elaborate and learned exposition. A jewel. Danke auß Brasilien.
Wow. Filip you are a masterful teacher. I found my way back to this old vlog after listening to the recent Neoplatonist series. Fascinating video and very interesting comments toggling between TOP and NEWEST.
The best to come out of it is the Introduction to McGinn whom I hadn’t known of, being more involved with Modern Traditionalist takes and other Apophatic literature, so I am amazed reading Eckhart’s Mystical Sermons in the fabulous McGinn/Walshe translation. That work has brought me Absolute Clarity into my own mystical experiences especially when coupled with my Vedic reading as well as Dionysus the Areopagite and John SCOTUS Erigena.
At the risk of coming off like a mystic snob, it’s clear that there are still many people who are missing out on the true mystic experience despite their strong theological opinions. Contemplative mysticism takes a lot of time and patience which most folks just don’t have especially in these times. You really have to make a commitment to yourself ( the elusive “Self” of psychology being a descriptor for the “Soul” of the mystic IMO). There is a perennial philosophy element to all religions IMO, and thankfully, many of the viewers from different belief backgrounds agree.
Great job and thanks again for educating us.
If Meister Eckhart's philosophies are complex and Intellectually stimulating and remain a model upon which we may understand the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament in a different light perhaps, then I find that Eckhart's ideas help me to integrate Paul Tillich's discussion of The Eternal Now and the Ground of Being with Scripture in a more understandable way, provided that Eckhart's statements about The Eternal Now and the Grunt have anything in common with how or where Tillich derived these two concepts. But, if Eckhart's complex ideas and metaphors are stimulating and inspiring to me, I know that it is because this video in particular is one of the most well put together ones that I have ever watched! This video succeeds in summarizing every angle of Eckhart's thought, and where other videos fade at the end, leaving me empty, this video leaves me very grateful.The narrator, here, is so very articulate and clear in describing the contours of Meister Eckhart's paradoxical, metaphysical sermons and writings. This video itself is so very inspiring and that is the narrator's achievement. This is an awesome video!
May I wish to meet. The realities which have touched your heart and through you spreading to the humankind are immensely precious, beautiful and sweet.How beautiful is your soul.
I never read Meister Eckhart book, but many of his ideas are already present and familiar to me from Buddhism especially in the works of Kyoto School Philosophy and Buddhist Mindfulness meditation.
I also find similarity with Heidegger Philosophy of Being as groundless ground and later works of A.N. Whitehead, The Function of Reason, emanates from emptiness becomes actuality and then returns to emptiness.
The idea of Oneness is similar to Advaita Vedanta.
I had experience with mystical idea of Eckhart that when we detach from ourselves we only see allthings good and do goodness without our own will command us to do it. I reached this experience after practicing Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation.
But experience like this doesn't last forever when I quit to practice meditation. I guess, meditation can alter our brain structure, in my case my meditation practice was not enough to alter my brain. So the experience didn't last long.
Btw, I'm protestant by tradition from Indonesia. I find many mystical idea have similarity between them.
look into buddhist stream entry as a means to maintain what you are talking about
Great, unbiased introduction to a subject I didn't know much about -- it made me want to read more about Meister Eckhart. I loved the open mindedness of the conclusion, which emphasises why he's so interesting and worth learning about, regardless of which category of thinker one would like to place him. Such an open-minded and non-judgemental approach to religious thinkers (and ideas in general) is refreshing! Thanks 👍
Another thoroughly researched and well-presented video. I admire your ability to address with equal enthusiasm such diverse people as Eckhart and Ibn Arabi for example, even drawing parallels. Very even-handed analysis. Great quality presentations. I'm a writer of a medieval fiction series that crosses similar boundaries including a Sufi Alchemist. It would be awesome to chat with you about my new manuscript which I'm engaged in writing now, that includes the Jinn. :)
This is my second time watching this video and this time I'm taking some notes. Honestly what a well done video. Thank you.
Captivating. Thanks a lot. I am just a french roofer who tries to educate himself and you made me start to write a list of books I must read.
Your videos about the soufi thinkers of Al Andaluz dazzled me as well. Merci !
You use great art work/images. Your videos are so wonderful in terms of information and to mention, technical production is professionally done. Thank you.
