World Philosophical Heritage

Wisdom and teachings of
Christianity

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B ut there is, it must be admitted, a kinship which overides philosophical theory, and familiarity which attracts to itself everthing that shares it.

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quote 3561 | Appolonius Of Tyana

Y ou should know (God) without image, unmediated and without likeness. But if I am to know God without mediation in such a way, then "I" must become "he", and "he" must become "I". More precisely I say: God must become me and I must become God, so entirely one that "he" and this "I" become one "is" and act in this "isness" as one, for this "he" and this "I", that is God and the soul, are very fruitful.

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quote 3535 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 238

I t is the peculiar characteristic of this birth that it always brings new light. It constantly introduces a strong light into the soul since it is the nature of goodness to pour itself forth wherever it may be. In this birth God pours himself into the soul with light so much that the light gathers in the being and ground of the soul and spills over into the faculties and the outer self. This happened to Paul too when God bathed him in his light as he journeyed, and spoke to him. A likeness of the light in the ground of the soul flows over into the body, which is then filled with radiance. But sinners can receive nothing of this, nor are they worthy to do so, since they are filled with sin and evil, which are called "darkness". Therefore it is said: "The darkness shall neither receive nor comprehend the light" (cf. John 1:5). The problem is that the paths which this light should take are blocked with falsehood and darkness. After all, light and darkness cannot coexist any more than God and creatures can. If God is to enter, then the creatures must leave.

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quote 3534 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 216

T hat person who is thus rooted in God's love must be dead to themselves and to all created things so that they are no more concerned with themselves than they are with someone who is over a thousand miles away. Such a person remains in likeness and in unity and is always the same… This person must have abandoned themselves and the whole world … Whoever entirely renounces themselves even for a moment would be given all things.

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quote 3533 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 179

B ut the soul must abandon her own being. This is where the death that is spiritual begins. If the soul is to undergo this death, then she must take leave of herself and all things, holding herself and all things to be as insignificant as they were before they existed … I do not mean that the being of the soul falls into nothingness as she was before she was created, rather we should understand this cessation to be the eradication of possessing and having.

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quote 3532 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 244

M any people think that they are achieving great things in external works such as fasting, going barefoot and other such practices which are called penances. But true penance, and the best kind of penance, is that whereby we can improve ourselves greatly and in the highest measure, and this consists in turning entirely away from all that is not God, or of God in ourselves and in all creatures, and in turning fully and completely towards our beloved God in an unshakeable love so that our devotions and desire for him become great.

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quote 3531 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 26

I f you love yourself, then you love everyone as much as yourself. But as long as there is anyone whom you do not love as much as yourself, then you have never properly loved yourself -- unless you love everyone as yourself, loving all in one person, in someone who is both human and divine. Such a person, who loves themselves and everyone as much as themselves, is doing the right thing. Now some people say: I love my friend, who is a source of good things in my life, more than I do someone else. This is not right; it is imperfect. But we must accept it, just as some people cross the sea with a slack wind and still reach the other side. It is the same with those who love one person more than another, althouth this is natural. But if I loved him or her as much as I love myself, I would be just as happy that whatever happens to them, whether joy or pain, death or life, should happen instead to me, and this would be true friendship.

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quote 3530 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 176

T hat person who has detached themselves from everything and who is detached, never glancing even for a moment at what they have given up, who remains steadfast, unmoved in themselves and immutable -- such a person alone has truly attained detachment.

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quote 3529 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, pp. 170-180

N ow there are certain people who turn from things out of love, but who still have great regard for what they have left. But those who understand in truth that even when they have given themselves up and have abandoned all things, this is still absolutely nothing -- those who live in this way, truly possess all things.

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quote 3528 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 186

I n return for stripping myself of myself for his sake, God will be wholly my own possession with all that he is and can do, as much mine as his, no more and no less. He will belong to me a thousand times more than anything ever belonged to anyone which they keep in their chest, or than he was ever his own possession. Nothing was ever my own as much as God will be mine, together with all that he is and all that he can do.

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quote 3527 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 48

W e should learn to see God in all gifts and works, neither resting content with anything nor becoming attached to anything. For us there can be no attachment to a particular manner of behavior in this life, nor has this ever been right, however successful we may have been.

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quote 3526 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 40

I f I say that "God exists", this is also not true. He is being beyond being: he is a nothingness beyond being. Therefore St. Augustine says: "The finest thing that we can say of God is to be silent concerning him from the wisdom of inner riches." Be silent therefore, and do not chatter about God, for by chattering about him, you tell lies and commit a sin. If you wish to be perfect and without sin, then do not prattle about God. Also you should not wish to understand anything about God, for God is beyond all understanding. A master says: If I had a God that I could understand, I would not regard him as God. If you understand anything about him, then he is not in it, and by understanding something of him, you fall into ignorance…

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quote 3525 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, pp. 236-7

W hosoever finds (Love), finds Nothing and All Things; that is also certain and true. But how finds he Nothing? Why, I will tell thee how. He that findeth it, findeth a Supernatural Supersensual Abyss, which hath no Ground or Byss to stand on, and where there is no Place to dwell in; and he findeth also Nothing is like unto it, and therefore it may fitly be compared to Nothing; for it is deeper than any Thing, and is as Nothing with Respect to All Things, forasmuch as it is not comprehensible by any of them. And because it is Nothing respectively, it is therefore free from All Things; and is that only Good, which a Man cannot express or utter what it is; there being Nothing to which it may be compared, to express it by.

