Meister Eckhart: Principles of his Mysticism and Metaphysics

Meister Eckhart’s mysticism of the ground of the soul is considered as the inner connection between God and man. The ground of the soul and the ground of God are in reality one ground. Author argues that the term “Ground,” for Meister Eckhart, refers to the uncreated and eternal in the soul, which is also called the divine spark. In this detachment and in this Ground, the birth of God takes place, the unio mystica, which denotes the divinisation of the human being. Meister Eckhart describes the path into this mystical unio as a path of detachment and abandonment or cutting off. Finally, Eckhart’s famous poem Granum Sinapis (mustard seed) is presented as a poetic summary of his mysticism of union with the highest reality of God.

The Flight of the All-One to the All-One: The φυγὴ μόνου πρὸς μόνον as the Basis of Plotinian Altruism

It has become commonplace to contrast Plotinus’s spirituality with Christian spirituality by portraying the former as solipsistic and the latter as communal. In particular, this critique has centred around Plotinus’s description of mystical ascent as a “flight of the alone to the alone” and his presentation of Plato’s Phaedrus as an exhortation to “work on your own statue.” Yet, should one understand the One as a supreme unity, it would appear that the Plotinian unio mystica renders the mystic supremely unified with the rest of being. Accordingly, this article emphasizes Plotinus’s “inclusive monotheism” in order to argue that the “flight of the alone to the alone” should be understood as a movement towards the supreme unity that underlies reality. The unificatory effects of this ascent are emphasized by the way in which Plotinus, in both his life and works, depicts teaching as a common response to henosis. This didactic turn, it is argued, is a response to glimpsing the deep unity of reality, which expands the mystic’s sphere of concern to include the “other” as another self.

IN-BETWEEN MIND, SPIRIT, AND BEING: A CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF GERDA WALTHER’S PHENOMENOLOGY OF MYSTICISM WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO CORRESPONDENCES TO POST-MATERIALIST NOTIONS OF REALITY

In her main work, Walther exposes the unio mystica as meta-transcendental constitution of (fundamental) spiritual being (the bracketing indicates that this demonstration can be read in a metaphysical, i.e., strong, as well as in a secular, i.e., weak, version). While reflecting her approach theoretically and methodologically by drawing on Husserl, Landmann, Stein, just as on Pfänder and Conrad-Martius, Walther proposes a genuine approach that pushes the transcendental idealistic paradigm further. Its crucial claim is (imperfect) perceptibility and experientiality of (fundamental) spiritual being (labeled “God” by Walther). It is based on a substantially and ontologically differentiating—though integrative—notion of the conditio humana: entanglement of ego-center (both belonging to the transcendental realm and transgressing it meta-transcendentally), self (belonging to psychophysical being), and soulspiritual implications of personal basic essence (belonging to spiritual being) with its “metaphysical-real core” (belonging to fundamental spiritual being). By the help of mystical vision, (fundamental) spiritual being is not only (though imperfectly) perceived and experienced; rather, according to Walther, human ego-consciousness also communicates with God as a spiritual person. However, the latter cannot be supported by Walther’s analysis. In other words, a critical distinction must be made between the—phenomenologically demonstrable—philosophical content of Walther’s investigation and its theologically motivated readings. Accordingly, the present article can appreciate the philosophical significance of her Phenomenology of Mysticism without thereby being committed to its theological interpretations. Walther’s main work, in summary, is a substantial—if not consistently concise—contribution to the philosophy of mind/spirit and being, which, moreover, is able to act as a bridge between philosophical phenomenology and theology. Additionally, in the weak reading, Walther’s integrative concept of mind/spirit and being is connectable to postmaterialist notions of reality.

Mysticism and Identity among the English Poor Clares

This article explores the newly catalogued manuscripts of the English Poor Clares preserved in Palace Green Library, Durham. It argues that the collection advances our understanding of the spirituality of the Poor Clares, a group who have received substantially less attention than their Benedictine and Carmelite counterparts. Focusing on manuscript evidence relating to mysticism at the convents of Aire and Rouen, it suggests three areas of interest to scholars of English women religious and recusant Catholic spirituality. First, it explores how a dual understanding of unio mystica in the convents converted wider concepts of anonymity and self-effacement into a radical form of authorial poverty. Through this, the nuns sought not only to unite with God but also achieve a symbolic union with each other. Secondly, it explores how the physical objects of the crucifix and Eucharist served to inspire a deeper mystical pattern of growth within the souls of the nuns. It suggests that feast days and specific times of the year, especially building up to Easter, had a profound effect on spiritual outpourings. Finally, the article explores the importance of the concept of the “heavenly Jerusalem” to the Poor Clares, revealing its centrality to their understanding of their life as a pilgrimage and their own lived experience as exiles.

Why Bosnian Church did not belong to Bogomilism? "Kr'stjani" (mystics) vs "Bogomili" (dualists)

This paper in a simple and transparent way critically examines the rejected belief in science that Bosnian Church and its followers doctrinally and organisationally belonged to the dualist sect of Bogomilism. The research was carried out by a comparative analysis of the basic dualistic postulates of Gnosticism, Manichaeism and Bogomilism on the one hand and the available domestic sources of the Bosnian Church on the other. The importance of the work is reflected in the concise and detailed scientific argumentation that undermines "Bogomil Bosnian Church" myth, while offering a new scientific thesis on the religious and doctrinological affiliation of the "Bosnian faith" and the Bosnian "krs'tjani". In the first part, the paper deals with the problem of extreme and moderate dualism, with a special emphasis on the Neognostic, Neomanichaean and Bogomil communities in medieval Balkans. In the second part, the basic premises of Christian mysticism are given, including the possibility of its philosophical and theological compatibility with the teachings of the Bosnian Church, where for the first time the phenomenon of the name "kr'stjani" is explained in relation to the mystical union ("unio mystica").

Astrologia e poder no Império Romano: a adivinhação do Destino na 'Antologia', de Vettius Valens (século II d.C.)

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar historicamente a obra Antologia, escrita em meados do século II pelo astrólogo Vettius Valens (120-188), observando o papel da influência estoica e, principalmente, de uma noção fatalista de Destino (heimarmene) no contexto do Principado romano. Também analisaremos como Valens apresenta, em seu discurso, a astrologia como uma ferramenta de antecipação à ordem cósmica por meio de uma unio mystica, qualificando, legitimando e justificando, assim, tanto os conhecimentos da tradição mística que deseja integrar, como a profissão daqueles que, como ele, estudam e praticam a arte prognóstica, que deve ser mantida sob certo sigilo e controle. Diante disso, mostraremos como Vettius Valens alega poder e superioridade, um poder, por sua vez, marcado pela capacidade da adivinhação sobre o Destino.