The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart
Meister Eckhart: Sermons and Treatises · Las obras místicas completas del Maestro Eckhart
Reunión en un volumen de la traducción inglesa que Maurice O'Connell Walshe hizo de las obras místicas alemanas de Meister Eckhart. La portada imprime «THE COMPLETE MYSTICAL WORKS OF MEISTER ECKHART Translated and Edited by Maurice O'C. Walshe Revised with a Foreword by Bernard McGinn A Herder 8 Herder Book Tbe Crossroad Publisbing Company New Yorl» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 7»: la capa de texto corrompe el sello editorial —*&* leído *8*, *Publishing* leído *Publisbing*, *New York* leído *New Yorl*— y las grafías van tal cual las imprime el troceo. La página de derechos declara que el libro es reedición de tres tomos previos, «This work is a reissue of the three-volume Meister Eckhart: Sermons and Treatises, translated and edited by M. O'C. Walshe.» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 8».
La fecha de esta edición sale de la misma plana de derechos, «© 2009 by The English Sangha Trust» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 8», el fondo al que Walshe legó los derechos de sus traducciones. Los tomos que reúne llevan © propio: «Volume 3 © copyright 1987 M. O.'C. Walshe. First published in the U.K. in 1987 by Element Books Limited. Second edition published in the U.K. in 1990 by Element Books Limited. Published in the U.S.A. in 1992 by Element Inc.» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 8». Los datos de catalogación de esa plana rotulan el contenido «[Selections. English. 2007]» y datan al autor «Eckhart, Meister, d. 1327» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 8», mientras que McGinn escribe «Meister Eckhart (d. 1328)» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 15»: la discrepancia se consigna sin armonizar.
La atribución es el dato mayor de este volumen, y el propio libro lo dice. En el Foreword, Bernard McGinn recoge de Walshe que «given the large number of sermons doubtfully attributed to the Dominican, Walshe's observation that "anything like a complete 'Eckhart canon' is . . . an obvious impossibility" may remain close to the mark» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 16». La edición moderna arranca de Pfeiffer, que en 1857 publicó «110 sermons, 1 8 treatises, and a variety of sayings and other materials attributed to the famous Dominican» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 15», y Walshe aparta en su Nota B lo que tiene por espurio o dudoso dentro de esa edición. Cuando Walshe declara dudoso un sermón concreto, la glosa de la cita lo dice.
Lo que el volumen ofrece, dicho por McGinn, es la colección más extensa que existe: Walshe ocupa un lugar propio «not only because Walshe's versions are the most complete collection in any language (ninety-eight sermons, three treatises, and some ancillary materials)» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 17». La revisión de McGinn es acotada y él la enuncia: «I have updated this system to include Q numbers for the sermons found in DW IV and have also corrected the concordance to reflect this numbering» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 20». Cada sermón se imprime con su triple sigla, porque «Walshe prefaced each of his sermon translations with a series of sigla referring to other numbering systems» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 20»: por eso aquí cada cita del cuerpo nombra el sermón por su número en la edición de Walshe y arrastra entre paréntesis las siglas que el volumen imprime en el título.
El propósito declarado del traductor es de abstención, y se enuncia al abrir la Introduction to Part One: «I seek only to allow him to speak for himself in an authentic translation, as far as this is possible» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 43» — frase que McGinn ya había citado en el Foreword, de modo que aparece dos veces palabra por palabra en el volumen. Ese mismo bloque coloca a Eckhart en una genealogía: «The specifically Christian mystical tradition can be traced back with some certainty to Alexandria. Its direct source was the Neoplatonism of Plotinus» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 43».
El proceso y la condena no se imprimen como documentos: se cuentan en la introducción de Walshe. «Almost a year later, on March 27, 1329, the pope issued a bull, In agro dominico (the title is probably a play on the name of the Dominican order), in which twenty-six articles from Eckhart's Latin works were listed, of which the first fifteen were declared heretical and the remaining eleven termed 'dangerous and suspect of heresy,» «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 51». El volumen no reproduce el texto de la bula, ni las actas del proceso de Colonia, ni la defensa latina de Eckhart de 1326, que McGinn menciona como traducida en el Blakney de 1941 «Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 16».
1782 afirmaciones · 1 fuente · 2 atribuciones
Atribución
se consigna, jamás se afirma«Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · p. 7»
«Meister Eckhart — The Complete Mystical Works (tr. y ed. Walshe, rev. McGinn) · pp. 16, 63»
Cadena de la obra
el testimonio procesado, en esmeraldaAfirmaciones
1782 entradas — la voz de la obra, con su pasaje«There is a saying of the wise man, "When all things lay in the midst of silence, then there descended down into me from on high, from the royal throne, a secret word.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart abre la prédica con el lema de Sabiduría del que toda ella sale, la palabra secreta que desciende en medio del silencio.
«First we will take the words, 'In the midst of silence there was spoken within me a secret word.' - 'But sir/ where is the silence, and where is the place where the word is spoken?'» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart plantea como pregunta del oyente dónde está ese silencio y dónde el lugar en que la palabra se dice; el troceo imprime *sir* con una barra donde el impreso lleva la coma.
«What she understands, she understands with the intellect.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart reparte las operaciones del alma entre sus potencias, y adjudica el entender al intelecto.
«The power of sight works only through the eyes; otherwise it can neither employ nor bestow vision, and so it is with all the other senses.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart compara cada potencia con un sentido que solo obra por su órgano, para separar las potencias de la esencia del alma.
«None can touch the ground of the soul but God alone.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart reserva el fondo del alma a Dios solo: ninguna criatura lo toca.
«But for a man to receive an image in this way, it must of necessity enter from without through the senses.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart deriva de ahí que toda imagen entra por los sentidos, desde fuera.
«Therefore she has no way of knowing herself, for images all enter through the senses, and hence she can have no image of herself.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart saca la consecuencia sobre el conocimiento de sí: el alma no puede tener imagen propia y por eso no se conoce.
«The highest Seraph has but a single image: he seizes as a unity all that his inferiors regard as manifold.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart escalona las inteligencias por la unidad de su imagen, y pone al serafín más alto con una sola.
«But God needs no image and has no image: without any means, likeness, or image God operates in the soul - right in the ground where no image ever got in, but only He Himself with His own being.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart niega a Dios toda imagen y sitúa su obra en el fondo donde ninguna entró.
«No, by my faith, but just as He gives birth to him in eternity -no more, no less.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart iguala el nacimiento en el alma con el nacimiento eterno, ni más ni menos.
«No creature can constitute your blessedness, nor can it be your perfection here on earth, for the perfection of this life - which is the sum of all the virtues - is followed by the perfection of the life to come.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart niega que criatura alguna pueda constituir la bienaventuranza, y encadena la perfección de esta vida con la de la venidera.
«Therefore you have to be and dwell in the essence and in the ground, and there God will touch you with His simple essence without the intervention of any image.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart manda estar y morar en la esencia y en el fondo, que es donde Dios toca sin imagen de por medio.
«Now I say, as I said before, that these words and this act are only for the good and perfected people, who have so absorbed and assimilated the essence of all virtues that these virtues emanate from them naturally, without their seeking; and above all there must dwell in them the worthy life and lofty teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart acota a quién va dirigida la prédica: a los ya perfeccionados en quienes las virtudes brotan sin buscarlas, y con la vida de Cristo dentro.
«They must know that the very best and noblest attainment in this life is to be silent and let God work and speak within.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart declara cuál es el logro más alto de esta vida, que es callar y dejar a Dios obrar y hablar dentro.
«Thus too Moses fared, when he fasted for forty days on the mountain and was none the worse for it, for on the last day he was as strong as on the first.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart pone a Moisés en el monte como figura de esa quietud sostenida.
«Concerning this a master1 1 addressed the soul thus: 'Withdraw from the unrest of external activities, then flee away and hide from the turmoil of inward thoughts, for they but create discord.'» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart cita a un maestro que manda huir del ruido de fuera y esconderse del tumulto de los pensamientos de dentro; el troceo pega la llamada de nota al sustantivo.
«God works without means and without images, and the freer you are from images, the more receptive you are for His inward working, and the more introverted and self-forgetful, the nearer you are to this.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart enuncia la proporción entre libertad de imágenes y receptividad a la obra interior.
«That I cannot know, because my soul-powers receive only in images; they have to know and lay hold of each thing in its appropriate image.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart declara su propio no saber: sus potencias reciben solo en imágenes y por eso no alcanzan lo que pregunta.
«They cannot recognize a horse when presented with the image of a man; and since all things enter from without, that knowledge is hidden from my soul - which is to her great advantage.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart argumenta con el ejemplo del caballo y del hombre que lo oculto le resulta ventajoso al alma.
«This not-knowing makes her wonder and leads her to eager pursuit, for she perceives clearly that it is, but does not know how or what it is.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart describe qué hace ese no saber: asombra y lanza a la persecución, porque el alma percibe que ello es sin saber qué ni cómo.
«And so this unknown-knowing keeps the soul constant and yet spurs her on to pursuit.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart nombra la figura entera, un no saber que es conocimiento y que a la vez fija y empuja al alma.
«St. Paul exhorts us to pursue this until we espy it, and not to stop until we grasp it.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart apoya esa persecución en san Pablo, sin detenerse hasta asirlo.
«He therefore had to pursue it and search for it in himself and not outside.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart concluye que la búsqueda va hacia dentro y no hacia fuera.
«St. Augustine15 spoke in the same sense: 'I am aware of something within me that gleams and flashes before my soul; were this perfected and fully established in me, that would surely be eternal life!'» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart cita a san Agustín sobre algo que fulgura y relampaguea ante su alma, y que perfeccionado sería la vida eterna.
«So the prophet said, "I will sit in silence and hearken to what God speaks within me"» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart cita al profeta para cerrar el argumento del silencio como escucha.
«Though it may be called a nescience, an unknowing, yet there is in it more than in all knowing and understanding without it, for this unknowing lures and attracts you from all understood things, and from yourself as well.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart valora ese no saber por encima de todo entender, porque aparta de las cosas entendidas y del propio yo.
«I say he can in no way lapse into mortal sin.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart afirma del hombre así establecido que no puede caer en pecado mortal.
«He would rather suffer the most shameful death, as the saints have done before him, than commit the least of mortal sins.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart mide esa firmeza por la preferencia de la muerte más afrentosa antes que el menor pecado mortal.
«I am sure, that the man who is established in this cannot in any way ever be separated from God.» — Sermón 1 (Pf 1, Q 101, QT 57): Eckhart cierra el sermón con la inseparabilidad de ese hombre respecto de Dios.
«Now I say as I have often said before, that this eternal birth occurs in the soul precisely as it does in eternity, no more and no less, for it is one birth, and this birth occurs in the essence and ground of the soul.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart repite la tesis del nacimiento eterno en el alma, que ocurre en la esencia y el fondo, ni más ni menos que en la eternidad.
«God is in all things as being, as activity, as power. But He is fecund in the soul alone, for though every creature is a vestige of God, the soul is the natural image of God.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart distingue el modo en que Dios está en todas las cosas del modo en que es fecundo solo en el alma, que es imagen natural suya y no vestigio.
«No creature but the soul alone is receptive to this act, this birth.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart declara al alma única receptiva de ese acto.
«Whatever comes to you in that will bring you pure being and stability; but whatever you seek or cleave to apart from this will perish take it how you will and where you will, all will perish.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart opone lo que viene por esa vía, ser puro y estabilidad, a todo lo demás, que perece.
«This cannot be received by creatures in which God's image is not found, for the soul's image appertains especially to this eternal birth, which happens truly and especially in the soul, being begotten of the Father in the soul's ground and innermost recesses, into which no image ever shone or (soul-)power1 peeped.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart reserva el nacimiento eterno al alma por ser imagen de Dios, y lo sitúa en el fondo donde ninguna imagen ni potencia asomó.
«Now note the answer. It is a property of this birth that it always comes with fresh light.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart declara la propiedad de ese nacimiento, que viene siempre con luz nueva.
«No sinner can receive this light, nor is he worthy to, being full of sin and wickedness, which is called 'darkness.'» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart excluye al pecador de esa luz y llama tiniebla al pecado.
«Directly he turns to God, a light begins to gleam and glow within him,2 giving him to understand what to do and what to leave undone, with much true guidance in regard to things of which before he knew or understood nothing.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart describe lo que pasa al volverse a Dios: una luz que enseña qué hacer y qué dejar en cosas que antes se ignoraban.
«This inward inclination is in no way due to creatures or their bidding, for what creatures direct or effect always comes from without.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart niega que esa inclinación venga de criatura alguna, porque lo de las criaturas siempre viene de fuera.
«St. Augustine says there are many who sought light and truth, but only outside where it was not to be found.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre los muchos que buscaron luz y verdad fuera, donde no estaban.
«Thus no man ever went astray for any other reason than that he first departed from this, and then sought too much to cling to outward things.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart da la causa única del extravío, que es apartarse de ese dentro y colgarse de lo de fuera.
«Thus they have not found the truth, for truth is within, in the ground, and not without.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart sitúa la verdad dentro, en el fondo, y no fuera.
«This birth cannot coexist with the darkness of sin, even though it takes place, not in the powers, but in the essence and ground of the soul.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart declara que ese nacimiento no coexiste con la tiniebla del pecado, aunque ocurra en la esencia y no en las potencias.
«Every creature works toward some end. The end is always the first in intention but the last in execution.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart enuncia la regla del fin, primero en la intención y último en la ejecución.
«Thus too, God in all His works has a most blessed end in view, namely, Himself: to bring the soul and all her powers into that end - Himself.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart aplica esa regla a Dios: su fin en todas sus obras es Él mismo, y llevar a Él al alma y a sus potencias.
«St. Augustine says the soul is rather where she loves than where she gives life to the body.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart cita a Agustín para poner el alma donde ama antes que donde vivifica el cuerpo.
«But if this is to happen, realize that you must drop all other works - you must come to an unknowing, if you would find it.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart pone la condición del hallazgo, que es soltar toda otra obra y llegar a un no saber.
«How much more then should we withdraw from all things in order to concentrate all our powers on perceiving and knowing the one infinite, uncreated, eternal truth!» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart argumenta a fortiori el retiro de todas las cosas para concentrar las potencias en la verdad una, increada y eterna.
«The blessed see God in a single image, and in that image, they discern all things.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart describe el ver de los bienaventurados, que en una sola imagen disciernen todo.
«As to this, Christ says, "Whoever loves anything but me, whoever loves father and mother or many other things is not worthy of me.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart cita el dicho de Cristo sobre no ser digno de él quien ame otra cosa, padre o madre.
«Accordingly a master says, 'To achieve an interior act, a man must collect all his powers as if into a corner of his soul where, hiding away from all images and forms, he can get to work.'» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre recoger las potencias como en un rincón del alma, escondido de imágenes y formas.
«There must be a stillness and a silence for this Word to make itself heard.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart pone la quietud y el silencio como condición de que ese Verbo se oiga.
«Ah, but here we must come to a transformed knowledge, and this unknowing must not come from ignorance, but rather from knowing we must get to this unknowing.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart distingue el no saber que viene de ignorancia del que viene de saber que hay que llegar a él: el segundo es conocimiento transformado.
«That is why one master declares that the sense of hearing is nobler than that of sight, for we learn more wisdom by hearing than by seeing,» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart recoge de un maestro la primacía del oído sobre la vista, porque por oír se aprende más sabiduría.
«Therefore in eternal life we shall rejoice far more in our power of hearing than in that of sight.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart proyecta esa primacía a la vida eterna, donde el gozo del oír superará al del ver.
«For the act of hearing the eternal Word is within me, but the act of seeing goes forth» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart da la razón: oír el Verbo eterno ocurre dentro de mí y el ver sale hacia fuera.
«in hearing, I am passive, but in seeing I am active.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart formula la asimetría en términos de pasividad y actividad.
«But our bliss lies not in our activity, but in being passive to God.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart concluye que la bienaventuranza no está en nuestro obrar sino en ser pasivos ante Dios.
«Therefore some teachers say that it is in this respect the soul is commensurate with God.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart recoge de unos maestros que en eso el alma es conmensurable con Dios.
«Dionysius replied, 'Timothy is a God-suffering man.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart cita la respuesta de Dionisio sobre Timoteo como hombre que padece a Dios.
«In this way your unknowing is not a lack but your chief perfection,» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart invierte el signo del no saber, que deja de ser carencia y pasa a ser la perfección principal.
«and thus she is far more with what is His than with her own,» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart describe al alma más con lo de Dios que con lo suyo propio.
«and thus she is transformed with God and in God.» — Sermón 2 (Pf 2, Q 102, QT 58): Eckhart cierra esa serie con la transformación del alma con Dios y en Dios.
«This must be done with force; without force it cannot be done.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart exige fuerza para la obra del entendimiento, que sin ella no se hace.
«But when God undertakes the work, the mind must remain passive.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart marca el relevo: cuando Dios toma la obra, la mente queda pasiva.
«Now before this is begun by the mind and completed by God, the mind has a prevision of it, a potential knowledge that it can come to be thus.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart describe la previsión de la mente antes de esa obra, un conocimiento potencial de que puede llegar a ser así.
«This is the meaning of 'potential intellect,' though often it is neglected and never comes to fruition.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart nombra eso intelecto potencial, y acota que a menudo se descuida y no fructifica.
«But since this enduring and vision of God places an intolerable strain on the mind while in this body, God accordingly withdraws at times from the mind, and that is why he said, "A little while you shall see me, and again a little while you shall not see me» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart explica las retiradas de Dios por la tensión intolerable que ese ver impone a la mente en el cuerpo, con el dicho del poco tiempo.
«When our Lord took his three disciples with him up the mountain and had shown them privately the illumination of his body which he had through union with the Godhead, and which we too shall have at the resurrection of the body, St. Peter at once, on seeing it, wished to remain there always.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart lee la transfiguración como caso de esa tensión, con Pedro queriendo quedarse ahí para siempre.
«Thus it befell Paul: if he had remained for a hundred years at the spot where he came to know the Good,? he would never have returned to the body; he would have forgotten it completely.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart pone a Pablo en la misma figura, que de haberse quedado cien años no habría vuelto al cuerpo.
«This withdrawal is not yours, but His who does the work: He can do it or not as He will, well knowing when it avails you best.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart adjudica la retirada a quien obra y no a quien la padece.
«For God is not a destroyer of nature: rather He perfects it, and God does this ever more and more, the more you are fitted for it.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart niega que Dios destruya la naturaleza y sostiene que la perfecciona, y tanto más cuanto más dispuesto se esté.
«But you might say, 'Oh sir, if this requires a mind free of all images and all works (which lie in the powers by their very nature8), then how about those outward works we must do sometimes, works of charity which all take place without, such as teaching or comforting the needy?» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart se plantea la objeción del oyente sobre las obras externas de caridad, enseñar y consolar al necesitado.
«The one rests in the other, and perfects the other.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart responde encajando lo interior y lo exterior, que descansan y se perfeccionan uno en otro.
«To this Christ admonishes us by his whole life and those of all his saints, every one of whom he drove forth into the world to teach the multitude.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart apoya esa respuesta en la vida de Cristo, que echó a sus santos al mundo a enseñar.
«St. Paul said to Timothy, "Beloved, preach the Word" (2 Tim. 4:2). Did he mean the outward word that beats the air?» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart lee el mandato de Pablo a Timoteo y pregunta si se trata de la palabra exterior que golpea el aire.
«He meant the inwardly born and yet hidden Word that lies secreted in the soul.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart responde que se trata del Verbo nacido dentro y escondido en el alma.
«It must be within you in thought, in intellect, and in will, and it must shine forth, too, in your deeds.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart exige que ese Verbo esté en el pensamiento, el intelecto y la voluntad, y que además resplandezca en las obras.
«The active intellect abstracts images from outward things, stripping them of matter and of accidents, and introduces them to the passive intellect, begetting their mental image therein.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart expone la mecánica escolástica del intelecto agente, que abstrae las imágenes de lo externo y las introduce en el paciente.
«Even then, the passive intellect cannot keep on knowing these things unless the active intellect illumines them afresh.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart acota que el intelecto paciente no retiene sin que el agente lo ilumine de nuevo.
«He takes away the active intellect from him and, installing Himself in its stead, He Himself undertakes all that the active intellect ought to be doing.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart describe el relevo divino: Dios retira el intelecto agente y se instala en su lugar.
«Indeed, when a man is quite unpreoccupied, and the active intellect within him is silent, then God must take up the work and must be the master workman who begets Himself in the passive intellect.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart repite la condición de ese relevo, que es la desocupación del hombre y el silencio del intelecto agente.
«The active intellect cannot give what it has not got: and it cannot entertain two images together; it has first one and then the other.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart mide el límite del intelecto agente, que no da lo que no tiene y no sostiene dos imágenes a la vez.
«But when God acts in place of the active intellect, He engenders many images together in one point.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart opone a eso la obra de Dios, que engendra muchas imágenes juntas en un punto.
«For if God prompts you to a good deed, at once all your powers proffer themselves for all good things: your whole mind at once tends to good in general.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart da la señal práctica de esa obra: todas las potencias se ofrecen a la vez para todo bien.
«As Paul says, "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13);» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart cita a Pablo sobre poderlo todo en quien lo fortalece.
«You must know, then, that the images of these acts are not yours.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart niega la propiedad de las imágenes de esos actos.
«Neither are they from nature: they belong to the author of nature, in which He has implanted act and image.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart tampoco las da a la naturaleza sino a su autor, que implantó acto e imagen en ella.
«So do not lay claim to it, for it is His, not yours.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart prohíbe reclamarlo como propio.
«However much God may reveal Himself in this life, yet it is still as nothing to what He really is.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart acota toda revelación de esta vida como nada frente a lo que Dios es.
«When you have completely stripped yourself of your own self, and all things and every kind of attachment, and have transferred, made over, and abandoned yourself to God in utter faith and perfect love, then whatever is born in you or touches you, within or without, joyful or sorrowful, sour or sweet, that is no longer yours, it is altogether your God's to whom you have abandoned yourself.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart describe el despojo entero de sí y el traspaso a Dios, tras el cual nada de lo que nazca o toque, dentro o fuera, dulce o amargo, es ya propio.
«Tell me, whom does the spoken word belong to? To the speaker or the hearer? Though it falls to the hearer, it really belongs to the speaker who gave it birth.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart pregunta de quién es la palabra dicha, del que habla o del que oye, para argumentar la propiedad.
«Now, though the light is formally in the air, essentially it is in the sun: the light actually comes from the sun, where it originates, and not in the air.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart pone el símil de la luz, formalmente en el aire y esencialmente en el sol.
«This above all else is needful: you must lay claim to nothing!» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart formula la exigencia central del sermón: no reclamar nada.
«Let go of yourself and let God act with you and in you as He will.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart manda soltarse y dejar que Dios obre con uno y en uno como quiera.
«Therefore God must enter into your being and powers, because you have bereft yourself of all possessions, and become as a desert, as it is written, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness" (Matt. 3:3).» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart concluye que Dios ha de entrar donde uno se ha hecho desierto, con la voz que clama en el yermo.
«All outward works were established and ordained to direct the outer man to God and to train him to spiritual living and good deeds, that he might not stray into ineptitudes: to act as a curb on his inclination to escape from self to things outside;» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart declara para qué se instituyeron las obras externas, que es enderezar al hombre exterior y frenar su fuga de sí hacia las cosas.
«But if a man knows himself to be well trained in true inwardness, then let him boldly drop all outward disciplines, even those he is bound to and from which neither pope nor bishop can release him.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart autoriza a quien se sepa ejercitado en la interioridad verdadera a dejar toda disciplina externa, aun aquella de la que ni el papa ni el obispo pueden dispensar.
«turned into something else: for every vow is a contract with God. But if a man has taken solemn vows of such things as prayer, fasting, or pilgrimage, if he then enters some order, he is released from them, for in the order he is vowed to goodness as a whole, and to God Himself.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart apoya esa dispensa en la analogía del voto: quien entra en una orden queda liberado de los votos particulares porque se vota al bien entero y a Dios mismo.
«And so I say the same here: Whatever a man's vows to manifold things, by entering into true inwardness he is released from them.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart extiende esa liberación a quien entra en la interioridad verdadera.
«You should not wish to make it up by any act of creatures, for the least act of God outweighs all the works of creatures.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart pesa el menor acto de Dios por encima de todas las obras de las criaturas.
«If he finds it hampering and that he draws nearer to God without it, let him boldly give it up.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart autoriza al lego a dejar la disciplina corporal si le estorba y si sin ella se acerca más a Dios.
«That is what Paul meant when he said, "When wholeness comes, the partial vanishes"» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart apoya esa autorización en Pablo, cuando llega lo entero se desvanece lo parcial.
«As Paul says, "The letter [that is, all outward practices] kills, but the spirit gives life"» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart lee la letra que mata como las prácticas externas y el espíritu que vivifica como lo interior.
«No need to tell God what you need or desire: He already knows.» — Sermón 3 (Pf 3 , Q 104): Eckhart niega que haga falta decirle a Dios lo que uno necesita.
«And so in truth, if you would find this noble birth, 1 you must leave the crowd and return to the source and ground whence you came.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart abre el sermón del nacimiento noble mandando dejar la multitud y volver a la fuente y al fondo de donde se viene.
«If this work is to be done, God alone must do it, and you must just suffer it to be.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart adjudica la obra entera a Dios y al hombre solo el padecerla.
«Where you truly go out from your will and your knowledge, God with His knowledge surely and willingly goes in and shines there clearly.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart enuncia el canje: donde uno sale de su voluntad y su saber, entra el saber de Dios.
«Do not imagine that your reason can grow to the knowledge of God.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart niega que la razón pueda crecer hasta el conocimiento de Dios.
«If God is to shine divinely in you, your natural light cannot help toward this end.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart declara inútil la luz natural para ese fin.
«Instead, it must become pure nothing and go out of itself altogether, and then God can shine in with His light, and He will bring back in with Him all that you forsook and a thousand times more, together with a new form to contain it all.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart describe qué ha de pasarle a esa luz natural, hacerse pura nada, y qué devuelve Dios a cambio, todo lo dejado y mil veces más con forma nueva que lo contenga.
«So in truth, no creaturely skill, nor your own wisdom nor all your knowledge can enable you to know God divinely.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart niega a toda destreza de criatura y a toda sabiduría propia el conocimiento divino de Dios.
«For you to know God in God's way, your knowing must become a pure unknowing, and a forgetting of yourself and all creatures.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart formula la condición en positivo: el conocer ha de volverse puro no conocer y olvido de sí y de las criaturas.
«Certainly. You cannot do better than to place yourself in darkness and in unknowing.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart responde a la objeción mandando ponerse en tiniebla y en no saber.
«The only name it has is 'potential receptivity,' which certainly does not lack being nor is it deficient, but it is the potential of receptivity in which you will be perfected.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart nombra ese estado receptividad potencial y niega que sea falta de ser o defecto.
«If only it were to retain its potentiality intact, remaining undefiled and unrent by base and gross things, it would outstrip the highest heaven, never ceasing till it reached the summit, there to be fed and cherished by the Greatest Good.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart describe lo que haría esa potencia si quedara intacta, rebasar el cielo más alto hasta la cumbre.
«And the more barren you are of self and unwitting of all things, the nearer you are to Him.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart enuncia la proporción entre vacío de sí y cercanía a Dios.
«No, be sure of this. Absolute stillness for as long as possible is best of all for you.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart responde que lo mejor es la quietud absoluta cuanto sea posible.
«You would like to partly prepare yourself and partly let God prepare you, but this cannot be.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart niega el reparto de la preparación entre el hombre y Dios.
«But even if it were shared, so that you did the preparing and God did the working or the infusion - which is impossible then you should know that God must act and pour Himself into you the moment He finds you ready.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart lleva ese reparto al absurdo y concluye que Dios ha de obrar y derramarse en cuanto encuentre dispuesto.
«Do not imagine that God is like a human carpenter, who works or not as he likes, who can do or leave undone as he wishes.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart niega que Dios sea como un carpintero que obra o no a su gusto.
«It is different with God: as and when God finds you ready, He has to act, to overflow into you, just as when the air is clear and pure the sun has to burst forth and cannot refrain.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart pone el símil del sol en aire limpio, que ha de irrumpir y no puede abstenerse.
«It would surely be a grave defect in God if He performed no great works in you and did not pour great goodness into you whenever He found you thus empty and bare.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart lleva la necesidad hasta el extremo, llamando defecto grave en Dios el no derramarse en quien halla vacío.
«In the Book of Secrets it says that our Lord declared to mankind, "I stand at the door knocking and waiting; whoever lets me in, with him I will sup" (Rev. 3:20).» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart cita el Apocalipsis, que llama Libro de los Secretos, sobre el que está a la puerta llamando.
«You need not seek Him here or there, He is no further than the door of your heart; there He stands patiently awaiting whoever is ready to open up and let Him in.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart sitúa esa puerta en el corazón y no lejos.
«Your being aware of Him is not in your power but in His.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart pone el advertirlo en poder de Dios y no del hombre.
«When it suits Him He shows Himself, and He can hide when He wishes.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart concede a Dios mostrarse o esconderse a su hora.
«You should know, God cannot leave anything void or unfilled, God and nature cannot endure that anything should be empty or void.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart niega que Dios o la naturaleza toleren un vacío.
«Assuredly! Once this birth has really occurred, no creatures can hinder you; instead, they will all direct you to God and this birth.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart responde que, dado el nacimiento, ninguna criatura estorba y todas encaminan a él.
«Here in the world the body is bold and strong, for it is at home, the world helps it, the earth is its fatherland, it is helped by all its kin: food, drink, soft living - all is opposed to spirit.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart describe la ventaja de la carne en este mundo, donde está en casa y todo la ayuda.
«The spirit is an alien here, but in heaven are its kin, its whole race: there it has good friends, if it strives for there and makes its home there.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart describe la desventaja del espíritu, extranjero aquí y con su linaje en el cielo.
«And so, in order to succor the spirit in this alien realm, and to impede the flesh somewhat in this strife lest it should conquer the spirit, we put on it the bridle of penitential practices, thus curbing it so that the spirit can resist it.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart explica para qué sirven las prácticas penitenciales, que son freno de la carne para que el espíritu resista.
«All this is done to bring it under control; but if you would capture and curb it in a thousand times better fashion, then put on it the bridle of love!» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart propone un freno mil veces mejor, el de amor.
«With love you overcome it most surely, with love you load it most heavily.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart repite la figura del freno con la carga: con amor se vence y se carga más.
«Therefore God lies in wait for us with nothing so much as with love.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart dice que Dios no acecha con otra cosa tanto como con amor.
«And so I say of love: he who is caught by it has the strongest of bonds, and yet a pleasant burden.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart llama al amor el más fuerte de los lazos y a la vez carga placentera.
«He who has taken up this sweet burden fares further and makes more progress than by all the harsh practices any men use.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart mide el avance de quien toma esa carga frente a todas las prácticas duras.
«Nothing brings you closer to God or makes God so much your own as the sweet bond of love.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart declara que nada acerca tanto a Dios ni lo hace tan propio como ese lazo dulce.
«Therefore it is written, "Love is as strong as death and as hard as hell" (Song 8:6).» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart cita el Cantar sobre el amor fuerte como la muerte y duro como el infierno.
«Death separates soul from body, but love separates all things from the soul - it will not tolerate what is not God or God's.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart desarrolla la comparación: la muerte separa alma y cuerpo, el amor separa del alma todo lo que no sea Dios.
«Whoever is caught in this net, whoever walks in this way, whatever he does is all one: whether he does anything or nothing is of no account.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart declara indiferente el obrar o no obrar de quien está preso en esa red.
«And yet the least action or practice of such a man is more profitable and fruitful to himself and all men, and more pleasing to God, than all the works of others who, though free from mortal sin, are inferior to him in love.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart acota esa indiferencia sin retirarla: la menor acción de tal hombre rinde más que todas las obras de quien le es inferior en amor.
«Therefore, just watch for this hook, so as to be blessedly caught: for the more you are caught, the more you are free.» — Sermón 4 (Pf 4, Q 103, QT 59): Eckhart cierra el sermón con la paradoja del anzuelo, que cuanto más preso más libre.
«There were certain masters1 who declared that the love that is in us is the Holy Ghost, but that is not true.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart niega la tesis de unos maestros que identificaban el amor en nosotros con el Espíritu Santo.
«The bodily food we take is changed into us, but the spiritual food we receive changes us into itself; therefore divine love is not taken into us, for that would make two things.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart opone el alimento corporal, que se cambia en nosotros, al espiritual, que nos cambia en sí.
«But divine love takes us into itself, and we are one with it.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart concluye que el amor divino nos toma en sí y quedamos uno con él.
«The paint on the waiF is maintained by the wall; thus all creatures are maintained in existence by love, which is God.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart pone el símil de la pintura sostenida por el muro para el sostenimiento de las criaturas por el amor, que es Dios.
«If you took the paint from the wall, it would lose its existence: so all things would lose their existence if deprived of love, which is God.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart completa el símil por la negativa: quitada la pintura del muro, pierde su existencia.
«Every spiritual thing can dwell in another; but nothing bodily can exist in another.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart distingue lo espiritual de lo corporal por la capacidad de morar uno en otro.
«Take the lowest angel in his pure nature: the smallest splinter or spark that ever fell from him would suffice to light up the whole world with bliss and joy.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart mide la naturaleza pura del ángel más bajo por la chispa que bastaría para alegrar el mundo entero.
«Now I have sometimes said further that the angels are beyond all number and quantity.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart declara a los ángeles fuera de número y cantidad.
«Whatever God ever made or shall yet make - if God were to give all that entire to my soul and God with it, and if so much as a hair's breadth remained behind, it would not satisfy my soul; I should not be happy.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart formula la insaciabilidad del alma: ni todo lo hecho y por hacer con Dios dentro la contentaría si quedara fuera el grueso de un cabello.
«Where I am, there God is; and then I am in God, and where God is, there I am.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart enuncia la reciprocidad de lugar entre el alma y Dios.
«If then I am in God, then where God is, I am and where I am, there God is, unless the scriptures lie.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart repite esa reciprocidad y la apoya en la Escritura o la da por falsa.
«Where two are to become one, one of them must lose its being.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart enuncia el precio de la unidad: de dos que se hacen uno, uno pierde su ser.
«Now the Holy Ghost says, "let them be one as we are one.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart cita el sean uno como nosotros somos uno.
«When I pray for aught, my prayer goes for naught; when I pray for naught, I pray as I ought.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart formula en juego de palabras la oración sin objeto, que es la única que tiene por debida.
«If we pray to God for aught else but God, that is wrong and faithless and a kind of imperfection, for it is to set up something beside God.» — Sermón 5 (Pf 5, Q 65): Eckhart declara falta y fe imperfecta el pedir a Dios algo distinto de Dios, porque pone algo al lado de Dios.
«His intention was none other than to have the Temple cleared, just as if he had said, I have a right to this temple and I want it to myself to be lord therein.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart lee la purificación del Templo como reclamo de señorío exclusivo.
«This temple, in which God would rule with authority, according to His will, is man's soul, which He has made exactly like Himself,» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart identifica ese templo con el alma, hecha exactamente a semejanza de Dios.
«For this reason God wants this temple cleared, that He may be there all alone.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart da la razón del desalojo, que Dios esté ahí solo.
«They are very foolish folk who would bargain thus with our Lord; they know little or nothing of the truth.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart llama necios a los que negocian así con el Señor.
«When God enters the Temple He drives out ignorance, which is darkness, and reveals Himself in light and in truth.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart describe qué expulsa Dios al entrar, la ignorancia, que es tiniebla.
«The merchants must go when truth is revealed, for truth needs no merchandising.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart concluye que los mercaderes sobran porque la verdad no necesita comercio.
«God seeks not His own: He is perfectly free in His acts, which He does out of true love.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart declara que Dios no busca lo suyo y obra libre por amor verdadero.
«If you would be free of any taint of trading, so that God may let you enter this temple, then you must do all that you can in all your works, solely to God's glory, and be as free of it as Naught is free, which is neither here nor there.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart pone la condición de entrar libre de todo trueque, obrando solo para gloria de Dios y tan libre de ello como lo es la Nada.
«You should ask nothing whatever in return.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart prohíbe pedir cosa alguna a cambio.
«Whenever you act thus, your works are spiritual and godly, and the merchants are driven right out of the temple, and God is in there alone, for one is thinking only of God.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart describe el efecto: las obras se vuelven espirituales, los mercaderes salen y solo se piensa en Dios.
«I have also told how our Lord said to those that sold doves, "Take this away! Take this hence!"» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart recuerda la palabra sobre los que vendían palomas, quitad esto de aquí.
«He did not drive these people out or rebuke them harshly, but said quite mildly, "take this away! " as though to say it is not wrong, but it is a hindrance to the pure truth.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart marca la diferencia de trato: a ésos no los echó ni los reprendió duro, porque lo suyo no es malo sino estorbo para la verdad pura.
«These are all good people; they work purely for God's sake, not for themselves, but they work with attachment,3 according to time and tide,4 before and after.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart caracteriza a esa gente como buena, que obra por Dios y no por sí, pero con apego y según antes y después.
«These activities hinder them from attaining the highest truth, from being absolutely free and unhindered as our Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely free and unhindered,» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart nombra el estorbo, que impide la libertad absoluta que atribuye a Cristo.
«Thus, to be receptive to the highest truth, and to live therein, a man must be without before and after, untrammeled by all his acts or by any images he ever perceived, empty and free, receiving the divine gift in the eternal Now, and bearing it back unhindered in the light of the same with praise and thanksgiving in our Lord Jesus Christ.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart formula el estado receptivo: sin antes ni después, libre de actos e imágenes, recibiendo en el Ahora eterno.
«When the temple is thus free of obstructions (that is attachment and ignorance), then it glistens with beauty, shining out bright and fair above the whole of God's creation, and through all God's creation, so that none can equal its brilliance but the uncreated God alone.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart describe el templo despejado de apego y de ignorancia, resplandeciendo sobre toda la creación.
«The very highest angels are like this temple of the noble soul in many ways, but not in all.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart acota la semejanza de los ángeles más altos con ese templo, que es en muchos aspectos y no en todos.
«If a soul, that of a man now living in time, were equal to the highest angel -still that man would have the potential freedom to soar infinitely far above that angel, ever anew, in every Now without number, and that means without mode: above the angelic mode and every created intelligence.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart sostiene que el alma temporal igualada al ángel más alto conservaría la libertad potencial de remontarlo infinitamente, en cada Ahora y sin modo.
«And when she emerges into the unmixed light, she falls into her Nothingness5 and in that Nothingness so far from the created Something, that of her own power she cannot return to her created Something.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart describe la caída del alma en su Nada al salir a la luz sin mezcla, de donde por sí no puede volver.
«God with His uncreatedness upholds6 her Nothingness and preserves her in His Something.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart adjudica a la increaduría de Dios el sostén de esa Nada.
«The soul has dared to become nothing and so cannot of herself return to herself, for she has departed so far from herself before God comes to the rescue.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart repite que el alma se atrevió a hacerse nada y por eso no puede volver a sí antes del rescate.
«Observe that there was no one there but Jesus when he began to speak in the Temple.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart hace notar que no había nadie más que Jesús cuando empezó a hablar en el Templo.
«if anyone else would speak in the temple (which is the soul) but Jesus, Jesus is silent, as if he were not at home - and he is not at home in the soul, for she has strange guests to talk to.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart lee de ahí que Jesús calla en el alma mientras otro hable, y que entonces no está en casa por los huéspedes extraños.
«Since this is spoken by the Father, then what is Jesus saying in the soul?» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart plantea la pregunta de qué dice Jesús en el alma, siendo Verbo dicho por el Padre.
«Jesus reveals himself, too, in infinite sweetness and richness, welling up and overflowing and pouring in from the power of the Holy Ghost, with superabundant richness and sweetness into all receptive hearts.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart describe la primera manifestación de Jesús en el alma, dulzura y riqueza infinitas que se derraman por el Espíritu Santo.
«Secondly, Jesus reveals himself in the soul in infinite wisdom, which is himself; in that Wisdom the Father knows Himself with all His paternal authority, and that same Word, which is Wisdom itself, and all that is therein, just as it is One.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart describe la segunda, la sabiduría infinita que es él mismo y en la que el Padre se conoce.
«When this Wisdom is united with the soul, all doubt, all error, and all darkness are entirely removed; she is set in a bright pure light which is God Himself, as the prophet says, "Lord, in Thy light shall we know the light» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart declara el efecto de esa unión, que quita duda, error y tiniebla, con el verso del profeta sobre conocer la luz en la luz.
«the outer man will be obedient to his inner man until death, and will be at all times at peace in the service of God forever.» — Sermón 6 (Pf 6, Q 1, QT 1 ): Eckhart cierra con la obediencia del hombre exterior al interior hasta la muerte.
«St. John says, "See how great is the love that the Father has shown us, that we are called and are the children of God" (1 John 3:1).» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart abre el sermón con el texto de Juan sobre ser llamados y ser hijos de Dios.
«He says not only "we are called" but "we are." So I say that just as a man cannot be wise without wisdom, so he cannot be a son without the filial nature of God's Son, without having the same being as the Son of God has - just as being wise cannot be without wisdom.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart argumenta la filiación por analogía con la sabiduría: no hay hijo sin naturaleza filial ni sabio sin sabiduría, y acota que ahora está oculto.
«But this interpretation is too gross and carnal, for it depends on bodily imagery.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart descarta por grosera y carnal la primera lectura de la filiación, la que se apoya en imágenes corporales.
«So I will give you another sense, which is more subtle and spiritual.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart anuncia el sentido segundo, más sutil y espiritual.
«And so I say that in this sense there is no likeness and no difference, but rather, wholly without distinction we shall be the same in essence, in substance and in nature as he is in himself.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart niega a la vez semejanza y diferencia y afirma identidad de esencia, sustancia y naturaleza con el Hijo.
«Note how we are the Son of God - by having the same essence that the Son has.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart resume el modo de la filiación, tener la misma esencia que el Hijo.
«That is true, for Isaiah says, "To whom have you likened Him or what image will you give Him?"» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart apoya la negación de semejanza en Isaías.
«Since it is God's nature not to be like anyone, we have to come to the state of being nothing in order to enter into the same nature that He is.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart deriva de la naturaleza de Dios la exigencia de llegar a no ser nada.
«All that smacks of likeness must be ousted that I may be transplanted into God and become one with Him: one substance, one being, one nature, and the Son of God.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart manda expulsar todo lo que sepa a semejanza para ser trasplantado en Dios.
«Should any image or any likeness remain in you, you would never be one with God.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart pone el límite por la negativa: quedando imagen o semejanza, no hay unidad.
«To be one with God, there must be in you nothing imagined or imaged forth, so that nothing is covered up in you that is not discovered or cast out.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart exige que nada quede encubierto sin descubrir o expulsar.
«God makes us knowing Him, and His being is His knowing, and His making me know is the same as my knowing; so His knowing is mine just as in the master; what he teaches is one and the same as, in the pupil, what be is taught.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart iguala el conocer de Dios con el mío por el símil del maestro y el discípulo, donde lo enseñado y lo aprendido son uno.
«Observe the nature of defect. It comes from no thing.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart define el defecto por su origen, que es la nada.
«So, what comes of nothing must be expunged from the soul:» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart manda borrar del alma lo que viene de nada.
«Man laments and is sorrowful, solely on account of deficiency.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart adjudica toda lamentación y tristeza a la carencia.
«We shall not be like Him until this nothing is expelled so that we are all in all as God is all in all.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart condiciona la semejanza con Dios a la expulsión de esa nada.
«Man has a twofold birth: one into the world, and one out of the world, which is spiritual and into God.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart distingue los dos nacimientos del hombre, al mundo y fuera del mundo hacia Dios.
«If you grieve in your heart for anything, even on account of sin, your child is not yet born.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart pone la prueba del segundo nacimiento en no dolerse de nada, ni siquiera del pecado.
«If your heart is sore you are not yet a mother - but you are in labor and your time is near.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart describe el estado intermedio con la figura del parto, aún no madre y ya de parto.
«But the child is fully born when a man's heart grieves for nothing:» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart fija el nacimiento pleno en el corazón que por nada se duele.
«Christ says: "Whoever would follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matt. 16:24, Mark 8:34).» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart cita el negarse a sí mismo y tomar la cruz.
«I declare that God and the angels take such keen delight in every act of a good man that there is no joy like it.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart mide el deleite de Dios y de los ángeles en cada acto del hombre bueno.
«And so God's anger springs from love, for His anger is without passion.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart deriva la ira de Dios del amor y la declara sin pasión.
«when you have reached the point where nothing is grievous or hard to you, and where pain is not pain to you, when everything is perfect joy to you, then your child has really been born.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart repite la señal del nacimiento: cuando nada resulta penoso y el dolor no duele.
«Strive therefore to ensure that your child is not only being born, but is brought to birth, just as in God the Son is always being born and is brought to birth.» — Sermón 7 (Pf 7, Q 76, QT 35): Eckhart distingue el ser nacido del ser llevado a término, y lo modela sobre el Hijo en Dios.
«Now mark this word carefully. It must of necessity be a virgin,» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart abre el sermón de la virgen esposa exigiendo que sea virgen.
«'Virgin' is as much as to say a person who is void of alien images, as empty as he was when he did not exist.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart define virgen como persona vacía de imágenes ajenas, tan vacía como cuando no existía.
«And yet I say that being a virgin by no means deprives a man of works» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart acota que esa virginidad no priva al hombre de obras.
«If a man were to be ever virginal, he would bear no fruit.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart pone el límite de la virginidad sola, que no daría fruto.
«If he is to be fruitful, he must be a wife.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart exige que quien haya de ser fecundo sea esposa.
«'Wife' is the noblest title one can bestow on the soul - far nobler than 'virgin.'» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart declara esposa el título más noble que se le puede dar al alma, por encima de virgen.
«For a man to receive God within him is good, and in receiving he is virgin.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart jerarquiza recibir y ser fecundo, y adjudica la virginidad al recibir.