For quite a few years now, I have been thinking about so many philosophical ideas. I am from Germany, but I have never heard about Meister Eckhart anywhere up until now, since this video was recommended under a video. I am really happy that I stumbled upon this video. On October 6th 2021 I had a near death experience. I told my local pastor, that what I experienced was very much out of this universe. While I was gone, time, space and matter were absent and no light nor darkness existed. I had no sense of self nor any emotions and I was not thinking about anything. The only thing I felt was the intense feeling of completeness and peace without any will nor thought. There was no X, Y or Z axis, no past, present or future, no material things, no thoughts and no emotions. The only thing that was there was an eternal nonexistence and it was, what I would now describe as, eternal peace beyond any time, space and matter. To my pastor it was very confusing and so was it to me. I still can't explain to myself what happened in the night from October 6th to October 7th in 2021. The only thing I know, is that experience or feeling did not feel like any mortal feeling from this plane of existence. When I came back to myself in the hospital, it felt that the next three hours were like 5 minutes and I was regaining a sense of space, time and matter, since I also did not feel my body and I could not move any part of my body. The three hours after I came back to myself felt like I was slowly regaining a feeling of self concious. When I got out of hospital, I was told I was basically "gone" or in some way passed out for two hours until I slowly got concious again in the hospital. When I basically woke up from being gone, it felt like I was gone for less than 1 second, while it was for about 2 hours and another 3 hours passed until I regained full conciousness, but those three hours felt like 5 minutes. Overall it was a very out of this world experience and quite interesting to me, as since then I was thinking non stop, even in dreams I was still thinking. I came to think about so many very similar theories to the ones of Meister Eckhart, despite never having heard of him or his theories ever before. I can identify with his philosophy a lot, because I experienced the exact same things he was talking about, while I was "gone" despite never having heard of him nor his philosophies ever before. I find it very interesting that I was not the only one thinking about this in this exact same way, which means that it is either a very strange coincidence or there maybe some real truth to the philosophy of Meister Eckhart.
On top of the insight and careful explanation, I deeply appreciate your minimalist presentation. It can feel so uninspired and distracting for videos of this type to be overloaded with atmospheric music and dramatic documentary footage. Clear audio with a good mic, basic stock footage of tranquil scenes, historical artworks, diagrams and quotes on screen is perfect.
"Porete's vision of the Soul in ecstatic union with God, moving in a state of perpetual joy and peace, is a repetition of the Catholic doctrine of the Beatific Vision, albeit experienced in this life and not in the next. Where Porete ran into trouble with some authorities was in her description of the Soul in this state being above the worldly dialectic of conventional morality and the teachings and control of the earthly church. Porete argues that the Soul in such a sublime state is above the demands of ordinary virtue, not because virtue is not needed but because in its state of union with God virtue becomes automatic. As God can do no evil and cannot sin, the exalted/Annihilated soul, in perfect union with Him, no longer is capable of evil or sin. Church authorities viewed the concept that someone was above the demands of ordinary virtue as amoral."
🐟 07. GOD (OR NOT):
There has never been, nor will there ever be, even the SLIGHTEST shred of evidence for the existence of the Godhead, that is, a Supreme Person, for the notion of an omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent Deity is both profoundly illogical and extremely incongruous, to put it mildly. At the risk of seeming facetious, any person who believes in a gigantic man (or woman) perched in the heavens, is a literal moron.
Why would the Absolute require, for instance, unlimited power, when there is naught but the Absolute extant? Of course, theists would argue that when God creates the material universe, He requires total power and control over His creation (otherwise He wouldn’t be, by definition, the Supreme). However, that argument in itself easily falls apart when one understands the simple fact that time is a relative concept and therefore has no influence on the eternal, timeless Absolute. The same contradiction applies to omnipresence. The ONLY omni-property that comes close to being an accurate description of Ultimate Reality is omniscience, since The Monad knows absolutely everything (i.e. Itself).
The English word “PERSON” literally means “for sound”, originating from the Latin/Greek “persona/prósōpa”, referring to the masks worn by actors in ancient European theatrical plays, which featured a mouth-hole to enable the actors to speak through. Therefore, the most essential aspect of personhood is that the individual possesses a face. The fact that we do not usually refer to a decapitated body as a “person”, seems to confirm this claim. If you were confronted, simultaneously, with a severed head and a decapitated body, and asked to point to the person, would you point to the head or point to the body? I'm sure most everyone would indicate the head, at least in the first instance, agreed?
Theists, by definition, believe that there is a Supreme Deity (God or The Goddess), which incorporates anthropomorphic characteristics such as corporeal form (even if that form is a “spiritual” body, whatever that may connote), with a face (hence the term “PERSON”), and certain personality traits such as unique preferences and aversions. Of course, they also believe that their fictitious God or Goddess embodies the aforementioned omni-properties, but as clearly demonstrated above, that is also a largely nonsensical, fallacious assertion.
Of course, the more INTELLIGENT theists normally counter with “But God is not a person in the same sense as we humans are persons. God is an all-powerful spiritual being, without a body. He is all-knowing, all-loving and present everywhere”. In that case, God is most definitely not a person in the etymological sense, and not even a person in the common-usage of the word. When did you last hear anyone refer to an omnipresent “entity” as being a person? The mere fact that theists use personal pronouns in reference to their non-existent Deity (usually the masculine pronoun “He”), proves that they have a very anthropomorphic conception of Absolute Reality. If God is not a male, then why use masculine pronouns? If God is, in fact, male, then why would the Supreme Person require gender? Does God require a female mate in order to reproduce? The most popular religious tradition, Christianity, claims that God is “Spirit”, yet “spirit” is a very vague and undefined term.
