Aug 31, 2017
Stop Trying to Understand “It” and Start Learning How to Live “In It”
According to Meister Eckhart, God can be characterized as a “nameless nothingness.”
Nothingness lies at the heart of Divinity — and maybe all things. Notice we are to fall into God, not strive, not achieve, not ascend by willpower and determination. We are to hand over our willpower and “let God” direct the path, as AA members so succinctly put it.
To fall inward is a godly act, according to Meister Eckhart:
“God alone sinks into the essences of things.”
When in love, we sink into each other, we let go, we don’t try to manifest the future outcome our ego wants. Rather, we dance with the very nature of our beings, letting the Flow of love move through and in us.
Eckhart puts it this way:
“When all the images of the soul are taken away and the soul can see only the single One then the pure being of the soul finds passively resting in itself the pure, form-free being of divine unity, when the being of the soul can bear nothing else than the pure unity of God.”
Intuition feels similar. It is a visceral knowledge of truth or God “without image, without mediation, and without likeness.” It is a ‘feeling’ that arises from within before our ego tries to analyze or interpret.
Thus Eckhart promises:
“All God wants of you is for you to let go of yourself and creatures and let God be within you. The smallest creature image that takes shape in you is as big as God. Why? It deprives you of the whole of God. As soon as this image enters you, God with all His Godhead has to exit. But when the image exits, God enters….
Let go of yourself for God’s sake, and God will let go of Himself for your sake! When these two have exited, what is left is one and simple. In this One the Father bears His Son in the innermost source.”
It is our failure to let go of our desires and projections on reality that restricts our experience of the Divine.
“True possession of God depends on the mind, an inner mental turning and striving toward God — but not in a continuous and equal thinking of Him, for that would be impossible for nature to strive for, very difficult and not even the best thing.
One should not have or be content with a God one imagines, for when the image disappears, God also disappears. Rather, one should have an essential God, who is far beyond the thought of humans and of all creatures.”
The truth is that we, no matter how educated or enlightened we are, can never fully grasp the idea or image of God. It is that which is “unknowable,” as the ancient mystics put it.
How wonderful is that?
Since we can never possible expect our cognitive brains to grasp the essence of life, we can stop searching for it and start Being in it.
Even our very best, most lovely portrayals of the Divine fail in comparison to its essence. We simply do not have the words.
That is why experiences with God are so powerful. They transcend the need to label or categorize. They pierce directly through our cognitive walls into the depths of our soul.
This is why all wisdom traditions speak of God in metaphor (Father, The Universe, Source, etc.).
Mystic teachers knew that it would be foolish to try to grasp God with mere language, so they created signposts towards the Divine for people to follow. How badly we missed this truth.
Instead of seeing “Father” as a metaphor, we took it to literally man an older male figure. Forgetting that it was God himself who told us NOT to lean on our OWN understanding, but to trust in His essence.
Or said better, you human will never be able to “think” appropriately about God, you have to “experience” me to be transformed.
Now that, in my opinion, is amazing grace. That is gospel wisdom. That is the truth that will set all people free from the tyranny of their own minds.
Today, take some time to watch your thoughts and desires.
Maybe you have a clear image of what you want your life to be like in 5 years.
Maybe you feel a need to be a “good” person in order to feel loved and fulfilled.
Maybe you have no idea who or what you are.
Whatever your situation, know that your thoughts and projections are not real. They are the gap between the ego and your true self, which can only be found be going deep within.
You are the most incredible you in the universe. God wants you to come home to who you are. Stop wearing the masks of others and come back to the essence of your being.
For it is there, and only there, that you will find wholeness and sustained joy.
Go Deeper
Do you hate the idea of organized religion but can’t help but to feel that there is some purpose to this life that is bigger than just you?
If so, you aren’t alone.
Myself and thousands of others are on the same journey of Falling Inward daily to discover that which is most deep within us.
Are interested in learning about what it means to be human and falling inward daily?
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