Like the oil in sesame seeds, like butter in yogurt, like water in underground springs, like fire in the wood, so the Self is realised as existing within the self, thanks to the truthfulness, to austerity and meditation. Constantly seek this Self, which is omnipresent like butter in milk, rooted in the knowledge of the Self and in meditation, the Supreme Brahman, which destroys ignorance
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (1.15-16)
The study by Marco Perini, Meister Eckhart and the Knowledge of the Absolute – Analogies with Advaitavāda, brings the attention back to the presence of authentic metaphysics in the West.
This Doctrine of the non-dual Supreme Knowledge is perennial, not subject to the limiting conditions of space and time, therefore always present everywhere and constituting the “basis” of the true nature of the human being.
For the regaining of the consciousness of such nature that identifies the Divinity and the soul, the teachings that the Dominican Master addressed from the pulpit to those who participated in the Eucharistic rite are indeed admirable. The discourse starts off from the Scriptural word and makes use of the example as a demonstrative support. Therefore, it is completely detached from symbolism using, when needed, theological postulates as trait d’union between what concerns the personal God and what, by contrast, is inherent in Godhood. In this way, the differences between the doctrine of the non-Supreme (Aparabrahman vidyā) and the knowledge of the Supreme (Parabrahman vidyā) find a correspondence. In consequence, words become the reflection of an effective knowledge, free from conceptualizations and speculations.
However, for a correct and full understanding of these Sermons – in the opinion of the writer – one cannot ignore the sapiential interrelation with the Advaita Vedānta taught by Śaṃkara, which offers the reader the right interpretative key, being this darśana the highest and most complete, hence unquestionable by the dualist darśanas that are summarized and hierarchized in it. The striking similarities emerge starting from the terms used, up to the deepest theorizations, which can only find a common basis in the sole intuition of the Absolute (Brahman anubhava). This intuition is explicitly demonstrated in the works of these wise men and made available to those who are ready to lend them listening ears, reflect and, ultimately, contemplate and realise.
What might appear contradictory is that the figure of this Master appeared in the very heart of the Church of Rome. Perhaps, even more paradoxical is that over the centuries the real value of his teaching has not been recognized, not only in the religious context too overwhelmed by a rigid yet sterile dogmatism, but also in all those initiatic environments in which Metaphysics is often named but, just as often, not understood for what it really is.
For this reason, a study that aims at unearthing the traits of a single teaching on the Real – which thanks to these two distinguished exponents, Ādi Śaṃkarācārya and Meister Eckhart, East and West seem to find a consonance – clearly provides a valuable contribution in overcoming certain prejudices too often responsible for undermining any sincere and fruitful spiritual orientation.
To our Indian Readers, among whom we are pleased to find several venerated Svāmīs and Gurus successors of Śaṃkara’s paramparā, we offer the English translation of one of Eckhart’s most significant Sermons concerning the subject dealt with in these pages: Ecce mitto angelum meum (Behold, I send my angel). This sermon inaugurates the Little Anthology dedicated to Meister Eckhart by Ekatos Private Editions.
D.T.P.
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