«Many good gifts, received in virginity, are not reborn back into God in wifely fruitfulness and with praise and thanks.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart describe el fallo: dones recibidos en virginidad que no renacen hacia Dios en fecundidad de esposa.
«Such gifts perish and all comes to naught, and a man is no more blessed or the better for them.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart declara que esos dones perecen y no hacen mejor a nadie.
«In this case his virginity is useless because to that virginity he does not add the perfect fruitfufness of a wife.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart concluye que esa virginidad es inútil por faltarle la fecundidad; el troceo imprime *fruitfulness* con la ele caída.
«Hence I have said, "Jesus went up into a citadel and was received by a virgin who was a wife."» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart vuelve al lema, Jesús recibido por una virgen que era esposa.
«Married folk bring forth little more than one fruit in a year. But it is other wedded folk that I have in mind now: all those who are bound with attachment to prayer, fasting, vigils, and all kinds of outward discipline and mortification.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart nombra a quiénes llama casados, los atados por apego a oración, ayuno, vigilias y mortificaciones.
«I call a year; for your soul will bear no fruit till it has done this work to which you are possessively attached, and you too will have no trust in God or in yourself before you have done the work you embraced with attachment, for otherwise you will have no peace.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart explica su metáfora del año, el plazo en que esa alma no da fruto por estar ligada a la obra que abrazó con apego.
«That is what I call 'a year,' and the fruit of it is paltry because it springs from attachment to the task and not from freedom.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart mide el fruto de ese año como escaso por nacer de apego y no de libertad.
«A virgin who is a wife is free and unfettered by attachment; she is always as near to God as to herself.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart describe a la virgen esposa como libre de apego y tan cerca de Dios como de sí misma.
«She brings forth many and big fruits, for they are neither more nor less than God Himself.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart mide sus frutos, que no son otra cosa que Dios mismo.
«Elsewhere I have declared that there is a power in the soul4 which touches neither time nor flesh, flowing from the spirit, remaining in the spirit, altogether spiritual.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart declara una potencia del alma que no toca tiempo ni carne, del espíritu y en el espíritu.
«Yet I declare that if ever there were a single man who in intellectual vision and in truth should glimpse for a moment the bliss and the joy therein, then all his sufferings and all God intended that he should suffer would be a trifle, a mere nothing to him - in fact I declare it would be pure joy and comfort to him.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart sostiene que un solo vislumbre intelectual de esa bienaventuranza volvería nada todo el sufrimiento posible.
«But if you suffer for God and God alone, your suffering does not hurt and is not hard to bear, for God bears the load.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart condiciona el alivio del sufrimiento a que sea por Dios y solo por Dios, y adjudica la carga a Dios.
«In very truth, if there were a man willing to suffer purely for God's sake and for God alone, then although he were suddenly called upon to bear all the suffering that all men have ever endured, the collective sufferings of all the world, it would not hurt him or bear him down, for God would bear the burden.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart lleva esa tesis al extremo de los sufrimientos reunidos del mundo entero.
«If they put a hundredweight burden on my neck and another were to bear it on my neck, I would as willingly bear a hundred pounds as one, for it would not burden me or cause me pain.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart ilustra el traslado de la carga con el símil del peso que otro sostiene sobre mi cuello.
«I have sometimes said that there is a power in the soul which alone is free.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart recuerda haber dicho que hay en el alma una potencia que sola es libre.
«But now I say that it is neither this nor that; and yet it is a something that is more exalted over 'this' and 'that' than are the heavens above the earth.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart niega de ella todo esto y aquello y la pone más alta sobre ellos que el cielo sobre la tierra.
«It is as completely one and simple as God is one and simple, so that no man can in any way glimpse it.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart la declara una y simple como Dios y fuera del alcance de toda mirada.
«that that noble power I mentioned is not worthy even for an instant to cast a single glance into this citadel; nor is that other power I spoke of, in which God burns and glows with all His riches and all His joy, able to cast a single glance inside; so truly one and simple is this citadel, so mode- and power-transcending is this solitary One, that neither power nor mode can gaze into it, nor even God Himself!» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart llega al extremo del sermón de la ciudadela: ni potencia ni modo pueden mirar dentro, ni el propio Dios.
«In very truth and as God lives! God Himself never looks in there for one instant, insofar as He exists in modes and in the properties of His persons.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart repite esa negación acotándola, en cuanto Dios existe en modos y en las propiedades de las personas.
«And therefore, for God to see inside it would cost Him all His divine names and personal properties: all these He must leave outside, should He ever look in there.» — Sermón 8 (Pf 8, Q 2, QT 2): Eckhart cifra el precio de esa mirada, que a Dios le costaría sus nombres divinos y sus propiedades personales.
«St. Luke says in his Gospel that our Lord Jesus Christ went into a little town, where he was received by a woman named Martha, and she had a sister named Mary who sat at the feet of our Lord and listened to his words, but Martha moved about, waiting on our Lord.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart abre el sermón de Marta y María con el relato de Lucas.
«I call that mental satisfaction, when the summit of the soul is not brought so low by any joys as to be drowned in pleasure, but rather rises resolutely above them.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart define la satisfacción mental por la cima del alma que no se ahoga en placer sino que se alza resuelta.
«This was said not in anger, but it was rather affection that constrained her.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart lee la queja de Marta como afecto y no como enojo, que es la clave de su lectura invertida del pasaje.
«For the eternal light makes known oneself and God, not oneself apart from God; but life makes one known to oneself, apart from God.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart distingue lo que da a conocer la luz eterna, que es uno mismo con Dios, de lo que da a conocer la vida, que es uno mismo aparte de Dios.
«St. Paul in his ecstasy saw God, and himself in spiritual fashion, in God, and yet each virtue did not there present itself clearly to his vision, and that was because he had not practiced them in deeds.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart explica por qué Pablo en el éxtasis no vio claras las virtudes, que fue por no haberlas practicado en obras.
«Christ said this to Martha not by way of rebuke, but answering and reassuring her that Mary would become as she desired.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart lee la respuesta de Cristo a Marta como consuelo y no como reproche.
«So he said, "You are careful," meaning, 'You are among things, but they are not in you,» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart glosa el estás cuidadosa como estar entre las cosas sin que las cosas estén en uno.
«'Works' are performed from without, but 'activity' is when one practices with care and understanding from within.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart distingue obras, que se hacen desde fuera, de actividad, que se ejerce con cuidado y entendimiento desde dentro.
«Thus it was with dear Martha, and so he said to her, "One thing is needful," not two.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart subraya que lo necesario es una cosa y no dos.
«Two in one is a fiery spirit, standing over all things, yet under God, on the circle of eternity.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart describe el dos en uno como espíritu ígneo sobre todas las cosas y bajo Dios, en el círculo de la eternidad.
«God is not seen except where He is seen spiritually, free of all images.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart condiciona la visión de Dios a que sea espiritual y libre de imágenes.
«The second way is a wayless way, free and yet bound, raised, rapt away wellnigh past self and all things, without will and without images, even though not yet in essential being.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart describe la segunda vía como vía sin vía, libre y atada, arrebatada casi fuera de sí, sin voluntad ni imágenes; el extractor une en el salto de renglón lo que el impreso escribe *well-nigh*.
«St. Peter did not see God unveiled, though indeed he was caught up by the heavenly Father's power past all created understanding to the circle of eternity.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart acota la experiencia de Pedro, que no vio a Dios sin velo aunque fuera arrebatado al círculo de la eternidad.
«I make bold to say, if St. Peter had seen God unveiled in His own nature, as he did later, and as St. Paul did when he was caught up into the third heaven, the most exalted angel's voice would have sounded harsh to him.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart mide lo que habría pasado si la hubiera visto, que la voz del ángel más alto le habría sonado áspera.
«The third way is called a way, but is really being at home, that is: seeing God without means in His own being.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart describe la tercera vía, que no es vía sino estar en casa, viendo a Dios sin medio en su propio ser.
«Now let me instruct you about virtue. Virtuous living depends in three points on the will.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart abre la instrucción sobre la virtud y la hace depender de tres puntos de la voluntad.
«The sensible will seeks guidance, so that one needs a proper teacher.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart describe la voluntad sensible, que pide guía y por eso exige un maestro propio.
«The rational will means following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and the saints, that is, so that words, deeds and way of life are alike directed to the highest end.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart describe la voluntad racional como seguimiento de Cristo y de los santos en palabras, obras y modo de vida.
«When all this is accomplished, God will give something more in the ground of the soul, that is, an eternal will consonant with the loving commands of the Holy Ghost.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart describe la tercera, la voluntad eterna que Dios da en el fondo del alma.
«Now our good people declare that we must be so perfect that no joy can move us, we must be untouched by weal and woe.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart recoge la tesis de los devotos de su tiempo, que hay que ser tan perfecto que nada conmueva.
«I say never was there a saint so great but he could be moved.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart la objeta diciendo que nunca hubo santo tan grande que no pudiera ser conmovido.
«Yet on the other hand I hold that it is possible for a saint, even in this life, to be so that nothing can move him to turn from God.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart sostiene a la vez lo que sí es posible, que nada mueva al santo a apartarse de Dios.
«Therefore I declare that no saint ever lived or ever will attain to the state where pain cannot hurt him nor pleasure please.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart niega el estado en que ni el dolor duela ni el placer agrade.
«Martha was so well grounded in her essence that her activity was no hindrance to her: work and activity she turned to her eternal profit.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart invierte la lectura común del pasaje: Marta estaba tan fundada en su esencia que la actividad no le estorbaba.
«Now our good people imagine they can reach a point where sensible things do not affect the senses.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart objeta a los devotos que imaginan llegar a que lo sensible no afecte a los sentidos.
«Again, some people hope to reach a point where they are free of works. I say this cannot be.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart niega también que se pueda llegar a estar libre de obras.
«After the disciples had received the Holy Ghost, they began to do good works.» — Sermón 9 (Pf 9, Q 86, QT 28, Evans II, 2): Eckhart apoya esa negativa en los discípulos, que empezaron a obrar tras recibir el Espíritu Santo.
«He is the God of heaven and earth, but not your God.» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart distingue al Dios del cielo y de la tierra del Dios tuyo, que es la tesis del sermón.
«But if you are sick and pray to God for health, then health is dearer to you than God, and He is not your God.» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart pone la prueba en la oración por la salud: si la salud es más querida que Dios, Él no es tu Dios.
«We deafen God day and night with our cries, 'Lord, thy will be done,' and when God's will is done, we are angry, which is wrong.» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart objeta la contradicción de pedir que se haga la voluntad de Dios y enojarse cuando se hace.
«If our will is God's will, that is good, but if God's will is our will, that is far better.» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart jerarquiza las dos direcciones: que nuestra voluntad sea la de Dios es bueno, que la de Dios sea la nuestra es mucho mejor.
«Moses' will had become so fully God's will that God's honor with the people was dearer to him than his own felicity.» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart pone a Moisés como caso de esa segunda, con la honra de Dios más querida que la propia bienaventuranza.
«And so it should be with a good man: 'my work is not my work, my life is not my life.'» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart formula la consecuencia para el hombre bueno, que su obra no es su obra ni su vida su vida.
«If I hit you, I hit first a Burkhard or a Heinrich, and only then a man.» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart ilustra la prioridad de lo común sobre lo propio con el golpe que da primero en un Burkhard y solo después en un hombre.
«Yet I declare that if I have the will that I should give a hundred marks if I had them - if the will is perfect, then in fact I have paid God and He must give account to me as if I had really given Him a hundred marks.» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart declara pagada ante Dios la voluntad perfecta de dar cien marcos aunque no se tengan.
«I say humanity is as perfect in the poorest and most wretched as in pope or emperor, for I hold humanity more dear in itself than the man I carry about with me.» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart iguala la humanidad en el más pobre y en el papa, y declara tenerla por más querida que al hombre que carga consigo.
«I have sometimes said, he who has God and all things with God, has no more than one who has God alone.» — Sermón 10 (Pf 10, Q 25, QT 38): Eckhart iguala tener a Dios con todas las cosas y tener a Dios solo.
«Take note of the first thing he says: "The time shall come and now is." He who would worship the Father must betake himself into eternity in his desires and hopes.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart lee el vendrá la hora y ahora es como mandato de meterse en la eternidad con el deseo y la esperanza.
«All that happened a thousand years ago, the day that was a thousand years ago, is in eternity no further off than this moment I am in now; or the day which shall be a thousand years hence, or in as many years as you can count, is no more distant in eternity than this moment I am in.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart aplana la distancia temporal en la eternidad, donde mil años atrás y mil adelante están tan cerca como este instante.
«The truth is such a noble thing that if God were able to turn away from truth, I would cling to truth and let God go; for God is truth, and all that is in time, and that God created, is not truth.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart formula la hipótesis extrema sobre la verdad: si Dios pudiera apartarse de ella, se quedaría con la verdad y dejaría ir a Dios.
«Alas, how many are there who worship a shoe or a cow and encumber themselves with them - they are foolish folk!» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart llama necios a los que adoran un zapato o una vaca, que es su figura del culto a lo que no es Dios.
«I have sometimes said whoever seeks God and seeks anything with God, does not find God; but he who seeks God alone in truth finds God but he does not find God alone - for all that God can give, that he finds with God.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart distingue buscar a Dios con algo más, que no lo halla, de buscarlo solo, que lo halla y con Él todo lo que puede dar.
«If you seek God and seek Him for your own profit and bliss, then in truth you are not seeking God.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart niega que sea buscar a Dios buscarlo por provecho y bienaventuranza propios.
«Ask a good man, 'Why do you seek God?' and he will answer, 'Because He is God.'» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart pone en boca del hombre bueno la respuesta sin porqué, porque Él es Dios.
«All things that are in time have a 'Why?' Ask a man why he eats: 'For strength.' - 'Why do you sleep?' - 'For the same reason.' And so on with all things that are in time.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart contrasta esa respuesta con el porqué que tienen todas las cosas del tiempo, el comer y el dormir.
«But if you should ask a good man, 'Why do you love God?' -'I don't know -for God's sake.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart remata la serie con el no sé del que ama a Dios por Dios.
«A master says, 'He who has once been touched by truth, justice, and goodness, though it entailed all the pangs of hell, that man could never turn from them even for an instant.'» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre el que una vez fue tocado por la verdad, la justicia y la bondad, y ya no puede apartarse ni un instante.
«He goes on, 'That man, whoever he may be, who is touched by these three - truth, justice, and goodness - can no more quit these three than God can quit His Godhead.'» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart prolonga esa cita hasta la comparación extrema, que ese hombre no puede dejar las tres como Dios no puede dejar su divinidad.
«When you seek the Father, that is God alone, you will find with God all that He has to give. It is a certain and necessary truth, a declared truth - and if it were not declared it would still be true - that if God had still more He could not hide it from you, He would have to show it to you and give it to you, and I sometimes say that He does give it to you, and gives it to you as a birth.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart afirma que si Dios tuviera más no podría ocultarlo y tendría que darlo, y darlo como nacimiento.
«The masters1 say the soul has two faces: her upper face gazes at God all the time, and the lower face looks down somewhat and guides the senses.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart recoge de los maestros las dos caras del alma, la de arriba fija en Dios y la de abajo rigiendo los sentidos.
«The masters say that out of the peak of the soul there flow forth two powers.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart recoge de los maestros las dos potencias que manan de la cima del alma.
«It does not want God as the Holy Ghost nor as the Son: it flees the Son.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart describe la potencia que no quiere a Dios ni como Espíritu Santo ni como Hijo, y que huye del Hijo.
«In truth, to know the Father we must be the Son.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart concluye la condición de conocer al Padre, que es ser el Hijo.
«I have once spoken three words: now take them like three bitter muscat seeds, and then drink.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart ofrece sus tres palabras como tres granos amargos de moscatel, con la imagen del trago.
«The second thing that most makes a man a son is equanimity.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart nombra lo segundo que hace hijo a un hombre, la ecuanimidad.
«The third thing a son should possess is that he can bow his head to none but the Father.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart nombra lo tercero, no inclinar la cabeza ante nadie salvo ante el Padre.
«I declare that I will not pray to God to give to me, nor praise Him for what He has given me, but I will pray to Him to make me worthy to receive, and I will praise Him because He is of such nature and essence that He must give.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart invierte la forma de la oración: no pedir que Dios dé ni alabarlo por lo dado, sino pedir ser digno de recibir y alabarlo porque su naturaleza es tener que dar.
«He who would deprive God of this would deprive Him of His own being, of His very life.» — Sermón 11 (Pf 1 1, Q 26, QT 49): Eckhart declara que quitarle a Dios ese tener que dar sería quitarle el ser y la vida.
«The greatest masters' say that the love with which we love is the Holy Ghost.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart recoge de los maestros mayores que el amor con que amamos es el Espíritu Santo, tesis que en otro sermón objeta.
«The masters say that the goal of love, toward which love does all its works, is goodness, and goodness is God.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart recoge de los maestros el fin del amor, la bondad, y la identifica con Dios.
«then it is a certain truth that all the virtuous deeds performed by all men are yours as perfectly as if you had performed them yourself, and even purer and better.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart declara tuyas, y más puras, las obras virtuosas de todos los hombres si el amor es puro.
«But you have his virtues more purely and with greater detachment and peace, and they are more yours than his, if your love is so pure and bare in itself that you desire and love nothing but goodness and God.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart acota esa apropiación a que el amor sea puro y desnudo y no desee sino la bondad y a Dios.
«God needs our friendship so much that He cannot wait for us to pray to Him: He approaches us and begs us to be His friends, for He desires of us that we should want His forgiveness.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart describe a Dios necesitado de nuestra amistad hasta el punto de adelantarse a rogar que lo queramos perdonar.
«And that is how serious we should be in our practice of virtue: the greater our pain, the more seriously we should strive for virtue.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart deriva de ahí la regla del esfuerzo, que a más dolor más empeño en la virtud.
«Where there is a master and servant there is no peace, for there is no likeness.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart niega la paz donde hay amo y siervo, por falta de semejanza.
«A woman and a man are unlike, but in love they are alike.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart pone el ejemplo del hombre y la mujer, desemejantes y semejantes en el amor.
«And so scripture rightly says that God took woman from the man's rib and side and not from the head or from the feet; for where there are two, there is a lack.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart lee la costilla de la Escritura como figura de igualdad, ni de la cabeza ni de los pies.
«If I hold an apple in my hand, that delights my eyes, but my mouth is deprived of the sweetness.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart ilustra la privación con la manzana en la mano, que deleita al ojo y deja sin dulzura a la boca.
«In fact I declare, He utters the root of the Godhead completely in the Son.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart declara que el Padre profiere la raíz entera de la divinidad en el Hijo.
«And so we should conceal nothing from God, we should reveal to Him all that we can do.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart deriva de la amistad la exigencia de no ocultarle nada a Dios.
«The more you give of yourself to God, the more God gives Himself to you in return, and the more you divest yourself of self, the greater your eternal bliss.» — Sermón 12 (Pf 12, Q 27, QT 50): Eckhart enuncia la proporción entre el darse a Dios y el don recibido, y entre el despojo de sí y la bienaventuranza.
«A master says, 'When I consider that our nature is exalted over all creatures and sits in heaven above the angels, and is adored by them, I must ever rejoice in my heart, for Jesus Christ, my dear Lord, has made mine all that he has himself.'» — Sermón 13(a) (Q Sa): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre la naturaleza humana exaltada sobre toda criatura y adorada por los ángeles.
«God cannot give a little: He must give either everything or nothing.» — Sermón 13(a) (Q Sa): Eckhart niega a Dios la dádiva pequeña: o todo o nada.
«You must love all men equally, respect and regard them equally, and whatever happens to another, whether good or bad, must be the same as if it happened to you.» — Sermón 13(a) (Q Sa): Eckhart manda amar y estimar a todos por igual y tomar lo que le pasa a otro como propio.
«St. Augustine says, what a man loves, that he becomes in love.» — Sermón 13(a) (Q Sa): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre volverse en el amor aquello que se ama.
«The prophet says, 'I have said you are gods and children of the Most High' (Ps. 82:6).» — Sermón 13(a) (Q Sa): Eckhart cita el salmo sobre ser dioses e hijos del Altísimo.
«Note this: God has no place more His own than a pure heart and a pure soul.» — Sermón 13(a) (Q Sa): Eckhart declara que Dios no tiene lugar más suyo que un corazón puro y un alma pura.
«All creatures are mere nothing, neither angels nor creatures are anything.» — Sermón 13(a) (Q Sa): Eckhart declara mera nada a todas las criaturas, ángeles incluidos.
«If you want to take God properly, you should take Him equally in all things, in hardship as in comfort, in weeping as in joy, it should be all the same to you.» — Sermón 13(a) (Q Sa): Eckhart manda tomar a Dios por igual en todas las cosas, en la dureza como en el consuelo, en el llanto como en el gozo.
«We are the cause of all our hindrances. Guard yourself against yourself, then you will have guarded well.» — Sermón 13(a) (Q Sa): Eckhart adjudica al propio hombre la causa de todos sus estorbos.
«Now a master says, 'God became man, and thereby the whole human race is raised up and ennobled.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre el ennoblecimiento del género humano por la encarnación.
«This master has spoken truly, but still I care little about it.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart concede que el maestro dijo verdad y a la vez declara que le importa poco, para decir algo distinto.
«I say something different and more to the point: God not only became man, but he took on human nature.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart formula su propia tesis: Dios no solo se hizo hombre, sino que asumió la naturaleza humana.
«The masters agree in saying that all men are equally noble by nature.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart recoge el acuerdo de los maestros en que todos los hombres son igualmente nobles por naturaleza.
«But I say in truth, all the goodness that all the saints have possessed, and Mary, God's mother, and Christ according to his humanity -that is my own in this nature.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart extrae la consecuencia: toda la bondad de los santos, de María y de Cristo según su humanidad es propia en esa naturaleza.
«This is what the text I have given you is concerned with: "God sent His only-begotten Son into the world." You should not take this to mean the external world, as when he ate and drank with us, but you should understand it of the inner world.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart lee el envío del Hijo al mundo como mundo interior y no como el exterior en que comió y bebió.
«Here God's ground is my ground and my ground is God's ground.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart formula la identidad de fondos, el de Dios y el mío.
«Here I live from my own as God lives from His own.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart enuncia la consecuencia, vivir de lo propio como Dios vive de lo suyo.
«Out of this inmost ground, all your works should be wrought without Why.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart manda que las obras salgan de ese fondo sin Porqué.
«I say truly, as long as you do works for the sake of heaven or God or eternal bliss, from without, you are at fault.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart declara en falta a quien obra desde fuera por el cielo, por Dios o por la bienaventuranza.
«Indeed, if a man thinks he will get more of God by meditation, 3 by devotion, by ecstasies, or by special infusion of grace than by the fireside or in the stable - that is nothing but taking God, wrapping a cloak round His head and shoving Him under a bench.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart niega que Dios se dé más en la meditación o en el éxtasis que junto al fogón o en el establo, y llama a eso envolverle la cabeza y meterlo bajo un banco.
«For whoever seeks God in a special way gets the way and misses God, who lies hidden in it.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart formula la trampa del modo: quien busca a Dios de un modo especial obtiene el modo y pierde a Dios, que estaba escondido en él.
«But whoever seeks God without any special way gets Him as He is in Himself, and that man lives with the Son, and he is life itself.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart da la salida por la negativa, buscar sin modo especial y recibirlo como es en sí.
«If a man asked life for a thousand years, 'Why do you live?' if it could answer it would only say, 'I live because I live.'» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart pone en boca de la vida la respuesta sin porqué, vivo porque vivo.
«Therefore it lives without Why, because it lives for itself.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart concluye que la vida vive sin Porqué porque vive para sí.
«Where creature stops, God begins to be.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart fija el relevo, donde cesa la criatura empieza Dios a ser.
«Now all God wants of you is for you to go out of yourself in the way of creatureliness and let God be within you.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart resume lo único que Dios quiere, que uno salga de sí en cuanto criatura y lo deje ser dentro.
«The least creaturely image that takes shape in you is as big as God.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart mide la imagen creatural más pequeña como tan grande como Dios, por el estorbo que hace.
«As soon as this image comes in, God has to leave with all His Godhead.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart remata que en cuanto entra esa imagen Dios ha de salir con toda su divinidad.
«But I say, whenever this will turns back from itself, and from all creation for a moment into its primal source, then the will has its true birthright of freedom and is free, and in this moment all time lost is recovered.» — Sermón 13(b) (Pf 13, Q Sb, QT 6): Eckhart describe el instante en que la voluntad se vuelve a su fuente primera, recobra su libertad de nacimiento y recupera todo el tiempo perdido.
«It is on account of the noble nature of the saints that we cannot do justice to them with any one likeness, and therefore they are likened to trees, to the sun and the moon.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart explica por qué a los santos se los compara con árboles, con el sol y con la luna, que es porque ninguna semejanza les hace justicia.
«There can be no image without likeness, but there can be likeness without images.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart distingue imagen y semejanza: no hay imagen sin semejanza y sí semejanza sin imagen.
«But its nature does not appear in the mirror image, though the mouth and eyes and all the features of the face appear in the mirror.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart acota el símil del espejo, donde aparecen boca y ojos y no aparece la naturaleza.
«But the will is not a mediator between image and nature; indeed, neither understanding nor knowledge nor wisdom can be a mediator here, for the divine image breaks forth from the fecundity of nature without mediation.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart niega mediador entre imagen y naturaleza, ni voluntad ni entendimiento ni sabiduría, porque la imagen divina brota sin medio de la fecundidad de la naturaleza.
«But if there is any mediator of wisdom, that is the image itself.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart concede que si hay mediador de sabiduría es la imagen misma.
«Therefore, in the Godhead the Son is called the Wisdom of the Father.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart enlaza eso con el nombre del Hijo como Sabiduría del Padre.
«But God is in far nobler fashion in the image than the image is in God.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart invierte la relación: Dios está en la imagen de modo mucho más noble que la imagen en Dios.
«More than this I cannot ascribe to the image; to ascribe more to it would make it God Himself, which is not the case, for then God would not be God.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart pone el límite de lo que puede atribuirse a la imagen, porque atribuirle más la haría Dios y entonces Dios no sería Dios.
«God's nature is to give Himself to every virtuous soul, and the soul's nature is to receive God, and this can be said in regard to the soul's noblest achievement.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart empareja las dos naturalezas, la de Dios que se da a toda alma virtuosa y la del alma que recibe a Dios.
«An image is not of itself or for itself; it is solely that thing's whose image it is, and all that it is belongs to that.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart define la imagen por su pertenencia entera a aquello de lo que es imagen.
«I declare truly that, as long as anything is reflected in your mind which is not the eternal Word, or which looks away from the eternal Word, then, good as it may be, it is not the right thing.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart declara que todo lo que se refleje en la mente y no sea el Verbo eterno, por bueno que sea, no es lo debido.
«I truly assert that anything you put in the forefront of your mind, if it is not God in Himself, is - however good it may be - a hindrance to your gaining the highest truth.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart repite esa tesis como estorbo para alcanzar la verdad más alta.
«And as I said before that St. Augustine is compared to a gold vessel, closed at the bottom and open at the top - see, that is how you should be!» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart aplica al oyente la figura del vaso de oro cerrado abajo y abierto arriba.
«If you would stand with St. Augustine and in the sanctity of all the saints, your heart must be closed to all created things and receive God as He is in Himself.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart exige el corazón cerrado a lo creado y abierto a recibir a Dios como es en sí.
«You should be firm and steadfast; that is, you should be the same in weal and woe, in fortune and misfortune, having the noble nature of precious stones;6 that is, all virtues should be enclosed in you and flow out of you in their true being.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart manda ser el mismo en la dicha y en la desgracia, con la naturaleza de las piedras preciosas y las virtudes fluyendo en su ser verdadero.
«Thus men are compared to the higher powers because they always go bareheaded, and women to the lower powers because their head is always covered.» — Sermón 14(b) (Pf 14, Q 16b): Eckhart explica la comparación de hombres y mujeres con las potencias altas y bajas por ir descubiertos o cubiertos de cabeza.
«I will do so, although it is in opposition to all masters now living.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart anuncia que va a sostener algo contra todos los maestros vivos, y lo dice antes de decirlo.
«But the masters concur in saying that if a man falls into mortal sin, all the works that he does while in mortal sin are dead, just as he himself is dead, and they are not worthy of eternal reward, because he is not living in a state of grace.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart expone la tesis común, que las obras hechas en pecado mortal están muertas y no merecen premio eterno.
«Now the masters say: if God restores to grace a man who repents his sins, all the works he ever did in a state of grace before he fell into mortal sin - these all arise again in the new state of grace and live, as they did before.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart expone la segunda mitad de esa tesis, que las obras hechas antes en gracia resucitan al volver a la gracia.
«But, they say, those works the man did while he was in mortal sin are eternally lost - the time and the works together.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart expone la consecuencia que va a negar, que las obras hechas en pecado mortal se pierden para siempre con su tiempo.
«And that I, Master Eckhart, totally deny, and I say this.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart se nombra a sí mismo al negarla, que es de los pocos lugares del volumen donde lo hace.
«Of all the good works that a man did while he was in mortal sin, not a single one is lost, nor the time in which they occurred, if he is restored to grace.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart enuncia su tesis: ninguna obra buena hecha en pecado mortal se pierde, ni su tiempo, si el hombre vuelve a la gracia.
«I say further, no work was ever good or holy or blessed.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart da el giro por el que sostiene lo contrario de lo que parecía, que ninguna obra fue jamás buena ni santa ni bienaventurada.
«But I declare: they are lost altogether, works and time, evil and good, works as works, time as time - they are altogether lost eternally.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart declara perdidos por igual obra y tiempo, lo malo y lo bueno, en cuanto obra y en cuanto tiempo.
«A work as a work is not of itself, it is not there for its own sake, it does not occur of its own accord, or for its own sake, and it knows nothing of itself.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart razona esa pérdida por lo que la obra es, que no es de sí ni para sí ni sabe nada de sí.
«If a good work is done by a man, he rids himself with this work, and by this ridding he is more like and closer to his origin than he was previously, before the ridding occurred, and by that much he is the more blessed and better than previously, before the ridding occurred.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart describe qué queda de la obra buena, el despojarse por el que uno se acerca a su origen.
«Observe, in this way no good deed was ever lost, nor the time in which it occurred;» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart cierra el círculo: de ese modo ninguna obra buena se perdió, ni su tiempo.
«If a man does good works while he is in mortal sin, he does not do the works from out of that mortal sin,» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart separa la obra del pecado en que se hace, porque no se hace desde el pecado mortal.
«Nevertheless, it does not harm the spirit, for the fruit of the work, free from work and time, remains with the spirit» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart dice qué permanece, el fruto de la obra, libre de obra y de tiempo, en el espíritu.
«The fruits of the works that he did in the spirit remain in the spirit, and are spirit with the spirit.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart declara que esos frutos son espíritu con el espíritu.
«And all those who contradict it, I contradict them and care not a jot for them, for what I have said is true, and truth itself declares it.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart contradice a quienes lo contradigan y dice no darles importancia, apoyándose en la verdad misma.
«Although the work passes away with time and perishes, yet in that it corresponds to the spirit in its essence, it never perishes.» — Sermón 15 (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44): Eckhart acota la perecibilidad de la obra por su correspondencia con el espíritu en la esencia.
«No one can receive the Holy Spirit because he lives above time in eternity.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart declara que nadie puede recibir al Espíritu Santo porque vive sobre el tiempo, en la eternidad.
«When a man turns from temporal things and into himself, he there perceives a heavenly light, a light that comes from heaven.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart describe lo que percibe quien se vuelve de lo temporal a sí mismo, una luz celeste.
«A piece of iron, whose nature is to fall, will rise against its nature and hang suspended to a lodestone in virtue of the master force the stone has received from heaven.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart pone el símil del hierro y la piedra imán, que lo levanta contra su naturaleza.
«The spirit does the same: not fully satisfied with this light, it presses right through the firmament and drives through heaven till it reaches that spirit that revolves the heavens, and from the revolution of the heavens all things in the world grow and green.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart describe el empuje del espíritu, que atraviesa el firmamento hasta el espíritu que hace girar los cielos.
«God does not bind the will; He sets it free in such a fashion that it wills naught that is not God Himself, and that is real freedom.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart define la libertad real: Dios no ata la voluntad, la libera de modo que no quiera nada que no sea Él.
«Some people say, 'If I have God and the love of God, then I can do what I like.'» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart cita el dicho de algunos, que teniendo a Dios y su amor pueden hacer lo que quieran.
«So long as you are capable of doing anything that is against God and His commandment, you have not the love of God, though you may deceive the world» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart lo objeta con el criterio de la obra: mientras se pueda obrar contra el mandamiento, no se tiene el amor de Dios.
«Someone said, 'Though God should bid me do evil and shun virtue, yet I would be incapable of wrongdoing.'» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart cita a alguien que declara ser incapaz de obrar mal aunque Dios se lo mandara.
«That is because the water is pure and clean and still.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart cierra con el símil del agua pura, limpia y quieta.
«St. Augustine says, 'When you are weary of the day and the time is long, turn to God where no "long" exists and all things are at rest.'» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre volverse a Dios cuando el día pesa, porque ahí no hay largo y todo descansa.
«I do not accept this interpretation, for it is not the truth.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart rechaza la interpretación recibida del pasaje de los amigos y los siervos, diciendo que no es la verdad.
«All that the Father has and is, the profundity of the divine being and the divine nature, He brings forth all at once in His only-begotten Son.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart describe la generación del Hijo como profesión de todo lo que el Padre tiene y es, de una vez.
«No one has the Holy Ghost unless he is the only-begotten Son.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart condiciona tener el Espíritu Santo a ser el Unigénito.
«It is true that you may receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost, or the - likeness of the Holy Ghost, but it does not abide with you it is impermanent.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart acota qué sí se puede recibir sin eso, los dones o la semejanza del Espíritu Santo, y declara que no permanecen.
«I say, as I have often said it before, so far as the soul's created nature goes, there is no such thing as truth.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart niega la verdad a la naturaleza creada del alma.
«All that is created or creaturely is alien.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart declara ajeno todo lo creado y creatural.
«Therefore St. Paul says, "God dwells in a light to which there is no approach" (1 Tim. 6: 16), and that is in itself pure unity.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart cita a Pablo sobre la luz inaccesible en que Dios habita, y la llama pura unidad.
«Therefore a man must be slain and wholly dead, devoid of self and wholly without likeness, like to none, and then he is really God-like.» — Sermón 16 (Q 29, Pf 74): Eckhart exige que el hombre sea matado y del todo muerto, sin sí mismo y sin semejanza, para ser semejante a Dios.
«All God's commandments come from love and from the goodness of His nature, for if they did not come from love they would not be God's commandments.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart deriva todos los mandamientos del amor y de la bondad de la naturaleza divina.
«Now, whoever dwells in the goodness of his nature, dwells in God's love: but love is without Why.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart cierra ese razonamiento con la fórmula del amor sin Porqué.
«But if you give it up for the sake of that hundredfold and for eternal life, you have given up nothing; even if you give it up for a thousandfold reward you are giving up nothing.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart niega que sea renuncia la que se hace por el céntuplo y la vida eterna.
«But if you have given up self, then you have really given up.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart fija en qué consiste la renuncia verdadera, que es haber renunciado a sí.
«The just man serves neither God nor creatures, for he is free, and the closer he is to justice, the closer he is to freedom, and the more he is freedom itself.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart declara al justo libre de servir a Dios y a las criaturas, y empareja justicia y libertad.
«So long as there is anything at all above me, that is not God, that oppresses me, however small it may be or whatever its nature; even though it were reason and love, as long as this is something created and not God Himself, it oppresses me, for it is not free.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart describe la opresión de todo lo que esté sobre él sin ser Dios, aunque sea la razón y el amor, por ser creado.
«The unjust man is the servant of truth,4 whether he likes it or not, and he serves the world and creatures, and is a bondman of sin.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart describe al injusto como siervo de las cosas y esclavo del pecado; el troceo imprime *truth* donde el sentido pide otra palabra, y Walshe marca la lectura en nota.
«It is blindness and folly, so long as you care a jot for what you have given up.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart llama ceguera y necedad al preocuparse por lo renunciado.
«The man who has resigned himself is so purified that the world will have none of him.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart mide el desasimiento por el rechazo del mundo hacia el que se ha resignado.
«I once thought- it was not long ago -That I am a man is something other men share with me; that I see and hear and eat and drink, that is the same as with cattle; but that I am, that belongs to no man but myself, not to a man, not to an angel, not even to God except insofar as I am one with Him.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart separa lo que comparte con los hombres y con el ganado de lo que no comparte con nadie, el que yo sea, que no es de hombre ni de ángel ni de Dios salvo en cuanto soy uno con Él.
«God gives equally to all things, though their works are unequal, yet they tend in their operation to reproduce themselves.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart describe el dar igual de Dios a todas las cosas y la tendencia de cada obra a reproducirse a sí misma.
«But when nature is shifted or hindered so as not to operate with full power, the result is woman; and when nature ceases her operation, God begins to work and create, for without women, there would be no men.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart explica el nacimiento de la mujer como naturaleza estorbada, y añade que sin mujeres no habría hombres.
«When the child is conceived in the mother's womb, it has image, form and material being: that is the work of nature.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart describe qué hace la naturaleza en la concepción, imagen, forma y ser material.
«That lasts for forty days and nights, and on the fortieth day God creates the soul in less than an instant, so that the soul is form and life for the body.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart fecha la creación del alma en el día cuarenta y la declara hecha en menos de un instante, forma y vida del cuerpo.
«This is now a work of nature and a creation of God.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart declara al hombre a la vez obra de la naturaleza y creación de Dios.
«There is something that transcends the created being of the soul, not in contact with created things, which are nothing; not even an angel has it, though he has a clear being that is pure and extensive: even that does not touch it.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart nombra lo que trasciende el ser creado del alma, que ni el ángel alcanza.
«It is akin to the nature of deity, it is one in itself, and has naught in common with anything.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart lo describe afín a la naturaleza de la deidad, uno en sí y sin nada en común con nada.
«It is a strange and desert place, and is rather nameless than possessed of a name, and is more unknown than it is known.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart lo llama lugar extraño y desierto, más sin nombre que con nombre y más desconocido que conocido.
«But as long as you mind yourself or any thing at all, you know no more of God than my mouth knows of color or my eye of taste: so little do you know or discern what God is.» — Sermón 17 (Pf 81, Q 28, QT 3 1 ): Eckhart mide el conocimiento de Dios de quien se atiende a sí con la boca que no sabe de color y el ojo que no sabe de sabor.
«If I am to be the Son, then I must be Son in the same essence as that in which he is Son, and not otherwise.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart exige que la filiación sea en la misma esencia y no de otro modo.
«If I am to be a man, I cannot be a man in the essence of an animal.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart apoya esa exigencia en el ejemplo del hombre, que no puede serlo en la esencia de un animal.
«The prophet says, "God spoke one, and I heard two" (Ps. 61:12).» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart cita el salmo sobre Dios que habló uno y el profeta que oyó dos.
«People think God only became man there, but that is not true, for God became man here as well as there,» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart niega que Dios se hiciera hombre solo allá, y lo afirma también aquí.
«But it would be better to say, "Let will be thine, "4 for what the Lord's Prayer means is that my will should become His, that I should become He.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart enmienda la fórmula del padrenuestro a hágase voluntad tuya, para que mi voluntad sea la suya y yo sea Él.
«The masters declare that if a man truly slept for a hundred years, he would have no knowledge of creatures, he would know nothing of time or of images - and then you would understand what God wrought in you.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart recoge de los maestros el caso del que durmiera cien años y no supiera de criaturas ni de tiempo ni de imágenes.
«Therefore it says in the Book of Love, "I sleep but my heart wakes" (Song 5:2).» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart cierra ese argumento con el verso del Cantar, duermo y mi corazón vela.
«St. Augustine says God made all things, not that He might let them come into existence while He went His way, but He stayed in them.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart cita a Agustín para negar que Dios hiciera las cosas y se fuera, y afirmar que se quedó en ellas.
«And if you love a hundred marks more in yourself than in another, you are wrong.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart declara falta amar cien marcos más en uno mismo que en otro.
«God should be a rule and a foundation of your love.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart pone a Dios como regla y fundamento del amor.
«The first object of your love should be God alone, and after that your neighbor as yourself, and no less than yourself.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart ordena el amor, primero Dios y después el prójimo como a uno mismo y no menos.
«The words "Labor in all things" (2 Tim. 4:5) has three meanings. It means 'Turn all things to your advantage,' that is, see God in all things, for God is in all things.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart abre los tres sentidos del trabaja en todas las cosas, y el primero es ver a Dios en todas ellas.
«The third sense of "Turn all things to your advantage" is "Love God equally in all things," that is, Love God in all things equally:» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart da el tercer sentido, amar a Dios por igual en todas las cosas.
«Love God as much in poverty as in riches, love Him as much in sickness as in health; love Him as much in temptation as without temptation, love Him as much in suffering as without suffering.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart despliega esa igualdad en pobreza y riqueza, salud y enfermedad, tentación y sufrimiento.
«Indeed, the greater the suffering, the lighter the suffering, just as with two buckets: the heavier the one, the lighter the other, and the more a man gives up the easier it is to give up.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart invierte el peso del sufrimiento con el símil de los dos cubos, donde cuanto más pesa uno más ligero el otro.
«A man who loves God could give up the whole world as easily as an egg.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart mide lo que puede dejar quien ama a Dios, el mundo entero como un huevo.
«The more he gives up, the easier it is to give up, as it was with the Apostles: the more they had to suffer, the easier it was to bear.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart apoya esa proporción en los apóstoles, a quienes cuanto más les tocaba sufrir más fácil les era.
«The first is: Put off all that is your own, and make yourself over to God.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart formula la primera condición, despojarse de lo propio y entregarse a Dios.
«What is mine I have from nobody, but if I have from another, it is not mine but belongs to him from whom I got it.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart razona la propiedad: lo mío no lo tengo de nadie, y lo que tengo de otro es suyo.
«There are many who cannot understand this, and this does not surprise me, for he who would understand this must be very detached and raised above all things.» — Sermón 18 ( Q 30, Pf 66): Eckhart declara que muchos no pueden entender esto y por qué, que exige mucho desasimiento.
«Our masters say fire in its simple, natural purity gives no light at its highest place.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que el fuego en su pureza natural no da luz en su lugar más alto.
«By the light of heaven we mean the light that is God, to which no man's senses can attain.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart define la luz del cielo como la que es Dios, inaccesible a los sentidos.
«A master says, 'In God there is no less or more, no this or that.'» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart cita a un maestro que niega en Dios el menos y el más, el esto y el aquello.
«Our masters say - and it is a knotty question - that even the angels know nothing about thoughts unless they break out and rise into the questing intellect,» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart recoge la cuestión discutida de si los ángeles conocen los pensamientos, y dice que no salvo que salgan al intelecto.
«A master says that all things that have an emanation receive nothing from things below them.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que lo que emana no recibe nada de lo que le está debajo.
«God flows into all creatures, and yet remains untouched by them all.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart formula la doble condición de Dios, que fluye en todas las criaturas y queda intocado por todas.
«The heart lies in the middle, and needs protecting on all sides, just as heaven suffers no alien influence and receives nothing from anywhere, for it possesses all things.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart compara el corazón, en medio y protegido, con el cielo, que nada recibe porque lo posee todo.
«In the encircling light he fell to earth and his eyes were opened, so that with open eyes he saw all things as naught.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart describe la caída de Pablo en la luz que lo rodea, con los ojos abiertos viendo todo como nada.
«There is no night that is without light, but it is veiled.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart declara que no hay noche sin luz, sino velada.
«The sun shines in the night, but is hidden from view.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart pone el sol que luce de noche oculto a la vista.
«Even the highest angel's light, exalted though it be, does not illumine the soul.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart niega que la luz del ángel más alto ilumine el alma.
«One reason is that God is nameless.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart da la primera razón del silencio del alma, que Dios es sin nombre.
«The second reason why she gave Him no name is that when the soul swoons away into God with love, she is aware of nothing but love.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart da la segunda, que el alma desmayada de amor en Dios no advierte sino amor.
«The third reason why he saw nothing: the nothing was God.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart da la tercera razón del no ver nada, que la nada era Dios.
«Whoever says God is here or there, do not believe him.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart manda no creer a quien diga que Dios está aquí o allá.
«When the soul is unified and there enters into total self-abnegation, then she finds God as in Nothing.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart describe el hallazgo como en Nada, tras la abnegación total.
«A master says there is nothing under God, however near it may be to Him, but has some alien taint.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que todo lo que está bajo Dios tiene alguna mácula ajena.
«If we are to know God it must be without means, and then nothing alien can enter in.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart exige que el conocimiento de Dios sea sin medio para que nada ajeno entre.
«A master says, 'The eye at its clearest, where it is colorless, there sees all colors.'» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart cita el símil del ojo sin color, que por eso ve todos los colores.
«When the soul is blind and sees nothing else, she sees God, and this must be so.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart concluye que el alma ciega, que nada más ve, ve a Dios.
«St. Bernard says, 'He who would know thee, God, must measure thee without measure.'» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart cita a Bernardo sobre medir a Dios sin medida.
«We must take God as mode without mode, and essence without essence, for He has no modes.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart manda tomar a Dios como modo sin modo y esencia sin esencia, porque no tiene modos.
«If the soul does not go out into external things, she has come home, and dwells in her simple, pure light.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart describe el volver a casa del alma que no sale a lo externo, en su luz simple y pura.
«St. Augustine says: 'When he saw nothing, he saw God.' He who sees nothing else and is blind, sees God.» — Sermón 19 (Pf 19, Q 71, QT 37): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre ver a Dios al no ver nada.
«Our best masters say, if an image in stone, or painted on a wall, had nothing added to it, then, taken as an image, that image would be one with him of whom it was an image.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que la imagen sin nada añadido sería una con aquel de quien es imagen.
«If a man is placed in that image where he is like God, then he receives God, then he finds God.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart aplica eso al hombre puesto en la imagen donde es semejante a Dios.