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quote 3524 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

T here is a certain Greatness and Latitude of Heart in Love, which is inexpressible; for it enlarges the Soul as wide as the whole Creation of God. And this shall be truly experienced by thee, beyond all Words, when the Throne of Love shall be set up in thy Heart.

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quote 3523 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

W ait for and attend the Supernatural and Divine Light, as that superior Light appointed to govern the Day, rising in the true East, which is the Centre of Paradise; and in great Might breaking forth as out of the Darkness within thee, through a Pillar of Fire and Thunder Clouds, and thereby also reflecting upon the inferior Light of Nature a Sort of Image of itself, whereby only it can be kept in its due Subordination, that which is below being made subservient to that which is above; and that which is without to that which is within…
Disciple:
Therefore, unless Reason or the Light of Nature be sanctified in my Soul, and illuminated by this superior Light, as from the central East of the holy Light-World, by the Eternal and Intellectual Sun; I perceive there will be always some Confusion, and I shall never be able to manage aright either what concerneth Time or Eternity: But I must always be at a Loss, or break the Links of Wisdom's Chain.
Master:
It is even so as thou hast said. All is Confusion, if thou hast no more but the dim Light of Nature, or unsanctified and unregenerated Reason to guide thee by; and if only the Eye of Time be opened in thee, which cannot pierce beyond its own Limit. Wherefore seek the Fountain of Light, waiting in the deep Ground of thy Soul for the rising there of the Sun of Righteousness, whereby the Light of Nature in thee, with the Properties thereof, will be made to shine seven Times brighter than ordinary. For it shall receive the Stamp, Image, and Impression of the Supersensual and Supernatural; so that the sensual and rational Life will hence be brought into the most perfect Order and Harmony.
Disciple:
But how am I to wait for the rising of this glorious Sun, and how am I to seek in the Centre, this Fountain of Light, which may enlighten me throughout, and bring all my Properties into perfect Harmony? I am in Nature as I said before; and which Way shall I pass through Nature, and the Light thereof, so that I may come into that Supernatural and Supersensual Ground, whence this true Light, which is the Light of Minds, doth arise; and this, without the Destruction of my Nature, or quenching the Light of it, which is my Reason?
Master:
Cease but from thine own Activity, steadfastly fixing thine eye upon one point, and with a strong purpose relying upon the promised grace of God in Christ, to bring thee out of thy darkness into His marvellous light. For this end gather in all thy thoughts, and by faith press into the Centre, laying hold upon the Word of God, which is infallible, and which hath called thee. Be thou then obedient to this call; and be silent before the Lord, sitting alone with Him in thy inmost and most hidden cell, thy mind being centrally united in itself, and attending His will in the patience of Hope. So shall thy light break forth as the morning; and after the redness thereof is passed, the Sun Himself, which thou waitest for, shall arise unto thee, and under His most healing wings thou shalt greatly rejoice; ascending and descending in His bright and salutiferous beams. Behold this is the true supersensual ground of life.

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quote 3522 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

I f thou desirest to see God's Light in thy Soul, and be divinely illuminated and conducted this is the short Way that thou art to take not to let the Eye of thy Spirit enter into Matter, or fill itself with any Thing whatever; either in Heaven or Earth; but to let it enter by a naked Faith into the Light of the Majesty; and so receive by pure Love the Light of God, and attract the Divine Power into itself, putting on the Divine Body, and growing up in it to the full Maturity of the Humanity of Christ.

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quote 3521 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

I f (Love) but once kindle a Fire within thee, my Son,… thou shalt feel it in the burning up thyself, and swiftly devouring all Egoity, or that which thou callest I and Me, … (which is) divided from the Deity, and Fountain of thy Being. And when this enkindling is made in thee, then the Love doth so exceedingly rejoice in thy Fire, as thou wouldst not for all the World be out of it; yea, would rather suffer thyself to be killed, than to enter into thy something again. This Fire now must grow hotter and hotter, till it shall have perfected its Office with respect to thee, and therefore will not give over, till it come to the seventh Degree. Its Flame hence also will be so very great, that it will never leave thee, though it should even cost thee thy temporal Life; but it would go with thee in its sweet loving Fire into Death; and if thou wentest also into Hell, it would break Hell in Pieces also for thy Sake, Nothing is more certain than this; for it is stronger than Death and Hell.