Incidentally, the term “person” can be (and, in my opinion, should be) used in reference to any animal that possesses a FACE, since most humans do not accept the fact that animals are persons, worthy of moral consideration. In recent times, animal rights activists have been heard referring to animals in such a way (as persons). The fact that vegans are still relatively rare in most nations/countries, seems to validate this assertion (that most humans do not see other animals, like birds, fish, and mammals, as persons), otherwise, non-vegetarians/non-vegans would have no qualms about saying such things as “I'm planning to consume three persons for dinner tonight” (in reference to three animals).
Those who reject the assertion that animals are persons, would necessarily refuse to accept any intelligent extraterrestrial species as persons.
Many otherwise intelligent theists, particularly the members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (a radical Indian cult first established in the United States of America in the late 1960’s by a truly delusional retired pharmacist named Mr. A. C. De), HONESTLY believe that the Ground of All Being is a youthful Indian gentleman with dark-blue-tinged black skin colour, who currently resides on His own planet in the “spiritual” world, and spends His days cavorting around with a bunch of cowherd girls! If one were to ask those ISKCon devotees how Lord Krishna manages to incorporate relative time into the timeless realm (since it takes a certain amount of time for Him to play his flute and to frolic with His girlfriends), then I’m not sure how they would answer, but they would undoubtedly dismiss the argument using illogical semantics. I’m ashamed to admit that I too, was previously one of those deluded religionists who believed such foolish nonsense. Thankfully, I managed to break-free from that brainwashing cult, and following decades of sincere seeking, came to be the current World Teacher himself.
Common sense dictates that Ultimate Reality must NECESSARILY transcend all dualistic concepts, including personality and even impersonality. However, only an excruciatingly minute number of humans have ever grasped this complete understanding and realization. Neither Eternal Beingness, Unlimited Consciousness, nor Blissful Quietude (“sacchidānanda”, in Sanskrit) necessitate personality. See Chapter 06 to properly understand the nature of Ultimate Reality, and Chapter 03 to learn how to distinguish mere concepts from (Absolute) Truth.
The wisest theologians will, when hard-pressed, admit that the primary reason for theists referring to Ultimate Reality as personal in nature, is because the Absolute has some kind of MIND (by which they really mean some degree of Universal, Infinite Consciousness). However, it is indeed possible (and in fact, is the case) that the foundation of being is Pure Consciousness Itself. Universal Consciousness (“puruṣa” or “brahman”, in Sanskrit) can and does include all characteristics of Pure Being, such as unconditional love, unadulterated awareness, et cetera, and we humans are, quintessentially, of the same Nature. In other words, we are, fundamentally, “God” (“tat tvam asi”, in Sanskrit).
Most arguments for the existence of a Supreme Creator God are actually arguments for the INTELLIGENT DESIGN of the perceivable universe, and not for the Intelligent Designer being a person as such. As explicated elsewhere, the phenomenal sphere is naught but an appearance in consciousness. Therefore, to assert that there is a cause of all causes is a legitimate contention, but to abruptly attribute that first cause to be a male or female (or even an androgynous) Deity, is a non-sequitur. There is no evidence for any phenomena without conscious awareness.
Cont...
There are at least FOUR possible reasons why many persons are convinced of the existence of a Personal God (i.e the Supreme [Male] Deity):
1. Because it is natural for any sensible person to believe that humans may not be the pinnacle of existence, and that there must be a higher power or ultimate creative force (an intelligent designer). However, because they cannot conceive of this designer being non-personal, they automatically suspect it must be a man (God) or a woman (The Goddess) with personal attributes. One who is truly awakened and/or enlightened understands that the Universal Self is the creator of all experiences and that he IS that (“tat tvam asi”, in Sanskrit). Also, some theists use teleological arguments, claiming that humans have an INSTINCTIVE disposition towards worshipping God. This may be so, but that is not evidence of Ultimate Reality being personal in nature. Again, that thou art - the worshipper and the worshiped are of the same essence.
2. Because they may have experienced some kind of mystical phenomenon or miracle, which they mistakenly attribute to “God's grace”, but which can be more logically explicated by another means. As explained, all such phenomena are produced by the TRUE Self of all selves (“Paramātman”, in Sanskrit). I, the author of this Holy Scripture, have personally experienced very powerful, miraculous, mystical phenomena, which I formerly ascribed to the personal conception of God (since I was a Theist), but now know to be caused, ultimately, by the Real Self. The Real Self is synonymous with “The Tao”, “The Great Spirit”, “Brahman”, “Pure Consciousness”, “Eternal Awareness”, “Independent Existence”, “The Ground of All Being”, “Uncaused Nature”, “The Undifferentiated Substratum of Reality”, “The Unified Field”, and “The Source of All”, etc.
3. Because they may have witnessed the deeds or read the words of an individual who seems to be a perfect person - in other words an incarnation of the Divine Principle (“Avatāra”, in Sanskrit). To be sure, such persons do exist, but that does not necessarily prove that the Supreme Truth is inherently PERSONAL. An Avatar is a man who was born fully enlightened, with all noble qualities, but not necessarily perfect in every possible way. For example, very few (if any) of the recognized Avatars in human history taught or practiced veganism. We atheists are patiently awaiting the time when the Perfectly-Loving God will publically show Himself to His beloved creatures, rather than merely sending imperfect representatives to this planet, under the guise that they are “fully divine”. This is known as the “Problem of Divine Hiddenness”.
