"God Is the Unfolding of this Moment" | Mystic Christian Poetry of Meister Eckhart to Lift the Veil

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  • Опубліковано 27 січ 2025
  • Meister Eckhart, a 13th-century Christian mystic, theologian, and philosopher, offers profound insights into the nature of God and existence that continue to resonate across time and cultures. Born in Germany in 1260, Eckhart was a Dominican friar whose sermons and writings sought to transcend rigid dogma and guide seekers toward a direct, experiential understanding of the Divine. His teachings emphasize the immediacy of God’s presence and the sacred nature of all creation, urging us to recognize that the divine essence permeates every aspect of existence. For Eckhart, God is not a distant, separate being but the very "isness" of life-the pure presence that animates all things. In his time, such ideas were controversial, yet today they serve as a bridge between Christian mysticism and the universal spiritual truths shared by many traditions.
    Eckhart’s mysticism aligns closely with the spiritual teachings of other cultures, particularly those of Chinese Taoism. In Taoism, the essence of existence is known as the Tao, the indescribable flow of life that unfolds moment by moment. Like Eckhart’s concept of "isness," the Tao is beyond words or form, yet it is ever-present, manifesting in the stillness and movement of all things. Taoist sages, much like Eckhart, teach that by embracing the present moment, we connect to this eternal essence. In Eckhart’s words, "For you ask me: Who is God? What is God? I reply: Isness. Isness is God. Where there is isness, there God is." The parallels are undeniable, revealing a shared understanding that the Divine is not a distant concept but the very essence of the present moment, unfolding through all of time and creation.
    Central to Eckhart’s teachings is the idea that God can be seen in all things. He calls us to recognize the divine presence in every creature, every thought, every leaf, and even the tiniest caterpillar. Nothing in creation, he teaches, is devoid of isness. "Creation is the giving of isness from God," Eckhart writes, "and that is why God becomes where any creature expresses God." This radical vision of the world dissolves the boundaries between sacred and mundane, urging us to see the divine not only in the grand and extraordinary but also in the small and ordinary. Even the act of a caterpillar climbing a wall becomes a testament to the nobility of isness, a reminder of the sacred essence that animates all life.
    Eckhart also challenges us to see ourselves as part of this divine flow. We are not separate from God, he insists, but rather expressions of God’s being. "God’s being is my being, and God’s primordial being is my primordial being. Wherever I am, there is God." This teaching invites us to recognize the sacredness of our own existence. The simple fact that we have a beating heart, creating awareness of the present moment, is proof of our unity with the divine. Like the Taoist understanding of the Tao flowing through all beings, Eckhart’s vision of isness reveals that our very nature is holy. By being fully present in the moment and aware of the sacredness within and around us, we come to see ourselves as integral parts of the all, united with the divine.
    Eckhart often speaks of lifting the veil that obscures our vision of God’s presence. He uses the metaphor of a blind man who denies the beauty of the world because he cannot see it. Yet, when the veil is removed, he perceives the divine more clearly than he ever imagined. "One day the wind will show its kindness and remove the tiny patches that cover your eyes, and you will see God more clearly than you have ever seen yourself." For Eckhart, this lifting of the veil is not about gaining something new but about removing the illusions of separation that prevent us from recognizing what has always been there. In this moment of awakening, we come to see that God is here, now, within us and all around us.
    Eckhart’s teachings are deeply comforting, offering a vision of God that is not harsh or distant but loving and ever-present. He reminds us that any conception of God that brings sadness or fear is incomplete. "How long will grown men and women in this world keep drawing in their coloring books an image of God that makes them sad? It is a lie-any talk of God that does not comfort you." This reassurance is a central theme in Eckhart’s writings: God is love, joy, and the endless giving of isness. To know God is to experience the comfort and solace of divine presence, to rest in the knowledge that we are always held in the embrace of isness.
    #eckhart #christianmysticism #mysticism #spirituality

КОМЕНТАРІ • 9

  • @peterrosqvist2480
    @peterrosqvist2480 2 місяці тому +3

    Beautiful.

  • @mena48
    @mena48 2 місяці тому +3

    Thank you I appreciate the profound words of Meister Eckhart ... (visual and audio are distracting and they overwhelm your gentle voice.🙏☮

    • @echoes-of-wisdom
      @echoes-of-wisdom  2 місяці тому

      Feedback noted - thank you 🙏🏼
      I agree in retrospect; I think there could be a better balance of audio to image to voice. Still feeling out that balance as I make more and more content, God willing I’ll inch closer and closer ☯️
      God bless!

    • @mena48
      @mena48 2 місяці тому +1

      @@echoes-of-wisdom Abundant Blessing to you Peace Love Joy

  • @michaelfuchs7417
    @michaelfuchs7417 2 місяці тому +3

    "It is a lie - any talk of God that does not comfort you.( Meister Eckhart)." Though I have my own thoughts about religion, I was raised catholic. Our God is mercyful, but also rigorous. He punishes us. Love and Fairness. Even in Islam people have fear of Allah - how do this comfort us. I think God knows, what is best for us, but I have to admit, I do not always see clear, what is best for us and why. God knows. That must be enough. May he open our eyes. Amen!

    • @echoes-of-wisdom
      @echoes-of-wisdom  2 місяці тому +3

      Very true, I had the same thought. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom as it is put in the Bible. Interestingly I believe Meister Eckhart was a German Catholic priest, so I would assume he agrees with the notion that we should fear God. Perhaps there is comfort even in the fear of the Lord, since that fear leads to reverence and that leads to faith which leads to His Mercy.
      Could also be that Ladinsky’s translation of Eckhart’s work is embellished / not entirely accurate, or could be that I do not fully understand the wisdom of those words, but agree that God knows best, and all of us, even the masters, are humans who are capable of missing the truth in its entirety from time to time!

    • @michaelfuchs7417
      @michaelfuchs7417 2 місяці тому +1

      @@echoes-of-wisdom Meister Eckhard was a German Catholic priest( Meister means Master). But he had some opinions, which the Roman catholic church did not like. They wanted to make a trial to him. In the middle age and the centories behind, some saints were accepted as saints by the church - and some were killed. But as a Christian I see that also Jesus Christ was killed by men, who saw themselves as servants of the one God, but did not know him. This happend and happens through all times I guess. It would be interesting, what Meister Eckhard "thought", who God is. Rumi( this great saint) always wrote of Love. I bow to him and accept this defintion; and must confess: anything that is not compatible with Love, is not compatible with God - for God is Love. That's my faith.

    • @Gman12959
      @Gman12959 2 місяці тому +1

      @@echoes-of-wisdomweird translations misinterpreted, sounds like the holy bible

    • @echoes-of-wisdom
      @echoes-of-wisdom  2 місяці тому

      @@Gman12959 Indeed, it is challenging to convey the exact meaning from language to language, and unless you speak the original language you can never be sure. With the Bible I always like to use online tools that provide transliterations of the Hebrew and Aramaic (in the old testament) and Greek in the new testament. Its wild how different some of the verses are when reading it in the original tongue, especially in the old testament books!