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quote 3520 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

D isciple:
And how can this be without dying, or the whole Destruction of my Will?
Master:
Upon this entire Surrender and yielding up of thy Will, the Love of God in thee becometh the Life of thy Nature; it killeth thee not, but quickeneth thee, who art now dead to thyself in thine own Will… So then it is no longer thy Will, but the Will of God; no longer the Love of thyself, but the Love of God, which moveth and operateth in thee; and then, being thus comprehended in it, thou art dead indeed as to thyself, but art alive unto God. So being dead thou livest, or rather God liveth in thee by His Spirit; and His Love is made to thee Life from the Dead. Never couldest thou with all thy seeking, have comprehended it; but it hath apprehended thee…The Treasure of Treasures is found.

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quote 3519 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

U nless thou wholly givest thyself up to the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ, and resignest thy Will wholly to Him, and desirest nothing without Him, thou shalt never come to such a Rest as no Creature can disturb… Thou shalt find that in thine own Power, and without such a total Surrender to God, and to the Life of God, thou canst never arrive at such a Rest as this, or the true Quiet of the Soul, wherein no Creature can molest thee, or so much as touch thee.

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quote 3518 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

I f … thy Will … could break off itself for one Hour, or even but for one half Hour, from all Creatures, and plunge itself into That where no Creature is, or can be, presently it would be penetrated and clothed upon with the supreme Splendour of the Divine Glory, would taste in itself the most sweet Love of Jesus, the Sweetness whereof no Tongue can express, and would find in itself the unspeakable Words of our Lord concerning His Great Mercy.

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quote 3517 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

G ive not thy Mind leave to enter in, nor to fill itself with, that which is without thee: neither look thou backward upon thyself; but quit thyself, and look forward upon Christ…

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quote 3516 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

D isciple:
Sir, how may I come to the Supersensual Life, so that I may see God, and hear God speak?
Master:
Son, when thou canst throw thyself into That, where no Creature dwelleth, though it be but for a Moment, then thou hearest what God speaketh.
Disciple:
Is that where no Creature dwelleth near at hand; or is it afar off?
Master:
It is in thee. And if thou canst, my Son, for a while but cease from all thy thinking and willing, then thou shalt hear the unspeakable Words of God.
Disciple
How can I hear Him speak, when I stand still from thinking and willing?
Master:
When thou standest still from the thinking of self, and the willing of self; "When both thy intellect and will are quiet, and passive to the Impressions of the Eternal Word and Spirit; and when thy Soul is winged up, and above that which is temporal, the outward Senses, and the Imagination being locked up by holy Abstraction," then the Eternal Hearing, Seeing, and Speaking will be revealed in thee; and so God heareth "and seeth through thee," being now the Organ of His Spirit; and so God speaketh in thee, and whispereth to thy Spirit, and thy Spirit heareth His Voice. Blessed art thou therefore if that thou canst stand still from Self-thinking and Self-willing, and canst stop the Wheel of thy Imagination and Senses forasmuch as hereby thou mayest arrive at length to see the great Salvation of God being made capable of all Manner of Divine Sensations and Heavenly Communications. Since it is nought indeed but thine own Hearing and Willing that do hinder thee, so that thou dost not see and hear God.
Disciple:
But wherewith shall I hear and see God, forasmuch as He is above Nature and Creature?
Master:
Son, when thou art quiet and silent, then art thou as God was before Nature and Creature; thou art that which God then was; thou art that whereof He made thy Nature and Creature: then thou hearest and seest even with that wherewith God Himself saw and heard in thee, before ever thine own Willing or thine own Seeing began.

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quote 3515 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

T hou must resign up thy Will to God; and must sink thyself down to the Dust in His Mercy… If thou dost thus, know that God will speak into thee, and will bring thy resigned will into Himself, in the supernatural Ground; and then thou shalt hear, my Son, what the Lord speaketh in thee.

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quote 3514 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

D isciple:
But how shall I comprehend (this naked Ground of the Soul, void of all Self)?
Master:
If thou goest about to comprehend it, then it will fly away from thee; but if thou dost surrender thyself wholly up to it, then it will abide with thee, and become the Life of thy Life, and be natural to thee.

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quote 3513 | Jacob Boehme
The Supersensual Life. Trans. William Law.

S aid by God:) He who belittles the least of My saints does no honor to the greatest, for I have made both the less and the greater… They are all one, fast-bound and knit together… They feel all alike, and they will all alike, and they love all together in unity; and they love Me much more than themselves or their own merits. They are rapt above themselves and drawn from their own love and wholly turned to My love in which they rest in eternal fruition. There is nothing that can turn them away from My love or thrust them down out of their glory, for they are full of eternal truth and burn inwardly in their souls with the fire of everlasting charity that never will be quenched.

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quote 3512 | Thomas a Kempis
The Imitation of Christ. Trans. Richard Whitford, moderenized by Harold C. Gardiner. New York: Doubleday, 1955, p. 196

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Wisdom and teachings ofChristianity

Wisdom and teachings of
Christianity