Of course, this will never ever occur, because, as I think that I have sufficiently demonstrated, a Supreme Personal God is a logical impossibility.
4. Because they may have been CONDITIONED by their family, society and/or religious organization over many years or decades. Unfortunately, we humans are very gullible. Due to low intelligence and lack of critical analytical skills, the typical person believes almost anything they read or hear from virtually any source, no matter how unreliable. During a visit to one's local place of worship on any given weekend, one will notice a congregation of sheepish individuals nodding in agreement with practically every nonsensical, inane word pontificated by their deluded priest, mullah, rabbi, guru, monk, or preacher. Even the current World Teacher, despite his genius intellect, was once a thoroughly-indoctrinated religious fundamentalist, before he awoke to a definitive understanding of life, and composed this holy text.
Having stated the above, the worship of the Personal Deity (“bhakti yoga”, in Sanskrit), is a legitimate spiritual path for the masses. However, the most ACCURATE understanding is monistic or non-dual (“advaita”, in Sanskrit). If one wishes to be even more pedantic, the ultimate understanding is beyond even the concept of nonduality, as the famous South Indian sage, Śri Ramana Maharishi, once so rightly proclaimed.
As an aside or adjunct, it seems that virtually every religious organization, particularly those originating in Bhārata (India), claims to have been founded by an Avatāra, but that is simply wishful thinking on the part of their congregations. Only a great sage or World Teacher can POSSIBLY recognize an enlightened being, what to speak of an Incarnation of the Divine. The typical spiritual aspirant, even one who may seem to be a highly-exalted practitioner, has very little idea of what constitutes actual holiness. Frankly speaking, many famous (infamous?) religious leaders were some of the most vile and contemptible characters in human history, particularly in this Epoch of Darkness (“Kali Yuga”, in Sanskrit).
It is high-time for humanity to awaken from all INANE superstitions such as the belief in a Personal God/Goddess that created the Universe.
“God is greater than God.” ************* “Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language.”
*************
“Where there is Isness, there God is. Creation is the giving of isness from God. That is why God becomes where any creature expresses God.”
*************
“There is something in the soul that is so akin to God that it is one with Him... It has nothing in common with anything created.”
*************
“The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge. ... The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”
Eckhart von Hochheim O.P. (AKA Meister Eckhart),
German Roman Catholic Priest.
“God is merely one of man's concepts, a symbol used for pointing the way to the Ultimate Reality, which has been mistaken for the Reality itself. The map has been mistaken for the actual territory.”
*************
“Worshippers may derive some sort of satisfaction or peace of mind, through worship of a concept such as God (created by themselves), but it is a futile process, from the viewpoint of experiencing one's true nature.”
*************
“What is seeking? Seeking is ‘you’ wanting to know God. Whatever you know is an object, and you are the subject. So if you want to know God, how to do so? You are the subject and God is the object, but what exists is the other way around. God is the Subject and you are the object.”
*************
“The final understanding: There is and never was a seeker. At that understanding’s cusp, you see yourself, at last, not as the person, but as God Himself. The person is an object, but You are the subject in which all objects arise. You are the experiencing of everything that arises. When You recognize this, You no longer care whether this or any person has reached the final understanding, because You’ve ceased identifying as a person. You realize You are not the person. You are God experiencing Yourself through the person.
Now, You see this always has been the case. Even when experiencing the illusion of separateness, You were God. You recognize that You, as God, do this through and as every person who has lived or ever will [live].”
*************
“Each person’s apparently stable separate identity, each human’s sense of independent authorship of their actions, is part of the plan. It is how God plays, how God rolls, how God roles. God ‘dresses-up’ as each person with their quirks, puts them in boring or interesting settings, and then experiences what happens. Far from being a screw-up in need of fixing, it is how the universe experiences itself.”
Ramesh S. Balsekar,
Indian Spiritual Teacher.
Good evening from the SF Bay Area 3 years later having just discovered your podcast last week. I am totally captivated and enjoying your lectures immensely, thank you.
Thank you for the amazing work! It is great to see that you drew attention to similarities between Eckhart and Ibn Arabi. As you may know, there is a great comparative work in this sense : Paths to Transcendence: According to Shankara, Ibn Arabi & Meister Eckhart (Spiritual Masters)
by Reza Shah-Kazemi.
Thank you. I will look for this book
The concept of doing God's will after the annihilation of your own will summarized "living without a why" reminds me very much of doing your duty without regard for the consequences. This was probably my favorite message from the Baghavad Gita.
