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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Apophatic Divinity: God as Nothingness 12/23/2022 |
Thomas Aquinas says that “God is said to be nonbeing (non existens) not because God is lacking in being but because God is beyond all beings.” |
Meister Eckhart develops this idea when he declares that “God is a being beyond being and a nothingness beyond being” who consists of a “changeless existence and a nameless nothingness.” | French philosopher and mystical theologian Jean-Luc Marion reflects on the paradoxical nature of God’s existence. Video by Donald
Wallenfang. |
He elaborates on this difficult-to-grasp concept which in fact goes beyond concepts when he says: God is nothing. It is not, however, as if God were without being. She is rather neither this thing nor that thing that we might express, He is a being above all being. She is a beingless being….God is nothingness, and yet God is something. Father Bede Griffiths comments on Hindu wisdom regarding God talk: |
Nithya Shanti explains
the Hindu practice of Neti, Neti – “Not This, Not This.” | We cannot name Brahman. It is ‘not this, not this.’ Whatever word we use, whatever image, whatever concept, we have always to go beyond…One cannot stop with any name of God.... We are all seeing that inexpressible mystery |
beyond, and that is Brahman, which is neti, neti, ‘not this, not this.’ In The Essential Kabbalah, says Daniel C. Matt, God is also called Nothingness
or Ayin, Mystical Nothingness: “Ayin, Nothingness, is more existent than all the being of the world….” The Buddhist concept of Shunyata or emptiness reminds us that a pregnant emptiness exists
within beings and within the context of interconnection. Each being exists only in relationship. Eckhart has a similar teaching when he says “relation accordingly is present in the essence of a thing, receives its being in the
essence….” |
Jewish mysticism calls God “Ein Sof” or “that which thought cannot comprehend.” We are reminded, says Matt, that "all is one in the simplicity of absolute undifferentiation. Our
limited mind cannot grasp or fathom this, for it joins infinity.” In this way we can say that "God is the annihilation of | “Tzimtzum” (“contraction”) in Kabbalah describes the doctrine that the Ohr Ein Sof (infinite light) of God began Creation by contracting to allow a space in which finite,
independent realms could exist. Mystieke School |
all
thoughts, uncontainable by any concept. Indeed, since no one can contain God at all, it is called Nothingness, Ayin." If God is the erasure of all thoughts, we can see why meditation as emptying the mind is so fruitful for
connecting us to the One. We see again the power of Silence. |
| To view today's video, please click the image. You will be taken to today's post on the Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox website, where you can see the meditation in a larger version and also view and post your Comments. In the sharing that follows, a kind of community is developing around the DM.
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Adapted from Matthew Fox, Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God…Including the Unnameable God, pp. 132-138 Banner Image: Mystical Nothingness, the Ayin. |
Queries for Contemplation Fr. Bede Griffiths reminds us that “we have always to go beyond” when involved in God talk. Do you find yourself and culture at this time in history willing to “go beyond” everyday God talk? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful
Names for God …Including the Unnameable God Too often, notions of God have been used as a means to control and to promote a narrow worldview. In Naming the Unnameable, renowned theologian and author Matthew
Fox ignites our imaginations by offering a colorful range of Divine Names gathered from scientists and poets and mystics past and present, inviting us to always begin where true spirituality begins: from experience. “This book is timely, important and admirably brief; it is also open ended—there are always more names to come, and none can exhaust God’s
nature.” -Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, author of Science Set Free and The Presence of the Past | |
Meditations with Meister Eckhart: A
Centering Book A centering book by Matthew Fox. This book of simple but rich meditations exemplifies the deep yet playful creation-centered spirituality of Meister Eckhart, Meister Eckhart was a 13th-century Dominican preacher
who was a mystic, prophet, feminist, activist, defender of the poor, and advocate of creation-centered spirituality, who was condemned shortly after he died. “These quiet presentations of spirituality are remarkable for their immediacy and clarity.” –Publishers Weekly. | |
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard
Times A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action. Foreword by Ilia Delio. “What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Robert Holden and Matthew Fox for A WINTER OF IMAGINATION – a mystical 75-minute
webinar that reveals the spiritual invitation and deeper meaning of Advent, the Solstice, and Christmas time.12/22 ("Soul of Christmas"), 12 pm PT/3 pm ET/8 pm UK. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox as the Center for Contemporary Mysticism hosts him in a Conversation on “Creation Spirituality: Birthing a New World.” Sunday, January 8, 2023, 11 am PT
(UTC/GMT-7). Register HERE. Creation Spirituality Conversations |
In a podcast episode with the Earth and Spirit Center, Matthew Fox reflects on how creation-centered spirituality, and the marriage of the divine feminine and sacred masculine, can help us respond with hope
to the troubles of our apocalyptic times. Listen HERE. | |
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