«A master says all likeness means birth.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart cita a un maestro que iguala semejanza y nacimiento.
«Our masters say that fire, however powerful it might be, would never burn unless it hoped for birth.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart argumenta con el fuego, que no ardería si no esperara nacimiento.
«The nature of the soul would never give birth to her like if she did not desire God to be born in her.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart traslada ese deseo al alma, que no engendraría su semejante si no deseara que Dios naciera en ella.
«If you love the earth, you will be earthly; if you love God, you will be divine.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart enuncia la ley del amor que asimila, terreno si amas la tierra y divino si amas a Dios.
«It is characteristic of God that nothing alien enters Him, nothing is superimposed on Him or added to Him.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart describe lo propio de Dios, que nada ajeno entra ni se le sobrepone ni se le añade.
«Therefore the soul should have no alien impressions, nothing superimposed, nothing added.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart traslada esa exigencia al alma.
«All things are additive, but it (erat) adds only in thought - a thought not of addition but of subtraction.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart lee el *erat* del evangelio como añadido solo de pensamiento, y de sustracción y no de adición.
«Goodness and truth add, at least in thought, but naked essence with nothing added is the meaning of erat.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart distingue bondad y verdad, que añaden al menos en el pensamiento, de la esencia desnuda que el *erat* significa.
«A pagan master says what is there, no time can stale: there is blessed life in the evermore, where nothing is distorted, nothing is covered over, where there is pure being.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart cita a un maestro pagano sobre lo que el tiempo no envejece, la vida bienaventurada en el siempre.
«Solomon says, "There is nothing new under the sun" (Ecd. 1:10).» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart cita el Eclesiastés sobre nada nuevo bajo el sol.
«All that is under the sun grows old and declines, but there all is new.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart opone a eso el allá, donde todo es nuevo.
«But there, where they are in God, they are as different from what they are here as the sun is from the moon, and far more so.» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart mide la diferencia entre las cosas aquí y en Dios como la del sol y la luna, y mucho más.
«Paul says: "I wish you the peace that passes all understanding. May this guard your hearts and minds" (Phil. 4:7).» — Sermón 20 (Pf 20, Q 44): Eckhart cierra con la paz de Pablo que sobrepasa todo entendimiento.
«A master says the word 'soul' does not mean the 'ground' and does not apply to the nature of the soul.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que la palabra alma no nombra el fondo ni la naturaleza del alma.
«They call her 'soul'; that is like when we speak of a carpenter: we do not call him a man, or Henry, or truly according to his being, but according to his work.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart explica ese nombre con el símil del carpintero, nombrado por su obra y no por su ser.
«Our masters say the soul is called a fire because of the power and because of the heat and the radiance that is in her.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart recoge de los maestros por qué se llama fuego al alma, por su fuerza, su calor y su resplandor.
«this falls short of the ground of the soul. God, who has no name He has no name - is ineffable, and the soul in her ground is also ineffable, as He is ineffable.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart iguala en inefabilidad a Dios y al fondo del alma.
«The first reason: as far as she is mine I should hate her, for as far as she is mine, she is not God's.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart da la razón de odiar el alma, en cuanto es mía y no de Dios.
«A master says that the soul at her highest and purest is above the world.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart cita a un maestro que pone al alma en su cima por encima del mundo.
«Accordingly, our natural philosophers say that the body is much more in the soul than the soul is in the body.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart recoge de los filósofos naturales que el cuerpo está más en el alma que el alma en el cuerpo.
«Whoever declares that he has 'attained to his nature' must find all things formed in him in the same purity as they are in God - not as they are in their own nature but as they are in God.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart pone la prueba de haber llegado a la propia naturaleza, hallar todas las cosas formadas en uno con la pureza que tienen en Dios.
«Neither spirit nor angel touches the ground of the soul, or the soul's true nature.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart niega que espíritu o ángel toquen el fondo del alma.
«And so, all things in the soul are purer and more noble than they are in this world.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart declara todas las cosas más puras y nobles en el alma que en el mundo.
«The material which God has made all things from is baser than coal compared with gold.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart compara la materia de que Dios hizo todo con el carbón frente al oro.
«Whatever the soul thinks or does with her powers, however light that may be in her, is still mixed.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart declara mezclado todo lo que el alma piense u obre con sus potencias.
«However fair and however adorned she is, and however useful her works, yet all is imperfect.» — Sermón 21 (Pf 21, Q 17): Eckhart llama imperfecto todo eso por adornado y útil que sea.
«Augustine says, 'All scripture is vain. If we say God is a word, He is spoken; if we say God is unspoken, He is ineffable.» — Sermón 22 (Pf 22, Q 53): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre la vanidad de toda escritura ante un Dios que dicho queda dicho y no dicho es inefable.
«All creatures wish to speak God in all their works; they all speak as well as they can, but they cannot speak Him.» — Sermón 22 (Pf 22, Q 53): Eckhart describe el querer decir a Dios de todas las criaturas en sus obras, y su fracaso.
«God is a word that utters itself.» — Sermón 22 (Pf 22, Q 53): Eckhart define a Dios como palabra que se profiere a sí misma.
«God is above names and ineffable.» — Sermón 22 (Pf 22, Q 53): Eckhart declara a Dios sobre los nombres e inefable.
«The Father speaks the Son out of the fullness of His power, and all things in him.» — Sermón 22 (Pf 22, Q 53): Eckhart describe la profesión del Hijo desde la plenitud del poder del Padre, con todas las cosas en él.
«When God speaks into the soul, he and she are one; when this (one) falls away, it is divided.» — Sermón 22 (Pf 22, Q 53): Eckhart describe la unidad del hablar de Dios en el alma y la división cuando cae.
«Concerning this, a Greek master says, 'Because nature works in time and space, the Son and the Father are different.'» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart cita a un maestro griego sobre la diferencia entre el Hijo y el Padre por obrar la naturaleza en tiempo y espacio.
«Observe that all creatures prove that they have emanated and flowed forth from the divine nature, and they testify to this in their works.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart declara que todas las criaturas atestiguan con sus obras haber emanado de la naturaleza divina.
«Lordship is known by three things. The first, that He is rich.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart abre la doctrina del señorío por tres señales, y la primera es la riqueza.
«A master says God hawks Himself to all creatures and each takes as much as it wants.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre Dios que se pregona a todas las criaturas y cada una toma cuanto quiere.
«I say, God offers Himself to me as He does to the highest angel, and if I were as ready as he, I should receive as he does.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart aplica eso a sí mismo frente al ángel más alto, y pone la diferencia en la disposición y no en la oferta.
«The third point about riches is, that one gives without expecting any return, for he who gives in exchange for anything is not really rich.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart define la riqueza por el dar sin esperar retorno.
«The noblest thing that God works in all creatures is being.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart declara el ser lo más noble que Dios obra en las criaturas.
«A master says God is the measure of all things, and insofar as a man has more of God in him than another, to that extent he is wiser, nobler and better than the other.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart cita a un maestro que hace de Dios la medida de todas las cosas, y mide por eso la sabiduría de cada hombre.
«Therefore a soul is nobler than all material things, however noble they may be.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart jerarquiza el alma por encima de todo lo material.
«But although the spirit is rational and does the entire work that is wrought in the body, yet we should not say, my soul knows or does this or that, but rather we should say, I do or know this or that, on account of the close union between the two: for both together make up a man.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart enmienda el modo de hablar: no dice mi alma sabe esto sino yo sé esto, por la unión estrecha que hace al hombre.
«So I make bold to state, for it is true: because of the close union that the soul has with the body, the soul is in the least member as perfectly as in the entire body.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart sostiene que el alma está entera en el miembro menor como en el cuerpo entero.
«It is a question difficult to answer, how the soul can endure it without perishing when God presses her into Himself.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart plantea la dificultad de cómo el alma soporta sin perecer que Dios la apriete contra sí.
«Firstly, if He gave her anything outside of Himself, that would be intolerable to her.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart da la primera razón, que lo dado fuera de Él le sería intolerable.
«Secondly, since He gives to her within Himself, she is able to receive and endure in His own and not in her own, for what is His is hers.» — Sermón 23 (Pf 23, Q 47): Eckhart da la segunda, que al darse dentro de Sí el alma recibe en lo suyo de Él y no en lo propio.
«Pagan masters say that God has so ordered all creatures that one is always above the others, and that the highest touch the lowest and the lowest the highest.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart recoge de los maestros paganos el orden en que lo más alto toca lo más bajo y lo más bajo lo más alto.
«What these masters have declared in obscure words, another1 states openly, saying that the golden chain is pure and bare nature, which is raised up to God and which relishes nothing that is outside of Him, and which touches God.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart nombra la cadena de oro como la naturaleza pura y desnuda alzada a Dios, que nada gusta fuera de Él.
«A pagan master2 says as long as a man is with God, it is impossible for him to suffer.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart cita a un maestro pagano sobre la imposibilidad de sufrir mientras se está con Dios.
«If I am like a man, or if I find a man who is like me, that man acts as if he were myself, but he is not and that is a deception.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart declara engaño la semejanza que se hace pasar por identidad.
«Many a thing is like gold, but it lies and is not gold.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart ilustra ese engaño con lo que parece oro y miente.
«There is oneness in the Godhead and in eternity, but likeness is not oneness.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart separa unidad y semejanza, y solo la unidad pone en la divinidad y en la eternidad.
«Now he says, "In their mouth no lie was found." As long as I have a creature and as long as a creature has me, that is a lie, and that was not found in their mouths.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart lee la ausencia de mentira en la boca como ausencia de criatura: tener una criatura o ser tenido por ella es mentira.
«But if a bad man blames me, then in truth I am praised.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart invierte el valor del reproche según de quién venga.
«The fact that God is steadfast makes all things move.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart hace de la firmeza de Dios la causa del movimiento de todas las cosas.
«A master4 says we live on death.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre vivir de muerte.
«If I am to eat a chicken or an ox, it must be dead first.» — Sermón 24(a) (Q 13): Eckhart ilustra ese vivir de muerte con el pollo y el buey, que han de morir antes.
«Now John says he saw a lamb standing on the mountain. I say John was himself the mountain on which he saw the lamb.» — Sermón 24(b) (Pf 24, Q 13a): Eckhart se identifica con el monte de la visión: Juan era él mismo el monte en que vio al cordero.
«God seeks nothing outside of Himself.» — Sermón 24(b) (Pf 24, Q 13a): Eckhart declara que Dios nada busca fuera de Sí.
«God is above all things and is touched by none.» — Sermón 24(b) (Pf 24, Q 13a): Eckhart declara a Dios sobre todas las cosas y tocado por ninguna.
«God stands by us, and remains standing by us, constant and unmoved.» — Sermón 24(b) (Pf 24, Q 13a): Eckhart describe a Dios de pie junto a nosotros, constante e inmóvil.
«It sounds stupid, but it is true.» — Sermón 25 (Pf 25, Q 3): Eckhart admite que lo dicho suena tonto y lo sostiene igual.
«The masters say the wisdom which we acquire here will remain with us yonder, though Paul says it will fall away.» — Sermón 25 (Pf 25, Q 3): Eckhart consigna la divergencia entre los maestros, que hacen permanecer la sabiduría adquirida, y Pablo, que dice que caerá.
«Now let us turn this phrase round and say, 'Because God has sent me His angel, therefore I know truly.'» — Sermón 25 (Pf 25, Q 3): Eckhart invierte la frase para hacer del conocimiento consecuencia del envío del ángel.
«And yet, however noble it may be, it is but contingent,» — Sermón 25 (Pf 25, Q 3): Eckhart acota la nobleza de lo dicho llamándolo contingente.
«That is why Paul says it must fall away.» — Sermón 25 (Pf 25, Q 3): Eckhart remite a Pablo la razón de que haya de caer.
«All that belongs to the angel is modeled on God.» — Sermón 25 (Pf 25, Q 3): Eckhart declara modelado sobre Dios cuanto pertenece al ángel.
«the soul has the potentiality of knowing all things, therefore she never rests till she gains the primal image where all things are one;» — Sermón 25 (Pf 25, Q 3): Eckhart deriva el no reposar del alma de su potencia de conocer todas las cosas, hasta la imagen primera donde todas son una.
«what does not exist is not known;» — Sermón 25 (Pf 25, Q 3): Eckhart enuncia el principio de que lo que no existe no se conoce.
«Thus it happens that whatever comes to God is transformed:» — Sermón 25 (Pf 25, Q 3): Eckhart declara transformado cuanto llega a Dios.
«In God alone is complete perfection. I marvel that St. John ever dared to say, if he had not seen it in the spirit, that there are three Persons, how the Father empties Himself completely into the birth, into the Son, and pours Himself with goodness in a flow of love into the Holy Ghost.» — Sermón 26 (Q 57, Evans II, 45): Eckhart declara su asombro ante lo que Juan se atrevió a decir de las tres Personas, y describe el vaciarse entero del Padre en el nacimiento del Hijo.
«St. Augustine says, 'If a man would be holy let him forsake mundane things.'» — Sermón 26 (Q 57, Evans II, 45): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre dejar lo mundano para ser santo.
«Plato says, 'What God is, I do not know' (he meant that as long as the soul is wrapped up in the body she cannot see God), 'but what He is not I know well enough,'» — Sermón 26 (Q 57, Evans II, 45): Eckhart cita a Platón en la forma negativa, no sé qué es Dios y sé bien qué no es, y glosa la razón que le atribuye.
«St. Dionysius says, 'If the divine light shines in me, it must be shrouded, as my soul is shrouded.'» — Sermón 26 (Q 57, Evans II, 45): Eckhart cita a Dionisio sobre la luz divina que ha de venir velada porque velada está el alma.
«St. Augustine says to receive a great deal, a man must enlarge his capacity.» — Sermón 26 (Q 57, Evans II, 45): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre ensanchar la capacidad para recibir mucho.
«A master says, 'He who would see God, unless he is adorned with godly works, will be cast back among evil things.'» — Sermón 26 (Q 57, Evans II, 45): Eckhart cita a un maestro que condiciona la visión de Dios a estar adornado de obras divinas.
«When the body is ready God pours a soul therein, formed like the body and having a likeness with it, and because of the likeness a liking.» — Sermón 26 (Q 57, Evans II, 45): Eckhart describe la infusión del alma en el cuerpo dispuesto, con semejanza y de ahí afición.
«Jerome says no man can receive skill, wisdom or joy from God unless he is a virtuous man.» — Sermón 27 (Pf 27, Q 34): Eckhart cita a Jerónimo sobre que solo el virtuoso recibe de Dios destreza, sabiduría o gozo.
«The masters say that two hours cannot exist at the same time, nor two days.» — Sermón 27 (Pf 27, Q 34): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que no pueden existir dos horas a la vez.
«The Son alone is truth, not the Father or the Holy Ghost, except as they are one truth in their essence.» — Sermón 27 (Pf 27, Q 34): Eckhart adjudica la verdad al Hijo solo, salvo en cuanto los tres son una verdad en la esencia.
«St. Luke says in his Gospel, "An angel was sent from God into a land called Galilee, into a town called Nazareth, to a virgin called Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, who was of the house of David.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart abre el sermón de la Anunciación con el texto de Lucas.
«Bede, a master, says this was the beginning of our salvation.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart cita a Beda, que llama a eso el comienzo de nuestra salvación.
«I have said before and say again that everything our Lord has ever done he did simply to the end that God might be with us and that we might be one with Him, and that is why God became man.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart declara el fin único de cuanto el Señor hizo, que Dios esté con nosotros y seamos uno con Él, y de ahí la encarnación.
«The masters say that God was born spiritually in our Lady before he was born of her in the flesh, and from the overflow of that begetting whereby the Heavenly Father begot his only-begotten Son in her soul, the eternal Word received its human nature in her, and she became physically pregnant.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart recoge de los maestros el nacimiento espiritual anterior al carnal en María, del cual desbordó la preñez física.
«The soul would have been demeaned by receiving the angelic light had it not been sent to her from God, and had the divine light not inhered concealed in it, which made the angel's light delectable; otherwise she would have had none of it.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart razona por qué el ángel había de ser enviado de Dios: sin la luz divina escondida en la angélica el alma quedaría rebajada.
«Three teachers give three different explanations of what an angel is.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart anuncia las tres explicaciones que dan tres maestros de lo que es un ángel.
«Dionysius1 says, An angel is a mirror without flaw, surpassing clear, receiving in itself the reflection of the divine light.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart da la de Dionisio, espejo sin falla que recibe en sí el reflejo de la luz divina.
«Augustine2 says, An angel is close to God, and matter is close to nothing.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart da la de Agustín, que pone al ángel cerca de Dios y a la materia cerca de la nada.
«John Damascene3 says, An angel is an image of God, and through all that is his there shines the image of God.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart da la de Juan Damasceno, imagen de Dios que reluce en todo lo suyo.
«Dionysius says an angel has three functions.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart recoge de Dionisio las tres funciones del ángel.
«First, he purifies, secondly, he enlightens, and thirdly he perfects.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart las enumera, purificar, iluminar y perfeccionar.
«If I were in a wilderness alone and was afraid, the presence of a child would dissipate my dread and give me courage, so noble, so joyous and so mighty a thing is life itself.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart argumenta la nobleza de la vida misma con el miedo en el desierto que la presencia de un niño disiparía.
«And failing a child, even a beast would comfort me.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart extiende ese consuelo a una bestia a falta de niño.
«That is why those who practice magic by necromancy keep an animal, such as a dog, the animal's vitality invigorating them.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart explica por esa vitalidad que los que practican la nigromancia tengan un animal, y es de los pocos lugares del volumen que nombran una práctica mágica.
«Now he says: "An angel was sent from God." The soul must be like the angel in the ways I have named, if the Son is to be sent to her and born in her.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart aplica al alma la condición angélica para que el Hijo le sea enviado y nazca en ella.
«But we cannot here go into the question of how the angel perfects her.» — Sermón 28 (Pf 28, Q 78): Eckhart declara fuera de alcance la cuestión de cómo el ángel la perfecciona.
«St. Paul says, "In the fullness of time God sent His Son" (Gal. 4:4).» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart abre el sermón de la plenitud del tiempo con el texto de Gálatas.
«It is an assured truth that time cannot affect God or the soul by her nature.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart declara que el tiempo no afecta ni a Dios ni al alma por su naturaleza.
«If the soul could be touched by time, she would not be the soul, and if God could be touched by time, He would not be God.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart razona esa tesis por reducción, que tocada por el tiempo el alma no sería alma ni Dios sería Dios.
«For God to be born in the soul, all time must have dropped away from her, or she must have dropped away from time with will or desire.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart pone la condición del nacimiento, que todo tiempo haya caído del alma o ella del tiempo.
«Another meaning of "fullness of time": if anyone had the skill and the power to gather up time and all that has happened in six thousand years or that will happen till the end of time, into one present Now, that would be the "fullness of time."» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart da el otro sentido de la plenitud del tiempo, recoger seis mil años y lo por venir en un solo Ahora presente.
«That is the Now of eternity, in which the soul knows all things in God new and fresh and present and as joyous as I have them now present.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart nombra eso el Ahora de la eternidad, donde el alma conoce todas las cosas nuevas y presentes.
«I was reading recently in a book4 - who can fully understand it? - that God is now making the world just as on the first day, when He created the world.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart cita un libro que leyó, y pregunta quién lo entiende del todo, sobre un Dios que hace ahora el mundo como el primer día.
«The soul in which God is to be born must drop away from time and time from her, she must soar aloft and stand gazing into this richness of God's: there there is breadth without breadth, expanseless expanse, and there the soul knows all things, and knows them perfectly.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart describe la anchura sin anchura de esa riqueza de Dios, donde el alma conoce todas las cosas perfectamente.
«Yet the least of the powers of my soul is wider than the expanse of heaven.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart declara la menor de las potencias de su alma más ancha que la extensión del cielo.
«In the soul's head, in the intellect, I am as near to a place a thousand miles away across the sea as to the spot where I am standing now.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart mide la cercanía en el intelecto, tan cerca de mil millas al otro lado del mar como del sitio en que está de pie.
«"The angel was sent." The masters declare that the multitude of angels is beyond all numbering.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart repite que la muchedumbre de los ángeles queda fuera de todo número.
«But for anyone who could grasp distinctions without number and quantity, a hundred would be as one.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart describe lo que vería quien captara distinciones sin número ni cantidad, que cien le serían uno.
«Even if there were a hundred Persons in the Godhead, a man who could distinguish without number and quantity would perceive them only as one God.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart lleva ese principio a la Trinidad, donde cien Personas se percibirían como un Dios.
«St. Augustine says, 'What the soul loves she grows to be like.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre volverse el alma semejante a lo que ama.
«If I said that, it would sound heretical to those whose intelligence is weak and who cannot understand it.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart se adelanta a la acusación y dice que sonaría herético a los de entendimiento débil.
«But St. Augustine says, 'I do not say it, but I refer you to scripture, which says, "I have said that you are gods" (Ps. 81:6).» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart se ampara en Agustín, que remite a la Escritura donde se dice que sois dioses.
«If it so happens that there is any hindrance, so that she does not become like in all respects, that is not God's fault:» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart exculpa a Dios del estorbo cuando la semejanza no llega a todo.
«That a carpenter is unable to build a fine house out of worm-eaten wood is not his fault; the trouble lies in the wood.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart ilustra esa exculpación con el carpintero y la madera carcomida.
«He is God because He is without creature. He did not name Himself in time.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart declara a Dios Dios por ser sin criatura, y que no se nombró a sí en el tiempo.
«All that could ever be conceived of delight and joy, of happiness and pleasure, is no joy at all when set against the bliss which is in this birth.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart mide todo deleite concebible como ningún gozo frente a la bienaventuranza de ese nacimiento.
«St. Augustine says that a work of grace performed by God, such as that He converts a sinner and makes a good man of him, is greater than if God created a new world.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre la conversión de un pecador como obra mayor que crear un mundo nuevo.
«Let no one think this is beyond him.» — Sermón 29 (Pf/Evans 29 (part): Eckhart previene contra tener eso por inalcanzable.
«St. Augustine says a good man desires no praise, he desires to be worthy of praise.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre el hombre bueno que no desea alabanza sino ser digno de ella.
«Now a pagan master2 says if a man practices virtue for the sake of anything else but virtue, then it never was a virtue.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart cita a un maestro pagano que niega virtud a lo practicado por otra cosa que la virtud.
«Now our Lord says, "Blessed art thou." Blessedness lies in four things: in having everything that has essence, that is delightful to desire and brings appetite; to have it all undivided with one's whole soul; further, received in God in the purest and highest, bare, unconcealed, in the primal breaking forth and in the ground of being; and all taken whence God Himself takes it - that is blessedness.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart desglosa la bienaventuranza en cuatro cosas, tenerlo todo, tenerlo indiviso con el alma entera, recibirlo en Dios desnudo y tomarlo de donde el propio Dios lo toma.
«Now he says, "Peter," which is to say 'he who sees God.'» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart glosa el nombre Pedro como el que ve a Dios.
«The intellect's work is onefold, and therefore it is better.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart prefiere la obra del intelecto por ser una sola.
«As long as one desires things, one has not got them.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart enuncia que desear una cosa es no tenerla.
«If the soul were without means, she would see God naked.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart condiciona la visión desnuda de Dios a que el alma quede sin medio.
«The second name, Bar-Jona, means as much as 'son of grace,'10 in which the soul is purified and borne aloft and prepared for the divine VISIOn.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart glosa Bar-Jona como hijo de gracia y le adjudica la purificación y la preparación para la visión; el troceo imprime *vision* con mayúsculas descolocadas.
«The third name is Simon, which means as much as 'that which is obedient,' or 'that which is submissive.'» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart glosa Simón como el que obedece o el sumiso.
«The soul that is turned with all her powers under the light of God becomes fired and inflamed with the love of God.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart describe al alma vuelta con todas sus potencias bajo la luz de Dios, encendida de amor.
«If the sun were to shine directly above our heads, few could survive it.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart argumenta con el sol a plomo sobre las cabezas, que pocos sobrevivirían.
«Our finest masters - and there are not many of them - say that understanding and intellect go straight up to God.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart cita a sus mejores maestros, que dice que no son muchos, sobre el intelecto que sube derecho a Dios.
«But love turns to the loved object and takes there what is good, whereas intellect takes hold of what makes it good.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart separa el amor, que toma en el objeto lo bueno, del intelecto, que toma aquello que lo hace bueno.
«Honey is sweeter in itself than anything made from it.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart ilustra esa diferencia con la miel, más dulce en sí que nada hecho de ella.
«Love takes God as He is good, but intellect presses upward and takes God as He is being.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart formula la distinción capital: el amor toma a Dios en cuanto bueno y el intelecto lo toma en cuanto es ser.
«And so we say that when everything is removed, abstracted and peeled off so that nothing at all remains but a simple 'is' - that is the proper characteristic of His name.» — Sermón 30 (Pf 30, Q 45): Eckhart describe el nombre propio de Dios como lo que queda tras quitar todo, un simple *es*.
«Will and love fall on God as being good, and if He were not good, they would ignore Him.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart repite que voluntad y amor caen sobre Dios en cuanto bueno y lo ignorarían si no lo fuera.
«Intellect penetrates right up into the essence without heeding goodness or power or wisdom, or whatever is accidental.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart describe al intelecto penetrando hasta la esencia sin atender a bondad, poder ni sabiduría.
«It does not care what is added to God, it takes Him in Himself, sinks into the essence and takes God as He is pure essence.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart declara que el intelecto se hunde en la esencia y toma a Dios como esencia pura.
«Even if He were not wise nor good nor just, it would still take Him as pure being.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart lleva eso al extremo: aunque no fuera sabio ni bueno ni justo, lo tomaría como ser puro.
«With these angels the intellect receives God in His robing room, naked, as He is One without distinction.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart describe la recepción de Dios en su vestidor, desnudo y Uno sin distinción.
«The one is turned toward this world and the body; in this she works virtue, knowledge, and holy living.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart describe la cara del alma vuelta a este mundo, donde obra virtud, conocimiento y vida santa.
«The other face is turned directly to God.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart describe la otra cara, vuelta derechamente a Dios.
«There the divine light is without interruption, working within, even though she does not know it, because she is not at home.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart declara que ahí la luz divina obra sin interrupción aunque el alma no lo sepa, por no estar en casa.
«When the spark of intellect is taken barely in God, then the 'husband' is alive.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart nombra vivo al esposo cuando la chispa del intelecto se toma desnuda en Dios.
«Understanding bursts forth first out of intellect, and will then proceeds from them both.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart ordena las potencias: el entendimiento brota del intelecto y la voluntad de los dos.
«In her active power she is like the Father, making all things into a new being.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart compara la potencia activa del alma con el Padre, que hace todas las cosas en ser nuevo.
«God had created all this world spiritually in every angel, before the world was made in itself.» — Sermón 31 (Pf 31, Q 37): Eckhart declara que Dios creó espiritualmente este mundo en cada ángel antes de hacerlo en sí.
«Now a master5 says of the first cause, that it is beyond words.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart cita a un maestro que declara a la causa primera fuera del alcance de la palabra.
«St. Augustine says whatever we say of God is not true, and what we do not say of Him is true.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart cita a Agustín en su forma más tajante, que cuanto decimos de Dios no es verdad y lo que no decimos de Él sí lo es.
«We can only speak of things in three ways: first, of what is above things; second, of the likeness of things; and third, of the operation of things.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart enumera los tres modos en que solo se puede hablar de las cosas, por lo que está sobre ellas, por su semejanza y por su operación.
«When the soul pronounces God, this utterance does not comprise the real truth about His essence: no one can truly say of God what He is.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart niega que el alma al pronunciar Dios diga la verdad de su esencia.
«All creatures cannot fully express God, for they are not receptive to what He really is.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart declara a las criaturas incapaces de expresar a Dios por no ser receptivas de lo que Él es.
«St. Augustine says that the spark is more akin to the truth than anything man can learn.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre la chispa más afín a la verdad que cuanto el hombre puede aprender.
«A great master10 says, 'Something that I see is purified and made spiritual in my eyes, and the light that enters my eye would never enter my soul but for the power which is above it.'» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart cita a un gran maestro sobre la luz que entra en el ojo y no entraría en el alma sin la potencia que está sobre él.
«St. Gregory says this servant means the preachers.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart recoge de Gregorio que ese siervo del evangelio son los predicadores.
«The masters say this light is so natural that it is always striving, it is called synteresis,» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart nombra la sindéresis como esa luz siempre en pugna, según los maestros.
«When God works in the soul, whatever is unlike in the soul is purified and cast out by the burning heat.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart describe la purga por calor ardiente de lo desemejante en el alma cuando Dios obra en ella.
«These are the people who are still somewhat bound by worldly cares. They will never taste this supper.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart excluye del banquete a los todavía atados a los cuidados del mundo.
«The five yokes, it seems to me, really refer to the five senses, for each sense is double, and the tongue is twofold in itself.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart lee las cinco yuntas como los cinco sentidos, cada uno doble.
«The soul is wholly male when she turns to God. When the soul faces downward, she is called 'woman,' but when one knows God in Himself and seeks Him at home, the soul is a man.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart declara varón al alma vuelta a Dios y mujer a la vuelta hacia abajo, que es una distinción funcional y no de sexo.
«It was forbidden in the old law for any man to put on women's dress, or a woman man's dress.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart apoya esa distinción en la prohibición de la ley antigua de vestir ropa del otro sexo.
«She is a man when she penetrates simply into God without means. But when she looks out here at all, then she is a woman.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart repite la distinción por el modo de penetrar en Dios, sin medio o mirando afuera.
«Nevertheless the soul is entire in every member, and some powers are in no way bounded.» — Sermón 32(a) (Pf 32, Q 20a): Eckhart declara al alma entera en cada miembro y sin límite en algunas potencias.
«Whoever makes a feast in the morning invites all sorts of people, but to an evening feast one invites great people, people one likes, and especially intimate friends.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart distingue el convite de la mañana, abierto a cualquiera, del de la tarde, para íntimos.
«Here in Christendom we celebrate today the evening feast that our Lord prepared for his disciples, his intimate friends, when he gave them his blessed body for food.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart identifica el convite de la tarde con la cena en que el Señor dio su cuerpo por alimento.
«When the light fades it is evening; when the whole world fades away from the soul, it is evening, and the soul attains to repose.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart define la tarde por la luz que se apaga y por el mundo que se desvanece para el alma.
«St. Gregory says of supper: when one eats in the morning, another meal follows, but after supper there is no other meal.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart recoge de Gregorio que tras la cena no hay otra comida.
«When the soul tastes the food at the evening feast, and the spark of the soul comprehends the divine light, then it needs no more food, it does not seek outside things and cleaves entirely to the divine light.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart describe la saciedad del alma cuya chispa comprende la luz divina, que ya no busca fuera.
«Now St. Augustine says, Lord, if thou takest thyself from us, give us another thee; nothing else satisfies us but thou, for we want nothing but thee.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart cita a Agustín pidiendo a Dios que si se quita a sí mismo dé otro sí mismo.
«Our Lord withdrew from his disciples as God and man, and gave himself to them again as God and man, but in another guise and another form.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart describe la retirada y la devolución del Señor en otro atuendo y otra forma.
«Just as we do not let a precious relic be handled or seen bare, but we enclose it in crystal or something else, so did our Lord when he gave himself as another self.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart ilustra ese velo con la reliquia que no se toca ni se ve desnuda sino encerrada en cristal.
«God gives Himself, all that He is, in the supper as food to His dear friends.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart declara que Dios se da entero como alimento en la cena a sus amigos.
«And he who receives this food with fear, he never gets the true taste of it, for one must receive it with love.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart niega el sabor verdadero a quien recibe ese alimento con temor, y exige amor.
«Therefore a God-loving soul conquers God, so that He must give Himself wholly to her.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart declara que el alma que ama a Dios lo vence y lo obliga a darse entera.
«Now St. Luke says, "A man made a great evening feast." That man had no name, that man had no equal, that man is God.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart identifica al hombre del convite con Dios, sin nombre y sin igual.
«A pagan master2 says that no tongue can produce a true word to speak of God, on account of the loftiness and purity of His being.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart cita a un maestro pagano sobre la lengua que no produce palabra verdadera de Dios por la altura y pureza de su ser.
«Therefore it is impossible to speak truly of God, for nothing is superior to God, and God has no cause.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart razona esa imposibilidad por no haber nada superior a Dios ni causa suya.
«Dionysius says all who wish to declare God are wrong, for they do not declare Him.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart cita a Dionisio sobre el error de cuantos quieren declarar a Dios.
«Those who do not try to declare Him are right, for no word can declare God; yet He declares Himself in Himself.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart completa esa cita: aciertan los que no lo intentan, y Él se declara a sí mismo en sí.
«The masters say this is a power in the soul called synteresis, 5 but this is not so.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart objeta a los maestros la identificación de esa potencia con la sindéresis, que él mismo había recogido en otro sermón.
«a master says that one power in the soul lies above the eye, which is wider than all the world and wider than the heavens.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre la potencia del alma más ancha que el mundo y que los cielos.
«The more the soul is collected, the narrower she is, and the narrower, the wider.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart formula la paradoja de la anchura, que cuanto más recogida el alma más estrecha, y cuanto más estrecha más ancha.
«All these he invites in, and he invites the poor and the blind and the lame and the feeble.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart enumera a los convidados del segundo llamado, pobres, ciegos, cojos y débiles.
«That man is God and has no name.» — Sermón 32(b) (Q 20b): Eckhart repite que ese hombre es Dios y no tiene nombre.
«God is nowhere. Of God's lowest all creatures are full, and His greatest is nowhere.» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart declara que Dios no está en ninguna parte, y que de lo más bajo suyo están llenas las criaturas.
«One master says the virtues are necessarily interdependent. Though a person may incline to the practice of one virtue rather than the others,» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart recoge de un maestro la interdependencia necesaria de las virtudes.
«Now our masters say the above orders and places the below.» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que lo de arriba ordena y coloca lo de abajo.
«On this St. James says, "Every good and perfect gift comes from above" (James 1:17).» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart apoya eso en Santiago, todo don bueno y perfecto viene de arriba.
«A master says that whoever knows anything does not know God.» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart cita a un maestro que niega el conocimiento de Dios a quien conoce algo.
«Another denies this, for God is a spirit and pure light, therefore anything receiving direct from God must be spirit and pure light.» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart recoge la objeción contraria, que siendo Dios espíritu y luz pura lo que recibe de Él directamente ha de ser espíritu y luz pura.
«A master says it is impossible that in the first eruption, when God bursts forth, any corporeal thing should receive it: it must be either light or pure spirit.» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre la primera irrupción de Dios, que nada corpóreo puede recibir.
«One master says heaven is by nature too lofty to stoop to be the cause of time.» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que el cielo es demasiado alto por naturaleza para ser causa del tiempo.
«In its nature it is not the cause of time, but in its revolution it is - being timeless -the cause of time, which is a product of heaven.» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart acota esa tesis: no por naturaleza sino por su giro es causa del tiempo, siendo él sin tiempo.
«King David says, "A thousand years are in God's sight as a day that is past" (Ps. 89:4), for all the future and the past are there in one Now.» — Sermón 33 (Pf 33, Q 35): Eckhart cita el salmo sobre los mil años como el día de ayer, y lee ahí el Ahora único.
«'Yes,' declared one master, 1 'she would even have taken him from the judge's palace.'» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart cita a un maestro que dice que la Magdalena habría tomado el cuerpo del palacio del juez.
«To this the master says, 'It was because she had nothing to lose, for she had given herself to him, and because she was his, she had no fear.'» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart recoge la razón que ese maestro da, que nada tenía que perder por haberse dado a él.
«The second reason the master gives,4 why she stood so near, was because she desired that they should come and kill her, since she could nowhere find God alive, so that her soul might find God somewhere.» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart recoge la segunda razón de que se quedara junto al sepulcro, que deseaba que la mataran para hallar a Dios en alguna parte.
«The fourth reason why she stood so close to the grave was because she had lost God twice, living on the cross and dead in the grave, and so she was afraid that if she went away from the grave, she would lose the grave as well.» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart recoge la cuarta razón, el miedo a perder también el sepulcro tras haber perdido a Dios dos veces.
«But now I say something different: that when seated one can receive with more true humility than standing, just as I said the day before yesterday that heaven can only work in the ground of the earth.» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart objeta la tesis recibida y sostiene que sentado se recibe con más humildad verdadera que de pie, con el símil del cielo que solo obra en el fondo de la tierra.
«Our masters say if a man took a cup and put it under the ground, it could hold more than if it stood on the ground:» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart recoge de los maestros el símil de la copa bajo tierra, que cabe más que puesta encima.
«One master says, 'Lord, what didst thou mean by withdrawing for so long from this woman? How had she deserved it, or what had she done?» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart cita el reproche de un maestro a Dios por haberse retirado tanto tiempo de esa mujer.
«And that is true, for thou hast never left her heart and thou hast said that whoever loves thee thou wilt love in return, and to him who rises early thou wilt appear.» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart responde a ese reproche con la promesa de amar a quien ama y aparecerse a quien madruga.
«It may be that her eyes were so blinded with tears that she could not see him quickly.» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart ofrece como explicación posible que los ojos de ella estuvieran cegados de llanto.
«But it is a characteristic of God, as a master says, that nothing is like Him.» — Sermón 34 (Pf 34, Q 55): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre lo propio de Dios, que nada se le parece.
«The heavenly Father speaks one Word and speaks it eternally, and in the Word He expends all His might and utters His entire divine nature and all creatures in the Word.» — Sermón 35 (Pf 35, Q 19): Eckhart describe la palabra única y eterna del Padre, en la que gasta todo su poder y profiere su naturaleza y todas las criaturas.
«The Word lies hidden in the soul, unnoticed and unheard unless room is made for it in the ground of hearing, otherwise it is not heard;» — Sermón 35 (Pf 35, Q 19): Eckhart describe el Verbo escondido en el alma, inadvertido si no se le hace sitio en el fondo del oír.
«but all voices and all sounds must cease and perfect stillness must reign there, a still silence.» — Sermón 35 (Pf 35, Q 19): Eckhart exige el cese de toda voz y todo sonido y un silencio quieto.
«No work ever pleases God unless it is wrought there.» — Sermón 35 (Pf 35, Q 19): Eckhart declara que ninguna obra agrada a Dios si no se obra ahí.
«Love infatuates and entangles us in goodness, and in love I remain caught up in the gate, and love would be blind if knowledge were not there.» — Sermón 35 (Pf 35, Q 19): Eckhart describe al amor prendado y enredado en la bondad, ciego si no estuviera el conocimiento.
«Therefore knowledge is better, for it leads love.» — Sermón 35 (Pf 35, Q 19): Eckhart concluye la primacía del conocimiento porque guía al amor.
«But love seeks desire, intention. Knowledge does not add a single thought, but rather detaches and strips off and runs ahead, touches God naked and grasps Him in His essence.» — Sermón 35 (Pf 35, Q 19): Eckhart describe la obra del conocimiento, que no añade nada y despoja y corre delante hasta tocar a Dios desnudo.
«Thus everything in the soul that is like God, praises God.» — Sermón 35 (Pf 35, Q 19): Eckhart declara que todo lo que en el alma es semejante a Dios lo alaba.
«He who would praise God must be holy and collected and be one spirit and not be anywhere 'outside,' but rather all equally borne aloft into the everlasting eternity transcending all things.» — Sermón 35 (Pf 35, Q 19): Eckhart pone las condiciones de quien quiera alabar a Dios, ser santo y recogido y estar todo alzado a la eternidad.
«Now I say, "He went into the city." This city is the soul, which is well ordered and fortified and protected from harm and which has excluded all multiplicity and is united, well established in Christ's salvation and walled round and embraced by the divine light.» — Sermón 36 (Pf 36, Q 18): Eckhart identifica la ciudad del evangelio con el alma ordenada, fortificada, sin multiplicidad y ceñida por la luz divina.
«The masters say that air never becomes fire unless it is first rarefied and hot.» — Sermón 36 (Pf 36, Q 18): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que el aire no se hace fuego sin enrarecerse y calentarse antes.
«The masters say that the yellow and the green in the rainbow merge into one another so equally that no eye is so sharp-sighted as to distinguish them;» — Sermón 36 (Pf 36, Q 18): Eckhart pone el símil del arcoíris, donde el amarillo y el verde se funden sin que ojo alguno los distinga.
«A very great master1 says that the highest angel is so close to the first effusion and has within him so much of divine likeness and divine power that he created all this world and also all the angels who are beneath him.» — Sermón 36 (Pf 36, Q 18): Eckhart recoge de un gran maestro la tesis de que el ángel más alto creó este mundo y los ángeles inferiores, y la consigna sin hacerla suya.
«But that is unity, which remains one in itself, apart from all things, and does not communicate itself, while goodness is where God melts outward and communicates Himself to all creatures.» — Sermón 36 (Pf 36, Q 18): Eckhart distingue la unidad, que permanece una y no se comunica, de la bondad, por la que Dios se derrama a todas las criaturas.
«The masters discuss which is better: the power of herbs or the power of words or the power of stones.» — Sermón 36 (Pf 36, Q 18): Eckhart recoge la discusión de los maestros sobre cuál poder es mayor, el de las hierbas, el de las palabras o el de las piedras.
«Understanding says, 'How could you love what you do not understand?» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart pone en boca del entendimiento la objeción al amor, cómo amar lo que no se entiende.
«Love says, 'What use is much understanding, if you do not love? If you have no love, you will never attain to eternal bliss.'» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart pone en boca del amor la réplica, de qué sirve entender mucho sin amor.
«Love says, 'I am the goodness that God is Himself.'» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart deja al amor identificarse con la bondad que Dios mismo es.
«Now comes the highest intellect, that which receives all things barely from God, and says, 'I have apprehended the highest good wherein naught can stand but unity.'» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart hace entrar al intelecto más alto, que recibe todo desnudo de Dios y dice haber aprehendido el bien supremo donde solo cabe unidad.
«Intellect says, 'Understanding and love, you must remain behind.'» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart hace al intelecto mandar atrás al entendimiento y al amor.
«By these words you must understand what our Lord said, "Young man, stand up! " thus: whatever is close to its birth we call 'young.'» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart glosa el levántate, joven, por la cercanía al nacimiento que llamamos juventud.
«Thus it happens to the intellect when, in face of its source, it forgets all that helped it in its ascent, for it deems it was always there and always will be there. That cannot be.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart describe el olvido del intelecto ante su fuente, que cree haber estado siempre ahí, y declara que no puede ser.
«You should not take this as being another soul: it is another being of the soul, for the old habits are all gone and dead.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart acota que no se trata de otra alma sino de otro ser del alma, muertos los hábitos viejos.
«The man in the soul, transcending angelic being and guided by intellect, pierces to the source whence the soul flowed.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart describe al hombre del alma que trasciende el ser angélico y llega a la fuente de donde el alma manó.
«There, intellect must remain outside, with all named things.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart deja al intelecto fuera, con todo lo que tiene nombre.
«You should know what a man is like who has come to this: we can well say he is God and man.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart describe al que llegó ahí y dice que bien puede llamársele Dios y hombre.
«Observe, he has gained by grace all that Christ had by nature, and that his body is so fully suffused with the noble essence of the soul, which she has received from God and the divine light, that we may well declare, That is a man divine!» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart acota esa fórmula: por gracia tiene lo que Cristo tuvo por naturaleza, y de ahí llamarlo hombre divino.
«All who ever hope to come to God may well be mistaken in these folk, for they are hard for strangers to perceive:» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart declara a esa gente difícil de percibir para los extraños.
«none can truly recognize them but those in whom the same light shines.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart pone la condición del reconocimiento, que en quien reconoce brille la misma luz.
«I say further: if I owned everything God ever created, I would give it all for that man to consume all at once, and rightly so, for it all belongs to him.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart declara que daría cuanto Dios creó para que ese hombre lo consumiera de una vez, porque todo le pertenece.
«For you should know that if a man is in sin, whatever he eats or drinks, that draws him down to sin and his sin becomes greater.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart describe el efecto del comer y del beber en el que está en pecado, que lo arrastra hacia abajo.
«But it is not thus with the good man: whatever he eats or drinks bears him up in Christ to the Father.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart describe el efecto contrario en el hombre bueno.
«Christ means the soul and the body in a true unity, so that the body wants nothing but what the soul wants.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart lee los dos reunidos como alma y cuerpo en unidad verdadera.
«They need absolutely nothing, for they are in possession of the city of their true birthright.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart declara que esa gente no necesita absolutamente nada por poseer la ciudad de su derecho de nacimiento.
«You should know that these people perform the most valuable work.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart adjudica a esa gente la obra más valiosa.
«They do more eternal good in an instant than all outward works that were ever performed externally.» — Sermón 37 (Pf 37): Eckhart mide esa obra: hacen más bien eterno en un instante que todas las obras externas jamás hechas.
«St. John writes in his Gospel, 'On the first day of the week, when it was evening, our Lord came when the doors were shut, among his disciples and said, "Peace be with you!" and again, "Peace be with you! " and at the third time, "Receive the Holy Ghost! " '» — Sermón 38 (Pf 38, Q 36a): Eckhart abre el sermón de la paz con el texto de Juan, las puertas cerradas y el triple saludo.
«Now it is never evening unless a morning and a midday have gone before.» — Sermón 38 (Pf 38, Q 36a): Eckhart apunta que no hay tarde sin mañana y mediodía antes.
«Now we say God is a spirit. That is not so.» — Sermón 38 (Pf 38, Q 36a): Eckhart niega de plano la fórmula corriente de que Dios es espíritu.
«St. Gregory says we cannot truly speak of God.» — Sermón 38 (Pf 38, Q 36a): Eckhart apoya esa negativa en Gregorio, que niega que podamos hablar verdaderamente de Dios.
«If God were really a spirit, He would be spoken.» — Sermón 38 (Pf 38, Q 36a): Eckhart razona la negativa: si Dios fuera de veras espíritu, sería dicho.
«Jacob rested in that place," which is nameless. By not being named, it is named.» — Sermón 38 (Pf 38, Q 36a): Eckhart describe el lugar sin nombre donde Jacob reposó, que por no ser nombrado queda nombrado.