I love the link between his inner divineness and then going into the world to live that. We don't choose to do good because of a rule; we do good because that is what we do, which is why perhaps Jesus said to do good without boasting about it. I don't think I am expressing myself clearly, but I think I do understand and internalize so much of his teachings, and like many here, have been doing it without knowing Meister Eckhardt's teachings outwardly. Thank you for a really lovely teaching! Very clear and lyrical!
An excellent commentary and introduction for me to Meister Elkhart! A clear, concise and enjoyable exposé. Thank you
Appreciate your deep in sight and interest in spirituality, who can guide seekers like me such rare tips of insight other than you Mr. Flip, May Allah bless you in knowledge and long life with health. With lots of love from a sufi student from india.
Sempre volto para assistir de novo e sempre fico maravilhado como da primeira vez. Que vídeo incrível!
I would like to point out that it is erroneous to conclude that when mystics’ writings or commentary overlap it is the result of borrowing or influence one by another. Instead, it is the result independent realization. That is, they each realize the same Truth but it is the limit of their language and human cultural influences that result in somewhat different description of the same thing.
I would like to point out further, that realization does not (or may not) occur at once and therefore is not absolute. Instead, realization occurs (or may occur) by degrees and is dependent on the individuals physical and mental well-being. That is, the individual’s readiness and ability to receive the realization. This too can lead to variations in the individuals perception of the realization and how the individual records it.
Truth, like Rome, has many roads leading to it.
Very good ,,I agree..truth is truth , it's realization and expression/experience
Is individual .
It's just as erroneous to believe that every one of them came to the same realization or that their "realization" is anything but delusion!
What drivel. What about the great truth of the Kayapo people who roam the Amazon forest? They knew nothing of this after all.
A much needed video. There is, as you stated, an all too common tendency to deride Christianity while placing Eastern faiths on a pedestal. It really is orientalism. It is unfair to all traditions involved, spiritually and historically.
Yes! As someone who was raised Catholic but always valued the mystical aspect (even though I only vaguely knew of it for most of my upbringing) your intro hits home. On one hand I associate with a lot of materialist political types, who scoff when they see religious or mystical texts on my bookshelf. On the other hand I associate with new agey hippy types, who do Yoga and try and integrate eastern philosophy into thier western lives, who scoff when they see my rosary beads and think nothing of making a mala an expression of vanity.
And unfortunately there are some who identify as Christian who believe in the anthropomorphic god. I used to work with a Pentecostal Christian from Brazil, and our religious debates took a pause when that point of disagreement came out. Thanks for this!
You need better friends...
Who are these people perusing your bookshelf? This ain't reddit bucko, no need for embellishments.
@@Goycattle what? Embellishments? Are you the UA-cam Police?
@@changer1285 No not at all but I work for the embellishment reduction club. We have doubts about people scoffing at your book collection. Investigation to follow.
@@Goycattle that's pretty illogical.
Love this video! I’d love to see you cover more topics related to Christian mysticism and philosophy
Your lecture is just fantastic, I am so very, very grateful to you for this and all your videos. The research and your erudition is such a breath of fresh air in today’s discourse.
Two additional thoughts are that while you mention his philosophical Aristotlean roots and similarities to Maimonides, and Porete, I tend to the notion that all the mystics had common experiences of God instead of a common philosophy or theology. One doesn’t just come up with these ideas out of thin air. They are much too profound and ineffable.
Secondly, I’d like to add the specific path of Sri Ramana Maharshi and the path of self-questioning. The discussion of oneness reminds me of the great debate between oneness and duality that rages to this day in some sects of the Hindu tradition. As you mentioned, the Nothingness of Buddhism may, in fact be similar to what Meister Eckhart is referring. It also puts me in mind of the Zen flow where when one has transcended all the self and attachments and lives completely in The Way, the only “will” is the will of The Way.
When tied to the Divine, whether through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Compassionate Heart of the Buddha, the Fire of the Holy Spirit in the paths of the principle rather than personhood of God, the-goal is the same, forever Oneness with The Beloved.
What a great lecture, thank you again for stimulating not only my soul and heart but my thinking mind as well. Keep up the great work!🙏
The uplifting experience Eckhart communicates, teaches, is primarily felt through direct experience through contemplation (meditation) first; and that will inspire spontaneous virtious action. What you say at 40:22 resonates greatly with me.
MASTERPIECE !!! Thank you, May God bless you and your work, Super valuable content, I live in a country which I can't have credit cards and stuff to become a Patreon, but If I could, I would support your channel the best I could, please keep the great and valuable work UP! peace from middle east ...
What an absolute intellectual treasure cove your channel is! I am completely mindblown by your erudition and ability to bring such complex and deep concepts to the public. Thank you.
Very true
A beautiful essay on the most fantastic and profound Meister Eckhart, thank-you.
Very well delivered. Thanks for putting it out! If you haven't done it yet, it would be interesting to see a brief review of Jakob Böhme's thinking. It might surprise many people how present Eckhart's teachings are in his theories (whether he has actually had contact with Eckhart's work or not).
Thank you for your fantastic channel. I love this. I watched the one about Ibn 'Arabi yesterday.
