Well. We just gave thanks a week ago or so. Hopefully, it isn’t the only time of the year we give thanks.
I believe it is the highest form of prayer, giving thanks. Even if you don’t believe in a god. Over the years, the definition of “prayer” has shifted into its “god” role. But in the beginning, “prayer” was simply defined as “a hope or a wish.”
At any rate, we are filled with energy, and energy passes from one thing to another. With that, so do our thoughts. So creating a “hope or a wish” from our lowly human selves out into the wide Universe? You just never know where it might land. It becomes a stream of free-flowing energy moving through time and space. And giving thanks for the good things in our lives is a nice wish to put out there, whether someone is responsible for our fortune or not.
As Meister Eckhart once said: “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”
I’ve seen this quote many times before, but I’ve never taken the time to find out anything about Meister Eckhart. He was a German philosopher and mystic. He also happened to be Catholic. He was born near Gotha, which is plunked right in the smack dabbiness of central Germany. His life stretched from 1260 to 1328.
His original name Johannes Eckhart, also called Eckhart von Hochheim, but everybody called him Meister Eckhart. Roughly, in German, the “meister” means “master of a trade.” So yeah. Everybody thought he was a top-notch theology man.
He was, and is, thought of as the greatest German “speculative mystic.” In the transcripts of his sermons, he maps out the course of a union between the individual soul and God.
Now that is some kind of a sermon.
He had an illustrious career as a philosopher, leading the world in spiritual matters. He wrote many books of wisdom throughout his life, including The Nobleman and On Detachment.
Some of his teachings describe four stages of the union between the soul and God. And those are “dissimilarity, similarity, identity, and breakthrough.”
It is quite a transition for the human, I’ll tell you. At the beginning, in the earliest stage, God is all, and the creature (the likes of me and you) is nothing. Then, by the end, at the ultimate stage, “the soul is above God.” The big driving force of this process is detachment. People have to “detach” from worldly things and give into their souls and their existence as beings.
Or, so goes my condensed assessment of all things Meister Eckhart.
I started writing this piece with the intention of shooting off some facts about the Bible, but things took a much different turn.
The wonder of it is this. There are a million philosophies out there, with an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide. About 84% of the world’s population is affiliated with Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or some form of folk religion. And then there are those who do not partake in formal religion. This 16% of the people do not identify with any particular religion, or they might be atheists or agnostics.
Regardless. Most people believe they know the path to spiritual rescue. Some believe there is no path at all.
And of the eight billion people on the planet?
Not a single one knows for sure. There is no substantial proof, yea or nay.
So we should believe what we will or will not. But we should believe these things for ourselves. Without imposing. And let others believe as they must.
And in the end, give thanks for it all.
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You may call God love, you may call God goodness. But the best name for God is compassion.
— Meister Eckhart
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All God wants of man is a peaceful heart.
— Meister Eckhart
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Every creature is a word of God.
— Meister Eckhart
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The art of giving thanks. Believe it or not.