«Now one master says, 'God forbid that anything should be conveyed within by eye or ear which could fill the noblest part of the soul, instead of by the 'nameless place' which is the place of all things.'» — Sermón 38 (Pf 38, Q 36a): Eckhart cita a un maestro que niega al ojo y al oído poder llenar la parte más noble del alma, y lo reserva al lugar sin nombre.
«A great master says that whatever is carried in by the senses does not enter the soul or the highest power of the soul.» — Sermón 39 (Q 36b, Jostes 69, 2): Eckhart cita a un gran maestro que niega la entrada de lo sensible al alma y a su potencia más alta.
«St. Augustine says, and Plato, a pagan master, says too, that the soul has in herself by nature all knowledge;» — Sermón 39 (Q 36b, Jostes 69, 2): Eckhart junta a Agustín y a Platón, maestro pagano, en la tesis de que el alma tiene en sí por naturaleza todo conocimiento.
«Thus whatever is conveyed inward by the senses of images and forms does not give light to the soul, but merely prepares and purifies the soul so that in her highest part she may receive unveiled the angel's light and, with it, God's light.» — Sermón 39 (Q 36b, Jostes 69, 2): Eckhart acota qué sí hacen las imágenes de los sentidos, que preparan y purifican al alma para recibir sin velo la luz del ángel y la de Dios.
«Therefore it is a much greater thing to be silent about God than to speak.» — Sermón 39 (Q 36b, Jostes 69, 2): Eckhart concluye que callar de Dios es mucho más que hablar de Él.
«Though some other way may seem better to you, yet it would not be so good for you; God wills this way and no other, and so this way is bound to be best for you.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart declara mejor para cada uno el camino que Dios quiere, aunque otro parezca mejor.
«Now you might say, 'How do I know whether it is God's will or not?'» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart se plantea la objeción de cómo saber si es voluntad de Dios.
«Be sure, if it were not God's will it would not be.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart responde por el hecho mismo: si no fuera voluntad de Dios, no sería.
«And so, knowing it is God's will, you should so rejoice in it and be content that pain would be no pain to you:» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart deriva de ahí el gozo en lo que ocurre, hasta que el dolor no sea dolor.
«For God's being depends on His willing the best.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart funda esa doctrina en que el ser de Dios depende de que quiera lo mejor.
«However great may seem the pain or distress, unless you have an equal delight in it, it is wrong.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart declara en falta todo dolor que no vaya acompañado de igual deleite.
«But sometimes you think and say, 'Oh, it would be better if it had turned out differently,' or, 'If it had not been so, things might have been better.'» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart cita el pensamiento que combate, que habría sido mejor de otro modo.
«God gives nothing so gladly as great gifts.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart declara que Dios nada da tan de buena gana como dones grandes.
«Once in this very place I said God likes forgiving big sins more than small ones.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart recuerda haber dicho en ese mismo sitio que Dios perdona con más gusto los pecados grandes que los pequeños.
«the greater they are, the more gladly He bestows them, for His nature depends on giving great gifts.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart aplica la misma proporción a los dones, porque su naturaleza depende de dar grandes dones.
«The noblest creatures are the angels, who are purely spiritual and have nothing corporeal; their number is greatest and there are more of them than of all corporeal things.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart declara a los ángeles las criaturas más nobles y más numerosas que todas las corpóreas.
«I once said whatever can be truly put into words must come from within, moved by its inner form: it must not come in from without, but out from within.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart recuerda haber dicho que lo que puede decirse de veras viene de dentro movido por su forma interior.
«Remember, if you seek anything of your own, you will never find God, for you are not seeking God alone.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart niega el hallazgo de Dios a quien busque algo propio.
«Yet that man would give far more who could regard a thousand marks as nothing; he would have done far more than the other.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart mide el don por el desasimiento y no por la cantidad, y pone por encima a quien pueda tener mil marcos por nada.
«All creatures have nothing more without God than a midge would have without God - just the same, neither more nor less.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart iguala a todas las criaturas sin Dios con lo que sería un mosquito sin Dios.
«He who understands the truth knows well that the word 'father' connotes pure generation and the having of sons.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart deriva del nombre padre la generación pura y el tener hijos.
«If you have an eye to yourself or to any thing or person, you are not right under and will get nothing, but if you are right under, you will receive fully and perfectly.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart pone la condición de recibir, estar del todo debajo y no mirarse a sí ni a cosa ni a persona.
«When the Father bears His Son in me, I am the same Son and not another: true, we are different in humanity, but there I am the same Son» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart formula la identidad de filiación, que engendrado el Hijo en mí soy el mismo Hijo y no otro, con la salvedad de la humanidad.
«It is God's nature to give, and His being depends on His giving to us when we are under.» — Sermón 40 (Pf 40, Q 4, QT 4): Eckhart declara que dar es naturaleza de Dios y que su ser depende de darnos cuando estamos debajo.
«The second meaning is this: Unless all the world and all time become little in you, you will not see God.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart pone la condición de ver a Dios, que el mundo y el tiempo se hagan pequeños en uno.
«The masters declare that heaven receives no alien impressions.?» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que el cielo no recibe impresiones ajenas.
«One priest said, 'I wish your soul were in my body.'» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart cita el deseo de un sacerdote de que su alma estuviera en el cuerpo del otro.
«No soul can do anything except in the body to which she is allotted.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart niega que alma alguna obre fuera del cuerpo que le tocó.
«The eye does not tolerate anything alien in itself.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart pone el símil del ojo que no tolera nada ajeno en sí.
«St. Bernard says the eye is like heaven, it receives heaven in itself.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart cita a Bernardo sobre el ojo semejante al cielo, que lo recibe en sí.
«If the soul is to know anything outside of herself, such as an angel, or anything, however pure, she must do this with a subtle glimpse without any image.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart exige para conocer algo fuera de sí un vislumbre sutil sin imagen.
«If I am to know God, that must occur without images and immediately.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart exige para conocer a Dios que sea sin imágenes y sin medio.
«The greatest masters say that one knows God without means.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart recoge de los maestros mayores que a Dios se lo conoce sin medio.
«If I am to know God without 'means' and without image or likeness, then God must become practically 'I,' and I practically God, so wholly one that when I work with Him it is not that I work and He incites me, but that I work wholly with what is mine.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart lleva ese sin medio hasta el extremo, que Dios llegue a ser prácticamente yo y yo prácticamente Dios, obrando yo con lo mío.
«Grace is a light that transcends and soars above everything that God ever created or could create.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart define la gracia como luz que trasciende todo lo que Dios creó o pudiera crear.
«God's nature is that He knows Himself without 'a little' and without this or that.» — Sermón 41 (Pf 41, Q 70, QT 53): Eckhart describe la naturaleza de Dios por el conocerse sin un poco y sin esto ni aquello.
«Anything, however small, adhering to the soul, prevents us from seeing God.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart declara que lo más pequeño adherido al alma impide ver a Dios.
«No one knows better what heat is than he who is hot; no one knows better what wisdom is than he who is wise; no one knows better what eternal life is than eternal life itself.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart argumenta el conocimiento por connaturalidad con el calor, la sabiduría y la vida eterna.
«All creatures God ever created or might yet create, if He wished, are little or nothing compared with God.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart declara poco o nada a todas las criaturas frente a Dios.
«As long as anything of creaturehood shines in you, however small, you cannot see God.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart repite el impedimento por lo creatural que brille en uno, por pequeño que sea.
«If there were no medium, my eye could see nothing.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart pone el medio como condición de la vista.
«If there were no medium between God and the soul, she would at once see God,» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart deriva de ahí que sin medio entre Dios y el alma ella lo vería de inmediato.
«Since God loves the soul so mightily, the soul must be a very important thing.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart infiere la importancia del alma de la fuerza con que Dios la ama.
«The eternal Word is the medium and the image itself (which is without means or image), so that the soul may grasp God in the eternal Word, and know Him immediately and without any image.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart identifica el Verbo eterno con el medio y con la imagen misma, sin medio ni imagen, para que el alma conozca a Dios sin imagen.
«A master says God is a being that nothing is like and nothing can become like.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre el ser al que nada se parece ni puede parecerse.
«If God were not in all things, nature would cease operation and not strive for anything;» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart sostiene que sin Dios en todas las cosas la naturaleza cesaría y nada buscaría.
«Nature seeks neither eating nor drinking, nor clothes nor comfort, nor anything whatsoever, unless God were in it;» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart aplica eso al comer, al beber y al vestir, que la naturaleza no buscaría sin Dios en ello.
«By nature God can tolerate no mingling or admixture.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart declara que Dios por naturaleza no tolera mezcla.
«Thus too, this power has no mingling or admixture; there is nothing alien in it, nor can anything alien invade it.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart traslada esa incapacidad de mezcla a la potencia del alma.
«If I go away from here, all that is attached to me will go with me.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart formula la carga del apego, que lo adherido se va con uno.
«If a man were to rest on nothing, and cling to nothing, then, if heaven and earth were overturned, he would remain unmoved, since he would cling to nothing, and nothing would cling to him.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart describe al que en nada descansa y a nada se aferra, inmóvil aunque cielo y tierra se volteen.
«God is a being such that He ever abides in the innermost.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart describe a Dios como ser que mora siempre en lo más íntimo.
«Therefore the intellect goes ever seeking within.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart deriva de ahí que el intelecto busque siempre hacia dentro.
«But the will goes out to seek what it loves.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart contrapone la voluntad, que sale a buscar lo que ama.
«I can never see God except in that in which God sees Himself.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart declara que solo puede ver a Dios en aquello en que Dios se ve a sí.
«The fifth point: that it is an image.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart enumera el quinto punto de esa potencia, que es imagen.
«Image and image are so fully one and joined, that no difference can be discerned.» — Sermón 42 (Pf 42, Q 69): Eckhart describe la unión de imagen e imagen sin diferencia discernible.
«If God were deprived of loving us, that would deprive Him of His being and His Godhead, for His being depends on His loving me.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart hace depender el ser y la divinidad de Dios de que me ame.
«He says, "Who pursue justice in wisdom." The just man has such need of justice that he cannot love anything but justice.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart describe la necesidad que el justo tiene de la justicia, que le impide amar otra cosa.
«If the devil were just, he would love him insofar as he was just, and not a hair's breadth more.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart lleva esa doctrina al extremo, que amaría al diablo en cuanto justo y ni un pelo más.
«The just man does not love 'this and that' in God.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart niega que el justo ame esto y aquello en Dios.
«If God were to give him all His wisdom and all that He can perform outside of Himself, that man would not care for it or have any taste for it, because he wants nothing and seeks nothing; for he has no why for which he does anything, just as God acts without why and has no why.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart describe la indiferencia del justo ante toda la sabiduría de Dios, porque obra sin porqué como Dios obra sin porqué.
«If anyone should think that to gain a thousand worlds plus God were any more than to gain God alone, he would not know God or have the slightest idea of God and would be a boor.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart llama patán a quien piense que ganar mil mundos con Dios sea más que ganar a Dios solo.
«Origen 10 writes something very splendid, and if I were to say it, you would think it incredible: 'We are not only inborn in the Son, we are born out and born in again, and are born anew and immediately in the Son.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart cita a Orígenes y advierte que sonará increíble: no solo nacidos en el Hijo, sino nacidos fuera y nacidos de nuevo e inmediatamente en el Hijo.
«God wishes always to be alone; 12 that is a necessary truth, and it cannot be otherwise: we must always have God alone in mind.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart declara verdad necesaria que Dios quiere estar siempre solo.
«God has, it is true, poured out satisfaction and joy into creatures, but the root of all satisfaction, and the essence of all joy - these God has kept back in Himself.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart distingue la satisfacción que Dios derramó en las criaturas de la raíz de toda satisfacción, que se reservó.
«But the sun illuminates the air and shines through it, but does not put forth roots into it: for when the sun is no more present there is no more light.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart ilustra esa reserva con el sol que ilumina el aire sin echar raíces en él.
«God adorns Himself and proffers Himself to the soul, and has drawn on all the resources of His Godhead to make himself agreeable to the soul, because God wishes alone to please the soul, and will brook no rival.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart describe a Dios adornándose y ofreciéndose al alma, sin admitir rival.
«Now there are some people who consider themselves very holy and perfect, they make a great parade and use big words, and yet they seek and desire so many things, and want so many possessions and pay so much regard to themselves and to this and that; they claim to be contemplatives, and yet they can brook no contradiction.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart objeta a los que se tienen por perfectos y contemplativos y no soportan que se les contradiga.
«But St. Augustine says something better; he says, 'I have poured out my soul over myself.'» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart prefiere la lectura de Agustín a la del salmo y dice por qué, derramar el alma sobre sí y no dentro de sí.
«It has been written that a virtue is no virtue unless it comes from God or through God or in God: one of these things must always be.» — Sermón 43 (Pf 43, Q 41, QT 46, Evans II, 12): Eckhart recoge la regla escrita de que no hay virtud que no venga de Dios, por Dios o en Dios.
«Chrysostom2 says this is a hard saying for those who are inclined to this world and to material things, the possession of which is sweet to them and their abandonment hard and bitter.» — Sermón 44 (Q 58, Jostes 77): Eckhart cita a Crisóstomo sobre la dureza de ese dicho para los inclinados a lo material.
«St. Dionysius3 says God offers his heaven for sale.» — Sermón 44 (Q 58, Jostes 77): Eckhart cita a Dionisio sobre Dios que pone su cielo en venta.
«Therefore a man should give all he has for heaven - his own will.» — Sermón 44 (Q 58, Jostes 77): Eckhart nombra el precio de ese cielo, la propia voluntad.
«As long as he keeps any part of his own will, he has not paid for heaven.» — Sermón 44 (Q 58, Jostes 77): Eckhart acota que mientras se guarde parte de la voluntad propia no se ha pagado.
«St. Augustine5 says, 'He is a true servant who seeks in all his works nothing but God's honor alone.'» — Sermón 44 (Q 58, Jostes 77): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre el siervo verdadero, que en todas sus obras no busca sino la honra de Dios.
«Other lords do not do this: they seek their own profit in their service, for they only serve us in order that they may exploit us.» — Sermón 44 (Q 58, Jostes 77): Eckhart contrasta a los otros señores, que sirven para explotar.
«Just as white is distinguished from black - the one cannot abide the other, and white is not black - so it is with something and nothing.» — Sermón 44 (Q 58, Jostes 77): Eckhart opone algo y nada como se oponen blanco y negro.
«St. Dionysius says the angelic nature is like the revelation of the divine light.» — Sermón 44 (Q 58, Jostes 77): Eckhart cita a Dionisio sobre la naturaleza angélica como revelación de la luz divina.
«If I were asked to say to what end3 the Creator has created all creatures, I would say: rest.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart responde a la primera de cuatro preguntas propias con una sola palabra, el reposo, que es el fin de la creación.
«If I were asked secondly what the Holy Trinity sought altogether in all its works, I would answer: rest.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart repite la respuesta para lo que la Trinidad busca en todas sus obras.
«If I were asked thirdly what the soul sought in all her agitations, I would answer: rest.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart repite la respuesta para lo que el alma busca en todas sus agitaciones.
«If I were asked fourthly what all creatures sought in their natural desires and motions, I would answer: rest.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart cierra la serie con lo que buscan todas las criaturas en sus deseos naturales.
«Not only does the Creator seek his own rest by projecting it and informing all creatures with it, but He seeks to draw all creatures back with Him into their first beginning, which is rest.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart describe el doble movimiento del Creador, que informa a las criaturas de reposo y las atrae de vuelta a su comienzo primero.
«The Father seeks rest in His Son, in whom He has poured out and formed all creatures,4 and they both seek rest in the Holy Ghost, who has proceeded from them both as eternal and immeasurable love.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart describe el reposo dentro de la Trinidad, el Padre en el Hijo y los dos en el Espíritu Santo.
«He never opens or shuts an eye without seeking rest by doing so: either he seeks to reject something that hinders him, or he seeks to draw in something on which to rest.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart ilustra la busca de reposo en el abrir y cerrar el ojo.
«I have also said before that a man could never feel love or desire for any creature, unless God's likeness were in it.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart declara imposible amar o desear criatura alguna si no hubiera en ella semejanza de Dios.
«My love is placed where I most clearly see God's likeness, but nothing in all creatures so resembles God as rest.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart nombra lo que más se parece a Dios entre las criaturas, el reposo.
«One master says of the stars that the closer they appear to the earth, the less their effects, for they are not in their proper circle.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre las estrellas, cuyo efecto mengua cuanto más cerca de la tierra parecen por no estar en su círculo propio.
«God does not heed or require fasting, praying, or any self-mortification nearly so much as rest.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart jerarquiza el reposo por encima del ayuno, la oración y la mortificación en la atención de Dios.
«Our Lord says, "I will lead my bride into the desert and will speak to her heart" (Hos. 2:14), that is into a solitude away from all creatures.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart cita a Oseas sobre llevar a la esposa al desierto y hablarle al corazón, y lo lee como soledad lejos de las criaturas.
«Therefore David says, "God sits above the Cherubim" (Ps. 79:2): he does not say He sits above the Seraphim.» — Sermón 45 (Pf 45, Q 60, QT 45): Eckhart repara en que el salmo pone a Dios sobre los querubines y no sobre los serafines.
«Thus he instructs us that when we would pray, we should first descend in true downcast humility beneath all creatures.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart enseña el orden de la oración, bajar primero en humildad por debajo de todas las criaturas.
«Only then should we ascend before the throne of wisdom, and as far as we have descended, so far shall we be granted what we have prayed for.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart enuncia la proporción entre lo descendido y lo concedido.
«For whoever would enter God's ground, His inmost part, must first enter his own ground, his inmost part, for none can know God who does not first know himself.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart pone el conocimiento de sí como puerta del conocimiento de Dios, porque quien entra en el fondo de Dios entra primero en el suyo.
«Whatever God finds cast down, He raises up and elevates in Himself.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart describe lo que Dios hace con lo que halla abatido, levantarlo en Sí.
«Just as the sun attracts to itself the moist air, so it gives to a stone its likeness and power, so that it emits an invisible mist and a power which draws some iron to it, and also some flesh and bones.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart describe la acción del sol sobre la piedra imán, que le da semejanza y poder para atraer el hierro.
«The divine mist does the same: it draws the soul into itself, joins with her and makes her godlike.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart traslada ese símil a la niebla divina que atrae al alma y la hace semejante a Dios.
«If the wine is red, it becomes red: if white, it becomes white, and wine.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart ilustra la asimilación con el agua que echada en vino se vuelve vino y del color del vino.
«Whatever is above the element, such as heaven and the stars, creates in the coarsest element, earth, where we cannot see it, such things as gold, silver and precious stones; for it is impossible that heaven can work except in the ground of earth» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart describe la obra del cielo en el elemento más basto, donde hace oro, plata y piedras preciosas sin que se vea.
«Our masters say what is above is never satisfied: thus trees and grass spread, circulate like heaven, and more than heaven, like the angel who rotates heaven.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que lo de arriba nunca se sacia, y compara el crecer de árboles y hierbas con el girar del cielo.
«Our masters say one knows one in God, and another knows a thousand in God.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que uno conoce uno en Dios y otro mil en Dios.
«Those who know a thousand are more blessed those who know one, for they know more of God therein than in the one.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart declara más bienaventurado al que conoce mil, por conocer más de Dios ahí.
«And so he knows more in Him but not numerically, for all things are one in God, and there IS nothing in God but essence.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart acota esa cuenta: no es numérica, porque en Dios todo es uno y no hay sino esencia.
«He means that God is alone and has nothing with Him.» — Sermón 46 (Pf 46, Q 54b): Eckhart lee el único Dios verdadero como que Dios está solo y nada tiene consigo.
«So, if you would be blessed you must be one Son: not many sons, but one Son.» — Sermón 47 (Pf 47, Q 46): Eckhart pone la condición de la bienaventuranza, ser un Hijo y no muchos hijos.
«Take note: The eternal Word did not take upon itself this man or that, but it took upon itself one free, indivisible human nature, bare and without image, for the impartible form of humanity is imageless.» — Sermón 47 (Pf 47, Q 46): Eckhart formula la doctrina de la naturaleza humana asumida, libre e indivisible, desnuda y sin imagen.
«So it is just as true to say that man became God as that God became man.» — Sermón 47 (Pf 47, Q 46): Eckhart invierte la fórmula: es tan verdad que el hombre se hizo Dios como que Dios se hizo hombre.
«Therefore, in order to be one Son, you must discard and depart from whatever makes for distinction in you.» — Sermón 47 (Pf 47, Q 46): Eckhart manda descartar cuanto haga distinción en uno para ser un Hijo.
«Beware therefore, lest you take yourselves as being either this man or that, but take yourselves according to your free, indivisible human nature.» — Sermón 47 (Pf 47, Q 46): Eckhart previene contra tomarse como este hombre o aquél y manda tomarse según la naturaleza humana indivisible.
«if you would be one Son, you must get rid of not, 5 for not makes for division.» — Sermón 47 (Pf 47, Q 46): Eckhart manda deshacerse del *no*, porque el no hace división.
«Therefore, whatever you have got of your own, and whatever works of yours are not the product of your own, they are all dead works in the sight of God.» — Sermón 47 (Pf 47, Q 46): Eckhart declara muertas ante Dios las obras que no salgan de lo propio.
«Now observe! If you love justice as being justice toward or about yourself, then you do not love justice qua justice, and so you neither take it nor love it as it is, impartible, but divided.» — Sermón 47 (Pf 47, Q 46): Eckhart objeta el amor a la justicia referida a uno mismo, porque la toma dividida y no como es.
«Therefore He says, "Behold, I." Whoever says, 'I' must do the very best work.» — Sermón 48 (Q 31, QT 47): Eckhart adjudica el decir yo a quien haga la obra mejor.
«No one can truly utter this word but the Father.» — Sermón 48 (Q 31, QT 47): Eckhart reserva al Padre la profesión verdadera de esa palabra.
«God performs this work in the inmost part of the soul so secretly that neither angels nor saints know of it, and the soul herself can do nothing but suffer it to happen: it is God's province alone.» — Sermón 48 (Q 31, QT 47): Eckhart describe la obra de Dios en lo más íntimo del alma, oculta a ángeles y santos, donde el alma solo puede padecerla.
«Origen says, 'Mary Magdalene sought our Lord: she saw one dead man and found two living angels,' and she was not satisfied.» — Sermón 48 (Q 31, QT 47): Eckhart cita a Orígenes sobre la Magdalena, que vio un muerto y halló dos ángeles vivos y no se contentó.
«It is its nature to be without nature.» — Sermón 48 (Q 31, QT 47): Eckhart formula la naturaleza sin naturaleza.
«Our masters declare that perfect rest is freedom from all motion.» — Sermón 48 (Q 31, QT 47): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que el reposo perfecto es ausencia de todo movimiento.
«The angels who are so illumined and so like God, draw God to them and suck Him in.» — Sermón 48 (Q 31, QT 47): Eckhart describe a los ángeles iluminados que atraen a Dios y lo sorben.
«The soul should never cease until she works as powerfully as God.» — Sermón 48 (Q 31, QT 47): Eckhart manda al alma no cesar hasta obrar tan poderosamente como Dios.
«A master3 says an angel is the image of God.» — Sermón 49 (Pf 49, Q 77): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que el ángel es imagen de Dios.
«A third says he is a clear mirror which contains and carries within itself the reflection of God's purity, the divine purity of the stillness and mystery of God, as far as that may be.» — Sermón 49 (Pf 49, Q 77): Eckhart recoge de un tercero el espejo claro que lleva en sí el reflejo de la pureza divina, hasta donde cabe.
«But an angel perceives in a light that is beyond time and eternal.» — Sermón 49 (Pf 49, Q 77): Eckhart describe la percepción del ángel en una luz que está más allá del tiempo.
«Therefore, being neither this nor that, you are everything.» — Sermón 49 (Pf 49, Q 77): Eckhart formula la paradoja del no ser esto ni aquello y por eso serlo todo.
«Therefore, what they are in truth they are in God, and thus God alone is in truth.» — Sermón 49 (Pf 49, Q 77): Eckhart concluye que lo que las cosas son de verdad lo son en Dios, y que por eso solo Dios es en verdad.
«And therefore the word "I" means the self-identity of divine truth, for it is the proof of one is.» — Sermón 49 (Pf 49, Q 77): Eckhart hace del yo la identidad de la verdad divina y la prueba de un solo *es*.
«But I once thought on my way, 12 that a man should be so wholly detached in his intention that he had nobody and nothing in view but the Godhead in itself - neither salvation nor this or that, but just God as God, and the Godhead» — Sermón 49 (Pf 49, Q 77): Eckhart describe el desasimiento de intención, sin mirar a la salvación ni a esto ni a aquello sino a la Deidad en sí.
«More I do not know and cannot tell, so my sermon must end here.» — Sermón 49 (Pf 49, Q 77): Eckhart cierra el sermón declarando que más no sabe ni puede decir.
«The masters and the saints commonly say that the soul has three powers, thus resembling the Trinity.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart recoge la doctrina común de las tres potencias del alma como semejanza de la Trinidad.
«But we will not stop at this, for it is nothing new.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart declara que no se detendrá ahí porque no es cosa nueva.
«The second is satisfied with nothing but the best: if there were anything better than God, it would not want God.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart describe la segunda potencia, que no se contenta sino con lo mejor y que dejaría a Dios si algo fuera mejor que Dios.
«Now if you want to be high and exalted, then you must be lowly, far from the flow of blood and the flesh, for one root of all sins and defects is concealed and hidden pride, and this leads to nothing but sorrow and woe.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart señala la raíz de los pecados en el orgullo escondido, y manda ser bajo para ser alto.
«If a man were truly humble, either God would have to abandon all His Godhead and go right out of it, or He would have to pour Himself out and flow right into that man.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart formula la alternativa extrema de la humildad: o Dios abandona su divinidad o se derrama entero en el hombre humilde.
«Last night I thought, God's height lies in my lowliness: when I humbled myself, God would be exalted.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart cuenta lo que pensó la noche anterior, que la altura de Dios está en su bajeza.
«But I thought last night that God should be brought down, not absolutely but inwardly.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart precisa ese pensamiento, que Dios ha de ser traído abajo no absolutamente sino hacia dentro.
«This phrase of 'God brought down' pleased me so much that I wrote it in my bookY» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart declara que esa fórmula le gustó tanto que la escribió en su libro, que es de los pocos lugares donde habla de escribir.
«What was above has become inward. You must be internalized, from yourself and within yourself, so that He is in you.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart formula la interiorización, que lo que estaba arriba se ha hecho adentro.
«And yet the noble and humble man is not satisfied to be born as the only-begotten Son whom the Father has eternally borne, 18 but he wants to be also the Father and to enter into the same equality of eternal paternity and to bear him, from whom I am eternally born.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart lleva la filiación hasta la paternidad: el hombre humilde no se contenta con ser el Unigénito y quiere ser también el Padre y engendrar a aquel de quien nace.
«What is inborn in me, remains: God never departs from that man, wherever that man turns.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart declara permanente lo innato en él, de donde Dios no se aparta.
«Such a man can turn away from God, but however far he goes from God, God stops and waits for him, and stands in his path before he knows it.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart describe a Dios esperando en el camino del que se aleja, antes de que él lo sepa.
«If you want God to be your own, you must be His own like my tongue or my hand, with which I can do as I will.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart pone la condición de que Dios sea propio, ser suyo como la lengua o la mano.
«Just as little as I can do anything without Him, so He can do nothing without me.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart formula la reciprocidad extrema, que Él tampoco puede nada sin mí.
«This means that God is not only a beginning of all our acts and our being, He is also an end and a repose to all being.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart declara a Dios principio y a la vez fin y reposo de todo ser.
«The sun9 corresponds to God in His highest part, and in His unfathomable depth in the depth of His humility.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart empareja la altura de Dios con la hondura insondable de su humildad.
«Indeed the humble man has no need to pray for it, for he can command Him.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart declara que el humilde no necesita rogar porque puede mandar a Dios.
«This humble man has as much power over God as he has over himself, and all the good that is in all the angels and all the saints is as much his own as it is God's own.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart mide el poder del humilde sobre Dios como el que tiene sobre sí.
«In God's name - if that man were in hell, God would have to come to him in hell, and hell would needs be heaven for him.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart lleva eso al infierno, donde Dios tendría que ir a él y el infierno le sería cielo.
«He would have to do this, He would be compelled to do it: for then this man is divine being and divine being is this man, for here the kiss11 occurs between God's unity and the humble man.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart declara esa necesidad forzosa y la nombra el beso entre la unidad de Dios y el hombre humilde.
«Aristotle planned a book in which he would speak of all things.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart consigna el plan de Aristóteles de un libro sobre todas las cosas.
«Now note what Aristotle says of this man:14 'Homo denotes a man to whom form is added, giving him being and life with all creatures, rational and irrational: irrational with all physical creatures, rational with the angels.'» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart cita a Aristóteles sobre *homo* como hombre con forma añadida, irracional con lo físico y racional con los ángeles.
«Now I too will declare what a man is.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart anuncia que va a declarar él mismo qué es un hombre, tras citar a Aristóteles.
«A rational man is one who understands himself rationally, and is, in himself, detached from all matter and form.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart define al hombre racional como el que se entiende racionalmente y está desasido de materia y forma.
«The Father is the beginning of the Godhead, for He comprehends Himself in Himself.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart pone al Padre como principio de la divinidad por comprenderse a sí en sí.
«From Him comes forth the eternal Word, yet remaining within, and the Holy Ghost proceeds from both, yet remains within, and the Father does not give birth to him, for he is the end of the Godhead, indwelling in it and in all creatures, and there is pure repose and a resting of all that ever obtained being.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart describe la procesión del Verbo y del Espíritu Santo, que queda como fin de la divinidad y reposo puro.
«The final end of being is the darkness or nescience of the hidden Godhead whose light illumines it, but this darkness comprehends it not.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart nombra el fin último del ser como la tiniebla o nesciencia de la Deidad escondida.
«Therefore Moses said, "He who is has sent me":20 He who is nameless, who is a denial of all names and never had a name, wherefore the prophet said, "Truly thou art a hidden God" (lsa. 45:15), in the ground of the soul where God's ground and the soul's ground are one ground.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart junta el yo soy de Moisés con el Dios escondido de Isaías en el fondo del alma, donde el fondo de Dios y el del alma son un solo fondo.
«The more we seek thee, the less we find thee.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart formula la proporción inversa de la busca, cuanto más te buscamos menos te hallamos.
«You must seek Him in such wise that you never find Him.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart manda buscarlo de modo de no hallarlo nunca.
«If you do not seek Him, you will find Him.» — Sermón 50 (Q 14): Eckhart remata la paradoja: si no lo buscas, lo hallarás.
«The one is eternity, which maintains itself ever alone and without variation.» — Sermón 52 (Q 32, QT 30): Eckhart define el uno como la eternidad, que se mantiene sola y sin variación.
«The two is time, which is changeable and given to multiplication.» — Sermón 52 (Q 32, QT 30): Eckhart define el dos como el tiempo, cambiante y dado a la multiplicación.
«my answer is: Yes and no. Yes, a son in that the Father has eternally begotten me, not a son by way of being unborn.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart responde a su propia pregunta con un sí y un no, distinguiendo el ser hijo por generación eterna del ser hijo por no nacido.
«Here we are given to understand that we are an only son whom the Father has been eternally begetting out of the hidden darkness of eternal concealment, indwelling in the first beginning of the primal purity which is the plenitude of all purity.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart describe la generación desde la tiniebla oculta del ocultamiento eterno, en el comienzo primero de la pureza primordial.
«There I have been eternally at rest and asleep in the hidden understanding of the eternal Father, immanent and unspoken.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart se describe a sí mismo en reposo y dormido en el entendimiento oculto del Padre, inmanente y no dicho.
«And that is what God does: He begets His only-begotten Son in the highest part of the soul.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart sitúa esa generación en la parte más alta del alma.
«In the same moment that He bears His only-begotten Son into me, I bear him back into the Father.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart describe el movimiento de vuelta, que en el mismo instante lleva al Hijo de vuelta al Padre.
«One master says that the blades of grass are all different owing to the superfluity of the goodness of God, which He pours out superabundantly into all creatures to reveal His majesty the more.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart recoge de un maestro la explicación de por qué las briznas de hierba son distintas, la superabundancia de la bondad de Dios.
«So I said, it is more wonderful how much the grass blades are alike, explaining that just as all angels are one in their original pure nature, so all blades of grass are one in their original pure nature, and there all things are one.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart invierte el asombro y lo pone en cuánto se parecen, porque en su naturaleza pura originaria todas son una.
«Whenever a man humbles himself, God is unable to withhold His own goodness; He is obliged to sink Himself, to pour Himself out into that humble man, and to the meanest of all He gives Himself most and gives Himself wholly.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart declara a Dios incapaz de retener su bondad ante el humilde y obligado a darse entero al más bajo.
«All sorrow and all joy comes from love. I was thinking on the way, when I was supposed to come here, that I did not want to come here because I should become wet with love.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart cuenta que de camino pensó no querer venir para no mojarse de amor, y adjudica al amor toda pena y todo gozo.
«The masters say that all things strive to give birth, and to become like the Father.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que todas las cosas pugnan por engendrar y hacerse semejantes al Padre.
«It is just the same with a man: he thinks he can get away from God, but he cannot escape Him, for every nook and cranny reveals Him.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart aplica al hombre la imposibilidad de huir de Dios, porque cada rincón lo revela.
«When God created the soul, He created her according to His own most perfect nature, so that she might be the bride14 of His onlybegotten Son, who, knowing this full well, decided to go forth out of the private chamber of his eternal Fatherhood in which he eternally slept, remaining unspoken within.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart describe la creación del alma conforme a la naturaleza más perfecta de Dios, para ser esposa del Unigénito; el troceo parte la palabra en el salto de renglón y el extractor la une, donde el impreso escribe *only-begotten* con guion, como en otras sesenta y una líneas del volumen.
«Indeed, God Himself does not rest there, where He is the first beginning: He is at rest where He is an end and a repose of all being, not that this being is then brought to naught, rather it is there brought to completion in its final end, as total perfection.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart declara que ni Dios reposa donde es comienzo primero, y lo pone en reposo como fin de todo ser.
«What is the final end? It is the hidden darkness of the eternal Godhead, which is unknown and never has been known and never shall be known.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart nombra el fin último, la tiniebla escondida de la Deidad eterna, nunca conocida ni por conocer.
«God abides there unknown in Himself, and the light of the eternal Father has ever shone in there, and the darkness does not comprehend the light.» — Sermón 53 (Pf 88, Q 22, QT 23): Eckhart describe a Dios morando ahí desconocido en sí, con la luz que la tiniebla no comprende.
«A master2 says whoever would understand natural things and even material things must strip his understanding bare of all extraneous matters.» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre desnudar el entendimiento de toda materia extraña para entender lo natural.
«Now observe: St. Paul says that as we shall with unveiled face regard the splendor and glory of God, so we shall be transfigured and formed in that image, which is all one image of God and the Godhead.» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart lee a Pablo sobre la transfiguración en la imagen que es una sola imagen de Dios y de la Deidad.
«It is indeed a great gift that the soul is thus inborne by the Holy Ghost, for, just as the Son is called a Word, so the Holy Ghost is called a Gift: thus it is said in scripture.» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart empareja los nombres, al Hijo Verbo y al Espíritu Santo Don, según la Escritura.
«I have also said that love accepts God because He is good: if He were not good, love would not love Him or accept Him as God.» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart repite que el amor acepta a Dios porque es bueno y no lo aceptaría si no lo fuera.
«St. Augustine9 says, 'Truth is the Son in the Father, for truth depends on being.'» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre la verdad como el Hijo en el Padre, que depende del ser.
«Now the question is, If anyone had touched St. Paul during the period when he was enraptured, would he have felt it? I say, 'Yes.'» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart se plantea si Pablo arrebatado habría sentido que lo tocaran, y responde que sí.
«But the intellect of the soul takes God as He is pure being, transcendent being.» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart declara que el intelecto del alma toma a Dios como ser puro y trascendente.
«If you were to ask many a master, he would say 'Yes,' but if you were to ask me, I would have said, 'Yes,' but now I say, 'No!'» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart declara que él mismo habría dicho que sí y ahora dice que no, y deja el cambio de parecer a la vista.
«I say he understood out of time, for he did not understand from the angels who are created in time; he understood from God, who was before time was, whom time never comprehended.» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart sostiene que Pablo entendió fuera del tiempo, no de los ángeles creados en el tiempo sino de Dios.
«Association with the body prevents the soul from understanding as clearly as do the angels.» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart adjudica al trato con el cuerpo que el alma no entienda con la claridad de los ángeles.
«The soul knows from without: 1 1 God understands within Himself by Himself, for He is the source of all things.» — Sermón 54 (Q 23): Eckhart opone el conocer del alma, que es desde fuera, al de Dios, que entiende dentro de sí por sí.
«It is a greater thing to believe in God than to believe God.» — Sermón 55 (Pf 55, Q 62, QT 48): Eckhart distingue creer en Dios de creer a Dios y pone lo primero por mayor.
«But whoever expects a hundredfold will get nothing, for he is not giving up all things but wanting his hundredfold back.» — Sermón 55 (Pf 55, Q 62, QT 48): Eckhart niega el céntuplo a quien lo espere, porque entonces no deja todas las cosas.
«Anyone who seeks anything in God, knowledge, understanding, devotion, or whatever it might be - though he may find it he will not have found God: even though he may indeed find knowledge, understanding, or inwardness, which I heartily commend - but it will not stay with him.» — Sermón 55 (Pf 55, Q 62, QT 48): Eckhart niega que halle a Dios quien busque en Dios conocimiento, entendimiento o devoción, aunque él mismo recomiende esas cosas.
«But if he seeks nothing, he will find God and all things in Him, and they will remain with him.» — Sermón 55 (Pf 55, Q 62, QT 48): Eckhart da el reverso: quien nada busca halla a Dios y todas las cosas en Él, y le quedan.
«In God there is nothing but one, and one is indivisible, and whoever takes anything but one, that is a part, not one.» — Sermón 55 (Pf 55, Q 62, QT 48): Eckhart razona la unidad: en Dios no hay sino uno, y tomar otra cosa es tomar una parte.
«Dear God! that is a strange question for a sick man to ask, whether it is God's will that he should be sick.» — Sermón 55 (Pf 55, Q 62, QT 48): Eckhart llama pregunta extraña la del enfermo que quiere saber si es voluntad de Dios que esté enfermo.
«Not by fasting and outward works can we gauge our progress in the good life: but a sure sign of growth is a waxing love for the eternal and a waning interest in temporal things.» — Sermón 55 (Pf 55, Q 62, QT 48): Eckhart niega al ayuno y a las obras externas el papel de medida del progreso y lo pone en el crecer del amor a lo eterno.
«When God created heaven, earth, and all creatures, God did not work: he had no work to do, there was no work in Him.» — Sermón 56 (Pf 56, Q 109, QT 26): Eckhart niega que Dios obrara al crear el cielo y la tierra, porque no había obra en Él.
«Yet again I will say what I never said before: God and Godhead are as different as heaven and earth.» — Sermón 56 (Pf 56, Q 109, QT 26): Eckhart anuncia que va a decir lo que nunca dijo antes y enuncia la distinción entre Dios y Deidad, tan distintos como cielo y tierra.
«The sun sheds its light on all creatures, and whatever the sun shines on absorbs the sunshine, yet the sun does not lose its brightness.» — Sermón 56 (Pf 56, Q 109, QT 26): Eckhart ilustra el darse sin merma con el sol que alumbra sin perder su brillo.
«When I return to God, if I do not remain there,9 my breakthrough will be far nobler than my outflowing.» — Sermón 56 (Pf 56, Q 109, QT 26): Eckhart contrapone la irrupción de vuelta y el fluir de salida, y declara más noble la irrupción.
«I alone bring all creatures out of their reason into my reason, so that they are one with me.» — Sermón 56 (Pf 56, Q 109, QT 26): Eckhart describe el llevar todas las criaturas de su razón a la suya para que sean uno con él.
«No one missed me, for there God unbecomes.» — Sermón 56 (Pf 56, Q 109, QT 26): Eckhart formula el desdevenir de Dios en ese lugar donde nadie lo echó de menos.
«If a man had transcended these three things, he would dwell in eternity, he would dwell in the spirit, he would dwell in unity and in the desert - and there he would hear the eternal Word.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart pone las condiciones de oír el Verbo eterno, morar en la eternidad, en el espíritu, en la unidad y en el desierto.
«God performs all His works that we may become the only-begotten Son.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart declara el fin de todas las obras de Dios, que lleguemos a ser el Unigénito.
«Man's highest and dearest leavetaking is if he takes leave of God for God.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart formula la despedida más alta del hombre, despedirse de Dios por Dios; el extractor une en el salto de renglón lo que el impreso escribe *leave-taking*.
«He never gave God anything, nor did he receive anything from God: it is a single oneness and a pure union.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart describe la unión donde nada se da ni se recibe, unidad sola y unión pura.
«If man were wholly thus he would be wholly uncreated and uncreatable.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart declara que el hombre así sería del todo increado e increable.
«If I were to find myself for a single instant in this essence, I would have as little regard for myself as for a dung worm.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart mide la estima de sí en esa esencia, tan poca como por un gusano de estiércol.
«God gives to all things equally, and as they flow forth from God they are equal: angels, men, and all creatures proceed alike from God in their first emanation.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart declara iguales a ángeles, hombres y criaturas en su primera emanación de Dios.
«He rejoices in it, just as if one were to turn a horse loose in a green meadow that was entirely smooth and level, and it would be the horse's nature to let himself go with all his strength in galloping about the meadow - he would enjoy it for it is his nature.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart ilustra el gozo de Dios en esa igualdad con el caballo suelto en un prado liso, que corre por naturaleza.
«If God should tell an angel to fly to a tree and pick off the caterpillars, the angel would be ready to pick them off: being God's will it would be his happiness.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart pone al ángel mandado a quitar orugas de un árbol, feliz por ser voluntad de Dios, y es su figura de la indiferencia obediente.
«But if a man abandoned self for twenty years, if he took back self for a single instant, he would never have been self-abandoned.» — Sermón 57 (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13): Eckhart mide el abandono de sí por su continuidad: recobrarse un instante tras veinte años anula el abandono.
«Now in another Gospel our Lord said to a young man who addressed him and called him 'good,' "Why do you call me good? None is good but God alone" (Mark 10:18), and that indeed is true.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart contrasta dos dichos del Señor, el que llama bueno al siervo y el que niega que nadie sea bueno sino Dios.
«Did God then contradict his own words? Not in the least!» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart niega que el Señor se contradijera.
«However, I say 'by grace.' For God is and this man is, and just as God is good by nature, so this man is good by grace, for God's life and being is entire in this man.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart resuelve la aparente contradicción con la distinción entre bueno por naturaleza y bueno por gracia.
«I have sometimes said before that God's life and God's being are in stone or in a bit of wood, or in other creatures that are not blessed.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart declara que la vida y el ser de Dios están en la piedra y en el leño, que no son bienaventurados.
«Everything God has created in heaven and on earth, that is not Himself, is little in His eyes.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart declara pequeño ante Dios todo lo creado que no sea Él mismo.
«God has set this servant between time and eternity. He was not pledged to either, being free in reason and will in every respect.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart sitúa al siervo entre el tiempo y la eternidad, sin estar comprometido con ninguno.
«In very truth, were anyone so faithful, God would have in him such ineffable delight that to rob Him of this joy would be to rob Him at a stroke of His life, His being, and His Godhead.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart lleva el deleite de Dios en ese siervo hasta hacerlo condición de su vida, su ser y su divinidad.
«But I say yet more (do not be afraid, for this joy is close to you and is in you3): there is not one of you who is so coarse-grained, so feeble of understanding, or so remote but he may find this joy within himself, in truth, as it is, with joy and understanding, before you leave this church today, indeed before I have finished preaching: he can find this as truly within him, live it, and possess it, as that God is God and I am a man.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart declara que ninguno de sus oyentes es tan tosco que no pueda hallar ese gozo dentro de sí antes de que acabe el sermón.
«Be sure of this for it is true, and Truth herself declares it.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart apoya esa promesa en la Verdad misma.
«Then our Lord said, "Woman, you are right: you have had five husbands, but the one you have now is not your husband.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart abre la lectura de la samaritana con la palabra sobre los cinco maridos.
«God will never give Himself openly and wholly to the soul unless she brings her husband, that is, her free will.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart lee el marido que falta como el libre albedrío, que el alma debe traer.
«Who were the five husbands? They are the five senses: she had sinned with them and therefore they were dead.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart lee los cinco maridos como los cinco sentidos, muertos por el pecado.
«Therefore it is all His property/ and so is everything that we can say of God Himself or can grasp with the mind or in any way bring to light and prove or show.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart declara propiedad de Dios cuanto de Él se pueda decir, captar, mostrar o probar.
«But yet over and above this good the Lord is another good,8 and yet He is the same, a something that is yet neither this nor that nor here nor there.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart pone sobre ese bien otro bien que es el mismo, un algo que no es esto ni aquello ni aquí ni allá.
«He also said, "Enter into the joy of your Lord," just as if he were to say, 'Give up all joy which is partial, which is not of itself that which it is, and enter the undivided joy which is of itself and in itself that which it is -which is none other than the joy of the Lord.'» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart lee el entrar en el gozo del Señor como dejar todo gozo parcial por el gozo indiviso.
«The joy of the Lord is the Lord Himself and no other, and the Lord is living, essential, actual intellect which understands itself and is living itself in itself and is the same.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart identifica el gozo del Señor con el Señor mismo, intelecto vivo y actual que se entiende a sí.
«(In saying this) I have attributed no mode to Him: I have taken from Him all mode, for He is Himself modeless mode, living and rejoicing in that which He is.» — Sermón 58 (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13): Eckhart declara haberle quitado a Dios todo modo, y lo llama modo sin modo.
«That man is just who is informed with and transformed into justice.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart define al justo como el informado y transformado en justicia.