Definitely saw a lot of Meister Eckhart's thinking in my own religion: Shin Buddhism. Keep up the good work! These videos are fascinating.
Amazing episode, always wanted to know more about Christian Mysticism. Thank you so much for taking time and creating this great work of communication!
...see Evelyn Underhill's book Mysticism and one I only just heard of Journey to the Heart Kim Nataraja...I just got a copy of The Foundation of Western Monasticism Tan Books....and u may want to check out Thomas Merton....Thomas Keating and WCCM...ie World Christian Community Meditation and finally for now Cloud of Unknowing ...oh and Bro Lawrence The Practice of the Presence of God I think...some of these are small power packed volumes...u live them...Happy hunting if u found this helpful ...!!!
This is the greatest insightful summary of Eckhart and his teachings I have heard. So fruitful. Thank you sooo much. 🙏🙏🙏
This was fantastic! I am one of those wishy-washy "not religious but spiritual" people and this was very eye opening. From beginning to end, this video is definitely worthwhile for those of us who are "seekers" and enjoy different perspectives on this bizarre experience we all share.
Over the past several years I've delved pretty deeply into gnostic heresies and after hearing the world view expressed here, it's not surprise to me that some of his work was deemed heretical. I'll have too look deeper into those specifics, but if it involves his notion of god as an ultimate "nothingness", I won't be surprised in the least. Though, who knows what the church may have picked out as an affront to its own ideas.
Thank you for this very informative and well produced video!
Excellent lecture. Christianity is so rich and satisfying. (Catholic here.) I love your channel!!❤️
I'm a struggling Catholic Christian...
Wow I’m so excited for this. Haven’t even watched it yet but know it’s going to be spectacular.
Eckhart has a tendency of being spectacular.
I hope the video lives up to the expectations :)
@@LetsTalkReligion Oh it did. Above and beyond. Your explanation of the distinction of indistinction was just superb. I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on comparative metaphysic of mysticism. I’d actually love if you’d come on seekers of unity to discuss some unitive metaphysics.
Let's do something together!
@@LetsTalkReligion Yay, awesome. I’ll drop you an email 🙏🏼
I haven’t read your comment yet but I’m stoked to finish it. Thanks for posting!!
What a great show. This is far superior in quality to what we find on television.
Thank you so much for this insightful, informative video. You've done a fantastic job of summarizing and explaining Eckhart. 👍
Thank you so much for another great video that is so well researched and presented.
The more i hear about the philosophies of different religions, the more they all seem to be the same thing
What an excellent instructive inspiring talk on Meister Eckhart!
Although I am a Christian I have studied the vedas and Upanishads and some Buddhist philosophy with extreme interest. Eckhart is experiencing the same truth and way surely.
I would love to know if he had any thoughts on reincarnation.
Wonderful! Thank you.
I’m grateful for your channel. There aren’t many open minds when you want to learn about these subjects, thanks 🙏
Very beautiful, thank you for this!
Good job of laying out Meister Eckhart's philosophy. Combine that with Teresa of Avila's (Inner World=Meditation) and Brother Lawrence's (mindfulness between meditations) instructions of 'how' and a person has the cream of what the Christian/Catholic traditions have to offer. Suggest that you put out videos on these also.
Joel goldsmith is the mystical way of christ
Never did I expect to come across such quality content on this app. Thank you
Simply superb as many other talks by the same scholar. The striking thing was Eckhart's originality and daring thoughts within his tradition and often one can feel and at home if one comes from a Muslim background. Janealamkhaki TV
Hi Philip,
I've watched your whole video here on Meister Eckhard, and found interesting information. What I'm missing, is a talk about his mystical experiences. When someone takes the time to explain some of his mystical experiences, I can only be in awe. He did not just write about theory, he lived it, he practiced it, he manifested a mystical life.
His experiences, as he manifested them in his life, prove his theories.
What Meister Eckhart is trying to explain is that ALL of life is a mystical experience.
Not just for him.
For anyone.
But to realize that implies disidentifying with the the seemingly separate self.
You do that every time you awaken from a dream.
This time it requires awakening into the dream we call 'real life'.
Without that awakening you will be clueless about the message of Meister Eckhart.
But you won't be the only one.
Read or search about mystical experience of Sadhguru ,Ramanna maharishi ,swami vivekanand, Ramakrishna paramhansa,yogananda Rumi .most of them are hindu mystic one Rumi is Sufi mystic .
@@chitranjankumarkushwaha4259 I have in the past. some of it is quite interersting, but... Im interested in Christian Mysticism. Have you seen the movie Padre Pio? Please do.
@@BenEFTMeijer get you a copy of the five volumes of the Philokalia ;) Cheers brother
@@christopherraines3202 I just googled what that was... and Yes. that would be awesome to me. Im into that. I have Walter Nigg Great Saints...but not the Philokalia, I just never found out it exists.. So thank you so much. I do think Ill order those 5.
