SIMULATION CREATIONISM
God’s Simulation in the Thoughts of Meister Eckhart
Meister Eckhart, who has been called the “Father of German thought,” was a Dominican monk and one of the most profound thinkers of the Middle Ages. Eckhart played a significant role in the development of European scholastic thought. His doctrines, although strictly Christian, share commonalities with those of other religions, such as Buddhism and Sufi Islam. Even more profoundly, his ideas are close to what the Simulation Creationism theory of Nir Ziso says about the reality of this world and the nature of God’s creation. Let us see how.
The metaphysics of Eckhart revolves around several key dualities: the Eternal and the Created, Timelessness and Time/Space, True Being and Nothingness, Unity and Individuation (Separateness). These concepts are similar to many religions and can be used everywhere, but Meister Eckhart developed a specific approach.
The ultimate goal of all beings, for Eckhart, is the achievement of complete unity with God: “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). According to his teachings, God is not some external entity to be found in the surrounding universe. Instead, He is within every individual, and it is within every man’s power to become sanctified and God-like. Simulation Creationism adds to this belief. Indeed, God cannot be found anywhere because He creates the notion of space: “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). He cannot be in the spatial dimension, so He cannot be in the universe. Simulation Creationism also accentuates the bond between God and all His creation through Divine Light. Parts of this Divine Light are to be found in every soul, and they strongly tie a soul with God, traversing all simulated dimensions and The Simulation in its totality.
Meister Eckhart gives us the method of achieving unity with God. It is done through physical seclusion, disconnecting from the senses, and emptying the mind. The process requires stillness and passivity rather than action. It is quite a radical suggestion as we are so entrenched in this life. We go around about our jobs and careers. Even if we are religious, we still have our everyday doubts. The Simulation tries to teach us through many events and challenges, but to reach beyond, we need strong faith: “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). It is not doing something (action) but withdrawing from doing that leads us further. Not many people can achieve this, as it is given to individuals the mercy to have such faith. They probably had previous learning opportunities in The Simulation, while others must still experience more.
Asceticism and contemplation allow a man to temporarily pierce the veil of time, space, and individuation to experience timeless eternity and the transcendent Oneness, which is the only actual existence. As Eckhart says, “The heavens are pure and clear without shadow of stain, out of space and out of time. Nothing corporeal is found there. Their revolutions are incredibly swift and independent of time, though time depends on them”. It describes what it is like outside The Simulation. We cannot even grasp such a reality, as it is outside every known aspect of our simulated environment. One needs to enter deeply into the status of meditation to find such a message within one’s soul. Meister Eckhart did that and conveyed a revelation with words understandable in his time.
The Christian mystic was aware that nothing hinders the soul so much in attaining the knowledge of God as time and place. If the soul is to know God, it must know Him outside time and place since God is above them. Eckhart further says: “Only he knows God who recognizes that all creatures are nothingness.” As Simulation Creationism states, what we see within the realm of time and place is simulated. It does not exist on its own but as an empty image. It is nothingness, a matrix of the “Supercomputer” in a mode that carries images for our development of God-like characteristics. Eckhart is right when he says that our greatest hindrance understands God in time and space. It means narrowing God to The Simulation.
One should separate from creation to approach the highest good and the everlasting God. Our actual existence is known inside ourselves, not parceled out in creatures. It is a totally new dimension of thinking and acting. We are bound to The Simulation, and we cannot escape it in any physical terms. What we can do is ignite the Divine Light inside us. Eckhart says three things stop us from reaching God. One is fleshliness (being in The Simulation; “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6); another is a distraction (not being aware of The Simulation; “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13), and the third is the illusion of time (not having the opportunity to think outside of The Simulation; “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). Without these three, a person would dwell in eternity, spirit, solitude, and be able to hear the everlasting Word of God.
A stunning sentence by Eckhart describes The Simulation: “All that is created is nothing, all far from and foreign to the soul.”