«The just man lives in God and God in him, for God is born in the just man and the just man in God:» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart describe la mutua inhabitación y el doble nacimiento, Dios en el justo y el justo en Dios.
«Therefore, if you would be informed with and transformed into justice,3 have no ulterior purpose in your work, allow no 'why' to take shape in you, as regards either time or eternity, reward or blessedness, or this or that: for in truth such works are all dead.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart prohíbe todo porqué en la obra, ni de tiempo ni de eternidad ni de premio, y declara muertas esas obras.
«Indeed, even if you create an image of God in your mind the works you do with that in view are all dead and your good works are ruined.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart extiende esa prohibición a formar una imagen de Dios en la mente, que también echa a perder las obras.
«And not only do you spoil your good works, you commit sin as well, for you act like a gardener who was to plant a garden, who should first root out the trees and then expect to be paid for it.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart ilustra el daño con el jardinero que arranca los árboles y espera que le paguen.
«Therefore he says, "The just man lives," for he works because he is just, and his works are living.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart invierte la causa: el justo obra porque es justo, y por eso sus obras viven.
«Now it says, "His reward is with the Lord." Just a little on this: when he says, "with," that means that the just man's reward is where God Himself is, for the just man's blessedness and God's blessedness are one blessedness, since the just man is in bliss where God is in bliss.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart iguala la bienaventuranza del justo con la de Dios, una sola bienaventuranza.
«Therefore: whoever is in justice is in God and is God.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart concluye que quien está en la justicia está en Dios y es Dios.
«And so the Father never rests: He is ever urging and striving to beget His Son in me, just as scripture says, "I will not hold my peace for Sian's sake, and for Jerusalem I will not rest till the just is revealed and shines forth like lightning" (Isa. 62:1).» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart describe al Padre que nunca reposa y pugna sin cesar por engendrar al Hijo en él, con el verso de Isaías.
«For your works to live, God must prompt you in the inmost part of your soul, if they are to live, for there your life is, and there alone you are living.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart pone la condición de que las obras vivan, que Dios las mueva en lo más íntimo del alma, donde está la vida.
«I say further: if it seems to you that one virtue is greater than another, and if you regard it more than another, then you do not love it as it is in justice, and God does not yet work in you.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart niega que se ame la virtud en la justicia si se estima una virtud más que otra.
«In eternity there is no before and after.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart niega el antes y el después en la eternidad.
«Therefore we should never rest until we become that which we have been in him eternally.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart manda no reposar hasta llegar a ser lo que eternamente se ha sido en Él.
«The Father is begetting His Son, and in the begetting the Father finds such peace and joy that His entire nature is expended in it.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart describe al Padre que gasta su naturaleza entera en la paz y el gozo de engendrar al Hijo.
«Sometimes a light is apparent to the soul and a man imagines it is the Son, but it is only a light.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart advierte contra tomar por el Hijo la luz que a veces se le aparece al alma.
«Therefore I say, it is the nature of the Father to give birth to His Son, and it is the Son's nature for me to be begotten in him and according to his nature; it is the nature of the Holy Ghost that I should be burnt up therein and melted and reduced till I become nothing but love.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart reparte las tres naturalezas, engendrar el Padre, ser engendrado en el Hijo y ser consumido en el Espíritu Santo hasta no ser sino amor.
«But I say he does not find it in love, or in gnosis, or in vision.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart niega que se lo halle en el amor, en la gnosis ni en la visión.
«Therefore turn away from all things and realize yourself in your naked essence, for whatever is outside of essence is accident and the accidental makes for why.» — Sermón 59 (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25): Eckhart manda apartarse de todas las cosas y realizarse en la esencia desnuda, porque lo que está fuera de la esencia es accidente y el accidente hace porqué.
«A master says, 'All like things love and unite with one another, and all unlike things shun and hate one another.» — Sermón 60 (Pf 60, Q 48, QT 34): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre lo semejante que se ama y lo desemejante que se rehúye.
«the masters declare that the broad expanse of heaven does not withhold so much as the breadth of a needle point, but brings itself forth totally as fruitfulness on earth.» — Sermón 60 (Pf 60, Q 48, QT 34): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que la extensión del cielo no retiene ni el ancho de la punta de una aguja y se entrega entera como fecundidad en la tierra.
«Suppose my eye, being one and single in itself, falls on the wood with vision, then though each thing stays as it is, yet in the very act of seeing they are so much at one that we can really say 'eye-wood,' and the wood is my eye.» — Sermón 60 (Pf 60, Q 48, QT 34): Eckhart formula el símil del ojo y el leño, tan uno en el acto de ver que cabe decir ojo-leño.
«You should bear in mind that my eye is far more at one with that of some sheep away across the sea, that I have never seen, than it is at one with my ear with which it has unity of being.» — Sermón 60 (Pf 60, Q 48, QT 34): Eckhart declara su ojo más uno con el de una oveja del otro lado del mar que con su propio oído.
«I have sometimes spoken of a light that is in the soul, which is uncreated and uncreatable.» — Sermón 60 (Pf 60, Q 48, QT 34): Eckhart recuerda haber hablado de una luz en el alma, increada e increable, que es la tesis del artículo 27 de la bula.
«it is the light which lays straight hold of God, unveiled and bare, as He is in Himself, that is, it catches Him in the act of begetting.» — Sermón 60 (Pf 60, Q 48, QT 34): Eckhart describe esa luz asiendo a Dios sin velo, en el acto mismo de engendrar.
«I declare in truth, this light would not be satisfied with the unity of the whole fertility of the divine nature.» — Sermón 60 (Pf 60, Q 48, QT 34): Eckhart declara que esa luz no se contentaría ni con la unidad de la fecundidad entera de la naturaleza divina.
«rather it seeks to know whence this being comes, it wants to get into its simple ground, into the silent desert into which no distinction ever peeped, of Father, Son or Holy Ghost.» — Sermón 60 (Pf 60, Q 48, QT 34): Eckhart describe lo que esa luz busca, el fondo simple, el desierto callado donde nunca asomó distinción de Padre, Hijo ni Espíritu Santo.
«I say concerning God's freedom, that He can afford no nature other than pure being.» — Sermón 61 (Pf 61): Eckhart declara que la libertad de Dios no le permite otra naturaleza que el ser puro.
«Our masters declare that the sun draws the flowers out of the roots through the stem, almost timelessly and too subtly for any eye to follow.» — Sermón 61 (Pf 61): Eckhart recoge de los maestros el sol que saca las flores por el tallo casi sin tiempo.
«The soul, which has no nature in her ground, in that ground of love which is not yet called love, 3 - this soul must emerge from her nature, and then God lies in wait for her to lead her home into Himself.» — Sermón 61 (Pf 61): Eckhart describe el fondo del alma como fondo de amor que todavía no se llama amor, del que ella debe salir para que Dios la lleve a casa.
«The flower that blossoms, delight, is the Holy Ghost.» — Sermón 61 (Pf 61): Eckhart identifica la flor que se abre, el deleite, con el Espíritu Santo.
«One Master says God's characteristic is immutability.» — Sermón 61 (Pf 61): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que lo propio de Dios es la inmutabilidad.
«No one can work joyfully unless he finds likeness with himself in what he is working at.» — Sermón 62 (Pf 62, Q 82, QT 54): Eckhart enuncia la condición del obrar gozoso, hallar semejanza consigo en aquello en que se obra.
«Therefore the soul cannot surpass herself with the light that God has given her, for it is her own, presented to her by God as a bridal gift, into the soul's highest power.» — Sermón 62 (Pf 62, Q 82, QT 54): Eckhart acota la luz que Dios dio al alma como don nupcial suyo, con la que ella no puede sobrepasarse.
«Although this light is in the likeness of God, yet it is created by God,» — Sermón 62 (Pf 62, Q 82, QT 54): Eckhart acota que esa luz, aun a semejanza de Dios, es creada por Dios.
«Therefore the Holy Ghost breathes gradually on the flame, so that a man, even if he were to live for a thousand years, would still increase in love.» — Sermón 62 (Pf 62, Q 82, QT 54): Eckhart describe al Espíritu Santo soplando poco a poco la llama, de modo que el amor crezca aunque se viviera mil años.
«If the soul is to be divine, she must be raised up.» — Sermón 62 (Pf 62, Q 82, QT 54): Eckhart pone la condición de que el alma sea divina, que sea levantada.
«But still the soul is not satisfied with the work of grace, because even grace is a creature:» — Sermón 62 (Pf 62, Q 82, QT 54): Eckhart declara que ni con la gracia se contenta el alma, porque también la gracia es criatura.
«He is neither this nor that that one can speak of: He is being above all being.» — Sermón 62 (Pf 62, Q 82, QT 54): Eckhart declara a Dios ser sobre todo ser, que no es esto ni aquello que se pueda decir.
«First, he must have renounced himself and all things, and not remain attached to anything that is grasped by the senses within, not abiding in any creature existing in time or in eternity.» — Sermón 63 (Pf 63, Q 40): Eckhart enumera la primera condición, haber renunciado a sí y a todo y no quedar prendido de nada.
«so too it is not right to love God for His heaven's sake nor for the sake of anything at all, but we should love Him for the goodness that He is in Himself.» — Sermón 63 (Pf 63, Q 40): Eckhart prohíbe amar a Dios por su cielo o por cosa alguna y manda amarlo por la bondad que es en sí.
«Thirdly, he must take God not as being good or just, but he must apprehend Him in the pure» — Sermón 63 (Pf 63, Q 40): Eckhart enuncia la tercera condición, no tomar a Dios como bueno ni como justo sino aprehenderlo en lo puro.
«that such a denial would imply a negation of his creaturehood, but it implies an assertion about God, by denying it of God.» — Sermón 63 (Pf 63, Q 40): Eckhart explica en qué sentido la negación no niega la creaturidad y afirma algo de Dios negándoselo.
«This is how we should understand St. Augustine's words:6 'What a man loves, a man is. If he loves a stone, he is a stone, if he loves a man, he is a man. If he loves God -now I dare say no more: if I were to say that then he is God, you might stone me.» — Sermón 63 (Pf 63, Q 40): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre volverse lo que se ama, y marca dónde el propio Agustín se detiene por miedo a la lapidación.
«And therefore, when a man accommodates himself barely to God, with love, he is un-formed, then in-formed and transformed in the divine uniformity wherein he is one with God.» — Sermón 63 (Pf 63, Q 40): Eckhart describe los tres pasos, desinformado, informado y transformado en la uniformidad divina.
«Now the other text, from the epistle, says, "Blessed is the man that dwells in wisdom." He says, "in wisdom." Wisdom is a maternal name/ for a maternal name has the property of passivity, and in God we posit both activity and passivity: for the Father is active and the Son is passive, this being the characteristic of being born.» — Sermón 63 (Pf 63, Q 40): Eckhart llama nombre materno a la sabiduría y pone actividad y pasividad en Dios, activo el Padre y pasivo el Hijo.
«Now he says, "Blessed is the man.'' I have often said that there are two powers in the soul: one is the man and the other is the woman.» — Sermón 63 (Pf 63, Q 40): Eckhart repite las dos potencias del alma, una varón y otra mujer.
«And so, if a man were to take all things in this power, he would not take them as being things, but as being in God.» — Sermón 63 (Pf 63, Q 40): Eckhart describe el tomar las cosas en esa potencia, no como cosas sino como están en Dios.
«"The sudden or swift river has gladdened the city of God." In this text we must note three things: First, "the swift stream" of God; second, "the city" which it serves; third, the benefit it brings.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart reparte el sermón del río en tres puntos, la corriente, la ciudad y el beneficio.
«I am sure of this: if my soul were as prepared, and if God could find as much room therein as in the soul of our Lord Jesus Christ, He would fill her as perfectly with "this flood": for the Holy Ghost cannot hold back, but must flow in everywhere where he» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart declara que si su alma estuviera preparada como la de Cristo, Dios la llenaría con la misma perfección, porque el Espíritu Santo no puede retenerse.
«Likewise the soul must be gathered together and made compact in the highest power she has, if she is to receive the divine stream which will fill her and delight her.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart exige que el alma se recoja y compacte en su potencia más alta para recibir la corriente divina.
«That is to say, let a man learn to have a steadfast heart, and then he will be steadfast in all his works.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart enuncia la lección práctica, aprender a tener el corazón firme.
«The others would not have it: they declared that a good man can be moved, and this is supported by holy scripture.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart consigna la posición contraria a la que él sostuvo, que el hombre bueno sí puede ser conmovido, con la Escritura a favor.
«Our Lord Jesus Christ was often 'moved,' and so were his saints, but they were not flung from the path of virtue.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart concede que Cristo y los santos fueron conmovidos y acota que no fueron arrojados del camino de la virtud.
«Some things our Lord God performs without co-operation, by Himself, other things with co-operation and assistance.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart distingue lo que Dios hace solo de lo que hace con cooperación.
«Even the very light in which she is atoned would be spurned by the soul if she did not know for certain that she received God in that light, for she rejects everything that is not God in Himself:» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart declara que el alma despreciaría hasta la luz en que se une si no supiera que recibe a Dios en ella.
«To the soul that has received the infusion of divine grace and tasted divine perfection, all that is not God has a bitter, nauseous savor.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart describe el sabor amargo que todo lo que no es Dios adquiere para el alma que probó la perfección divina.
«I say and dare maintain that she cannot even bear God's being above her.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart llega al extremo de declarar que el alma no soporta ni que Dios esté sobre ella.
«Therefore Solomon says stolen waters are sweeter than other waters (Prov. 9:17), meaning that the perfected soul cannot remain bound up in anything, but must burst forth out of and over all things to get to divine freedom, in which she takes great delight.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart lee las aguas hurtadas de los Proverbios como la libertad divina que el alma perfecta busca rompiendo todo vínculo.
«Heaven has not this power of itself, but from the angel who impels it.» — Sermón 64 (Pf 64, Q 81): Eckhart adjudica el poder del cielo al ángel que lo impulsa y no al cielo mismo.
«If you count one thing more than another, that is not the right way.» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart declara fuera de camino el contar una cosa más que otra.
«The just have no will at all: whatever God wills, it is all one to them, however great the hardship.» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart declara que los justos no tienen voluntad alguna y que les da igual cuanto Dios quiera, por duro que sea.
«The just are so set on justice that if God were not just they would not care a bean for God:» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart lleva eso al extremo: si Dios no fuera justo no les importaría un ápice.
«The true lover of justice is so established in what he loves that it is his very being: nothing can drag him from it, and he cares for nothing else.» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart describe al amador verdadero de la justicia, tan establecido en lo que ama que es su ser mismo.
«If you are happier at one moment than another, that is not just.» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart declara injusto ser más feliz en un momento que en otro.
«I say even more: not only does He beget me as His Son, but He begets me as Himself» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart sube la tesis del engendramiento: no solo me engendra como su Hijo sino como Sí mismo.
«I once said here, and it is very true, Whatever a man draws into himself or receives from without is wrong.» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart declara errado cuanto un hombre atraiga hacia sí o reciba de fuera.
«They live eternally "with God," just on a level with God, neither below nor above.» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart pone a los justos viviendo con Dios a su nivel, ni debajo ni encima.
«That is not so. God and I are one.» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart formula la identidad en la operación, Dios y yo somos uno.
«When the axe rests, the process stops. God and I are one in this operation: He works, and I come into being.» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart ilustra esa operación con el hacha que al reposar detiene el proceso: Él obra y yo llego a ser.
«Fire changes into itself what is added to it, which becomes its own nature.» — Sermón 65 (Pf 65, Q 6, QT 7): Eckhart pone el símil del fuego que cambia en sí lo que se le añade.
«My body is more in my soul than my soul is in my body.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart invierte la inclusión: mi cuerpo está más en mi alma que mi alma en mi cuerpo.
«As St. Augustine says, 'God is nearer to the soul than she is to herself. '» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre Dios más cercano al alma que ella a sí misma.
«The divine light is too noble to have community with the powers, for whatever moves and is moved is far from God and alien to Him.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart declara la luz divina demasiado noble para tener comunidad con las potencias, porque lo que se mueve está lejos de Dios.
«Therefore, since the powers are moved and give motion, they lose their virginity.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart concluye que las potencias, por moverse y mover, pierden su virginidad.
«The soul is so simple in herself that she can only take in one image at a time.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart declara al alma tan simple que solo puede recibir una imagen a la vez.
«But now our Lord says much more exactly than St. Paul, "I have not called you servants: I have called you friends» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart compara la fórmula de Pablo con la del Señor y declara la segunda más exacta.
«But as for the man who has no acquaintance with inward things, he does not know what God is, just as a man who has wine in his cellar: if he has not drunk it or tried it, he does not know that it is good.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart ilustra el no conocer lo interior con el que tiene vino en la bodega y no lo ha probado.
«Now a master10 says no man is so foolish that he does not desire wisdom.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre que nadie es tan necio que no desee la sabiduría.
«If I am a rich man, that does not make me wise, but if I am informed with the essence of wisdom and its nature, being wisdom itself, then I am a wise man.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart distingue tener riqueza de estar informado por la esencia de la sabiduría, que es lo único que hace sabio.
«I said once in a convent: that is the soul's true image, where nothing is imaged forth or within save what is God HimselfY» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart recuerda haber dicho en un convento cuál es la imagen verdadera del alma, aquella en que nada se imagina salvo Dios mismo.
«The soul's inner eye is that which sees into being, and derives its being without any mediation from God.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart describe el ojo interior del alma, que ve el ser y lo recibe de Dios sin mediación.
«So it is with this man who is freed from all otherness and all createdness: God does not come into this man - He is essentially within him.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart declara que en ese hombre Dios no entra porque está esencialmente dentro.
«St. John says, "Deus caritas est": "God is love," and love is God, "and whoever dwells in love, dwells in God and God dwells in him.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart cita el Dios es amor de Juan y lo invierte, y el amor es Dios.
«And one master says that the soul is moved directly by the Holy Ghost, for in that love in which God loves Himself, in that same love He loves me, and the soul loves God in the same love wherein He loves Himself; and if there were not this love wherein God loves the soul, the Holy Ghost would not be.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart formula la unidad del amor: en el amor con que Dios se ama a sí me ama a mí, y sin ese amor no habría Espíritu Santo.
«And the second evangelist writes, "This is my beloved Son, in whom all things please me.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart contrasta las tres versiones evangélicas de la voz sobre el Hijo amado y saca de la tercera la más fuerte.
«Therefore our Lord says, "He who would be my disciple, must abandon self":24 no one can hear my words or my teaching, unless he has abandoned self.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart pone la condición de oír su enseñanza, haberse abandonado a sí mismo.
«All things are nothing in themselves: that is why I have said to you, 'Abandon Nothing,' and take on perfect being, in which the will is just.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart formula el abandono como abandonar la Nada, porque las cosas son nada en sí.
«Now a master says that all creatures obtain their being immediately from God: it is therefore in their true nature that they love God more than themselves.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que las criaturas, por recibir el ser inmediatamente de Dios, lo aman por naturaleza más que a sí.
«When the soul is in her natural day, she knows all things above time and place: for her nothing is either far or near.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart describe el día natural del alma, donde conoce todas las cosas sobre el tiempo y el lugar.
«God creates the world and all things in one present Now: and the time that passed away a thousand years ago is now as present and as near to God as this very instant.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart repite la creación en un solo Ahora presente, con los mil años tan cercanos como este instante.
«The unity is the distinction, and the distinction is the unity.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart formula la coincidencia, la unidad es la distinción y la distinción es la unidad.
«The soul has a rational, noetic being: therefore wherever God is the soul is, and wherever the soul is, God is.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart deriva del ser noético del alma la reciprocidad de lugar con Dios.
«Being just means being equable in joy and in sorrow, and in bitterness and sweetness, so that nothing whatever keeps one from being found one with justice.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart define el ser justo por la ecuanimidad en gozo y pena, en amargura y dulzura.
«Love always loves its like: therefore God loves the just man as like Himself.» — Sermón 66 (Pf 83, Q 10, QT 1 1 ): Eckhart cierra con la ley del amor que ama a su semejante, por la que Dios ama al justo como a sí.
«One said, 'God is something compared with which all transitory and temporal things are nothing, and all that has being is trifling before Him.'» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart recoge la primera de tres definiciones de maestros, Dios como aquello frente a lo cual todo lo temporal es nada.
«The second said, 'God is something that is necessarily above being, that in itself needs none and that all things need.'» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart recoge la segunda, Dios como algo necesariamente sobre el ser, que de nada necesita y del que todo necesita.
«The third said, 'God is an intellect that lives solely by understanding itself.'» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart recoge la tercera, Dios como intelecto que vive solo de entenderse a sí.
«Passing over the first and the third, I will speak of the second, that God is something that necessarily transcends being.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart declara con cuál de las tres se queda y por qué la toma, la del Dios que trasciende el ser.
«Whatever has being, time, or place, cannot reach God: He is above it.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart excluye de Dios cuanto tenga ser, tiempo o lugar.
«That is not so, and some great masters have erred in this.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart declara que grandes maestros erraron en ese punto.
«The soul is whole and undivided, at once in the foot, in the eyes and in every member.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart repite al alma entera e indivisa en el pie, en los ojos y en cada miembro.
«If I take a moment of time, it is neither today nor yesterday. But if I take Now,2 it includes all time.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart distingue el momento del tiempo, que es ayer u hoy, del Ahora, que incluye todo el tiempo.
«St. Bernard says, 'To love God is a mode without a mode.'» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart cita a Bernardo sobre amar a Dios como modo sin modo.
«there is no 'mode' of how much we should love God - as much as ever we can, that is, without 'mode.'» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart glosa esa fórmula, que no hay medida de cuánto amar a Dios.
«God works beyond being, in breadth, where He can move, and He works in nonbeing: before there was being, God was working:» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart pone a Dios obrando más allá del ser y en el no ser, antes de que hubiera ser.
«Masters of little subtlety say God is pure being.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart llama maestros de poca sutileza a los que dicen que Dios es ser puro.
«one master says, 'Whoever thinks he has known God, if he has known anything, it was not God he knew.'» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre el que cree haber conocido a Dios: si conoció algo, no era Dios.
«St. Augustine says, 'God is wise without wisdom, good without goodness, powerful without power.'» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre un Dios sabio sin sabiduría, bueno sin bondad y poderoso sin poder.
«The first, which has most being, in which all things take their being, is substance, and the last, which has least being, is called relation, and in God this is equal to the greatest, which has most being: they have a like image in God.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart ordena las categorías por su ser, de la sustancia a la relación, e iguala en Dios la mayor y la menor.
«God is not being or goodness.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart niega a Dios ser y bondad, que es la tesis del artículo 28 de la bula llevada al ser.
«Whoever should say God is good would do Him as much injustice as if he called the sun black.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart mide la injusticia de llamar bueno a Dios con la de llamar negro al sol.
«Yet God says, "None is good but God alone" (Matt. 19:17).» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart cita a continuación el dicho contrario del evangelio, y deja los dos juntos sin armonizarlos.
«Intellect is the temple of God.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart declara al intelecto templo de Dios.
«A pagan master says the soul that loves God takes hold of Him under the garment of goodness» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart cita a un maestro pagano sobre el alma que ama a Dios asiéndolo bajo el vestido de la bondad.
«I stated in the school that intellect was higher than will, but they both belong to this light.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart recuerda haber sostenido en la escuela la primacía del intelecto sobre la voluntad.
«Then a master in another school9 said will was nobler than intellect, for will takes things as they are in themselves, whereas intellect takes things as they are in it.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart consigna la objeción de un maestro de otra escuela, que pone la voluntad por encima porque toma las cosas como son en sí.
«But I say that intellect is nobler than will.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart mantiene su posición frente a esa objeción.
«I am blessed only because God is intellectual and I know it.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart funda su bienaventuranza en que Dios sea intelectual y en que él lo sepa.
«The more the soul is raised above earthly things, the stronger she is.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart enuncia la proporción entre elevación sobre lo terreno y fuerza del alma.
«God's blessedness lies in the inward-working of the intellect in which the Word is immanent.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart sitúa la bienaventuranza de Dios en el obrar hacia dentro del intelecto donde el Verbo es inmanente.
«I do not become blessed because God is good.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart niega ser bienaventurado porque Dios sea bueno.
«I will never entreat God to make me blessed with His goodness, for He could not do so.» — Sermón 67 (Pf 84, Q 9, QT 10): Eckhart declara que jamás pedirá a Dios que lo haga bienaventurado con su bondad, porque no podría.
«One writer says there are three things that so hinder a man that he cannot know God at all: the first is time, the second corporeality, the third multiplicity.» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart recoge de un autor los tres estorbos del conocimiento de Dios, el tiempo, la corporeidad y la multiplicidad.
«St. Augustine says it comes from the greed of the soul, because she wants to have and hold so much, that she reaches into time and corporeality and multiplicity, thereby losing what she has.» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart recoge de Agustín la raíz de esos estorbos en la codicia del alma, que por querer tener mucho pierde lo que tiene.
«I once said, 'Unity unites all multiplicity, but multiplicity does not unite unity.'» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart recuerda su fórmula sobre la unidad que une la multiplicidad sin que la multiplicidad una la unidad.
«The Holy Ghost cannot have his outflowing or his blossoming forth anywhere but from the Son.» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart hace depender la procesión del Espíritu Santo del Hijo.
«If it were not for the Son there would be no Holy Ghost.» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart formula esa dependencia por la negativa, sin el Hijo no habría Espíritu Santo.
«In the truth which is God, if you aim at anything but God alone, or if you seek anything but God, then the work you do is not yours, and it is certainly not God's work.» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart declara que la obra hecha mirando a otra cosa que Dios no es ni tuya ni de Dios.
«When we have got beyond time and temporal things, then we are free and always happy, and then there is the "fullness of time," and then God's Son is born in you.» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart iguala rebasar el tiempo con la plenitud del tiempo y con el nacimiento del Hijo en uno.
«St. Augustine says something that sounds quite different from this but is very similar: 'There is no truth but it contains in itself all truth.'15» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre la verdad que contiene en sí toda verdad, y advierte que suena distinto de lo que él dijo aunque es muy parecido.
«I once said, 'If a man seeks nothing, to whom should he complain if he finds nothing?'» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart recuerda su dicho sobre el que nada busca, que no tiene de qué quejarse si nada halla.
«I once said, 'The virgins follow the lamb, wherever he goes, not lagging behind.'» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart recuerda su dicho sobre las vírgenes que siguen al cordero sin rezagarse.
«Some of these are virgins and some are not virgins, though they think they are.» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart declara que de ésos algunos son vírgenes y otros no, aunque se lo crean.
«The tongue has a coating and a cover with which it tastes, and that is bitter through the disorder of the disease.» — Sermón 68 (Pf 90, Q 1 1, QT 12): Eckhart ilustra el sabor estorbado con la lengua cubierta por la enfermedad.
«But if I had the firm conviction that I was king, and if everybody believed it with me, and if I knew for certain that that was everybody's belief, then I would be king and all the king's treasure would be mine, and I should lack none of it.» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart argumenta el reino de Dios con la parábola del rey, cuya realeza depende de saberla y de que todos la crean.
«I am not blessed because God is in me and is near me and because I possess Him, but because I am aware of how close He is to me, and that I know God.» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart cifra la bienaventuranza no en tener a Dios cerca sino en saber cuán cerca está.
«Sometimes I declare that in whatever soul God's kingdom dawns, which knows God's kingdom to be near her, is in no need of sermons or teaching:» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart declara que al alma en que amanece el reino de Dios no le hacen falta sermones ni enseñanza, que es una tesis sobre su propio oficio.
«A master says he knows God aright, who is equally aware of Him in all things.» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart cita a un maestro que mide el conocimiento recto de Dios por advertirlo igual en todas las cosas.
«I once said, to serve God in fear is good; to serve Him in love is better; but to be able to grasp the love in fear, that is best.» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart escalona servir a Dios con temor, servirlo con amor y asir el amor en el temor, que declara lo mejor.
«He who knows God knows that all creatures are nothing.» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart declara que quien conoce a Dios sabe que las criaturas son nada.
«A master says, if the soul is to know God, she must have nothing in common with anything.» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart cita a un maestro que exige al alma no tener nada en común con nada para conocer a Dios.
«God is near to us, but we are far from Him.» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart formula la asimetría de la cercanía, Dios cerca de nosotros y nosotros lejos de Él.
«It is not due to God's justice or His severity, that He demands much of man, rather it comes from His great bounty, for He wants the soul to be capacious, so as to hold the largesse He is ready to bestow.» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart adjudica a la largueza de Dios y no a su severidad el que exija mucho, para que el alma quepa.
«No man ever wanted anything so much as God wants to bring a man to knowledge of Himself.» — Sermón 69 (Pf 69, Q 68, QT 36): Eckhart mide el querer de Dios de llevar al hombre a conocerlo por encima de todo querer humano.
«Now observe how noble an angel is by his nature (there are so many of them that they cannot be numbered): I declare that everything about an angel is noble.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart declara noble en el ángel todo lo suyo, y lo dice de una muchedumbre innumerable.
«If a man had to slave away till the day of judgment and the end of the world, merely in order to see an angel in his brightness, that man would be well rewarded.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart mide el premio de ver un ángel en su claridad como paga suficiente de una vida entera de fatiga.
«The angel remains enclosed in the soul, and accordingly he gives himself completely to every single soul, unhindered by any other, or by God Himself.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart describe al ángel encerrado en el alma y dado entero a cada alma sin estorbo de otra ni de Dios.
«That is a certain truth: where the soul is, there God is, and where God is, there the soul is, and if I were to say otherwise I would not be speaking truly.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart repite la reciprocidad de lugar y dice que decir otra cosa sería no decir verdad.
«Now take note of a saying which I consider very fine: when I think how one He3 is with me, [it is] as if He had forgotten all creatures and nothing existed but I alone.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart cuenta un dicho que tiene por muy hermoso, que Dios es tan uno con él como si hubiera olvidado a todas las criaturas.
«Those who pray for anything but God or to do with God, pray wrongly: when I pray for nothing, then I pray rightly, and that prayer is proper and powerful.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart declara mal orada a quien pida algo que no sea Dios, y recta la oración que nada pide.
«But if anyone prays for anything else, he is praying to a false God, and one might say this was sheer heresy.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart llega a llamar herejía pura el pedir otra cosa, porque sería orar a un dios falso.
«I never pray so well as when I pray for nothing and for nobody, not for Heinrich or Konrad.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart concreta ese no pedir por nadie con dos nombres cualesquiera, Heinrich y Konrad.
«Now mark my words! It is only above all this that the soul grasps the pure absoluteness14 of free being, which has no location, 15 which neither receives nor gives: it is bare 'self-identity'16 which is deprived of all being and all self-identity.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart describe la absolutidad pura del ser libre, sin lugar, que ni recibe ni da, identidad desnuda privada de todo ser.
«Therefore the spirit can never be perfect unless body and soul are brought to perfection.» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart condiciona la perfección del espíritu a que cuerpo y alma se perfeccionen.
«We have now therefore two kinds of being. One 'being' is according to the Godhead, bare substantial being,24 the other is personal being/5 and yet both are one 'substance.'26» — Sermón 70 (Q 67, Jundt 9): Eckhart distingue dos modos de ser, el sustancial desnudo según la Deidad y el personal, y los declara una sola sustancia.
«It is a clear sign that a man has "the spirit of wisdom" if he regards all things as a mere nothing.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart da la señal del espíritu de sabiduría, tener todas las cosas por mera nada.
«Some people do not call for4 the spirit of wisdom, they call for health, wealth, and pleasure: but the spirit of wisdom does not come into them.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart describe a los que no piden sabiduría sino salud, riqueza y placer, a los que el espíritu de sabiduría no llega.
«What they ask for is dearer to them than God -just as if a man gives a penny for bread he wants the bread more than the penny - and they make God their slave.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart ilustra ese trueque con el que da un centavo por pan porque quiere más el pan, y dice que así hacen esclavo a Dios.
«Therefore it is absolute folly to ask God for anything less than Himself: that is not to His liking, for he gives nothing so gladly as Himself.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart llama locura absoluta pedirle a Dios algo menos que Él mismo.
«God gives Himself in fecundity, for the noblest work of God is giving birth (as far as one can say that one work of God is nobler than another): for God takes the greatest delight in giving birth.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart declara el engendrar la obra más noble de Dios, en la que más se deleita.
«St. Paul wished for God's sake to be separated from God for his brothers' sake.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart consigna el deseo de Pablo de ser separado de Dios por sus hermanos y por Dios.
«If he placed God's will first, then the longer it lasted the more glad he would be, and the greater the pain, the more glad he would be.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart deriva de poner primero la voluntad de Dios que cuanto más dure y más duela, más alegría.
«It is just like a merchant: if he knew for certain that he would get ten marks for something that cost him one, he would invest all the marks he had» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart ilustra ese cálculo con el mercader que invertiría todo por diez marcos sobre uno.
«For to do God's will is heaven, so the longer the will lasts, the longer the heaven, and the greater the pain from God's will, the greater the blessedness.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart iguala hacer la voluntad de Dios con el cielo, y por eso mide la bienaventuranza por el dolor.
«Those who run in front of God are they who follow their own will and do not care about God's will: that is altogether bad.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart describe a los que corren delante de Dios siguiendo su propia voluntad, y los declara del todo malos.
«The others, who run beside God, say, 'Lord, I want only what you want.'» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart describe a los que corren al lado, que solo quieren lo que Él quiere.
«The third are those who follow behind God: wherever He wants to go they willingly follow Him, and they are perfect.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart describe a los terceros, que siguen detrás y van adonde Él quiera, y los declara perfectos.
«One should run into peace, but not begin in peace.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart manda correr hacia la paz y no empezar en ella.
«Although St. John says love unites, yet love never places us in God,» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart objeta la fórmula de Juan sobre el amor que une, y niega que el amor nos ponga en Dios.
«Love does not unite, not in any way: but what is united it fastens together and binds close.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart acota qué hace entonces el amor, que sujeta y ata lo que ya está unido.
«Therefore he says, "We seek thy face," for God's face is His essence.» — Sermón 71 (Q 59, Jundt 10): Eckhart identifica el rostro de Dios con su esencia.
«A master says the highest work that God ever performed in all creatures is mercy.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart cita a un maestro que pone la misericordia como la obra más alta de Dios en las criaturas.
«The best masters declare that intellect strips everything off and grasps God bare, as He is in Himself, pure being.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart recoge de los mejores maestros que el intelecto despoja todo y ase a Dios desnudo como ser puro.
«Knowledge breaks through truth and goodness and, striking on pure being, takes God bare, as He is, without name.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart describe al conocimiento rompiendo por verdad y bondad hasta el ser puro y sin nombre.
«Love takes God Himself, insofar as He is good, and if God were to lose the name of goodness, love could go no further.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart pone el límite del amor, que si Dios perdiera el nombre de bondad no podría seguir.
«I say that above these two, understanding and love, there is mercy: there God works mercy in the highest and purest acts that God is capable of.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart pone la misericordia sobre el entender y el amar, y ahí los actos más altos y puros de que Dios es capaz.
«A master says a fine thing, that there is something very secret and hidden in the soul, yet far above it, from which there burst forth the powers of intellect and will.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre algo secretísimo en el alma y sobre ella, de donde brotan las potencias del intelecto y la voluntad.
«A master, who has spoken best of all about the soul, says that no human wit can ever come to know what the soul is in her ground.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart cita al maestro que mejor habló del alma, que niega a todo ingenio humano conocer qué es el alma en su fondo.
«What we can know of it must be supernatural: it must be by grace.» — Sermón 72 (Pf 72, Q 7, QT 8): Eckhart declara sobrenatural lo que de eso se pueda saber, y por gracia.
«Now note concerning this glory: St. Gregory says that to a soul that is in this glory all things seem small and narrow.» — Sermón SEVENTATHREE (Pf 73, Q 73, QT 33): Eckhart recoge de Gregorio que al alma en esa gloria todo le parece pequeño y estrecho.
«The natural light of the intellect that God has poured into the soul is so splendid and so strong that all that God has created of bodily things seems mean and petty to it.» — Sermón SEVENTATHREE (Pf 73, Q 73, QT 33): Eckhart mide la luz natural del intelecto por la mezquindad con que le parece lo corpóreo creado.
«Now there is another light, and that is the light of grace: compared to this the natural light4 is as small as what a needle point can pick up of earth compared with the whole earth, or what a needle point can pick up of heaven, which is incredibly greater than the whole earth.» — Sermón SEVENTATHREE (Pf 73, Q 73, QT 33): Eckhart compara la luz natural con la de la gracia como la punta de una aguja de tierra con la tierra entera.
«One saint says that the soul that has tasted God finds all things that are not God repugnant and stinking.» — Sermón SEVENTATHREE (Pf 73, Q 73, QT 33): Eckhart cita a un santo sobre el alma que ha gustado a Dios y halla repugnante y hediondo lo que no es Dios.
«Now observe: nowhere is God so really God as in the soul.» — Sermón SEVENTATHREE (Pf 73, Q 73, QT 33): Eckhart declara que en ninguna parte es Dios tan realmente Dios como en el alma.
«One more word on this: God loves nothing in us but the good He does in us Himself.» — Sermón SEVENTATHREE (Pf 73, Q 73, QT 33): Eckhart declara que Dios no ama en nosotros sino el bien que Él mismo hace en nosotros.
«Let no one be afraid at my saying that God loves nothing but Himself: it is to our supreme advantage, for therein He has in view our highest bliss.» — Sermón SEVENTATHREE (Pf 73, Q 73, QT 33): Eckhart previene contra el escándalo de su propia frase, que Dios no ama sino a Sí, y la presenta como ventaja nuestra.
«I will never give thanks to God for loving me, because He cannot help it, whether He would or not:» — Sermón SEVENTATHREE (Pf 73, Q 73, QT 33): Eckhart declara que no dará gracias a Dios por amarlo, porque no puede evitarlo.
«He should be passive and let God work.» — Sermón SEVENTATHREE (Pf 73, Q 73, QT 33): Eckhart manda al hombre ser pasivo y dejar obrar a Dios.
«Love is not satisfied as long as something (more) exists, with which one can love.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart declara que el amor no se sacia mientras exista algo más con que amar.
«The second virtue that makes a man great is humility: this saint possessed this to perfection with the naughting and rejecting of self.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart nombra la segunda virtud que hace grande a un hombre, la humildad con el anonadarse y rechazarse a sí.
«The man who loves God is beloved of all the saints and all the angels so immeasurably much, that all the love we can imagine is unequal to this love, and is as nothing to it.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart mide el amor de los santos y de los ángeles al que ama a Dios por encima de todo amor imaginable.
«To this I say those things must be many in which God makes Himself at home and which make God their own, and are near God.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart declara que han de ser muchas las cosas en que Dios se hace su casa.
«Those masters who want to put the matter rightly say that every angel has a particular nature and receives the whole of this nature in himself.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que cada ángel tiene naturaleza propia y la recibe entera en sí.
«Every single angel has his own particular nature:7 the closer he is to God, the nobler he is and he has taken into himself just as much of God as he is capable of receiving.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart escalona a los ángeles por su cercanía a Dios y por la capacidad de recibir de cada uno.
«But if it comes about that God is his enemy, and if God forgives his enemy, why should I not also forgive him?» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart argumenta el perdón a fortiori desde el perdón de Dios a su enemigo.
«And if God avenges me, why should I take vengeance upon myself?» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart cierra ese argumento con la venganza, que deja a Dios.
«The very fact that you do evil is to your great harm and causes you enough pain.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart declara que hacer el mal es ya el daño y la pena del que lo hace.
«And if God were to give him all the sorrow in the world, He could not afflict him more harshly than he is afflicted by being a sinner.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart concluye que Dios no podría afligir al pecador más de lo que lo aflige el ser pecador.
«That man alone is pleasing to God who is detached and removed from all transient things.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart declara agradable a Dios solo al desasido y apartado de lo transitorio.
«Elsewhere he says, 'If you are fonder of one man more than another, unless it is his virtues that you love, then you belong to yourself, and God is not your God.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart cita el dicho sobre querer a un hombre más que a otro, que si no es por sus virtudes uno se pertenece a sí y Dios no es su Dios.
«When we say 'all,' nothing is excepted. Everything that they have who are in heaven or on earth, that is as much my own as theirs, and I am as blessed on account of what our Lady has, as on account of what I» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart formula la comunión de bienes: cuanto tienen los del cielo es suyo, y es tan dichoso por lo que tiene la Virgen como por lo suyo.
«Now someone might say, 'Well, if all things are mine and I can enjoy them as they do, why should I have to strive so hard and be so detached? I will have the right to be a good man, and take my ease, and I will have as good a share of heaven as those who struggle for it.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart se plantea la objeción del cómodo, que entonces bastaría con ser buen hombre y descansar.
«To this I say, 'Just as far as you are detached from things, you possess them, and no more.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart responde con la medida exacta, se posee en la medida del desasimiento y no más.
«In like measure as I renounce things, in such measure I shall receive.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart repite esa proporción entre renuncia y recepción.
«Take an example. The water that is in a barrel is not in the wood, but the wood surrounds the water.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart ilustra la separación con el agua en el barril, que no está en la madera aunque la madera la rodee.
«All that the highest angel has in himself, the one below him has, fully contained in himself, so that the highest one has nothing, even the size of a dot, that is not in the lowest one, neither being nor blessedness.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart declara que el ángel más bajo contiene todo lo del más alto, sin faltarle ni el tamaño de un punto.
«So it is with spiritual things, for what is in one is possessed in common in the other, and according as one abandons the more, so one receives the more.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart traslada esa comunidad a lo espiritual y la liga de nuevo al abandono.
«How can he who considers what he will get have abandoned everything?» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart objeta a Pedro la pregunta por la paga, porque quien calcula lo que recibirá no ha abandonado todo.
«The more a thing is in common, the nobler and more valuable it is.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart enuncia la ley de lo común, que cuanto más común es algo más noble y valioso.
«I would rather lose my senses than my life. My being is dearest of all to me, it is the thing I have most in common, and is my most intimate thing.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart aplica esa ley a sí mismo, prefiriendo perder los sentidos antes que la vida y teniendo el ser por lo más común y lo más íntimo.
«Being flows without mediation from God, and life flows from being, and therefore I like it best and it is the dearest thing to all creatures.» — Sermón SEVENTAFOUR (Pf 86, Q 74): Eckhart ordena la emanación, el ser sin mediación desde Dios y la vida desde el ser.
«And St. John says, "Love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18).» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart cita a Juan sobre el amor que echa fuera el temor.
«But in the beginning of the good life fear is useful to a man and gives him access to love.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart concede al temor una utilidad al principio de la vida buena, como acceso al amor.
«The first benefit is, that the soul is by nature created for heaven, for God is her rightful heritage, since no one can create the soul but God.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart declara al alma creada por naturaleza para el cielo, con Dios por herencia legítima.
«God has made the soul so cunningly and secretly that no one knows truly what she is.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart declara al alma hecha tan secretamente que nadie sabe de veras qué es.
«One master calls her a light, and that is well said, for just as the light streams forth from the sun and pours into all creatures, so the soul is created without distinction by God.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart recoge la definición del alma como luz, por el símil del sol que se derrama en todas las criaturas.
«Another master says the soul is a spirit, and that is true in a certain sense, for God is a spirit and the soul is made in God's image, so she may well be called spirit, being to God as spirit to spirit.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart recoge la definición del alma como espíritu y la acota, verdadera en cierto sentido.
«A third master says she is a fire, and he speaks the truth symbolically, for fire is most lofty in its nature and most powerful in its effect, for it never rests till it licks the heavens.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart recoge la definición del alma como fuego y la declara verdadera simbólicamente, por no reposar hasta lamer los cielos.
«A fourth master calls the soul a spark of divine and celestial nature, and that fits in well with this sermon, for the soul belongs to heaven by nature:» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart recoge la cuarta definición, chispa de naturaleza divina y celeste, y dice que es la que cuadra con ese sermón.
«Now we have sent one spark to heaven, that is the soul of our Lord Jesus Christ, which proves to us that the common resting place of all souls is nowhere but in heaven:» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart pone el alma de Cristo como la chispa ya enviada al cielo, prueba del lugar de reposo común de las almas.
«But the soul is so intimately united with the body that they must eternally stay together, although the body belongs to earth and the soul to heaven.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart declara la unión de alma y cuerpo eterna pese a que uno es de la tierra y la otra del cielo.
«Divine light shed on spiritual creatures engenders life, but if it falls on material things, it is extinguished and perishes altogether.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart distingue el efecto de la luz divina en lo espiritual, donde engendra vida, del que tiene en lo material, donde se extingue.
«That is why our Lord said, "It is expedient for you, it is for your good that I am taken from you," for his disciples loved him as a man who was still mortal.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart explica la conveniencia de la partida de Cristo porque sus discípulos lo amaban como hombre mortal.
«If he, then, was a hindrance to his followers, it is certainly true that other things we love, which are inferior to God, will hinder us much more.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart razona a fortiori: si él estorbaba, mucho más estorban las cosas inferiores que amamos.
«Therefore the soul must be raised above time10 if she wants God to do His divine works in her.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart exige que el alma sea levantada sobre el tiempo para que Dios obre en ella sus obras divinas.
«The third thing is, that man can see and know God's works, but while in this life he cannot attain to them perfectly, just as Moses saw the burning bush but could not go right up to it; he wanted to, however: that is a case of love which does not consume the body and is unmixed with spirit.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart lee la zarza de Moisés como amor que no consume el cuerpo y no se mezcla con el espíritu.
«The fourth thing, taking off our shoes, signifies that the soul's desire should be freed and withdrawn from all mortal and perishable things.» — Sermón 75 (Pf 75): Eckhart lee el descalzarse como liberación del deseo del alma respecto de lo mortal y perecedero.
«On this St. Augustine comments thus: 'The earth is full of pity since it is full of lamentation and pain, but in heaven there is no pity because there is no pain.'» — Sermón 76 (Q 61, Sievers 25, Evans II, 50): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre la tierra llena de piedad por estar llena de llanto, y el cielo sin piedad por no haber dolor.