Loved this video. Long ago I read some of Eckhart when I was studying Middle High German. What a great mind. I do wonder though about your point that Christianity has a breadth that seems unknown to people who say they are spiritual but not religious. In my reading I've seen that breadth as well. But a religion isn't just ideas, it is also a source of community for its members. I may resonate with Meister Eckhart's ideas profoundly but that doesn't mean I can find a church community in Central Ohio that is accepting of those beliefs. The last time I went search for a Christian church I was completely discouraged because the ministers were at pains to lay out what one absolutely had to believe in order to be part of their community. I did finally find a church in a college town some 40 miles from my home and attended regularly until that minister left and was replaced by someone far more dogmatic. At least for me, saying I'm spiritual and not religious is a way to say I've given up on trying to fit into the church communities in my area. Meister Eckhart himself would be considered blasphemous in all of them. On the other hand, finding a community within local Buddhist groups has been perhaps note easy but far easier than within Christian churches.
Very good point. Have you ever connected with a Quaker meeting?
I would look to a Universalist Church.
@@Nikki_the_G I did visit the local Unitarian church. The sermons were like philosophy lectures, all head and very little heart. I had hope for this church but ultimately I was quite disappointed.
@@artkrumsee1454 I am in the same boat...don't give up!!
This is a wonderful overview of his expressions and writings. Thank you! I cheered when I heard your statement about "I'm spiritual but not religious" and the trendy preference for "foreign" religions having very much to do with a shallow knowledge of both. I tremendously enjoy the depth of your content. It is a blessing.
Great video!! Gets at the heart of mysticism in Christianity. These things can’t really be spoken about, so to find words that give insight into the mystical experience is very enjoyable.
Thank you 🙏🏻
you're doing an amazing work! thank you!
What a wonderful presentation. It would be a joy and a privilege to have coffee with you just to talk and listen. Would you consider making a video about Ramana Maharshi? If you’re not already familiar, I think you’ll find a lot to unpack with this great teacher who’s highest teaching was silence.
This was absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for making these videos.
Thank you so much for this video. It is very revealing and thought provoking. One thing that I was continuously confronted with by what you had to say is how close to gnosticism Meister Eckhart wanders. But just when you are about to say “gnostic heretic” he pulls back, affirms the world, says that Jesus lets us know the world as logos and he affirms himself as a Christian. In saying this there does seem a tension between gnostic tendencies and more orthodox accounts of Christ as logos. Jesus himself says, and I paraphrase, “You will know the Father through me and only through me will you know the Father”. Yet Eckhart seems to suggest that you will never know the Father which is more Jewish/gnostic and the negative theology of Maimonides. A lot to think about and you’ve certainly motivated me to dig deeper. Whenever I hear this kind of exploration of theological matters, I just think how important it is and how shallowly most people think, or better don’t think, about these matters. I wonder if everyone is ready to be introduced into these kinds of works and they should no longer remain the domain of those who dedicate their lives to such matters. As you suggest, Christianity might be more respected if this was the case. Thanks again.
I climbed up to the Monestary at Ostrog in Montenegro to see my mother's favorite saint. He was totally naturally preserved, just as when he died. Many decades ago I read somewhere that the bodies of the Holy Mystics did not decay at the death of the Body.
Thanks for this! I read in a Carl Jung's biography that some of ideas and influences from his work came from Eckhart.
777
Very interesting topic and excellent presentation!
A fun fact: In Modern Standard German, we use the term "Grund" indeed to also mean "reason" outside of any religious or philosophical discourse. Interesting to hear that this actually came from a medieval Scholar!
Fantastic channel! This channel gives me great hope for the possibilities of inter-religious dialogue and contemplation, and of human mutual understanding! May I suggest doing a video on the Sefer Yesirah (and maybe Shabbetai Donnolo, 9th century)? It's the late antique foundation of medieval Jewish mysticism and cosmological thinking. Thanks!
I'm not qualified to speak on any of this. However, I find it remarkable how some of Eckhart's ideas can be interpreted in terms of Einstein's ideas of time and space, current ideas on consciousness and Roberto Kastrup's proposition that consciousness is the fundamental basis of everything. Much of the talk here could possibly be interpreted as god and spirit (my lack of qualifications becoming obvious) or whatever being pure consciousness. In any case, believers in god don't find idealist philosophy so difficult to accept!
they estimate at a 5 mil-second after the bang the inflation had "slowed down to 300 times the speed of light. 5 mill earlier would be closer to the speed God creates himself, for before time this would be the only state he could exist, a state of perpetual self-creation, eternal before time ever was. It is still true after 13 billion years. If compared to the American dollar, a small number...lol. It goes the same for string theory, the vibrations are the sounds God sustains the universe, after having expressed it into being. Read my post I made a moment ago at the top.
Thank you brother for enlightening us on great Christian thinkers and a brief history of Christian thought.
Your most inspired video yet.❤
I really liked your use of nature videos💕
Very inspiring and clear exposé. So many cross points with other mystical traditions, meaning truth is and can only be one.
I liked the discussion at the beginning. I am not Christian, not even religious, but I've studied Christian theology because of how complex and deep it really is. Lot's of people don't give it enough credit.
