The Strategy of Ontological Negativity in Meister Eckhart’s Metaphysics and in Philosophical Traditions of India
Religions November 26, 2018 Tatyana Lifintseva, Dmitry Tourko 1 citation
This article compares ontological strategies in Meister Eckhart's Christian Neoplatonic mysticism with those in Advaita Vedanta and Early Buddhism. Despite differences in anthropology, epistemology, and soteriology, all three traditions share similar approaches: detachment from images and forms as the highest blessing; disidentification from body, feelings, cognition, and reason; interiorizing consciousness and ending its representative function. Indian philosophies aim for liberation from suffering into bliss, paralleling Christian salvation through renouncing sin for unity with God. The apophatic Christian view of God as hidden, incomprehensible Nothingness, understood by detachment from the world and ego, enables this comparative analysis.