«St. Augustine says: 'The word of the heavenly Father is the only-begotten Son, and the breath of His mouth is the Holy Ghost.'» — Sermón 76 (Q 61, Sievers 25, Evans II, 50): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre el Verbo como Hijo y el aliento de la boca del Padre como Espíritu Santo.
«St. Augustine says of this, 'If he had said more, no one would have understood it.'» — Sermón 76 (Q 61, Sievers 25, Evans II, 50): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre el límite de lo decible, que dicho más nadie lo entendería.
«St. Bernard says, 'Why does the hand not apprehend the sun as the eye does, since the soul is whole in every member?'» — Sermón 76 (Q 61, Sievers 25, Evans II, 50): Eckhart cita a Bernardo con la pregunta de por qué la mano no aprehende el sol como el ojo, estando el alma entera en cada miembro.
«A heathen master says, if there were no time,Z1 place, or matter, all would be one being.» — Sermón 76 (Q 61, Sievers 25, Evans II, 50): Eckhart cita a un maestro pagano sobre la unidad del ser sin tiempo, lugar ni materia.
«Now I say, 'God is love, and he who dwells in love is in God, and He in him.' And when I say, 'God is love,' I do so in order that we may remain with the One.» — Sermón 77 (Q 63, Jundt 7): Eckhart declara por qué dice que Dios es amor, para que permanezcamos con el Uno.
«The first reason is: God pursues all creatures with His love, that they may desire to love God.» — Sermón 77 (Q 63, Jundt 7): Eckhart da la primera razón, que Dios persigue con su amor a todas las criaturas para que deseen amarlo.
«Secondly, all creatures pursue God with their love, for no man is so evil as to commit sin for the sake of evil: he does so rather out of loving desire.» — Sermón 77 (Q 63, Jundt 7): Eckhart da la segunda y niega que nadie peque por amor al mal, y lo adjudica al deseo amoroso.
«If a stone had reason, it would have to pursue God with love.» — Sermón 77 (Q 63, Jundt 7): Eckhart lleva esa persecución hasta la piedra, que si tuviera razón habría de perseguir a Dios con amor.
«God is the origin and is Love. Therefore the soul can never be satisfied but with love.» — Sermón 77 (Q 63, Jundt 7): Eckhart declara a Dios origen y amor, y por eso insaciable el alma sino con amor.
«St. Dionysius says God has become as nothing to the soul; that means He is unknown to her.» — Sermón 77 (Q 63, Jundt 7): Eckhart cita a Dionisio sobre Dios hecho como nada para el alma, y glosa que es desconocido para ella.
«Because we do not know God, so we love in creatures what is good, and since we confuse things with goodness, that is a cause of sin.» — Sermón 77 (Q 63, Jundt 7): Eckhart deriva el pecado de confundir las cosas con la bondad por no conocer a Dios.
«If the lowest angel dropped a splinter - as if one were to cut a splinter off a piece of wood - and if that were to fall down in time12 on to this earth complete with the nobility it has of its true nature, all things on earth would blossom and become fruitful.» — Sermón 77 (Q 63, Jundt 7): Eckhart mide la nobleza del ángel más bajo por la astilla que haría florecer y fructificar todo lo de la tierra.
«So truly will the soul become one being, which is God, and no less: and that is as true as that God is God.» — Sermón 78 (Q 64, Jundt 8): Eckhart declara que el alma llegará a ser un ser, que es Dios, y ni menos.
«All those who are thus in unity, as I have described it, must not suppose that because they are free from 'forms,'9 such forms would be better for them than not departing from unity.» — Sermón 78 (Q 64, Jundt 8): Eckhart previene a los que están en esa unidad contra creer que las formas les convendrían más que no salir de la unidad.
«To do so would be wrong and might even be called heresy: for you should know that there, in the unity, there is neither Conrad nor Henry.» — Sermón 78 (Q 64, Jundt 8): Eckhart llama herejía posible a esa creencia y dice que en la unidad no hay Conrado ni Enrique.
«I will tell you how I think of people: I try to forget myself and everyone and merge myself, for them, in unity.» — Sermón 78 (Q 64, Jundt 8): Eckhart declara cómo piensa a la gente, olvidándose de sí y fundiéndose por ellos en la unidad.
«Intellect is the highest part of the soul, where she dwells in community and close companionship with the angels in angelic nature.» — Sermón 79 (Pf 79, Q 43, QT 52): Eckhart sitúa el intelecto como parte más alta del alma, en comunidad con los ángeles.
«I say that God is wholly one: He knows nothing but Himself alone.» — Sermón 79 (Pf 79, Q 43, QT 52): Eckhart declara a Dios del todo uno y que no conoce sino a sí mismo.
«But to him who understands aright the unique work of God in the soul is better and nobler and higher than the whole world.» — Sermón 79 (Pf 79, Q 43, QT 52): Eckhart pone la obra única de Dios en el alma por encima del mundo entero.
«Grace enters neither into intellect nor into will.» — Sermón 79 (Pf 79, Q 43, QT 52): Eckhart niega que la gracia entre en el intelecto o en la voluntad.
«Accordingly, a master said there is something very secret above these, which is the head of the soul.» — Sermón 79 (Pf 79, Q 43, QT 52): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que hay algo secretísimo sobre esas potencias, la cabeza del alma.
«The place where God gives birth to His only-begotten Son cannot conceive other creatures.» — Sermón 79 (Pf 79, Q 43, QT 52): Eckhart declara que el lugar donde Dios engendra al Unigénito no puede concebir otras criaturas.
«One master says the soul bears herself in herself, and bears herself out of herself and back into herself.» — Sermón 79 (Pf 79, Q 43, QT 52): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que el alma se engendra en sí, fuera de sí y de vuelta a sí.
«Not God Himself, not the angels, not souls or any creatures can sever where the soul is God's image.» — Sermón 79 (Pf 79, Q 43, QT 52): Eckhart declara que ni Dios ni los ángeles ni las almas pueden cortar ahí donde el alma es imagen de Dios.
«I say blessedness lies neither in intellect nor in will: blessedness lies above them, where blessedness lies as blessedness not as intellect, and God is there as God and the soul as God's image.» — Sermón 79 (Pf 79, Q 43, QT 52): Eckhart pone la bienaventuranza por encima del intelecto y de la voluntad, donde Dios está como Dios y el alma como imagen de Dios.
«And you should know, there is one power in the souP that is wider than heaven which itself is incredibly wide, so wide that we cannot truly define it- but this other power2 is much wider still.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart describe una potencia del alma más ancha que el cielo, que ya es indefinible de ancho.
«All that understanding can grasp, all that desire can desire, that is not God.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart declara que nada de lo que el entendimiento ase ni de lo que el deseo desee es Dios.
«Where understanding and desire end, there is darkness, and there God shines.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart sitúa la luz de Dios donde acaban el entendimiento y el deseo, que es tiniebla.
«I said Jerusalem is as near my soul as the ground I stand on now.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart declara Jerusalén tan cerca de su alma como el suelo que pisa.
«The soul has two powers which have nothing whatever to do with the body, namely, intellect and will, which function above time.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart nombra las dos potencias que nada tienen que ver con el cuerpo, el intelecto y la voluntad, que obran sobre el tiempo.
«But this man who knows in truth that even if he leaves himself and all things it is still absolutely nothing - the man indeed who lives thus, in truth, he possesses all things.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart describe al que sabe de veras que dejarse a sí y a todo sigue siendo absolutamente nada, y declara que ése posee todas las cosas.
«Now then, to hear this Word in the Father (where all is stillness), a man must be quite quiet and wholly free from image, indeed from all forms.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart pone la condición de oír ese Verbo, estar quieto y libre de imagen y de toda forma.
«If anyone were to tell me to carry a single stone, he might as well tell me to carry a thousand stones as one, if he meant to carry them himself.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart ilustra la obra de Dios con el que manda cargar una piedra y las carga él mismo, que da igual una que mil.
«Well now, God will do this work Himself: man needs only to obey and not resist.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart reduce lo que toca al hombre a obedecer y no resistir.
«God cannot enter there in any mode: He can only enter there in the nakedness of the divine nature.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart niega que Dios pueda entrar ahí con modo alguno, salvo en la desnudez de la naturaleza divina.
«Understand: all our perfection and all our bliss depends on our traversing and transcending all creatureliness, all being and getting into the ground that is groundless.» — Sermón 80 (Pf 80, Q 42, QT 39): Eckhart cifra la perfección y la bienaventuranza en atravesar toda creaturidad y todo ser hasta el fondo sin fondo.
«It is a sure sign, if a man has difficulty in doing godly works, that there is no grace in him.» — Sermón 81 (Q 33, Par. an. 49, Evans II, 38): Eckhart da la señal de la falta de gracia, que las obras divinas cuesten.
«Concerning this a master3 says, 'I do not condemn people for wearing fine clothes or eating well, if they have love.» — Sermón 81 (Q 33, Par. an. 49, Evans II, 38): Eckhart cita a un maestro que no condena la ropa fina ni la buena mesa a quien tiene amor.
«Nor do I rate myself higher for leading an austere life, unless I find that I have more love.» — Sermón 81 (Q 33, Par. an. 49, Evans II, 38): Eckhart aplica a sí ese criterio y niega estimarse más por vida austera si no halla más amor.
«It is great foolishness when many a man fasts much, prays and performs great works and spends his time alone, if he does not mend his ways, and is impatient and angry.» — Sermón 81 (Q 33, Par. an. 49, Evans II, 38): Eckhart llama gran necedad el ayunar y orar mucho sin enmendar la propia condición, siendo impaciente y colérico.
«He should find out his greatest weakness, and devote all his energy to overcoming that.» — Sermón 81 (Q 33, Par. an. 49, Evans II, 38): Eckhart manda averiguar la debilidad mayor y gastar en ella toda la energía.
«A master says nothing can move the heavens/ meaning that that man is a heavenly man3 in whom all things are so little present that they do not move him.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart cita a un maestro sobre los cielos inmóviles y lo aplica al hombre celeste, a quien nada mueve.
«A master says nature never breaks anything without giving something better.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart cita a un maestro que niega que la naturaleza rompa algo sin dar algo mejor.
«When air becomes fire, that is better, but when air becomes water that is destruction and aberration.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart ilustra esa ley con el aire que se hace fuego y con el aire que se hace agua, que es destrucción.
«There is no creature so mean that it does not desire being.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart declara que no hay criatura tan baja que no desee el ser.
«A man should willingly embrace death and die that he may obtain a better being.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart manda abrazar la muerte de buen grado para obtener un ser mejor.
«A stone is nobler, having being, than God and His Godhead without being, if were possible to deprive Him of being.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart formula la tesis más extrema del ser: una piedra, por tener ser, sería más noble que Dios y su divinidad privados de ser, si eso fuera posible.
«We must be thoroughly dead, so that neither joy nor sorrow can touch us.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart exige estar del todo muerto para que ni gozo ni pena toquen.
«One can never truly know a thing in itself unless one knows it in its cause.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart enuncia que nada se conoce en sí si no se lo conoce en su causa.
«What holds us back from being constant in this is, as one master explains, our contact with time.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart adjudica al contacto con el tiempo lo que impide la constancia.
«A master says the course of heaven is eternal: true, time is derived from this, but only by a falling-away.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que el curso del cielo es eterno y que el tiempo deriva de él por caída.
«A master says the soul is given to the body that she may be purified.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que el alma se da al cuerpo para ser purificada.
«She is one, and would be unable to exercise the power of turning to God: she has these powers in her ground, as in their roots, but not as functioning.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart describe al alma separada con sus potencias en el fondo como raíces y no en ejercicio.
«The soul's purification consists in her being purified of a life that is divided, and entering into a life that is unified.» — Sermón 82 (Pf 82, Q 8, QT 9): Eckhart define la purificación del alma como paso de la vida dividida a la vida unificada.
«St. Augustine says in the beginning scripture looks laughingly at young children, and attracts a child to it, but at the end, when one wants to fathom scripture, it makes fools of the wise: and none is so simple-minded but he can find what suits him there, and there is none so wise that when he tries to fathom it, he will not find it deeper yet and discover more in it.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre la Escritura que ríe con los niños y hace necios a los sabios cuando quieren sondearla.
«Who honors the Father? No one but the Son: he alone does Him honor.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart reserva al Hijo la honra del Padre.
«Nevertheless He is neither this nor that, and the Father is not satisfied till He has withdrawn into the first source» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart declara que el Padre no se sacia hasta retirarse a la fuente primera, y que Él no es esto ni aquello.
«I have said before, the shell must be broken and what is inside must come out, for, if you want to get at the kernel you must break the shell.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart formula la imagen de la cáscara que hay que romper para llegar al grano.
«Accordingly, if you want to find nature unveiled, all likenesses must be shattered, and the further you penetrate, the nearer you will get to the essence.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart aplica esa imagen a la naturaleza, que pide quebrar todas las semejanzas para hallarla sin velo.
«Many years ago I did not exist. Not long after that, my father and mother ate meat and bread and vegetables that grew in the garden, and from that I became a man.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart cuenta su propio origen material, el pan, la carne y las verduras del huerto que comieron sus padres, para argumentar la transformación.
«This grain of wheat has it in its nature to become all things, therefore it pays the price and goes to its death that it may become all things.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart describe al grano de trigo que paga el precio de su muerte para llegar a ser todas las cosas.
«And this ore is copper, but it has it in its nature to become silver, and silver has it in its nature to become gold, therefore it never rests until it has attained that nature.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart describe el mineral que quiere ser plata y la plata que quiere ser oro, y no reposa hasta alcanzar esa naturaleza.
«I say further: it can become all things; it can be put in a fire and be burnt up so as to be transformed into the fire's nature, and then it becomes one with the one and has eternally one being.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart describe la madera que puesta al fuego se transforma en su naturaleza y queda uno con el uno.
«Now there are some unbelieving people who do not believe that this bread on the altar can be transformed, that it can become the gracious body of our Lord and that God can bring this about.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart consigna a los incrédulos que no aceptan la transformación del pan del altar.
«If frail nature can manage to take a man out of a leaf, then it is far more easily possible for God to make his body out of a piece of bread.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart argumenta a fortiori desde la naturaleza frágil que saca un hombre de una hoja hasta el cuerpo hecho de un pan.
«Truly, it is in the darkness that one finds this light, so when we are in sorrow and distress, then this light is nearest of all to us.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart sitúa el hallazgo de esa luz en la tiniebla, y la declara más cercana en la pena y la angustia.
«Now whether God does His best or His worst, He has to give Himself to us,20 even though in travail and distress.» — Sermón 83 (Pf 102, Q 51, QT 24): Eckhart concluye que Dios ha de darse haga lo mejor o lo peor, aun en el trabajo y la angustia.
«Why did He say no more than one word? Because to Him all things are present together.» — Sermón 84 (Q 84, Par. an. 57, Evans II, 42): Eckhart explica por qué el Padre dice una sola palabra, porque para Él todas las cosas están juntas y presentes.
«If I could grasp in one idea all the thoughts I ever had or ever shall have, then I should have one word and no more, for "the mouth brings forth what is in the heart" (Matt. 12:34).» — Sermón 84 (Q 84, Par. an. 57, Evans II, 42): Eckhart ilustra esa unidad con lo que sería su propio pensamiento entero reducido a una palabra.
«There are four reasons why the soul should arise and dwell above herself.» — Sermón 84 (Q 84, Par. an. 57, Evans II, 42): Eckhart anuncia las cuatro razones por las que el alma debe alzarse y morar sobre sí.
«He must let creatures overflow from Him to whom He can impart Himself, who can receive His likeness - so many it seems He must empty Himself - in such measureless profusion that there are more angels than sand grains or grass or leaves.» — Sermón 84 (Q 84, Par. an. 57, Evans II, 42): Eckhart describe el desbordarse de Dios en las criaturas, con más ángeles que granos de arena, hierbas u hojas.
«The second thing is that the soul should ascend for the purity that she finds in God, for in God all things are pure and noble.» — Sermón 84 (Q 84, Par. an. 57, Evans II, 42): Eckhart da la segunda razón, la pureza que el alma halla en Dios.
«St. Augustine says the souls in heaven are not completely blest while they still have a leaning toward the body.» — Sermón 84 (Q 84, Par. an. 57, Evans II, 42): Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre las almas del cielo, no del todo bienaventuradas mientras se inclinen al cuerpo.
«The soul must also transcend herself if she is to get God, for all things beget themselves: each begets its own nature.» — Sermón 84 (Q 84, Par. an. 57, Evans II, 42): Eckhart exige al alma trascenderse porque todas las cosas se engendran a sí y engendran su naturaleza.
«Fire begets fire. If it could turn to fire everything near it, it would do so.» — Sermón 84 (Q 84, Par. an. 57, Evans II, 42): Eckhart ilustra ese engendrar con el fuego que engendra fuego y volvería fuego cuanto tuviera cerca.
«The infinite God who is in the soul, He grasps the God who is infinite.» — Sermón 84 (Q 84, Par. an. 57, Evans II, 42): Eckhart formula la captura de lo infinito por lo infinito, el Dios que está en el alma asiendo al Dios infinito.
«The hand of God, that is the Holy Ghost. All things are wrought in heat.» — Sermón 85 (Q 85, Par. an. 58, Evans II, 43): Eckhart identifica la mano de Dios con el Espíritu Santo y pone el calor como condición de toda obra.
«If the fiery love to God grows cold in the soul she dies, and if God is to work in the soul God must be united with the soul.» — Sermón 85 (Q 85, Par. an. 58, Evans II, 43): Eckhart declara que el alma muere si se enfría en ella el amor ardiente a Dios.
«God created the soul that she might be united with Him.» — Sermón 85 (Q 85, Par. an. 58, Evans II, 43): Eckhart declara que Dios creó el alma para unirse con ella.
«One saint says the soul was made from nothing and He alone made her, no one with Him.» — Sermón 85 (Q 85, Par. an. 58, Evans II, 43): Eckhart cita a un santo sobre el alma hecha de nada y hecha solo por Él, sin nadie más.
«If anyone had shared in the making, God would have had cause to worry lest the soul turn that way.» — Sermón 85 (Q 85, Par. an. 58, Evans II, 43): Eckhart razona esa exclusividad: si otro hubiera participado, Dios tendría motivo de temer que el alma se volviera hacia allá.
«Therefore the soul must be all alone as God is all alone.» — Sermón 85 (Q 85, Par. an. 58, Evans II, 43): Eckhart concluye que el alma ha de estar del todo sola como Dios está del todo solo.
«Three things prevent the soul from uniting with God.» — Sermón 85 (Q 85, Par. an. 58, Evans II, 43): Eckhart anuncia las tres cosas que impiden al alma unirse con Dios.
«The first is that she is too scattered, that she is not unitary: for when the soul is inclined toward creatures, she is not unitary.» — Sermón 85 (Q 85, Par. an. 58, Evans II, 43): Eckhart nombra la primera, estar dispersa y no ser unitaria por inclinarse a las criaturas.
«This wisdom has declared that the poor are blessed.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart abre el sermón de la pobreza declarando que la sabiduría llamó bienaventurados a los pobres.
«But there is another poverty, an interior poverty, to which this word of our Lord applies when he says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart distingue la pobreza exterior de la interior, que es la del dicho evangélico.
«May God in His mercy grant them the kingdom of heaven! But by God's wisdom I declare that these folk are not poor men or similar to poor men.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart niega que los pobres exteriores sean los pobres del dicho, aunque les desee el reino.
«These people are called holy from their outward appearances, but inwardly they are asses, for they are ignorant of the actual nature of divine truth.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart llama asnos por dentro a los que se tienen por santos por su apariencia exterior e ignoran la verdad divina.
«For a man to possess true poverty he must be as free of his created will as he was when he was not.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart formula la pobreza verdadera como estar tan libre de la voluntad creada como cuando no se era.
«For I declare by the eternal truth, as long as you have the will to do the will of God, and longing for eternity and God, you are not poor: for a poor man is one who wills nothing and desires nothing.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart niega la pobreza a quien tenga voluntad de hacer la voluntad de Dios o anhelo de eternidad, porque pobre es el que nada quiere y nada desea.
«While I yet stood in my first cause, I had no God and was my own cause: then I wanted nothing and desired nothing, for I was bare being and the knower of myself in the enjoyment of truth.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart describe su estado en la causa primera, sin Dios y causa de sí, ser desnudo y conocedor de sí en el gozo de la verdad.
«But when creatures came into existence and received their created being, then God was not 'God' in Himself He was 'God' in creatures.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart data el ser Dios de Dios en la existencia de las criaturas: no era Dios en sí sino Dios en las criaturas.
«Bishop Albert says a poor man is one who finds no satisfaction in all things God ever created, 3 and this is well said.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart cita al obispo Alberto sobre el pobre que no halla satisfacción en nada de lo creado, y lo aprueba.
«And if it were the case that a fly9 had reason and could intellectually plumb the eternal abysm of God's being out of which it came, we would have to say that God with all that makes Him 'God' would be unable to fulfil and satisfy that fly!» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart pone la mosca con razón que sondeara el abismo eterno de Dios, y declara que Dios con todo lo que lo hace Dios no podría saciarla.
«Therefore let us pray to God that we may be free of God that we may gain the truth and enjoy it eternally, there where the highest angel, the fly, and the soul are equal, there where I stood10 and wanted what I was, and was what I wanted.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart formula la oración más extrema del sermón, pedir a Dios quedar libres de Dios, y describe el lugar donde el ángel más alto, la mosca y el alma son iguales.
«We conclude, then: if a man is to be poor of will, he must will and desire as little as he willed and desired when he was not.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart concluye la pobreza de voluntad como querer tan poco como cuando no se era.
«We have sometimes said that a man should live as if he did not live either for himself, or for truth, or for God.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart recuerda haber dicho que el hombre debe vivir como si no viviera ni para sí ni para la verdad ni para Dios.
«He must be so lacking in all knowledge that he neither knows nor recognizes nor feels that God lives in him: more still, he must be free of all the understanding that lives in him.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart exige la ignorancia de que Dios vive en uno, y aun la libertad de todo el entender que en uno vive.
«The proper work of man is to love and to know.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart nombra la obra propia del hombre, amar y conocer.
«But we say it lies neither in knowing nor in loving: for there is something in the soul from which both knowledge and love flow:» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart niega que la bienaventuranza esté en el conocer o en el amar, y la pone en aquello del alma de donde los dos manan.
«Whoever knows this, knows the seat of blessedness.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart declara que quien conoce eso conoce el asiento de la bienaventuranza.
«The masters say God is a being, an intellectual being that knows all things.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart recoge la tesis de los maestros, Dios como ser intelectual que conoce todas las cosas.
«But we say God is not a being and not intellectual and does not know this or that.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart la niega entera: Dios no es ser ni intelectual y no conoce esto ni aquello.
«To be poor in spirit, a man must be poor of all his own knowledge: not knowing any thing, not God, nor creature nor himself.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart define la pobreza de espíritu como pobreza de todo saber propio, sin conocer nada, ni a Dios ni a la criatura ni a sí.
«If it is the case that a man is free of all creatures, of God and of self, and if it is still the case that God finds a place in him to work, then we declare that as long as this is in that man, he is not poor with the strictest poverty.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart acota que aun libre de todo y con lugar en él para que Dios obre, ese hombre no es pobre con la pobreza más estricta.
«For it is not God's intention in His works that a man should have a place within himself for God to work in: for poverty of spirit means being so free of God and all His works, that God, if He wishes to work in the soul, is Himself the place where He works» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart formula la pobreza última, estar tan libre de Dios y de sus obras que Dios mismo sea el lugar en que obra.
«It is just here, in this poverty, that man enters into that eternal essence that once he was, that he is now and evermore shall remain.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart declara que en esa pobreza el hombre entra en la esencia eterna que una vez fue y que seguirá siendo.
«When grace had ended and finished its work, Paul remained that which he was.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart declara que acabada la obra de la gracia Pablo siguió siendo lo que era.
«Therefore I am my own cause according to my essence, which is eternal, and not according to my becoming, which is temporal.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart se declara causa de sí según su esencia, que es eterna, y no según su devenir, que es temporal.
«I am unborn, and according to my unborn mode I can never die.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart se declara no nacido y por ese modo incapaz de morir.
«By this imprint I shall gain such wealth that I shall not be content with God inasmuch as He is God, or with all His divine works: for this breaking-through guarantees to me that I and God are one.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart describe la irrupción que le garantiza que él y Dios son uno, y por la que no se contenta con Dios en cuanto Dios.
«A great master says that his breaking-through is nobler than his emanation, and this is true.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart recoge de un gran maestro que la irrupción es más noble que la emanación, y lo aprueba.
«But in my breakingthrough, where I stand free of my own will, of God's will, of all His works, and of God himself, then I am above all creatures and am neither God nor creature, but I am that which I was and shall remain for evermore.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart describe el lugar de esa irrupción, libre de su voluntad, de la de Dios y de Dios mismo, ni Dios ni criatura; el extractor une en el salto de renglón el término que el volumen imprime *breaking-through*, con guion, en otras tres líneas.
«If anyone cannot understand this sermon, he need not worry.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart cierra el sermón eximiendo de preocupación a quien no lo entienda.
«For so long as a man is not equal to this truth, he cannot understand my words, for this is a naked truth which has come direct from the heart of God.» — Sermón 87 (Pf 87, Q 52, QT 32): Eckhart pone la condición de entenderlo, ser igual a esa verdad, que declara venida directamente del corazón de Dios.
«Now we find there are three kinds of love that our Lord has, and in these we must be like him.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart anuncia las tres clases de amor del Señor en que hay que asemejársele.
«From the first kind of love that God has, we can learn how His divine goodness constrained Him to create all creatures, with which He was eternally pregnant in His ideal prevision, 1 intending them to enjoy His goodness with Him.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart describe el primer amor, la bondad divina que lo constriñó a crear las criaturas de las que estaba preñado en su previsión.
«And among all creatures He does not love one more than another: for as each is wide enough to receive, in the same measure He pours Himself into it.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart declara que no ama a una criatura más que a otra y que se derrama en cada una según su capacidad.
«When we speak of man we speak of all creatures, for Christ himself said to his disciples, "Go forth and preach the gospel to all creatures" (Mark 16:15), since all creatures are subsumed in man.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart lee el predicar a toda criatura como que todas las criaturas están subsumidas en el hombre.
«I sometimes seem to like one person better than another; but yet I have the same goodwill toward another whom I have never seen, but this one is more present to me, and on that account I am better able to give myself to him.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart reconoce que parece querer a unos más que a otros y lo explica por la presencia y no por la buena voluntad.
«For in the natural light man enjoys himself, but the light of grace, which is unspeakably more powerful, deprives man of self-enjoyment and draws him into itself.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart distingue la luz natural, en que el hombre se goza a sí, de la luz de gracia, que le quita ese gozo y lo atrae a sí.
«The third love is divine, from which we should learn how God has ever been begetting His only-begotten Son and is giving birth to him now and eternally:8 and thus He lies in childbed like a woman who has given birth, in every good, outdrawn, and indwelling soul.9» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart describe el tercer amor con la figura del parto, Dios en cama de parida como mujer que ha dado a luz en toda alma buena.
«All that He has power to give He expends on this understanding, which is His birth, and He seeks nothing outside Himself.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart declara que Dios gasta en ese entender cuanto puede dar y nada busca fuera de Sí.
«The master says, 'I sometimes think of what the angel said to Mary: "Hail, full of grace! " What good would it do me for Mary to be full of grace if I were not also full of grace?'» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart cita al maestro que se pregunta de qué le sirve que María esté llena de gracia si él no lo está.
«And what would it profit me that the Father gives birth to His Son unless I bear Him too?» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart traslada esa pregunta al nacimiento del Hijo, de qué le aprovecha si él no lo pare también.
«God begets His Son in a perfect soul and is brought to bed there so that she may bear Him forth again in all her works.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart describe el alma perfecta en que Dios engendra al Hijo y da a luz, para que ella lo produzca en todas sus obras.
«Concerning this, a heathen virgin said of my lord Joseph, the patriarch's son, 'I did not regard him as a man but as a god, for God shines out of his works.'» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart cita a una virgen pagana sobre José, que no lo tuvo por hombre sino por un dios porque Dios brillaba en sus obras.
«Whoever would achieve perfection in this triple love must have four things.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart anuncia las cuatro cosas que exige la perfección en ese triple amor.
«The first is true detachment from all creatures.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart nombra la primera, el desasimiento verdadero de todas las criaturas.
«The second, the true life of Leah, that is to say the active life which is set in motion in the ground of the soul by the touch of the Holy Ghost.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart nombra la segunda con la figura de Lía, la vida activa movida en el fondo del alma por el toque del Espíritu Santo.
«The third is the true life of Rachel, the contemplative life.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart nombra la tercera con la figura de Raquel, la vida contemplativa.
«The fourth is an aspiring spirit.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart nombra la cuarta, un espíritu que aspira.
«It will seem to you at first that you are one with the angels, and if you surrender to their collective being, it will seem to you that you are all angels with all angels.» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart describe el primer tramo de esa ascensión, parecer uno con los ángeles y ser todos los ángeles con todos los ángeles.
«Then the master said, 'Well now, if you but proceed a little nearer to the source, wonder upon wonder will be wrought with your soul.'» — Sermón 88 (Pf 85, Q 75): Eckhart cita al maestro que promete maravilla sobre maravilla al acercarse un poco más a la fuente.
«If I had said this and if it were my word, that that man is more blessed who hears God's word and keeps it than Mary is by giving birth and being Christ's bodily mother I repeat, if I had said this, people would be surprised.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart declara que si esa frase fuera suya la gente se sorprendería, y la pone en boca de Cristo.
«But Christ himself has said it, and therefore we must believe him that it is the truth, for Christ is the Truth.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart apoya la frase en que Cristo es la Verdad y por eso hay que creerle.
«The first is that he should have mortified himself to all stirrings of the flesh, and having slain all transient things in himself, should himself too be dead to all transient things.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart nombra la primera condición, haberse mortificado a todo movimiento de la carne y estar muerto a lo transitorio.
«Our Lord Jesus Christ was free and poor in all the gifts that he bounteously gave us: in all his gifts he never sought his own:» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart describe a Cristo libre y pobre en todos sus dones, que nunca buscó lo suyo.
«If now a man wants to give for the love of God, let him thus give away material goods purely for God's sake, with no eye to profit or exchange or any transitory honor, and let him seek nothing for himself, but only God's honor and glory,» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart manda dar lo material solo por Dios, sin mirar a provecho, trueque ni honra.
«And if holy Christendom pays her such honor, as indeed is fitting, nevertheless holy Christendom should pay even greater honor and glory to that man who hears God's word and keeps it, for he is even more blessed than our Lady is through being the bodily mother of Christ, as Christ himself has told us.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart declara que la cristiandad debe más honra a quien oye y guarda la palabra de Dios que a la Virgen por su maternidad corporal, y se ampara en que Cristo lo dijo.
«The Father Himself hears nothing but this same Word, knows nothing but this same Word, speaks nothing but this same Word, begets nothing but this same Word.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart declara que el Padre nada oye, conoce, dice ni engendra sino ese mismo Verbo.
«It is not so with the Father and His eternal Word; whether He would or not He must speak this Word and beget it unceasingly:» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart declara que el Padre ha de proferir ese Verbo lo quiera o no.
«So you see the Father speaks the Word willingly but not by will, naturally but not by nature.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart afina la fórmula: lo profiere de grado pero no por voluntad, naturalmente pero no por naturaleza.
«When the Father gives and reveals to you this understanding, He is giving you His life and His being and His Godhead all at once and really and in truth.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart describe lo que el Padre da al dar ese entender, su vida, su ser y su divinidad de una vez.
«If I take fire from one place and bring it to another it is divided, though it is still fire:» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart ilustra la división con el fuego llevado de un sitio a otro, que se divide y sigue siendo fuego.
«Now I shall turn to my second theme, when our Lord said, "Unless the grain of wheat falls to earth and perishes there, it will remain alone and bear no fruit.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart abre el segundo tema con el grano de trigo que ha de caer en tierra y perecer.
«He did not then mean his noble soul according as this is intellectually contemplating the highest good, with which he is united in person and which he is according to union and person: that, even in his greatest suffering, he was continually regarding in his highest power, just as closely and entirely the same as he does now: no sorrow or pain or death could penetrate there.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart acota qué parte de Cristo no fue tocada por el dolor, la que contemplaba intelectualmente el bien supremo.
«But according to the part whereby his noble spirit was rationally united to the senses and life of his blessed body, to that extent our Lord called his created spirit a 'soul,' since this gave life to the body and was united to the senses and the reason.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart llama alma al espíritu creado de Cristo en cuanto unido a los sentidos y a la vida del cuerpo.
«Now I shall speak of this perishing. The grain of wheat, his noble soul, perished in the body in two ways. The first way was, as I said, that this noble soul had an intellectual vision, with the eternal Word, of all the divine nature.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart anuncia los dos modos en que ese grano de trigo, el alma noble, pereció en el cuerpo.
«Now observe the hundredfold fruit, the fruits without number, of this grain of wheat!» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart anuncia el fruto céntuplo, los frutos sin número de ese grano.
«The other manner is this: all the fruitful suffering of his sacred humanity, whatever he suffered in this life by hunger, thirst, cold, heat, wind, rain, hail, snow, and all pain, and his bitter death as well, all that he offered up together to the glory of the heavenly Father.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart enumera el sufrimiento de la humanidad sagrada, hambre, sed, frío, calor, viento, lluvia, granizo, nieve y la muerte amarga, ofrecidos a la gloria del Padre.
«For that man who wishes to cast his soul, the grain of wheat, into the field of Jesus Christ's humanity that it may perish therein and so become fruitful, the manner of his perishing must also be of two kinds.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart declara que quien quiera echar su alma en el campo de la humanidad de Cristo ha de perecer de esos dos modos.
«The physical side is to be understood like this: whatever he suffers from hunger, thirst, from cold or heat, or from being scorned and suffering unjustly, in whatever way God sends it, he must accept it willingly and gladly, just as if God had never created him except to endure suffering, discomfort, and travail, not seeking anything for himself therein nor desiring anything in heaven or earth, and he should consider all his suffering as trifling, as a mere drop of water compared to the raging sea.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart describe el modo físico, aceptar de grado todo padecer como si Dios no lo hubiera creado sino para eso, y tener el propio sufrimiento por gota de agua frente al mar.
«It is this: all the spiritual hunger and bitterness that God permits to invade him, he shall patiently endure: and even then, having done all he can both inwardly and outwardly, he shall desire nothing.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart describe el segundo modo, soportar el hambre y la amargura espirituales sin desear nada aun tras haberlo hecho todo.
«Even if God wanted to annihilate him or cast him into hell, he should neither wish nor desire that God should preserve him in existence or save him from hell.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart lleva ese desasimiento hasta el extremo de no desear que Dios lo preserve del infierno.
«It is this: if God were to take you away from inner poverty and invest you inwardly with riches and with grace and were to unite you with Himself as far as ever your soul could endure this, you should hold yourself free of these riches and give the glory to God alone, just as your soul remained empty when God created it from nothing into something.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart manda tenerse libre de las riquezas interiores que Dios dé, como el alma quedó vacía al ser creada de la nada.
«In praising John as being greater, he meant that he was little by true humility: that was his greatness.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart lee la grandeza de Juan Bautista como pequeñez por humildad verdadera.
«Now attend closely: Neither John nor anyone else among all the saints has been put before us as a limit, or as a compulsory goal beyond which we may not go.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart niega que ningún santo, ni Juan, se ponga como límite o meta obligatoria.
«In very truth, if there were a single man who could go beyond the measure of the highest saint whose virtuous life has brought him to blessedness - if there were a single man who could in any way at all transcend that measure of virtue - in that way he would be in virtue holier and more blessed than that saint ever was.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart sostiene que quien rebasara la medida del santo más alto sería en eso más santo y más bienaventurado que él.
«That is true humility, that a man should concern himself with nothing of that which he is - being by nature something created out of nothing - whether by doing or leaving undone, but wait upon the light of grace.» — Sermón 89 (Pf 89, Q 49): Eckhart define la humildad verdadera como no ocuparse de nada de lo que uno es, siendo criatura hecha de nada, y esperar la luz de la gracia.
«Yes, for the eternal Word is conceived in the essential light and abides therein, giving itself to nothing outside itself, having been perfectly uttered by the Father.» — Sermón 90 (Pf 103): Eckhart distingue el Verbo eterno, concebido en luz esencial, de la palabra nuestra, concebida en luz intermitente.
«The other dignity which the eternal Word has received from its eternal birth is this: the eternal Word has received in the quality of its own Person all the perfection which the Father has and all the omnipotence proper His nature.» — Sermón 90 (Pf 103): Eckhart describe la segunda dignidad del Verbo eterno, recibir en su Persona toda la perfección y la omnipotencia del Padre.
«To this St. Augustine replies that his not begetting another Son is not due to incapacity, but that it is not his task.» — Sermón 90 (Pf 103): Eckhart recoge la respuesta de Agustín a por qué el Hijo no engendra otro Hijo, que no es por incapacidad sino porque no es su tarea.
«Each Person receives the unity of nature, and yet with a difference: the Father by His Fatherhood, the Son by his Sonship, and the Holy Ghost by his common origin in them both.» — Sermón 90 (Pf 103): Eckhart reparte el modo en que cada Persona recibe la unidad de naturaleza, por paternidad, por filiación y por origen común.
«Now note his words, "I am a light of the world." With "I am" he touches the essence.» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart lee el yo soy luz del mundo poniendo el peso en el yo soy, que toca la esencia.
«The poor are left to God, for wherever they go they find God and have God in all places, and God takes them in charge, for they have been abandoned to Him.» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart describe a los pobres dejados a Dios, que lo hallan dondequiera y de quienes Dios se hace cargo.
«God is so besotted in His love for us, it is just as if He had forgotten heaven and earth and all His blessedness and all His Godhead and had no business except with me alone, to give me everything for my comforting.» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart describe a Dios embobado de amor como si hubiera olvidado el cielo, la tierra y su divinidad para atenderlo a uno solo.
«But God's comfort is pure and unmixed: it is perfect and complete, and He is so eager to give it to you that He cannot wait to give you Himself first of all.» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart declara puro y sin mezcla el consuelo de Dios, que no aguarda a darse a sí mismo primero.
«Bread is a great comfort to a man when he is hungry: but if he is thirsty, bread gives him no more comfort than a stone.» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart ilustra la parcialidad de todo consuelo creado con el pan, que nada consuela al sediento.
«If I had all that I could desire but my finger hurt me, then I should not have everything, for I would have that sore finger, and as long as my finger hurt I should not be entirely comforted.» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart remata ese argumento con el dedo dolorido que estropea el tenerlo todo.
«And I say further: all creatures' life and being depends on their seeking and hunting for God.» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart hace depender la vida y el ser de todas las criaturas de su busca de Dios.
«Now you might say, 'Where is this God all creatures are in quest of, from whom they get their being and their life?' - I speak gladly of the Godhead, for all our blessedness flows thence.» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart declara que habla de buena gana de la Deidad porque de ahí mana toda nuestra bienaventuranza.
«No man could ever have found God, but He has revealed His presence.» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart declara que nadie habría hallado a Dios y que Él reveló su presencia.
«One of the saints has said, 'I sometimes experience such sweetness in me that I forget myself and all creatures and wish to dissolve right into thee.'» — Sermón 91 (Pf 91, Q 79, QT 41): Eckhart cita a un santo sobre la dulzura en que se olvida de sí y de las criaturas y querría disolverse en Él.
«By putting off self we take in Christ, God, blessedness, and holiness.» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart formula el canje del despojo, que al quitarse a sí se toma a Cristo, a Dios, la bienaventuranza y la santidad.
«God has made all things in general after the image that He has in Himself of all things, not after Himself.» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart declara que Dios hizo todas las cosas conforme a la imagen que de ellas tiene en sí y no conforme a sí.
«It is in the nature of all things that what is above always flows downward into things below, insofar as the lower things are adapted to the higher: for the higher things never receive from the lower, but the lower receive from the higher.» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart enuncia la ley del flujo de lo alto a lo bajo, que nunca va al revés.
«Now since God is above the soul, God continually pours into the soul and cannot fall away from her.» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart aplica esa ley a Dios sobre el alma, en la que se derrama sin poder faltarle.
«The soul can indeed fall away from Him, but as long as a man keeps right under God, he is immediately receptive to this divine influence unmixed from God, and is not subject to anything else, neither fear nor joy nor sorrow, nor anything else that is not God.» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart acota que el alma sí puede apartarse, y describe al que se mantiene debajo de Dios, no sujeto ni a temor ni a gozo.
«The masters declare that the soul receives as a light from the light, for in that there is neither difference nor distance.» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart recoge de los maestros que el alma recibe como luz de la luz, sin diferencia ni distancia.
«Therefore, if you want to be the same Christ and God, go out of all that which the eternal Word did not assume.» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart manda salir de todo lo que el Verbo eterno no asumió, para ser el mismo Cristo y Dios.
«That is why I said in Paris that in the righteous man all things are fulfilled that holy scripture and the prophets ever said of Christ:» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart recuerda haber dicho en París que en el hombre justo se cumple todo lo que la Escritura y los profetas dijeron de Cristo.
«Thus, when all time drops away from you, time is fulfilled.» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart iguala la caída del tiempo con su plenitud.
«There, everything that is is present and new, and you see there in a single present vision all that has ever happened or will happen.» — Sermón 92 (Pf 94, Q 24): Eckhart describe la visión presente única en que se ve cuanto ha pasado y pasará.
«Aliquando, for those who can fully interpret it,3 means 'sometimes' and implies time, which is what keeps us from the light.» — Sermón 93 (Pf 95, Q 50): Eckhart glosa el *aliquando* de Pablo como el tiempo, que es lo que nos aparta de la luz.
«For nothing is so firmly opposed to God than time.» — Sermón 93 (Pf 95, Q 50): Eckhart declara al tiempo lo más firmemente opuesto a Dios.
«Now I assert that the soul, which was created far above the heavens, has in her highest and purest part no truck with time.» — Sermón 93 (Pf 95, Q 50): Eckhart sostiene que el alma, creada muy por encima de los cielos, no trata con el tiempo en su parte más alta.
«There, he said, is no becoming: it is one Now, a becoming without becoming, newness without renewal, and this becoming is God's being.» — Sermón 93 (Pf 95, Q 50): Eckhart describe un Ahora único, un devenir sin devenir y una novedad sin renovación, que es el ser de Dios.
«In God is something so subtle that it admits of no renewal, and in the soul too there is a subtleness13 that is so pure and fine that it too admits of no renewal, because everything that is in God is a present Now without renewal.» — Sermón 93 (Pf 95, Q 50): Eckhart empareja esa sutileza sin renovación en Dios y en el alma, porque todo lo que está en Dios es un Ahora presente.
«If there were no understanding in God there could be no Trinity, and then no creature could have flowed forth.» — Sermón 94 (Pf 97, Q 80, QT 55): Eckhart hace depender la Trinidad y la emanación de las criaturas del entender en Dios.
«Thus the unplumbed depth of God has no name: for all names the soul gives to Him are obtained from her understanding.» — Sermón 94 (Pf 97, Q 80, QT 55): Eckhart declara sin nombre la hondura insondable de Dios, porque los nombres los saca el alma de su entender.
«God is superessential and superrational and beyond comprehension as far as the natural understanding is concerned.» — Sermón 94 (Pf 97, Q 80, QT 55): Eckhart declara a Dios superesencial, suprarracional e incomprensible para el entendimiento natural.
«I do not speak of understanding through grace, because by grace a man might be so transported as to understand as St. Paul did:» — Sermón 94 (Pf 97, Q 80, QT 55): Eckhart exceptúa el entender por gracia, con el caso de Pablo.
«Therefore God remains unknown because none has caused Him, He being always the first.» — Sermón 94 (Pf 97, Q 80, QT 55): Eckhart razona el permanecer desconocido de Dios por no tener causa, siendo siempre el primero.
«God cannot give to any creature to understand Him as He is in Himselfnot that He could not do it, but because creatures are not capable of understanding it.» — Sermón 94 (Pf 97, Q 80, QT 55): Eckhart acota que la incapacidad de entenderlo es de las criaturas y no de Dios; el extractor pega en el salto de renglón el *Himself* y el *not* que el impreso separa.
«Therefore Christ says, "You will be transformed into me, but I shall not be transformed into you."» — Sermón 94 (Pf 97, Q 80, QT 55): Eckhart cita la fórmula asimétrica de la transformación, serás transformado en mí y yo no seré transformado en ti.
«Therefore the master says in the book called The Light of Lights, that God is superessential and beyond extolling, superrational and beyond comprehension.» — Sermón 94 (Pf 97, Q 80, QT 55): Eckhart cita el libro llamado Luz de las Luces sobre un Dios superesencial y más allá de todo encomio.
«One master says the soul does not know itself except by likeness, but angels know themselves and God without likeness.» — Sermón 95 (Pf 98, Q 72, QT 56): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que el alma solo se conoce por semejanza y que los ángeles se conocen a sí y a Dios sin semejanza.
«The soul must be transfigured and impressed and molded again in that image which is God's Son.» — Sermón 95 (Pf 98, Q 72, QT 56): Eckhart exige que el alma sea transfigurada y moldeada de nuevo en la imagen que es el Hijo.
«The eye craves light, but taste works perfectly in the dark.» — Sermón 95 (Pf 98, Q 72, QT 56): Eckhart contrasta el ojo, que pide luz, con el gusto, que obra perfectamente a oscuras.
«What I know of God, that is light: what touches creatures is night» — Sermón 95 (Pf 98, Q 72, QT 56): Eckhart reparte luz y noche, lo que sabe de Dios es luz y lo que toca a las criaturas es noche.
«A master says heaven has no light, it is too lofty for that:» — Sermón 95 (Pf 98, Q 72, QT 56): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que el cielo no tiene luz por ser demasiado alto para ello.