I definitely agree. The discussions about God and religion is often on such a low level on both sides of the argument. This is really one of the main things I want to change with this channel.
@@LetsTalkReligion you have really accomplished your goal. Thanks for your contribution.
Prior to the comparison between Elkhart and the ' Unity of Being ' I was thinking that if you took out the name Elkhart the philosophy was expressing pure advaita Vedanta particularly as expressed by Sri Ramana Maharshi . It is natural to think that this or that mystic was influenced by a particular philosophical tradition , but ultimately they will be influenced by their direct experience of the Truth . The fact that this direct experience of Truth is so typically similar is proof of the Verity of that Truth . ✝️🕊️🕉️
fantastic video about someone who has intrigued me for many years, thank you for making it and your wonderful channel. I did get a chuckle out of the mysterious teutonic concept of Grunt (Grund) - I mean, yes but all those meanings of Ground also exist in the English language
You answer for all my questions. I have a lot of doubt, but now....
Gratitude!
While Augustine was the consummate mythical Christian philosopher, and Thomas Aquinas was the Christian philosopher of the rational age, Eckhart will soon take his deserved seat as the Christian philosopher of the Age of Integration. The more Christians realize non-duality for ourselves, the more salient Eckhart will become. Soon will come an "Eckhartian Dawn" in Christendom when his Advaita will reign as the supreme Gospel, not only for Christians, but for the oikoumene as a whole.
The only reason that Aquinas, rather than Eckhart, became the consummate philosopher of the West is that the majority of minds in the High Middle Ages still registered a mostly mythical-rational experience of reality. Now that we are moving into the Integral Age, Meister Eckhart and his non-duality will gradually eclipse the hyper-rationalizations of scholasticism. This is the dawning of the Age of Eckhart!
A cup of Milo, drizzling rain, a blanket and your videos is the perfect combination for a great day. Love the topic.
What a lovely image, thank you!
This video is absolutely incredible, and the best I've seen in years. Thank you.
Now this is how you speak with understanding! Thanks for this great video!
The history of deep misticism and turbulations and prosecutions which were experienced by its messengers show that the concept of separate self is most violent and aggressive ideology . And it's ruthless grip on the human culture and human minds remains main source of all misery . Equally in the particular individual cases and all over the world too.
Great video. I have a suggestion would like to see a video on eschatology preferably Islamic eschatology. Thanks 😊
Thank you for this amazing presentation. He is such an inspiring figure in history.
I love how good your pronunciation is in all the languages you had to use in this video.
This is so similar to Vedic philosophy it's astonishing.
The reason why is the moving away from the dogmas and ordinary levels of consciousness. The higher states of consciousness dissolve the differences of opinions. The true mystics seem to all universally experience an emergence of awareness of god or the self unfolding. Through steadfast devotion and surrender anyone sincere can, under proper karmic conditions, attain union with god. That is across the board universal to equate to becoming a mystic and a life devoted to all of life without exception. The eternal god head, the self, the Atman, the purusha, heaven and hell are all within you. The path of self discovery leads to god. Boundaries of the egos classification dissolve when great states of awareness take place. The dissolution opens perceptions of true miracles and the, “strangeness,” of it all.
Then it must be really close to the Absolute Truth
@@ElectricPhantasmagoria “ The path of self discovery” brings to mind Paul when the scales fell from his eyes and he found Jesus. I believe the scales to be the calcification of the pineal gland opened when our “reptilian” brain dies descends back into Genesis( Jinnesis/the pit) and we give regard to all living things as part of our Consciousness ( the eternal image of the Father) hence making us one with The Father. These are the true scales of justice. Jesus wasn’t healing eyesight, He was bestowing vision. As long as people associate Jesus with “gods” of the OT then they will never know Him. As long as “Christians” prescribe to the theology of Jesus coming from deities of the OT and stay on the Zionist road, they will never cross paths with The Way. Just my lessons learned in my daily relationship with The Father and Son.
@@rohanalles Religion divides us from one another. Divided from one another divided us from Our Father/Creator. I believe when Jesus spoke of the demons too many to count named Legion it is the same group of spirits we call religion. Christ wasn’t religious as people proclaim him to be Judaic. He said “ I am not from here” “My ways are not the ways of man”. A true Jew is of the living spirit , not the living flesh but elitist have turned “god” to flesh. The eternal creator is not perishable-ALL flesh perishes. It belongs to the “gods” of this world- the very ones who divide us
@@askywithanalibi4948 Very truthful words right there. Religious dogma is somewhat like the spirit of the power of the air that’s mentioned in Ephesians. Religious leaders have perverted the pure monistic teachings of religions for centuries in order to create a legal and social entity, the church for example. By following doctrines laid out by men people are led astray, worshiping a false god of materiality and human-like nature instead of the immaterial perfection of the spirit. Same goes for those who place a blind trust on science without realizing that every law in the material spheres is perpetuated by the true architect of reality. It’s woeful that so few of realize the limitless nature of God