«But when all images are detached from the soul and she sees nothing but the one alone, then the naked essence of the soul finds the naked, formless essence of divine unity, which is superessential being, passive, reposing in itself.» — Sermón 96 (Pf 99, Q 83, QT 42): Eckhart describe el hallazgo de la esencia desnuda y sin forma de la unidad divina cuando toda imagen se desprende del alma.
«Now observe: God is nameless because none can say or understand anything about Him.» — Sermón 96 (Pf 99, Q 83, QT 42): Eckhart declara a Dios sin nombre porque nadie puede decir ni entender nada de Él.
«If I now say God is good, it is not true; rather, I am good, God is not good.» — Sermón 96 (Pf 99, Q 83, QT 42): Eckhart niega que sea verdad decir que Dios es bueno, e invierte la atribución.
«I will go further and say I am better than God: for what is good can become better, and what can become better can become best of all.» — Sermón 96 (Pf 99, Q 83, QT 42): Eckhart lleva esa inversión hasta declararse mejor que Dios, y da el razonamiento: lo bueno puede mejorar y Dios no.
«One master says, 'If I had a God I could understand, I would no longer consider him God.'» — Sermón 96 (Pf 99, Q 83, QT 42): Eckhart cita a un maestro que dejaría de tener por Dios al Dios que pudiera entender.
«But if I am to know God without means, then I must really become He and He I.» — Sermón 96 (Pf 99, Q 83, QT 42): Eckhart pone la condición de conocer a Dios sin medio, que él llegue a ser Él y Él llegue a ser él.
«But a single 'here' or a single 'now,' and this 'I' and this 'He' could never work together or become one.» — Sermón 96 (Pf 99, Q 83, QT 42): Eckhart acota que un solo aquí o un solo ahora impedirían para siempre que ese yo y ese Él obraran juntos.
«Boethius says God is one and does not change.» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart cita a Boecio sobre un Dios uno que no cambia.
«God belongs to no one, and no one belongs to Him: God is one.» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart declara que Dios no es de nadie y nadie es de Él, porque Dios es uno.
«Purity of heart is what is apart from and detached from all material things, collected and enclosed within itself, and then plunging from this purity into God and being united with Him.» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart define la pureza de corazón como estar apartado de lo material, recogido en sí y lanzado desde ahí a Dios.
«One master says that all creatures which have differentiation are unworthy that God Himself should work in them.» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart recoge de un maestro que las criaturas con diferenciación no son dignas de que Dios obre en ellas.
«St. Paul says, "One God." One is something purer than goodness or truth.» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart declara el uno más puro que la bondad y que la verdad.
«A master says, 'One is the negation of the negation.» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart cita la fórmula de un maestro, el uno es la negación de la negación.
«All creatures have a negation in themselves: one negates by not being the other.» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart explica la negación que toda criatura lleva en sí, negar por no ser la otra.
«God is one - He is a negation of the negation.» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart aplica la fórmula a Dios, uno porque es negación de la negación.
«I say grace does not unite the soul with God, but is a fulfillment:» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart niega que la gracia una al alma con Dios y la llama cumplimiento.
«it is not one, it is oneness.» — Sermón 97 (Pf 100, Q 21, QT 22): Eckhart enmienda el término: no es uno, es unidad.
«And therefore, in the best prayer a man can pray it should not be 'give me this virtue or that habit,' or even 'Lord, give me Yourself,' or 'eternal life,' but 'Lord, give only what You will, and do, 0 Lord, whatever and however You will in every way.'» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart formula la oración debida, no pedir esta virtud o aquel hábito ni siquiera pedir a Dios o la vida eterna, sino que se haga lo que Él quiera.
«As St. Augustine says,2 'The true servant of God does not desire to be told or given what he would like to hear or see, for his first and highest care is to hear what pleases God best.'» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart cita a Agustín sobre el siervo verdadero, que no desea que se le diga lo que querría oír.
«The most powerful prayer, one well-nigh omnipotent to gain all things, and the noblest work of all is that which proceeds from a bare mind.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara la oración más poderosa la que procede de una mente desnuda.
«A bare mind is one which is worried by nothing and is tied to nothing, which has not bound its best part to any mode, does not seek its own in anything, that is fully immersed in God's dearest will and gone out of its own.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart define esa mente desnuda, sin inquietud ni atadura, sumergida en la voluntad de Dios y salida de la propia.
«We should pray so intently, as if we would have all members and all powers turned to it - eyes, ears, mouth, heart, and all the senses; and we should never stop until we find ourselves about to be united with Him whom we have in mind and are praying to: that is - God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda orar con todos los miembros y potencias vueltos a ello, sin parar hasta hallarse por unir con Aquel a quien se ora.
«It is self-will, though you may not know it or believe it: restlessness never arises in you except from self-will, whether you realize it or not.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart adjudica toda inquietud a la voluntad propia, se sepa o no.
«If people seek peace in outward things, whether in places or in methods or in people or in deeds or in banishment or in poverty or in humiliation, however great or of whatever kind all this may be, this is all in vain and brings them no peace.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara vana la busca de paz en lugares, métodos, personas, obras, destierro, pobreza o humillación.
«But what should he do? He should resign himself to begin with, and then he has abandoned all things.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart da la salida, resignarse uno mismo primero, y declara que con eso ha dejado todas las cosas.
«One saint5 comments on St. Peter's words, "See, Lord, we have left everything" (Matt. 19:27) - and all that he had left was just a net and his boat.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart recoge la observación de un santo sobre Pedro, que dejó todo cuando todo era una red y una barca.
«You must know that no man ever left himself so much in this life, but he could find more to leave.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart niega que nadie se haya dejado tanto a sí mismo que no pueda dejar más.
«It is really an equal exchange and barter: just as much as you go out of all things, just so much, neither more nor less, does God enter in with all that is His - if indeed you go right out of all that is yours.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart formula el trueque exacto, tanto cuanto uno sale de todo, tanto entra Dios con lo suyo.
«People should not worry so much about what they have to do; they should consider rather what they are.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart desplaza la atención del hacer al ser, y manda considerar qué se es antes que qué se hace.
«Do not think to place holiness in doing; we should place holiness in being, for it is not the works that sanctify us, but we who should sanctify the works.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart prohíbe poner la santidad en el hacer y la pone en el ser, porque no son las obras las que santifican sino nosotros las obras.
«However holy the deeds may be, they do not sanctify us in the least insofar as they are deeds, but rather, insofar as we are and have being, just so far do we hallow all that we do, whether it be eating, sleeping, waking, or anything else.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart extiende esa santificación al comer, dormir y velar.
«The basis for a man's essence and ground being wholly good, and from which a man's works derive their goodness, is that a man's whole mind shall be entirely turned toward God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart nombra la base de que el fondo del hombre sea bueno, que la mente entera esté vuelta a Dios.
«Hold fast to God, and He will fasten all goodness to you.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart formula la consigna práctica, aferrarse a Dios y que Él afiance el resto.
«And what before you sought, now seeks you; what before you pursued, now pursues you; and what before you fled, now flees you.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe la inversión: lo que antes se buscaba ahora busca, lo que se perseguía persigue y lo que se huía huye.
«I was asked, 'Some people shun all company and always want to be alone; their peace depends on it, and on being in church. Was that the best thing?' And I said, 'No!'» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart responde que no a la pregunta de si es lo mejor rehuir toda compañía y estar solo en la iglesia.
«He who is in a right state, is always in a right state wherever he is, and with everybody.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart sostiene que quien está en estado recto lo está dondequiera y con quienquiera.
«If he possesses God truly and solely, such a man cannot be disturbed by anybody.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara imperturbable por nadie a quien posea a Dios de veras y solo.
«If we then have none but God alone in mind, then He must really do our work, and God's work can be hindered by none, nor by any company or place.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que entonces Dios hace la obra y que la obra de Dios no la estorba compañía ni lugar.
«this does not mean that one should regard all works as equal, or all places or people.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart acota de inmediato que eso no significa tener por iguales todas las obras, lugares y personas.
«That would be quite wrong, for praying is a better task than spinning, and the church is a nobler place than the street.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara errónea esa igualación y jerarquiza: orar es mejor tarea que hilar y la iglesia es lugar más noble que la calle.
«But in your acts you should have an equal mind and equal faith and equal love for your God, and equal seriousness.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart traslada la igualdad al ánimo, a la fe, al amor y a la seriedad con que se obra.
«But if God is not thus truly in a man, but has to be got from without, from this and that, if he seeks God in unequal fashion, whether in deeds or in people or in places, that man has not got God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe al que busca a Dios de modo desigual, en obras, personas o lugares, y declara que ése no tiene a Dios.
«Accordingly he is put off not only by bad company - even goodness is a hindrance to him: not only the street but even the church, and not only evil words and deeds but even good words and deeds, for the blockage is within himself because in him God has not become all things.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe cómo a ése hasta el bien le estorba, y sitúa el bloqueo dentro de él.
«This true possession of God depends on the mind, an inner mental turning and striving toward God - but not in a continuous and equal thinking of Him, for that would be impossible for nature to strive for, very difficult and not even the best thing.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart acota la posesión verdadera de Dios como vuelta interior de la mente y no como pensar continuo en Él, que declara imposible y ni siquiera lo mejor.
«A man should not have, or be satisfied with, an imagined God, for then, when the idea vanishes, God vanishes!» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart prohíbe contentarse con un Dios imaginado, porque al desvanecerse la idea se desvanece Dios.
«Rather, one should have an essential God, who far transcends the thought of man and all creatures.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda tener un Dios esencial que trasciende el pensamiento del hombre y de toda criatura.
«He who has God thus essentially, takes Him divinely, and for him God shines forth in all things, for all things taste divinely to him, and God's image appears to him from out of all things.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe al que así tiene a Dios, para quien todas las cosas saben divinamente.
«It is just like a man who is terribly thirsty: he can do other things beside drinking and can even turn his mind to other thoughts, but yet, whatever he does and in whatever company he is, whatever he intends, whatever he thinks or does, he never loses the thought of drinking as long as his thirst lasts; and the greater the thirst, the greater and deeper» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart ilustra esa presencia con el sediento, que no pierde el pensamiento de beber haga lo que haga.
«Or if there is a man who is so passionately devoted to a thing that nothing else interests him or touches his heart, he is intent on that thing and nothing else; quite certainly, wherever or with whomever that man is, and whatever he takes up or does, the image of what he loves never fades in him, and he finds its image in everything, and it is ever the more strongly present to him, the more his love for it increases.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart repite el símil con el apasionado por una cosa, cuya imagen no se le borra en nada de lo que emprende.
«This cannot be learned by running away, by fleeing into the desert away from outward things; a man must learn to acquire an inward desert, wherever and with whomever he is.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart niega que eso se aprenda huyendo al desierto, y manda adquirir un desierto interior dondequiera y con quienquiera.
«He must learn to break through things and seize his God in them, and to make His image grow in himself in essential wise.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda romper las cosas y asir a Dios en ellas, y hacer crecer su imagen en uno de modo esencial.
«Only then are we in a right state and not before, and a man can never come to an end of this, but can continue to grow and gain more and more in genuine increase.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que a esto no se le llega nunca al cabo y que siempre cabe crecer.
«It is true that one piece of work differs from another, but if a man were to do all things with an equal mind, then indeed his works would all be equal, and for a man in a right state, who should thus possess God, God would shine forth as nakedly in the most worldly things as in the most godly.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que al hombre en estado recto Dios resplandece tan desnudo en lo más mundano como en lo más divino.
«For him who would be in a right state, one of two things must happen: either he must seize God in activities, and learn to have Him, or he must abandon all works.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart plantea la alternativa, asir a Dios en las actividades o abandonar toda obra.
«But since man cannot in this life refrain from activities, which are human and manifold, so a man should learn to have his God in all things and remain unhindered in all acts and places.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart cierra la alternativa por el lado posible, tener a Dios en todas las cosas y quedar libre en todo acto y lugar.
«You should know that the impulse to wrongdoing is not without great benefit and use to the righteous.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que el impulso al mal es de gran provecho para el justo, que es de sus tesis más contrarias al sentido común devoto.
«As St. Paul says, "Virtue is perfected in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart apoya esa tesis en Pablo, la virtud se perfecciona en la debilidad.
«Inclination to sin is not sin, but willingness to sin is sin, willingness to be angry is sin.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart separa la inclinación al pecado, que no es pecado, de la voluntad de pecar, que sí lo es.
«if a man who was in a right state had the power to wish, he would not wish to lose his inclination to sin, for without this a man would be uncertain in all things and in all his acts, without a care for things, and would also miss the honor of struggle, victory, and reward;» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart sostiene que el hombre en estado recto no querría perder su inclinación al pecado, porque sin ella perdería el honor de la lucha, la victoria y el premio.
«For this inclination makes a man ever more zealous to practice virtue strongly; it drives him by force to virtue and is a sharp lash which compels a man to mindfulness and virtue, for the weaker a man finds himself to be, the more he should arm himself with strength and victory.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe esa inclinación como látigo que fuerza a la virtud y a la atención.
«But he should not think himself far from all virtues if he is aware of a good will in himself, for virtue and all goodness lies in a good will.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que la virtud y toda bondad están en la buena voluntad.
«If you have a true and proper will, you can lack nothing, neither love nor humility nor any other virtue.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que con voluntad verdadera y recta nada falta, ni amor ni humildad ni virtud alguna.
«Note this: though I might never have done an evil deed, yet if I had the will to do evil, the sin is mine, just as if I had done the deed;» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart iguala ante Dios la voluntad de hacer el mal con el hecho consumado.
«In fact, with the will I can do all things. I can endure the sorrows of all men, feed all the poor, and do all men's work, or whatever you can think of.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara lo que puede con la voluntad, padecer los dolores de todos, alimentar a todos los pobres y hacer la obra de todos.
«If you have lacked only in the power and not in the will, then in the eyes of God you have done it all, and no one can take this from you or hinder you for a moment, for the will to do as soon as I can is the same in the sight of God as having done the deed.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart formula la equivalencia: faltando el poder y no la voluntad, a los ojos de Dios está hecho.
«Now you may ask when the will is a right will. The will is perfect and right when it is without all attachment, when it has gone out of self and is shaped and formed after the will of God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart define la voluntad recta, sin apego, salida de sí y formada según la voluntad de Dios.
«And those who have more of this are not always the best people, for though it may well come from God, yet our Lord gives it to such folk as an enticement and a stimulus, or as a way of keeping them apart from other people.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart acota que quienes más sienten no son siempre los mejores, y explica esos sentimientos como aliciente o como modo de apartarlos de los demás.
«But when such people later on gain more love, they may not have so much feeling or sensation, and then it clearly appears that they have love, if without such support they remain wholly and steadfastly faithful to God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart da la prueba del amor, permanecer fiel a Dios sin ese apoyo sensible.
«However, you should know that God's friends8 are never without consolation, for whatever God wills is their greatest consolation, whether it is comfort or discomfort.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que los amigos de Dios nunca están sin consuelo, porque su mayor consuelo es lo que Dios quiera, sea consuelo o incomodidad.
«No counsel is so good for finding God as to seek where you left Him; and if you now do, while you miss Him, just as you did when you last had Him, then you will find Him.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart da el consejo para hallar a Dios, buscarlo donde se lo dejó y estar como se estaba cuando se lo tenía.
«Many people say, 'We have a good will,' but they have not God's will: they want to have their will, or they want to teach our Lord to do such and such.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart objeta a los que dicen tener buena voluntad y quieren enseñarle a Dios qué hacer.
«God's intent in all things is that we should give up our will.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que el propósito de Dios en todas las cosas es que entreguemos nuestra voluntad.
«But if it should come to the point that we gave up all of our will, daring to abandon all things for God's sake, then we should have done all things, and not before.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart pone la condición de haberlo hecho todo, entregar la voluntad entera y atreverse a abandonarlo todo.
«You must give yourself up wholly to God in every respect, not caring what He does with His own.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda entregarse a Dios sin cuidarse de qué hará con lo suyo.
«Thousands have died and gone to heaven who never departed perfectly from their own will, but that alone would be a perfect and true will if one had completely entered into God's will and were without a will of one's own.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart concede que miles fueron al cielo sin apartarse del todo de su voluntad, y describe la voluntad perfecta como la que no es propia.
«Even one Ave Maria said in this spirit, when a man has gone out of himself, is of more value than reading a thousand psalters without it.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart mide un ave maría dicho así por encima de mil salterios leídos sin eso.
«In fact a single step with it would be better than crossing the sea without it.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart repite esa medida con el paso y la travesía del mar.
«A man who had thus thoroughly abandoned self and everything pertaining to self would in truth be so firmly established in God that, wherever you touched him you would first touch God,» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe al que abandonó lo propio, tan establecido en Dios que tocarlo es tocar a Dios primero.
«If my tongue is coated with bitterness, then indeed, however sweet the wine may be in itself, it must become bitter by the means» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart ilustra el estorbo del medio con la lengua amarga que agria el vino dulce.
«Truly, a man who had quite renounced his own would be so surrounded by God that all creatures could not touch him, and whatever got to him would have to pass through God, and in doing so take on His flavor and become godlike.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe al renunciado rodeado de Dios, de modo que lo que le llega pasa por Dios y toma su sabor.
«However great the suffering may be, if it comes through God, then God suffers first from it.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que en todo sufrimiento que viene por Dios, Dios sufre primero.
«But if God endures this for the sake of such benefit as He intends for you thereby, and if you will endure that which God endures and which comes to you through Him, then it inevitably becomes godlike, so that shame is like honor, bitterness like sweetness, and the blackest darkness like the brightest light.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe la transformación del padecer en cosa divina, la vergüenza como honra y la tiniebla como la luz más clara.
«But should it happen that such a man slipped or erred in speech, or that something wrong crept in, since God began the work He must bear the damage: therefore you should on no account abandon your work.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda no abandonar la obra aunque haya desliz, porque quien la empezó ha de cargar el daño.
«Just because tares sometimes grow among the corn, you should not on that account reject the good corn.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart ilustra eso con la cizaña entre el trigo, que no obliga a rechazar el trigo bueno.
«For to the good, all things work for the good, as St. Paul says (Rom. 8:28), and as St. Augustine says, 'Yes, even sins,'» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart apoya esa doctrina en Pablo y en Agustín, que añade el sí, aun los pecados.
«In fact, to have sinned is no sin if one regrets it.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que haber pecado no es pecado si uno se arrepiente.
«But you should safely trust God not to have permitted this unless He wanted to turn it to your profit.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda confiar en que Dios no lo habría permitido si no quisiera volverlo en provecho.
«But when a man stands right above sin and turns completely away, then our faithful God acts as if that man had never fallen into sin, and will not let him suffer for a moment for all his sins.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe el trato de Dios con el que se aparta del pecado, como si nunca hubiera caído.
«Even if they were as many as all men have ever committed, God will never punish him, but would be as familiar to that man as to any other creature.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart lleva esa doctrina al extremo, aunque fueran cuantos pecados han cometido todos los hombres.
«That is why God gladly accepts the harm of sins and has often tolerated it and allowed it to come to those whom He has chosen to prepare for great things.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que Dios acepta de buen grado el daño de los pecados en aquellos a quienes prepara para cosas grandes.
«There are two kinds of repentance. The one is temporal or sensible, the other is divine and supernatural.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart distingue dos arrepentimientos, el temporal o sensible y el divino y sobrenatural.
«Temporal repentance drags down into ever greater sorrow and plunges a man into such distress that he is ready to despair, and then the repentance remains painful and gets no further: nothing comes of this.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe el temporal, que arrastra a dolor mayor y a la desesperación y no llega a nada.
«But divine repentance is quite different. As soon as a man feels dissatisfied, he at once rises toward God and establishes an unshakeable will to turn from all sin forever; then he lifts himself in full confidence to God and gains great assurance; and from that there arises a spiritual joy which elevates the soul above all woe and distress and makes it fast to God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe el divino, que alza a Dios en confianza y de ahí saca un gozo espiritual que pone el alma sobre toda pena.
«And the greater we ourselves feel our sin to be, the more ready God is to forgive that sin and to enter the soul to drive it out; for everyone is most eager to get rid of what hurts him most.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart enuncia la proporción del perdón, que cuanto mayor se siente el pecado más presto está Dios a perdonarlo.
«And then, when this divine repentance lifts itself up to God, all sins have vanished in God's abyss more quickly than I can blink an eye, and they are completely destroyed as if they had never been, provided the repentance is complete.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe la desaparición de los pecados en el abismo de Dios más rápido que un parpadeo, con la condición del arrepentimiento completo.
«And so, just as God could never love a man too much, nor could a man trust God too much.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart empareja los dos excesos imposibles, que Dios ame demasiado a un hombre y que un hombre confíe demasiado en Dios.
«There are in this life two kinds of certainty of eternal life.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart distingue dos certezas de la vida eterna en esta vida.
«One is when God tells a man Himself or through an angel or shows him by a special illumination.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe la primera, cuando Dios lo dice por sí o por un ángel o por una iluminación especial.
«The other kind of knowledge is incomparably better, and this often comes to people who have perfect love.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara la segunda incomparablemente mejor y propia de quienes tienen amor perfecto.
«And even if all creatures rejected him and forswore him, though God Himself rejected him, he would not lose his faith, for love cannot lose faith but always trusts in the good.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart lleva esa fe al extremo de que ni el rechazo de Dios mismo se la quitaría, porque el amor confía siempre en el bien.
«For however much you love Him, rest assured that He loves you immeasurably more and has vastly more faith in you.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart invierte la medida del amor, que Él ama y confía inmensurablemente más.
«But the telling [i.e., the first kind mentioned above] might be deceptive and could be a false illumination.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart acota el riesgo de la primera certeza, que puede ser engañosa y venir de una iluminación falsa.
«For all God's works are absolutely perfect and superabundant, so that if He forgives He forgives altogether and completely, and more willingly big sins than little, and that creates perfect faith.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart deriva la fe perfecta de que Dios perdona del todo y de mejor gana los pecados grandes.
«But he to whom more is forgiven should love the more, as our Lord Christ said, "He to whom more is forgiven must love more" (Luke 7:47).» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart cita el dicho evangélico sobre amar más aquel a quien más se le perdona.
«Indeed, you might well turn away quickly and in a short time from all sins, so strongly and with such true revulsion, and turn so strongly to God that, though you had committed all the sins that ever were or shall be since Adam's time, they would all be forgiven you, together with the punishment for them, so that if you were to die now you would come before the face of God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara posible volverse de todos los pecados desde Adán en poco tiempo y con tal fuerza que queden perdonados con su pena.
«For He is little concerned with our works, but only with our state of mind in all our works, that we love Him alone in all things.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que a Dios le importan poco nuestras obras y solo el ánimo con que se hacen.
«And the more purely and simply you seek God in them, the more truly will your works atone for your sins.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart enuncia la proporción entre la pureza con que se busca a Dios en las obras y su valor expiatorio.
«You should consider, too, that God was the common savior of the entire world, and for that I owe Him more gratitude than if He had saved me alone.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart razona su gratitud por un salvador común del mundo entero antes que por uno que lo salvara solo a él.
«Thus you should be a common savior of all that you have spoilt in yourself by sin; and you must commit yourself to Him with all that, for with sin you have spoilt all that is in you - heart, mind, body, soul, powers, and whatever else there is in and about you: it is all sick and spoilt.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda ser salvador común de todo lo que uno echó a perder en sí, corazón, mente, cuerpo, alma y potencias.
«People may well be daunted and afraid because the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and the saints was so severe and painful, and a man cannot endure much of this or does not feel compelled to it.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart consigna el desánimo que produce la severidad de la vida de Cristo y de los santos.
«Even suppose, though, that your great shortcomings have carried you so far away that you cannot conceive yourself near to God, you should still regard God as near to you.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda tener a Dios por cercano aunque uno no pueda concebirse cerca de Él.
«For great harm results if a man puts God at a distance: for whether a man goes near or far, God never goes far away but always stands nearby; and even if He cannot remain within, He never goes further than outside the door.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe a Dios que nunca se aleja y que, si no puede quedarse dentro, no pasa de la puerta.
«If you then find that your nearest way is not in the doing of outward works or in great endurance or deprivation - which are actually of small account unless a man is specially driven to them by God or has the power to perform them without damage to his inner life - if you find that this is not in you, then be at peace and do not take much of this upon yourself.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart exime de las obras externas duras a quien no se sienta llamado a ellas, y las llama de poca cuenta salvo que Dios empuje.
«But you may say, 'If this does not matter, then why did our forbears, many of them saints, do it?' Consider this: our Lord gave them this way and also the strength to do it, so that they could follow this way, and he was pleased with them for this, in which they should profit best.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart responde a la objeción de los antepasados santos adjudicándoles una vía dada por el Señor con la fuerza de recorrerla.
«Whatever has one mode has not another, but God has endowed all good ways with effectiveness and denied this to no good wayY For one good does not conflict with another good.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que Dios dio eficacia a todas las vías buenas y que un bien no riñe con otro.
«Let every man keep to his own good way and include all ways in it, and take up in his way all goodness and all ways.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda a cada uno quedarse en su vía buena e incluir en ella todas las vías.
«Christ performed many works in which he intended that we should follow him spiritually but not physically.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart distingue las obras de Cristo que hay que seguir espiritualmente de las que no hay que seguir físicamente.
«I consider a spiritual work more valuable than a physical one.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara más valiosa la obra espiritual que la física.
«And that is doubtless why God spares His friends much great suffering; for otherwise His measureless good faith would not permit this, seeing that so much great profit resides in suffering, and He would not and ought not to deprive them of any good thing.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart explica por qué Dios ahorra a sus amigos mucho sufrimiento, y a la vez por qué no debe privarlos del provecho que hay en él.
«For nothing moves God to any act but His own goodness, and our deeds contribute nothing to making God give us anything or do anything for us.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart niega que nuestras obras muevan a Dios a nada y adjudica todo a su propia bondad.
«But they should consider and regard themselves as mere nothing in all God's great gifts; for the more barely and freely the mind falls on to God and is supported by Him, the more deeply a man is established in God and the more receptive to God in all His most precious gifts.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda tenerse por mera nada ante los dones de Dios, y enuncia la proporción entre desnudez de la mente y receptividad.
«Whoever would fain receive the body of our Lord has no need to attend to what he experiences or tastes in it, or how great his piety and reverence is, but he should observe how his will and intention is.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart desplaza la comunión de lo que se experimenta o gusta a la voluntad y la intención.
«In particular you should eschew all, whether in clothing, food, or speech - such as using high-flown words - or any peculiarity of gestures, which is of no value.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda evitar toda singularidad de ropa, comida, palabras altisonantes o gestos.
«Still, you must know that not all peculiarity is forbidden.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart acota de inmediato que no toda singularidad está prohibida.
«A man should have conformed himself to our Lord Jesus Christ inwardly in all things, so that in him is found a reflection of all his works and of his divine image; so a man should bear within himself a perfect likeness, as far as he can, of all his works.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda conformarse interiormente a Cristo hasta llevar en sí un reflejo de todas sus obras.
«All the more need for you to go to your God, for by Him you will be enflamed and set afire, and in Him you will be sanctified and joined and made one with Him, for you will find such grace in the sacrament, and nowhere else so truly, that your bodily powers are there united and collected by the precious power of the physical presence of our Lord's body, so that all a man's scattered senses and his mind are here concentrated and unified, and those which especially were too much inclined downward will be lifted up and duly offered to God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe lo que el sacramento hace con las potencias corporales, que se unen y recogen por la presencia física del cuerpo del Señor.
«Truly, if you want to transform all your poverty, then go to the abundant treasury of immeasurable riches, and you will be rich.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda ir con la propia pobreza al tesoro abundante de riquezas inconmensurables.
«Therefore say, 'I will go to You, that Your riches may end my penury and all Your boundless superfluity fill up my emptiness, and Your immeasurable, inconceivable Godhead replenish my all too base and corrupt humanity.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart pone en boca del comulgante la fórmula del canje, que la riqueza de Él acabe con la penuria propia.
«Indeed, in the body of our Lord the soul is so joined to God that all angels, whether of the choir of Cherubim or of Seraphim, cannot discover or find out the difference between them.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe la unión en el cuerpo del Señor, donde ni querubines ni serafines hallan la diferencia entre el alma y Dios.
«For wherever they touch God they touch the soul, and where they touch the soul they touch God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart razona esa indistinción: donde tocan a Dios tocan al alma y al revés.
«There never was so close a union, for the soul is far more closely united with God than are body and soul, which make up a man.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara esa unión más estrecha que la de cuerpo y alma que hacen a un hombre.
«This union is far closer than when a man pours a drop of water into a vat of wine, for that would make water and wine - but this is so turned into one that all creatures could never find out the difference.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart la declara más estrecha que la gota de agua echada en una cuba de vino, porque eso daría agua y vino.
«The less you feel and the more you firmly believe, the more laudable is your faith, and the more it will be respected and praised, for perfect faith is far» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart enuncia la proporción inversa entre lo que se siente y el mérito de la fe.
«In fact we lack nothing but true faith.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que no nos falta sino fe verdadera.
«Thus he who has equal faith takes equally and has things equally.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart concluye que quien tiene fe igual toma por igual y tiene las cosas por igual.
«His higher powers had possession and enjoyment of eternal bliss.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe las potencias altas de Cristo en posesión y gozo de la bienaventuranza eterna durante la pasión.
«Rather, the suffering of the senses and the lower powers are not your concern, nor this assault of the world: for the greater and fiercer the struggle, the greater and more glorious the victory and the honor of victory.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que el sufrimiento de los sentidos y de las potencias bajas no es asunto de uno, y enuncia la proporción entre lucha y honra de la victoria.
«No man ever receives the precious body of our Lord in this spirit without receiving great and especial grace, and the oftener, the greater the profit.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart declara que nadie recibe así el cuerpo del Señor sin gracia grande y especial, y tanto más cuanto más a menudo.
«Indeed, it is possible for a man to receive the body of our Lord with such devotion and intentness that if he were ordained to enter the lowest choir of angels, by once receiving him thus he would be raised to the next choir;» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe el ascenso de coro angélico que una comunión devota puede valer, y es una de sus escalas más concretas.
«if there were two men, alike in their lives, and if one of them had worthily received the body of our Lord once more than the other, that man would thereby be as a bright sun above the other and have a special union with God.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart compara a dos hombres de vida igual y adjudica al que comulgó una vez más la claridad de un sol sobre el otro.
«This receiving and this blessed enjoyment of the body of our Lord depends not just on outward enjoyment; it depends too on spiritual enjoyment with desirous mind, in atonement and devotion.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart acota que ese recibir no depende solo del gozo exterior sino del espiritual, con mente deseosa y devoción.
«But if one has not. the desire one should urge oneself on, make ready and conduct oneself accordingly, and then one can become holy in time and blessed in eternity: for to follow and obey God is eternity.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart manda urgirse a sí mismo cuando falta el deseo, y define la eternidad como seguir y obedecer a Dios.
«One should rather confess to God than to man, and it is a duty to take one's confession to God seriously and accuse oneself strictly.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart prefiere la confesión a Dios antes que al hombre, y manda acusarse a sí estrictamente.
«for an unpracticed man it is an uncommon thing to reach the point where no crowd and no task hinders him - it calls for diligent application so that God is ever present to him and shines before him completely unveiled, at all times and in all compa̦ y.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart describe lo raro que es para el no ejercitado llegar a que ninguna multitud ni tarea lo estorbe.
«that a man has shut himself off well inwardly, so that his mind is on its guard against the images without, that they remain without and do not unfittingly keep company and walk with him, and that they find no resting place in him.» — The Talks of Instruction: Eckhart nombra la primera de las dos condiciones, cerrarse bien por dentro para que las imágenes de fuera no hallen reposo en uno.
Sobre la obra
343 entradas — lo que el aparato y la investigación dicen de ella«The editorial team that took over after his death, headed by Georg Steer, studied these and other sermons, both the previously known and the newly discovered, before beginning the publication of DW IV.» — McGinn, en el Foreword, traza la cadena editorial alemana: muerto Quint, el equipo que encabezó Georg Steer revisó los sermones conocidos y los recién hallados antes de sacar el tomo DW IV.
«(These editors argue for the full authenticity of the homilies considered doubtful by Quint.)» — McGinn añade entre paréntesis que ese equipo se aparta de Quint y defiende como plenamente auténticas las homilías que él tenía por dudosas: la disputa sobre el canon sigue abierta dentro de la propia edición crítica.
«he soon realized that despite her "skill and enthusiasm," "she chose to take liberties with the text.» — McGinn resume por qué Walshe abandonó la idea de revisar a Evans y tradujo de nuevo, citando dos expresiones del propio Walshe sobre ella, la de la destreza y el entusiasmo y la de las libertades con el texto.
«Translation of Eckhart into English began in the first decade of the twentieth century.» — McGinn data el arranque de la traducción inglesa de Eckhart en la primera década del siglo XX.
«The earliest translations of 1909 and 1917 are now almost totally forgotten.» — McGinn dice que las dos primeras traducciones inglesas, de 1909 y 1917, están hoy casi del todo olvidadas.
«The most notable collection is Meister Eckhart: Selected Writings, selected and translated by Oliver Davies, and published in the Penguin Classics series in 1994.» — McGinn nombra la colección más notable de las dos décadas previas a esta reedición, la de Oliver Davies en Penguin Classics.
«Bruce Milem's The Unspoken Word: Negative Theology in Meister Eckhart's German Sermons contained new renditions of four of the Meister's most important vernacular sermons.» — McGinn registra las versiones nuevas de cuatro sermones capitales que trae el estudio de Bruce Milem sobre la teología negativa.
«Walshe's prowess with languages was not restricted to Middle High German.» — McGinn apunta que la competencia lingüística de Walshe no se agotaba en el alto alemán medio.
«In 1951 Walshe become an active and dedicated adherent of Theravada Buddhism.» — McGinn fecha en 1951 la adhesión de Walshe al budismo Theravada: el traductor de Eckhart era también traductor de clásicos en pali.
«He served as vice president of the English Buddhist Society and later was chairman and director of the Sangha Trust for many years, to which group he bequeathed much of his legacy, including the rights to his Eckhart translations.» — McGinn dice a quién pasaron los derechos de estas traducciones, que es el mismo fondo que firma el copyright de la plana 8.
«Walshe even lived for a time as full-fledged Buddhist monk, taking the name Mahiiniimo Bhikku.» — McGinn consigna que Walshe vivió un tiempo como monje budista de pleno derecho; el nombre monástico sale con el OCR corrompido, donde el impreso lleva Mahānāmo Bhikkhu.
«Although in declining health, he served as a Patron of the Society for a number of years before his death in 1998.» — McGinn cierra la semblanza con la fecha de muerte de Walshe y su condición de patrono de la Eckhart Society.
«This is not to say that he was always right (no translator ever is), but it does underline his privileged position among those who have sought to English Meister Eckhart.» — McGinn acota el elogio en la misma frase en que lo hace, y la reserva es parte de lo que dice.
«One advantage of using the Pfeiffer order is that it allowed Walshe to begin his work with a splendid introduction, the four sermons on the birth of the Word in the soul that Eckhart preached during the Christmas season and that constitute a unique mini-treatise in his sermonic corpus.» — McGinn señala qué gana la edición al conservar el orden de Pfeiffer: abre con las cuatro prédicas del nacimiento del Verbo en el alma, que él llama un minitratado dentro del sermonario.
«The largest gap is the exclusion of seventeen sermons that have now appeared in DW IV, but that Walshe chose not to translate from earlier versions, although many of these were familiar to him.» — McGinn mide el hueco mayor de esta colección: diecisiete sermones ya publicados en DW IV que Walshe no quiso traducir.
«The bottom line is that while there may be no complete agreement yet concerning the full number of Eckhart's vernacular sermons, Walshe's translation is the fullest presently available.» — McGinn resume su balance sin cerrar la cuestión del número de sermones.
«Quint accepted this work as authentic in OW V, but more recent scholarship has doubted Eckhartian authorship (e.g., Kurt Ruh and Georg Steer).» — McGinn consigna el desacuerdo sobre el Liber Benedictus: Quint lo tuvo por auténtico y la investigación posterior, con Kurt Ruh y Georg Steer, lo pone en duda.
«All would agree, though, that the work is a profound treatment of one of the central motifs in Eckhart's thought.» — McGinn señala dónde sí hay acuerdo sobre esa obra discutida, que es en su asunto y no en su autoría.
«Others, however, are more significant and these fall into three groups.» — McGinn ordena sus correcciones en tres grupos, y esa es la medida de lo que esta reedición cambia respecto de los tomos de 1979 a 1987.
«On the basis of the recent research of Alessandra Beccarisi,25 however, it seems clear that the term is derived from istic (that) rather than ist (is) and therefore it means the "thatness," or self-identity, of an intellectual nature, since Eckhart uses it to refer to the pure intellectuality of God and human.» — McGinn enmienda un término de Walshe apoyado en la investigación de Beccarisi sobre el neologismo *isticheit*.
«Walshe translated this "by way of union," but I have substituted "by way of connection," because Eckhart is talking about the bond of love that exists between the producer and what is produced after the model of the love between Father and Son that is the source and reality of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity.» — McGinn dice qué expresión de Walshe sustituyó y por qué, para no dejar la unión del alma con Dios dicha como la del Espíritu Santo en la Trinidad.
«However, I have tried to regularize the style of the notes, particularly in terms of the identification of sources, and I have corrected a number of errors.» — McGinn declara que regularizó el estilo de las notas y enmendó errores, sin rehacer la traducción.
«Walshe was wrong in following Pfeiffer's order for these four sermons.» — McGinn objeta una decisión de Walshe sobre el orden de cuatro sermones.
«Although Walshe knew the Paradisus collection, intensive investigation in recent decades has shown how important the collection is for understanding Eckhart's sermonic corpus.» — McGinn mide lo que la colección Paradisus anime intelligentis pesa hoy para entender el sermonario, frente a lo que Walshe pudo saber.
«I here note the most evident errors: (1) there is now evidence that Eckhart died on January 28, 1328, at Avignon (see p. 6);» — McGinn abre la lista de errores de la introducción de Walshe que su revisión enmienda, empezando por la fecha y el lugar de la muerte de Eckhart.
«good evidence now exists that Eckhart was not "half-forgotten" after his death (p. 13).» — McGinn cierra esa lista objetando la idea de que Eckhart quedara medio olvidado tras morir.
«The figure of the greatest of German mystics, the Dominican Meister Eckhart, has been the object of so much speculation and controversy, often on the basis of unreliable translations or wrong attributions, that the publication of a new extended selection of his works in English translation calls for no excuse.» — Walshe abre el prefacio al primer tomo justificando una traducción nueva por la cantidad de versiones poco fiables y de atribuciones equivocadas que rodean a Eckhart.
«What the translator has to do, however, in presenting such a selection, is to justify his choice and the textual basis from which he works.» — Walshe fija su obligación como traductor: justificar la selección y la base textual, no exponer doctrina.
«But its style, whimsically adorned with archaisms, is not always to the modern taste, and the translation was based (though far from uncritically) on the pioneer but now entirely outdated edition of Franz Pfeiffer (1 857).» — Walshe objeta el estilo de la traducción de Evans y, sobre todo, su base, la edición de Pfeiffer de 1857.
«However, Eckhart scholarship has made immense progress since then, and my aim has been to incorporate the main results of the vast labors of German and other scholars in this new version.» — Walshe da la razón positiva de rehacerla: el avance de la investigación desde entonces.
«I have, however, not hesitated to retain Miss Evans's renderings whenever, as often, I felt I could not better them.» — Walshe declara que conservó frases de Evans donde no supo mejorarlas, y le da el crédito.
«These volumes represent an achievement - carried out virtually single-handedly - which has few equals even in the illustrious annals of German scholarship.» — Walshe califica la edición Kohlhammer de Quint, hecha casi por un solo hombre, como logro mayor de la erudición alemana.
«As stated, the textual basis of this translation is, wherever possible, that of Quint in the Kohlhammer edition.» — Walshe declara la base textual de su traducción, que es la edición crítica de Quint.
«His native dialect was that of Thuringia, but he must have considerably modified his linguistic forms during his extensive travels.» — Walshe describe la lengua de Eckhart: el dialecto de Turingia modificado por sus viajes.
«The result, though artificial, is convenient, and eases the translator's task at times.» — Walshe acota la normalización dialectal de Quint llamándola artificial y cómoda a la vez.
«I have followed established English practice in referring to him by the German designation Meister Eckhart, although there is perhaps no very good reason which we should not call him Master Eckhart in English.» — Walshe explica por qué conserva el título alemán *Meister* en inglés, y se pregunta en voz alta si no debería traducirlo.
«Occasionally, for some reason, one finds him referred to as Johannes Eckhart, but there is absolutely no warrant for this: his full name was in fact Eckhart von Hochheim.» — Walshe niega el nombre de pila con que a veces se le cita y da el que tiene por suyo.
«Quint's principle of verification is based on the quotations in the trial documents (for which see Blakney); where these are lacking, he is guided by other criteria such as references back or parallels in the Latin works.» — Walshe expone el criterio de autenticidad de Quint, que coteja el sermón alemán contra las obras latinas.
«While this procedure was methodologically unimpeachable for the purpose of establishing a valid Eckhart 'canon,' so far as that can be done, the order so arrived at has perhaps no particular merit for other purposes.» — Walshe reconoce el método de Quint para su propósito y le pone límite para otros.
«In the almost total absence of reliable chronological indications, 1 then, it seemed justified to retain as far as possible Pfeiffer's order, which has a certain amount of manuscript support.» — Walshe justifica haber conservado el orden de Pfeiffer por la falta de cronología fiable.
«The sermons may be followed by the Collations, or Talks of Instruction, which can be dated before 1298, and then by the two treatises properly speaking, which are now recognized as genuine, namely, The Book of Divine Comfort (1308?) with its appendix The Nobleman, and On Detachment.» — Walshe describe la secuencia de las piezas de su traducción, sermones, colaciones y los tres tratados.
«This is of some importance since, as Clark rather acidly remarks, 'British and American writers have an unfortunate predilection for the spurious works.'» — Walshe cita a Clark sobre la propensión de las ediciones a preferir las obras espurias.
«I would draw attention to three particular points: The pronouns 'He,' etc., when referring to God the Father (only), are capitalized for clarity, and this has on occasion proven a neat way of indicating my interpretation of a particular passage.» — Walshe anuncia los tres puntos de método que fija para el lector, sobre pronombres y citas.
«Finally, biblical references are translated directly from Eckhart's German and marked by double quotation marks, all other passages cited being in single quotes.» — Walshe declara de dónde traduce los pasajes bíblicos y qué convención tipográfica usa para las citas.
«It is fitting to open this Preface with a tribute to the late Professor Josef Quint ( 1898-1976), without whose monumental labors this translation could never have been attempted.» — Walshe abre el prefacio al segundo tomo con el reconocimiento a Quint, muerto poco antes.
«He was undeterred by the total loss of his materials during World War II, and subsequently continued to work virtually single-handed, collecting, collating, and publishing, despite a serious accident and much illness, almost to the end.» — Walshe consigna que Quint siguió trabajando pese a perder enteros sus materiales, que es el episodio de la guerra.
«The first three volumes contain the eighty-six sermons which Quint considered unquestionably authentic.» — Walshe fija el número de sermones que Quint tuvo por incuestionablemente auténticos.
«The fourth volume was destined to contain a further series of German sermons which Quint, a cautious man, considered 'probably genuine.'» — Walshe registra la categoría intermedia de Quint, la de los sermones probablemente genuinos, y lo llama hombre cauto.
«I have added these, together with another four (Pfeiffer Sermons 3, 37, 61, and 75).» — Walshe declara qué añadió por su cuenta a la selección de Quint.
«It will probably convince most readers that Eckhart's Latin works are really only for the specialist.» — Walshe acota el alcance de las obras latinas de Eckhart, que tiene por materia de especialistas.
«I am, however, reliably informed that Sermons 1-4 of the present translation (Pfeiffer/Evans 1-4), which Quint did not see fit to include among the eighty-six, are considered genuine by leading scholars.» — Walshe consigna en el prefacio al tercer tomo que se le informó de sermones tenidos por genuinos, sin hacerlo suyo.
«Perhaps in due course another translator will come forward to present whatever new material later research brings to light.» — Walshe deja abierta la tarea a un traductor futuro con lo que la investigación descubra.
«Finally, in concluding my labors I would like to emphasize that my task as translator has been by far the easiest part: it is others who have done the really hard work.» — Walshe cierra sus prefacios adjudicando el trabajo duro a los editores alemanes y no a sí mismo.
«These are either important textual sources or works which can be considered milestones in Eckhart research.» — Walshe declara el criterio de su Select Bibliography, que no pretende ser exhaustiva.
«The reader who seeks more can now be conveniently referred to Ernst Soudek, Meister Eckhart (Sammlung Metzler 120), Stuttgart, 1973.» — Walshe remite a quien quiera más a la bibliografía de Ernst Soudek.
«With regard to the actual text of Walshe's translations, one could well argue for leaving the originals to stand without alteration, as a witness to an impressive one-person effort.» — McGinn dice el argumento contrario al suyo antes de decidir: dejar el texto intacto como testimonio de un esfuerzo de una sola persona; el tramo se corta aquí porque la frase sigue en la plana siguiente.
«Walshe chose to be highly selective, and, one must say, somewhat idiosyncratic in his notes.» — McGinn caracteriza el aparato de notas de Walshe, que es la capa de voz que este volumen añade a los sermones.
«He often compares his readings with those of his predecessors (especially to highlight their mistakes), and he depends on Quint's notes in identifying some sources (he usually marks these with a Q» — McGinn describe la mecánica de esas notas: cotejo con los predecesores, con la marca Q cuando la fuente la identificó Quint.
«Pf German sermons in Pfeiffer, 1 857. Q German sermons ed. Quint in DW (1, 124; II, 25-59; III, 60-8 6). QT German sermons translated by Quint, 1955.» — la tabla de abreviaturas resuelve la triple sigla que encabeza cada sermón de este volumen, Pf por Pfeiffer, Q por la edición de Quint y QT por su traducción alemana: sin ella el título de un sermón no se puede leer.
«D W Deutsche Werke=Eckhart's German works 10 the Kohlhammer edition 1936ff.» — la misma tabla fija la sigla DW de las obras alemanas en la edición Kohlhammer; el troceo imprime la sigla partida y *in* como *10*.
«LW Lateinische Werke=Eckhart's Latin works 10 the Kohlhammer edition 1936ff.» — y la sigla LW de las obras latinas, que este volumen no traduce.
«Note: This is primarily intended for the English-speaking reader who knows little or no German.» — Walshe declara a quién sirve su bibliografía, que es al lector inglés sin alemán, y por eso no es censo de la investigación.
«A useful bibliography (though marred by too many misprints!) by O'Meara et al. is to be found in The Thomist 42» — Walshe remite a otra bibliografía y le pone su reserva en el mismo paréntesis en que la recomienda.
«Appendix to Part One: Eckhart the Scholastic Part Two TREATISES AND OTHER WORKS Introduction to Part Two I. The Talks of Instruction II. The Book of Divine Comfort III. The Nobleman IV. On Detachment V. Fragment of an Unknown Sermon (98, Q 99) Appendix A to Part Two: Four Eckhart Legends 1. A Good Morning 2. The Naked Boy 3. Meister Eckhart's Daughter 4. Meister Eckhart's Feast Appendix B to Part Two: The Master's Final Words» — el índice enumera lo que no son sermones: el apéndice escolástico que cierra la primera parte y, en la segunda, la introducción de Walshe, los cuatro tratados, el fragmento de sermón desconocido, las cuatro leyendas y las últimas palabras del maestro.
«It is not my purpose here to propound views, whether my own or those of others, on the subject of mysticism in general or Eckhart's mysticism in particular.» — Walshe abre la introducción a la primera parte declarando su abstención: no viene a proponer tesis sobre el misticismo ni sobre el de Eckhart.
«Mysticism, or something akin to it, is very ancient and is found in the religious traditions of the whole world.» — Walshe sitúa el misticismo como fenómeno de todas las tradiciones religiosas del mundo antes de acotar el cristiano.
«Neoplatonism was incorporated into Christian thought by the anonymous writer who called himself Dionysius the Areopagite (ca. 500), who pretended to be St. Paul's Athenian disciple (Acts 17: 34), and by his Latin translator John Scotus Eriugena (ca. 8 10-80).» — Walshe traza la cadena por la que el neoplatonismo entra al pensamiento cristiano, y nombra el pseudoepígrafe como tal: el autor que se llamó a sí mismo Dionisio el Areopagita y se hizo pasar por discípulo ateniense de san Pablo.
«In Germany, the so-called St. Trudperter Hohelied (ca. 1 140) is the first work to show true mystical tendencies.» — Walshe fecha en el Hohelied de San Trudpert el primer escrito alemán con tendencias místicas.
«The other religious trend of the age, scholasticism, is often contrasted with mysticism, but the two are in fact, in medieval Christianity, complementary and indeed combined almost inextricably in the thought of Eckhart and others» — Walshe objeta el contraste habitual entre mística y escolástica y sostiene que en Eckhart las dos van combinadas casi sin separarse.
«One major point at issue between them was that the Franciscans regarded the will (and hence love) as the highest 'power' of the soul, while the Dominicans assigned priority to the intellect.» — Walshe fija el punto en disputa entre dominicos y franciscanos, que es cuál potencia del alma es la más alta, la voluntad o el intelecto.
«The Realists asserted the reality of such concepts, whereas their opponents, the Nominalists, declared 'whiteness,' for example, to be a mere name or label.» — Walshe resume la disputa de los universales que enmarca ese debate.
«It has been said that the rise of Nominalism was a necessary precondition for the development of the modern scientific outlook.» — Walshe recoge, sin hacerla suya, la tesis de que el nominalismo fue precondición de la mirada científica moderna.
«While it would be altogether wrong - though it has been done - to attempt to explain the growth of mystical thought at this period entirely by reference to social conditions, there is little doubt that such conditions did to a certain extent provide a soil favorable to its development.» — Walshe pone su propio límite a la explicación social del misticismo en la misma frase en que la admite en parte.
«The period round about 1300 was felt by many to be a terrible time.» — Walshe describe cómo se vivió el cambio de siglo alrededor de 1300.
«The growth of big cities was creating entirely new socioeconomic problems and conflicts.» — Walshe apunta el crecimiento de las ciudades como raíz de conflictos socioeconómicos nuevos.
«Old-established values were being called into question, and established institutions too - the empire and the papacy alike - were imperiled.» — Walshe añade que imperio y papado, las dos instituciones establecidas, estaban en peligro a la vez.
«the papacy, owing to its conflict with the French crown which culminated in 1303 with the humiliating death of Boniface VIII at the hands of agents of the king of France, was at a low ebb» — Walshe data el punto bajo del papado en la muerte de Bonifacio VIII a manos de agentes del rey de Francia.
«In such times of weakened authority the search for spiritual consolation and security took on new and sometimes unorthodox forms» — Walshe enlaza autoridad debilitada con formas nuevas y a veces heterodoxas de consuelo espiritual.
«It was no wonder then that people turned in despair to such unofficial groups as the Beghards and the Brethren of the Free Spirit.» — Walshe nombra los grupos no oficiales a los que la gente se volvió, los begardos y los Hermanos del Libre Espíritu.
«The most important of the established facts of his life (if we do not go into the details of his journeyings) are soon told, and they can be enriched with a few probabilities» — Walshe declara el estatuto de lo que va a contar de la vida de Eckhart, separando los hechos establecidos de las probabilidades.
«He was most probably sent to the famous Dominican Studium Generale at Cologne, possibly just in time to hear the aged Albert the Great, who had taught Aquinas.» — Walshe da como probable que Eckhart alcanzara a oír a Alberto Magno en el estudio general de Colonia.
«During his stay in Paris he debated with the Spaniard Gonsalvus, a formidable opponent who later became General of the Franciscans.» — Walshe registra el debate parisino de Eckhart con el español Gonsalvo, luego general de los franciscanos.
«It is at least clear that at this time nobody can have thought Eckhart's views unorthodox, although, ironically, it was in all probability at this period, about 1308, that he composed The Book of Divine Comfort for the widowed Queen Agnes of Hungary» — Walshe señala la ironía de que el Libro del Consuelo Divino, luego incriminado, se compusiera cuando nadie tenía sus ideas por heterodoxas.
«However, this election was not confirmed by the general chapter of the order, meeting at Naples, and instead, Eckhart was sent to Paris yet again, in order, it seems, to defend the interests of his order in the ever-sharpening conflict with the Franciscans.» — Walshe consigna que el capítulo general de Nápoles no confirmó la elección de Eckhart y que se le mandó a París a defender los intereses de su orden.
«It is however not true that he was at one time, as sometimes stated, prior of Frankfurt, for the Eckhart who is recorded as holding that office was a somewhat disreputable character, whereas the records confirm that Meister Eckhart's personal life was, as we should expect, entirely above suspicion.» — Walshe niega que Eckhart fuera prior de Fráncfort y explica la confusión con un homónimo de mala fama.
«Eckhart declared that in accordance with the privileges of his order he was answerable only to the University of Paris or the pope.» — Walshe cita la excepción de fuero que Eckhart opuso a sus jueces, que solo respondía ante París o ante el papa.
«Such a step, taken against so distinguished a teacher, was quite unprecedented.» — Walshe califica de sin precedente el paso dado contra un maestro de ese rango.
«The archbishop of Cologne, the grim and aged Heinrich von Virneburg, was bitterly hostile to anything smacking of 'mysticism,' which he associated with the various semi-heretical sects then flourishing, and which he had long been attempting to put down by burnings and drownings.» — Walshe describe al arzobispo de Colonia, Heinrich von Virneburg, y su hostilidad a todo lo que oliera a mística, que perseguía con hogueras y ahogamientos.
«Nevertheless, for the sake of his order's good name he was prepared to appear before the appointed inquisitors and defend himself.» — Walshe dice por qué Eckhart aceptó comparecer pese a esa excepción, que fue por el buen nombre de su orden.
«The names of three inquisitors appointed to deal with Eckhart's case are known.» — Walshe consigna que se conocen los nombres de los tres inquisidores del caso.
«Karrer identified the author of document A with Albert of Milan, drawing attention to his seemingly imperfect understanding of German.» — Walshe recoge la identificación que Karrer propone del autor de uno de los documentos, apoyada en su alemán imperfecto.
«Eckhart, who had little difficulty in showing up their ignorance, gleefully noted.» — Walshe consigna que Eckhart dejó anotada, con gusto, la ignorancia de sus acusadores.
«At this point there is a gap in our documentation.» — Walshe declara el hueco documental del proceso en vez de rellenarlo.
«Nicholas of Strassburg, who was vicar-general of the order and visitor of the German province, intervened in Eckhart's defense, but was overruled by the archbishop, who even took proceedings against him.» — Walshe registra la intervención de Nicolás de Estrasburgo en defensa de Eckhart y que el arzobispo procedió también contra él.
«Finally Eckhart himself protested at the dilatory nature of the inquiry and appealed to the pope, and on February 13, 1327, he made a solemn declaration in the Dominican church that he was not a heretic, though much that he had said had been (as he had also declared in replying to his accusers) distorted or misunderstood.» — Walshe fecha la declaración solemne de Eckhart en la iglesia dominica, donde niega ser hereje y sostiene que se le distorsionó o malentendió.
«If any error in faith or morals should be discovered in anything he had said or written, publicly or privately, this should be considered retracted and not said or written.» — Walshe da la fórmula condicional con que Eckhart cerró esa declaración, que es retractación anticipada de lo que resultara erróneo.
«Early in 1328 the archbishop of Cologne wrote to the pope urging a decision in Eckhart's case, and from the pope's reply we learn that by April 30 of that year, Eckhart was dead.» — Walshe fija cómo se sabe la muerte de Eckhart, por la respuesta del papa a la carta del arzobispo.
«The bull ended with the statement that Eckhart had before his death revoked and denounced all statements of his which were heretical or might convey such an impression.» — Walshe consigna que la bula afirma que Eckhart revocó antes de morir lo que en él fuera herético.
«Incidentally, it is ironic that Eckhart should have been condemned, even posthumously, for heresy by John XXII, for that pope was accused himself, and not only by Ockham and his supporters, of holding heretical views.» — Walshe apunta la ironía de que quien condenó a Eckhart fuera él mismo acusado de herejía.
«But when he put forward the doctrine that the Beatific Vision would not be vouchsafed to the souls of the just until the Day of Judgment he aroused so much opposition that he had to withdraw it, and this view was expressly condemned as heretical in 1336 by his successor.» — Walshe detalla esa acusación contra Juan XXII y su condena posterior por el sucesor.
«The whole case has been the subject of much controversy among modern scholars.» — Walshe declara que el caso entero sigue discutido entre los estudiosos, sin arbitrar.
«The Franciscans were certainly at loggerheads with the pope at the time, and were bitterly aggrieved at the canonization of Thomas Aquinas in 1323 - very shortly before the date of Eckhart's trial.» — Walshe recoge el dato con que se arma la tesis del conflicto de órdenes, la canonización de Tomás de Aquino poco antes del proceso.
«Archbishop Heinrich von Virneburg has sometimes been represented as a monster of iniquity.» — Walshe objeta el retrato del arzobispo como monstruo.
«He was also at this time an old man, set in his ways, and was genuinely worried at the spread of heretical ideas - and, it must be admitted, from his point of view, not without reason.» — Walshe le concede al arzobispo una preocupación genuina y, desde su punto de vista, con razón.
«It is true his treatment at Avignon was different from that at Cologne.» — Walshe distingue el trato recibido en Aviñón del recibido en Colonia.
«In any case it is certainly not true, as is sometimes stated, that Eckhart was formally excommunicated.» — Walshe niega que Eckhart fuera formalmente excomulgado.
«All the same, the condemnation of Eckhart's views as heretical had a fatal effect on his posthumous reputation.» — Walshe mide el efecto de la condena, que recayó sobre la fama póstuma.
«In the fifteenth century the great Cardinal Nicholas Cusanus studied his writings with care and interest, though not endorsing them uncritically;» — Walshe registra la lectura atenta y no acrítica de Nicolás de Cusa en el siglo XV.
«To what we know of Eckhart's life from the records we may add a comment and three more speculative items.» — Walshe separa lo que sabe por los registros de lo que añade como comentario y especulación.
«He must also have spent an enormous amount of his time on the road, traveling on foot as was the custom of his order, from one place to another - to Cologne, Paris, Strassburg, Switzerland, throughout north Germany, Holland, and Bohemia and, finally, when approaching seventy, to Avignon, facing all the dangers and discomforts of such travel on bad roads and through mountains and robber-infested forests.» — Walshe reconstruye la vida de camino de un dominico, a pie, de Colonia a Aviñón por caminos malos y bosques con salteadores.
«His periods of solitary contemplation in a quiet cell must often have been severely rationed, and indeed he must have been a man of considerable stamina and physical endurance.» — Walshe deduce de ahí que el tiempo de contemplación en celda debió de estar muy racionado.
«A mystical poem of some merit has been preserved in several manuscripts to which the Latin title Granum sinapis ('The Grain of Mustard Seed') was given, though the relevance of this title is not immediately obvious.» — Walshe presenta el poema Granum sinapis conservado en varios manuscritos, y dice que el título no se explica solo.
«While there is absolutely no proof, some scholars have considered that this poem might possibly be by Eckhart himself.» — Walshe declara que no hay prueba de la autoría del poema y solo que algunos estudiosos la consideran posible: la atribución queda abierta.
«The second item is this: Eckhart was emphatically not the type of mystic who was given to visions:» — Walshe niega que Eckhart fuera un místico de visiones, que es la distinción que separa su prédica de la literatura visionaria de su siglo.
«If this is so, it is especially precious to us precisely because of his general reticence about how he came» — Walshe pone su condicional por delante al valorar el único indicio de experiencia propia que cree hallar, y lo funda en la reticencia general de Eckhart.
«Only the briefest sketch of Eckhart's thought will be attempted here.» — Walshe acota lo que va a decir del pensamiento de Eckhart a un esbozo brevísimo.
«In the first place, we should not be misled by references to Eckhart as a 'speculative mystic.'» — Walshe objeta el rótulo de místico especulativo que se le aplica a Eckhart.
«He would not have been particularly moved, except probably to mirth, by the suggestion of some modern philosophers that this kind of suprarational seeing or experiencing had no validity.» — Walshe imagina la respuesta de Eckhart a los filósofos modernos que niegan validez a ese ver suprarracional, y dice que sería risa.
«He would merely have pitied those who were unable to perceive what he could see so clearly.» — Walshe remata esa suposición con la compasión, no con el argumento.
«But since we can neither penetrate into the depths of Eckhart's insight nor see into his conscience, it is probably best to leave it at that.» — Walshe declara el límite de lo que puede saberse de la conciencia de Eckhart y deja ahí la cuestión.
«Eckhart discusses the question of whether Being and Knowing are identical in God, and he says (contrary to Aquinas), that God does not know because He is, but rather is because He knows:» — Walshe expone la tesis latina de Eckhart sobre Ser y Conocer en Dios, y marca que va contra Aquino: Dios no conoce porque es, sino que es porque conoce.
«It is true that he later seems sometimes to shift his ground, and declares in his sermons that 'God is pure Being.'» — Walshe registra el desplazamiento aparente de Eckhart, que en los sermones dice que Dios es puro Ser.
«But this is not a real contradiction.» — Walshe sostiene que las dos formulaciones no se contradicen de veras.
«God, or the Godhead, is pure unity and pure being. Therefore there is no true being except in God, and all creatures are, strictly speaking, nothing.» — Walshe resume la consecuencia: no hay ser verdadero fuera de Dios y las criaturas, hablando con propiedad, son nada.
«Eckhart develops this theme further by asserting, 'God begets me as His Son and as the same Son.'» — Walshe cita la tesis que llevará al artículo 22 de la bula, que Dios me engendra como Hijo suyo y como el mismo Hijo.
«Eckhart says, 'God the Word [i.e., Christ] assumed the nature, not the person of a man.'» — Walshe cita la formulación de Eckhart sobre la Encarnación, que el Verbo asumió la naturaleza y no la persona de un hombre.
«There is therefore a real sense in which man can become Christ, or God.» — Walshe extrae la consecuencia de esa distinción para el hombre.
«This birth of Christ that Eckhart speaks of is not a historical event that occurred in Bethlehem on a particular date, once for all - it is in the Eternal Now.» — Walshe sitúa el nacimiento del que Eckhart habla fuera de la historia, en el Ahora eterno y no en Belén.
«It is possible for Christ to be born in any man's soul because human nature is one, and is therefore the same in Christ as in every man.» — Walshe da la razón de que ese nacimiento pueda darse en cualquier alma, que es la unidad de la naturaleza humana.
«Of course this birth of Christ does not in fact occur in every human soul, but the potentiality is there.» — Walshe acota de inmediato que de hecho no ocurre en toda alma y que solo está la potencia.
«But this 'castle' in the soul is so lofty that even God must shed all His attributes before He can enter into it.» — Walshe describe el castillo del alma, tan alto que Dios ha de despojarse de sus atributos para entrar.
«The resemblances, in some respects, to Zen Buddhism, which have been noted by others, are admitted and given full weight, but the differences are not glossed over.» — Walshe declara cómo trata los parecidos con el zen que otros han señalado, dándoles peso y sin disimular las diferencias.
«But in Zen there might be a mondo (question-and-answer): 'What is God ? - Nothing!' and in this the 'nothing' would not mean, as with Eckhart, 'God is nothing,' but would rather be a total negation of the question itself, thus dissolving the dichotomy still present in Eckhart's statement.» — Walshe pone el ejemplo del mondo zen para marcar la diferencia: ahí la nada niega la pregunta entera, no responde a ella como en Eckhart.
«What we can say is (despite certain voices which have declared the contrary), that Eckhart speaks with authority born of personal experience.» — Walshe sostiene, contra voces que han dicho lo contrario, que Eckhart habla con autoridad nacida de experiencia personal.
«Yet he has to give utterance to what fills him, whether he is understood or not.» — Walshe describe la obligación de Eckhart de decir lo que lo llena, lo entiendan o no.
«If no one had been here, I would have had to preach it to this offertory box.» — Walshe cita la frase de Eckhart sobre predicar al cepillo de las ofrendas si no hubiera nadie.
«The first task, however, is to try to present as clearly as possible what he said,» — Walshe fija su primera tarea, que es presentar lo que Eckhart dijo con la mayor claridad.
«Apart from one or two technical notes, the translator has nothing further to say, but simply and humbly to offer his version.» — Walshe cierra la introducción con la fórmula de ofrecimiento de su versión, y ahí termina su intervención doctrinal.
«For him, time and all things temporal are seen from the standpoint of eternity, from which the question of whether the world had a beginning or not is of no consequence.» — Walshe explica por qué a Eckhart le da igual que el mundo tenga comienzo, que es la mirada desde la eternidad; la cuestión reaparece en los dos primeros artículos condenados.
«This comes close to Eckhart's teaching, though the assertion of the primacy of the will over the intellect is Franciscan.» — Walshe compara a Eckhart con Tomás de Vercelli y marca la diferencia de escuela, que la primacía de la voluntad sobre el intelecto es franciscana.
«Spamer's pioneer work on the problem of the Sermons (I) has been continued by Quint and others, and need not be further considered here.» — Walshe remite a Quint el problema de los sermones espurios y declara que no lo tratará.
«The first is Swester Katrei or 'Sister Cathy' (VI), a work known to be spurious long before Spamer's article, but which, as Professor Clark has remarked, seems to be a favorite source of 'Eckhartian' quotations among British and American writers.» — Walshe abre la lista de obras espurias por Swester Katrei, y añade la observación de Clark de que es fuente predilecta de citas eckhartianas entre autores británicos y estadounidenses.
«It is, as Spamer points out, a conglomerate from various sources which has been attached to Eckhart's name.» — Walshe recoge de Spamer que esa obra es un conglomerado de fuentes varias adherido al nombre de Eckhart.
«The fact that Eckhart himself appears as a figure in the narrative should alone suffice to show that he is not the author, even though some of his ideas are reflected in it.» — Walshe da el argumento interno contra la autoría, que Eckhart aparece como personaje del relato.
«The title has been translated, misleadingly, by Miss Evans as 'The Drowning,' and while it is difficult to render adequately, 'The Supernal Sound' would be more literal - meaning the transcendent harmony in which all that is creaturely is 'drowned.'» — Walshe objeta la traducción del título que hizo Evans y propone la suya, diciendo qué significa.
«It has however been conclusively shown that this poem is based on chapter 52 of Suso's mystical autobiography.» — Walshe consigna que se ha mostrado que el poema se basa en un capítulo de la autobiografía mística de Suso.
«But in fact there is no connection between this work and the collection of problems and sayings (some similar to those in III) here put together by Pfeiffer.» — Walshe niega la conexión entre esa obra y la colección de problemas y dichos que Pfeiffer reunió a su lado.
«ARTICLES CONDEMNED IN THE BULL OF JOHN XXII IN AGRO DOMINICO, MARCH 27, 1 3 29» — encabezado de la Nota C de Walshe: el volumen no reproduce la bula completa ni las actas del proceso, pero sí traduce los veintiocho artículos condenados, con su fecha.
«On being asked why God did not create the world earlier, he answered then as now that God could not have created the world earlier because nothing can operate before it is.» — artículo 1 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que el mundo no pudo crearse antes porque nada obra antes de ser.
«Likewise, it may be admitted that the world has existed from all eternity.» — artículo 2 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que el mundo pudo existir desde la eternidad.
«Likewise: At once, and as soon as God was, when He begot His coeternal Son as God fully equal to Himself, He also created the world.» — artículo 3 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que la creación del mundo es simultánea con la generación del Hijo.
«Likewise: In every act, even evil, in the evil of punishment just as much as in the evil of guilt, God's glory is equally revealed and shines forth.» — artículo 4 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que la gloria de Dios se revela igual en el acto malo que en el bueno.
«Likewise: Whoever reviles anyone with abuse, he praises God through this very abuse, and the more he abuses and the worse he sins, the more he praises God.» — artículo 5 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que el que injuria alaba a Dios, y tanto más cuanto peor peca.
«Likewise: Even he who blasphemes against God praises God.» — artículo 6 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que aun el blasfemo alaba a Dios.
«Likewise: Whoever prays for this or that, prays for something evil and in evil wise, for he prays for the denial of good and the denial of God, and he prays for God to deny Himself to him.» — artículo 7 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que pedir esto o aquello es pedir un mal y pedirle a Dios que se niegue.
«Those who seek nothing, neither honor nor profit nor inwardness nor holiness nor reward nor heaven, but who have renounced all this, including what is their own - in such men God is glorified.» — artículo 8 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que Dios es glorificado en quienes nada buscan, ni honra ni provecho ni cielo.
«I will consider this very carefully, because if I received anything from God I would be beneath Him or below Him like a servant or slave, but He in giving would be like a master and it should not be thus with us in eternal life.» — artículo 9 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa el razonamiento de no querer recibir nada de Dios para no quedar ante Él como siervo.
«Christ, so I am converted into Him, so that He converts me into His being as one, not as like. By the living God it is true that there is no difference.» — artículo 10 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. El tramo es la cola del artículo, que empieza en la plana anterior y la capa de texto corta ahí: se le imputa una conversión en Cristo como uno y no como semejante, sin diferencia.
«All that God the Father gave His only-begotten Son in human nature He has given me: I except nothing, neither union nor holiness; He has given me everything as to him.» — artículo 11 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que el Padre le dio todo lo que dio al Unigénito en naturaleza humana, sin excepción.
«Everything that Holy Scripture says of Christ is entirely true of every good and holy man.» — artículo 12 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que cuanto la Escritura dice de Cristo vale enteramente de todo hombre bueno y santo.
«All that is proper to the divine nature is also proper to the just and godly man; therefore such a man performs everything that God performs, and he has created heaven and earth together with God, and he is a begetter of the eternal Word, and God could do nothing without such a man.» — artículo 13 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que el hombre justo hace cuanto Dios hace, que creó cielo y tierra con Él y que Dios nada podría sin tal hombre.
«The good man should so conform his will to the divine will that he wills everything that God wills. And since God in a certain sense wills that I should have sinned, I should not wish to have committed no sins. And that is true penitence.» — artículo 14 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que, si Dios en cierto sentido quiso que yo pecara, no debo querer no haber pecado, y que eso es la penitencia verdadera.
«If a man had committed a thousand mortal sins, and if that man were in a proper state, he should not wish not to have committed them.» — artículo 15 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa la misma tesis llevada a mil pecados mortales; hasta aquí llegan los quince que la bula declara erróneos o heréticos.
«God does not expressly command external works.» — artículo 16 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que Dios no manda expresamente obras externas; con este empiezan los once artículos que la bula llama solo sospechosos.
«An external work is not really good and divine, and God does not really perform and beget it.» — artículo 17 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que la obra externa no es de suyo buena ni divina.
«Let us not offer up the fruits of external works, which do not make us good, but those of internal works which the Father dwelling within us does and performs.» — artículo 18 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que se ofrezcan los frutos de las obras internas y no de las externas.
«God loves souls, not external works.» — artículo 19 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que Dios ama almas y no obras externas.
«A good man is the only-begotten Son of God.» — artículo 20 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa la identificación del hombre bueno con el Unigénito.
«A noble man is that only-begotten Son of God whom the Father begets from eternity.» — artículo 21 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa la misma identificación dicha del hombre noble, que es el asunto del tratado tercero de este volumen.
«The Father begets me as His Son and as the same Son. Whatever God performs is one: therefore He begets me as His Son without any distinction.» — artículo 22 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que el Padre lo engendra como su Hijo y como el mismo Hijo, sin distinción alguna.
«God is in every way and in every respect One, so that in Him no multiplicity can be found, either in the intellect or outside the intellect. For whoever sees duality or distinction does not see God, since God is One outside all number and above all number, and does not coincide with anything. It therefore follows that in God no distinction can exist or be discerned.» — artículo 23 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que en Dios no cabe multiplicidad y que quien ve dualidad o distinción no ve a Dios.
«Every distinction is alien to God, both in His nature and in the Persons. The proof: since His nature itself is one (una) and this very One (unum), and each Person is one and this same One as the nature.» — artículo 24 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que toda distinción es ajena a Dios, también en las Personas.
«When it says, "Simon, do you love me more than these?" (John 21:15), the meaning is: more than you love these, i.e., well, but not perfectly. For where there is first and second, there is more and less, or rank and degree; but in the One there is neither rank nor degree. Therefore he who loves God more than these loves Him well, but not perfectly.» — artículo 25 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa una lectura del pasaje de Juan por la que amar a Dios más que a éstos es amarlo bien pero no perfectamente, porque en el Uno no hay grados.
«There is something in the soul that is uncreated and uncreatable. If the whole soul were of such a nature she would be uncreated and uncreatable. This is the intellect.» — artículo 27 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que hay en el alma algo increado e increable, y que eso es el intelecto; la bula lo cuenta entre los dos que Eckhart habría predicado en alemán.
«God is neither good nor better nor best. When I call God good I speak as falsely as if I were to call white black.» — artículo 28 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que llamar bueno a Dios es tan falso como llamar negro a lo blanco.
«Of these articles (reduced from the 108 and more to which the Cologne inquisitors had objected), the first 15 were declared, both as to their literal sense and in context, to be erroneous or tainted with heresy.» — Walshe consigna la reducción de los más de ciento ocho cargos de los inquisidores de Colonia a veintiocho artículos, y cuáles se declararon erróneos o teñidos de herejía.
«The remaining 1 1 (nos. 1 6 to 26) were described as 'having a very bad sound and suspect of heresy, though capable, with many explanations and additions, of being interpreted in a Catholic sense.» — Walshe da la fórmula con que la bula calificó los once restantes, que suenan muy mal y son sospechosos aunque caben en sentido católico con explicaciones.
«26. All creatures are pure nothing. I do not say that they are a little something, or anything at all, but that they are pure nothing.» — artículo 26 de los condenados en la bula In agro dominico, que Walshe traduce entera en la Nota C de su introducción: la proposición se imputa a Eckhart y quien la enuncia en el documento es el papa Juan XXII. Se le imputa que las criaturas son pura nada; la misma frase vuelve a imprimirse más adelante dentro de un sermón.
«This sermon epitomizes some of the most important aspects of the whole of Eckhart's teaching.» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 1: dice que la prédica condensa lo más importante de la enseñanza de Eckhart.
«But Eckhart is not interested in 'real' time, and goes straight on to speak of the Eternal Birth.» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 1: señala que el tiempo real no le interesa a Eckhart y que pasa de largo al nacimiento eterno.
«The preamble provides the link between the text and Eckhart's real theme, which is in fact, as Quint remarks, his sole theme: the birth of the Word in the soul.» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 1: recoge de Quint que el nacimiento del Verbo en el alma es el único tema de Eckhart.
«mentions Tauler, Suso, Ruysbroeck and St. Catherine of Siena as fourteenth-century contemplatives, but not Eckhart!» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 1: apunta con extrañeza que la introducción a The Cloud of Unknowing nombra a Tauler, Suso, Ruysbroeck y Catalina de Siena y no a Eckhart.
«There may be something wrong in the text here, as the (untraced) Augustine quotation virtually duplicates the story told immediately above.» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 1: declara que el texto puede estar corrompido ahí, porque la cita de Agustín duplica el relato inmediato.
«The 'powers' of the soul are the agencies through which it operates.» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 1: define las potencias del alma como las agencias por las que obra.
«The higher powers are intellect, memory, and will, and the lower powers are the (lower) intellect, anger, and desire, as well as the senses.» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 1: enumera las potencias altas y las bajas.
«The Word for Eckhart is the Logos of St. John's Gospel, i.e., the Son in the Trinity.» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 1: identifica el Verbo de Eckhart con el Logos de Juan, el Hijo en la Trinidad.
«But Eckhart himself had declared this in Sermon 7!» — nota de Walshe a Marta y María: apunta que la tesis que ahí se objeta la había afirmado el propio Eckhart en el Sermón 7, y deja la contradicción sin armonizar.
«According to Quint (DW III, 494, note 10), life is a better teacher than they are.» — nota de Walshe: recoge de Quint que ahí la vida es mejor maestra que ellos.
«The visa activa must precede the visa contemplativa.» — nota de Walshe: fija el orden de las dos visiones, la activa antes que la contemplativa.
«People who are hindered in their activities are oppressed by care.» — nota de Walshe: glosa a quiénes oprime el cuidado, a los estorbados en sus actividades.
«Quint has slight doubts about the authenticity of this sermon, but concludes that it is probably genuine.» — nota de Walshe: consigna la duda leve de Quint sobre la autenticidad de ese sermón y su conclusión de que es probablemente genuino.
«Quint thinks it may have been the distinguished Dominican Jean Quidort.» — nota de Walshe: recoge de Quint la conjetura de que el maestro aludido fuera el dominico Jean Quidort.
«The master who thus opposed Gonsalvus can scarcely be Eckhart himself.» — nota de Walshe: objeta que el maestro que se opuso a Gonsalvo pueda ser el propio Eckhart.
«Cf. John 14:2, "In my Father's house are many mansions." As regards the spirits, Quint refers to the substantiae separatae of Neoplatonism, who are often identified with the angels.» — nota de Walshe: remite a las substantiae separatae del neoplatonismo, que Quint identifica con los ángeles, para leer los espíritus del sermón.
«I have not thought it necessary to translate the second version of this sermon which Quint appends (see note 1), as it is on the whole inferior and adds little of interest or importance.» — nota de Walshe: declara por qué no tradujo la segunda versión de ese sermón, y así consigna en la propia ficha lo que la edición deja fuera.
«None of his inquisitors objected to these additions, and Quint too, more surprisingly, does not comment on them.» — nota de Walshe: hace notar que ni los inquisidores ni Quint comentaron esos añadidos.
«Eckhart does not complete the sentence, or at least the MSS do not.» — nota de Walshe: consigna que Eckhart no termina la frase, o al menos que los manuscritos no la traen, y deja el hueco a la vista en vez de completarlo.
«The following short extract from Eckhart's Latin works is not only a fair sample of his scholastic writings which any translation should at least illustrate, bur also, as Josef Koch has shown ('Zur Analogielehre Meister Eckharts,' Melanges offerts a Etienne Gilson, Paris, 1959, 327-50), serves to clarify his important doctrine of analogy, which in rurn helps ro explain and justify some of his apparently unorthodox statements, including several condemned in the bull of 1329.» — encabezado de Walshe al Apéndice de la primera parte: declara por qué imprime ese extracto latino, como muestra escolástica y como clave de la doctrina de la analogía que, dice, ayuda a explicar varias de las proposiciones condenadas en la bula.
«Creavit enim, ut essent omnia (Wisd. 1:14). "He created all things that they might have being» — el volumen imprime el lema latino del comentario junto a la traducción de Walshe, que es la forma en que el aparato conserva el original.
«the three Persons in the Godhead, although they are several (plures), yet are not many (multi) but one (unum) - even if there were» — del Apéndice de la primera parte, Comentario al Libro de la Sabiduría de Eckhart en traducción de Walshe: Eckhart distingue en la divinidad lo que es varios de lo que es muchos.
«It also follows that every created thing is in some way one, equal, and undifferentiated.» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart sostiene que toda cosa creada es de algún modo una, igual e indiferenciada.
«Thus, from Seneca you can gather that the one and the equal pertain to the nature of the divine and, consequently, the many and the unequal to the nature of the created; but from Boethius that this world,» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart reparte lo uno y lo igual a la naturaleza divina y lo múltiple y lo desigual a la creada, apoyándose en Séneca y en Boecio.
«It should be noted that this proposition is simply true of all justice everywhere, in the literal sense.» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart declara su proposición verdadera en sentido literal de toda justicia.
«For one must know that there is a total difference, indeed opposition, between bodily characteristics (accidentia) such as whiteness, taste, and so on, and the spiritual perfections.» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart opone los accidentes corporales, como la blancura y el sabor, a las perfecciones espirituales.
«For each thing is dissolved by the same causes which brought it about, as Chrysostom says, and a jurist adds that 'nothing is so natural.'» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart cita a Crisóstomo sobre la disolución por las mismas causas que produjeron, y añade la glosa de un jurista.
«For example, the just man, as such, receives his whole being from justice itself, so that justice is in truth the parent and father of the just man, and the just man, as such, is the offspring and son of justice, as I have noted» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart hace de la justicia padre del justo y del justo hijo de la justicia.
«Accordingly, when a man's body perishes, his soul does not perish, inasmuch as it is not immersed in matter.» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart deriva de ahí que el alma no perezca con el cuerpo por no estar inmersa en la materia.
«But that the inexperienced say and believe that justice, wisdom, and the like die with the just and wise man, comes from the ignorance of those who judge spiritual things by physical ones, whereas in nature it is always the reverse, that the spiritual is the measure of the physical.» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart adjudica a la ignorancia de los inexpertos la creencia de que la justicia muera con el justo, y da la regla contraria, que lo espiritual es medida de lo físico.
«Again, in evidence of the above it must be noted that we should not imagine, as some slow-witted persons think, that there is a different justice in each of several just men, being divided and counted, and fixed and rooted in those just men as is the case (noted above) with bodily characteristics.» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart objeta a los de ingenio lento la idea de que haya una justicia distinta en cada justo, contada y dividida como un accidente corporal.
«But rather, all just men are just from justice which is one in number, but a number that is numberless, one without oneness or, more properly speaking, one which is above oneness.» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart formula la justicia una en número con un número sin número, una sin unidad o más propiamente una sobre la unidad.
«And this is what Augustine says in Book III of His Confessions: justice is 'everywhere and always,' not 'different here from there,' according to which all the just are just.» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart cita las Confesiones sobre la justicia que está en todas partes y siempre, y no es distinta aquí que allá.
«But by saying all the above, we do not deny that the virtuous possess habits of virtue: we say rather this, that these (habits) are, as it were, configurations in conformity with justice, and with God Himself from whom they come, and to whom they shape and conform us, according to 2 Cor. 3:18: "We are transformed into that same image, as by the spirit of the Lord"; and in Heb. 1 : 3 it is said of the first just man, the Son of God, that he is "the brightness of His glory and the image of His being.» — del mismo Apéndice: Eckhart acota que no niega los hábitos de virtud y los describe como configuraciones conformes a la justicia y a Dios, con los versículos de Corintios y Hebreos.
«Since these talks, despite one or two more difficult or 'dangerous' passages, do not go into the higher flights of mysticism, it has been thought by some that this was a youthful work, but as Clark points out, Eckhart was nearing the age of forty at the time, and the elementary character of the talks is doubtless due to consideration for his audience.» — Walshe, en la Introducción a la segunda parte, objeta la tesis de que las Talks sean obra juvenil apoyándose en Clark, y adjudica su carácter elemental al auditorio.
«For this very reason the talks may also serve as a useful introduction for the modern reader.» — Walshe deriva de ahí la utilidad de esas pláticas como introducción para el lector moderno.
«In both cases they may be assumed to be stylized versions of typical questions Eckhart had been asked.» — Walshe declara estilizadas las preguntas que las Talks recogen, como versiones de las que a Eckhart de veras le hacían.
«Thus a prime purpose of these talks must be seen as a clearing up of difficulties.» — Walshe fija el propósito principal de esas pláticas, aclarar dificultades.
«It should not need stressing that, for Eckhart, the mystic way could only be undertaken on the basis of strict personal discipline.» — Walshe declara que para Eckhart la vía mística solo se emprende sobre disciplina personal estricta.
«The book was only 'lost' in the sense that it does not appear under this title in Pfeiffer's edition (though the opening text from 2 Cor. 1:3 is sufficient identification), and also because Pfeiffer does not include The Nobleman.» — Walshe explica en qué sentido el Libro del Consuelo estuvo perdido, que es que no figura con ese título en Pfeiffer.
«Thirteen articles were taken from The Book of Divine Comfort and two from The Nobleman in the first list (A) of forty-nine articles objected to by the Cologne inquisitors, introduced by the words 'These are the articles extracted from the book which Meister Eckhart sent to the Queen of Hungary, written in German, which book begins Benedictus Deus et pater domini nostri jhesu Christi,' although only one of them was condemned» — Walshe cuenta cuántos artículos se sacaron del Libro del Consuelo y de El hombre noble en la primera lista de los inquisidores de Colonia, y cuántos se condenaron al final.
«It is true, however, that in this work Eckhart touched on some of the deepest mysteries.» — Walshe concede que en esa obra Eckhart tocó algunos de los misterios más hondos.
«It is however clear that she was an intelligent and deeply religious woman, so we may assume that Eckhart's teachings were not entirely lost on her and may, indeed, have contributed to her decision to adopt the religious life.» — Walshe conjetura sobre la reina de Hungría a quien Eckhart dirigió el libro, y marca la conjetura como tal.
«Quint plausibly conjectured that its greater length is due to the fact that, unlike other sermons, we have it in the form as written out in full by Eckhart himself.» — Walshe recoge de Quint la conjetura de que la extensión de un sermón se deba a que lo escribió Eckhart mismo.
«The poor translation by Blakney is not improved by its having been given the misleading and, indeed, rather silly title On Disinterest.» — Walshe objeta la traducción de Blakney y el título que le puso, que llama engañoso y tonto.
«It must be remembered that the sermons in D W, though based on the most painstaking investigation, are in the last analysis only Quint's best guess as to the exact wording.» — Walshe acota el alcance de la edición de Quint, que en último análisis es su mejor conjetura sobre las palabras exactas.
«Few, if any, of the German sermons were written down by the author himself or under his supervision [with the possible exception of The Nobleman, M.O'C.W.» — Walshe consigna que casi ningún sermón alemán se escribió bajo supervisión del autor, con su propia acotación firmada entre corchetes sobre El hombre noble.
«It is known that in those days some persons were able to write down a whole sermon from memory.» — Walshe consigna que había quien podía escribir un sermón entero de memoria.
«The present sermon is a poor copy of a bad transcript. It is, however, exceptional, as Kurt Ruh has recently shown.» — Walshe califica el estado textual de un sermón concreto, copia pobre de una mala transcripción, y remite a Kurt Ruh.
«It was painfully written down, perhaps in a Swiss convent as the dialect suggests, by a scribe with little understanding of the theme from a fairly faulty copy made during or after the sermon.» — Walshe reconstruye cómo se escribió ese sermón, en un convento suizo a juzgar por el dialecto y por un escriba que entendía poco.
«Yet this fragment contains one magnificent and unmistakably Eckhartian touch, so nearly lost to the world: the idea that God would have burst if He had not been able to pour out all His nature, and that, since no creature could contain it all, He had to beget the Son as a receptacle.» — Walshe rescata de ese fragmento el toque que tiene por inconfundiblemente eckhartiano, el Dios que habría reventado de no poder derramar su naturaleza y que engendró al Hijo como recipiente.
«One can only wonder how many sermons, and how many gems of this sort, have been irretrievably lost.» — Walshe se pregunta cuántos sermones y cuántas joyas así se habrán perdido sin remedio.
«Their popularity is attested by the fact that all four are found in numerous manuscripts, and they go to show, I think, that there were indeed many who understood at least a great deal of the Master's message.» — Walshe mide la popularidad de esas piezas por el número de manuscritos y lee ahí que muchos entendieron buena parte del mensaje.
«Who their authors were is of course entirely unknown, though in the case of number 4 at least we can almost certainly detect the hand of his direct pupils.» — Walshe declara desconocidos a sus autores y dice dónde cree detectar la mano de discípulos directos.
«And it is only fair to state that my predecessor in this task, Miss Evans, showed herself aware of something of the problem and presented material in English guise which was not to be found in Ffeiffer, toward whom she always maintained a critical attitude.» — Walshe le reconoce a Evans haber advertido parte del problema y haber presentado material que no estaba en Pfeiffer.
«She was not equipped with sufficient scholarship, and proceeded on an intuitive basis, and some of her findings were certainly wrong, but her effort must be recognized.» — Walshe acota ese reconocimiento con la falta de erudición de Evans y con sus hallazgos equivocados, sin retirarle el mérito.
«The papal ban made the spreading of the Master's teachings under his own name hazardous, and much of what he undoubtedly wrote was preserved anonymously or under other names.» — Walshe adjudica al veto papal que mucho de lo que Eckhart escribió se conservara anónimo o bajo otros nombres.
«And the very preservation of Sermon 98 (which long antedates the bull of 1329) shows how chancy such preservation was: perhaps some of his boldest sermons have been lost because listeners found them incomprehensible or shocking.» — Walshe mide lo azaroso de esa conservación con el Sermón 98 y apunta que quizá se perdieran los más audaces por incomprensibles o escandalosos.
«Anything like a complete 'Eckhart canon' is thus an obvious impossibility, and we must be grateful indeed for what we have, and to present and future scholars who may succeed in adding to the store.» — Walshe enuncia aquí, en su propia voz, la frase sobre la imposibilidad de un canon completo de Eckhart que McGinn cita en el Foreword.
«He writes, Eckhart's fate in the earlier part of this century coincided with a prevailing narrow interpretation of theological expression joined to a rigid view of the role of the church in doctrinal discussion.» — Walshe cita a un autor sobre la suerte de Eckhart en la primera mitad del siglo XX y su coincidencia con una interpretación estrecha de lo teológico.
«Theological developments of recent decades, and especially since Vatican Council II, have freed Eckhart from that destiny of rejection.» — Walshe consigna el cambio posterior al Concilio Vaticano II, que dice que liberó a Eckhart de esa suerte.
«It is a far cry from the days when such apologists were forced, like Otto Karrer,8 to try to prove the Master to have been a rigid Thomist.» — Walshe contrasta eso con los días en que un apologista como Otto Karrer debía probarlo tomista rígido.
«Miss Evans's suggestion that the audience consisted of 'probably the inmates of a Beguine House' is also pure conjecture.» — Walshe llama pura conjetura la suposición de Evans sobre el auditorio de las Talks.
«In fact there is no particular reason to suppose that the talks were addressed to women at all: novice friars seem the obvious audience.» — Walshe niega que haya razón para suponerlas dirigidas a mujeres y propone a los novicios como auditorio obvio.
«all spiritual things that work in the spirit do not belong to the inheritance. 28 However great the desire, cast out the maid and her son, then one can gain a great and immeasurable reward from fasting and praying and spiritual works . . .» — tramo final del Fragmento de un sermón desconocido tal como lo imprime el volumen, con los puntos suspensivos y la llamada de nota que el manuscrito deja: el texto está mutilado y la edición lo consigna así.
«He turns to the theme of 'a light in the soul,' but quickly goes on» — nota de Walshe al Fragmento: describe el giro del sermón hacia el tema de la luz en el alma.
«The type of patchwork compilation Quint had in mind only came into existence after the mid-fourteenth century, whereas the paleographical evidence proves beyond doubt that our manuscript is much earlier than this.» — nota de Walshe al Fragmento: recoge el argumento paleográfico que fecha el manuscrito antes de las compilaciones de retazos que Quint tenía en mente.
«whereas Ruh argues, and rightly as I think, that it is indeed part of a single sermon,» — nota de Walshe al Fragmento: adopta la posición de Ruh sobre la unidad del sermón, diciendo que la tiene por acertada.
«that God must of necessity pour Himself out into creatures.» — nota de Walshe al Fragmento: nombra la idea que rescata de esa pieza, que Dios ha de derramarse por necesidad en las criaturas.
«Meister Eckhart said to a poor man, 'God give you good morning, brother.'» — primera de las Cuatro leyendas de Eckhart, Buenos días, que Walshe clasifica como enteramente apócrifa: la leyenda pone a Eckhart saludando a un pobre.
«He said, 'A king must have a kingdom. What is your realm, brother?'» — la misma leyenda, con la réplica del pobre que se declara rey y es preguntado por su reino.
«There is no outward work so perfect, but it hinders the inner life.'» — la misma leyenda, en boca del pobre: ninguna obra exterior es tan perfecta que no estorbe la vida interior.
«It was God Himself having fun with him.» — segunda leyenda, El muchacho desnudo, que la narración cierra diciendo que era Dios mismo divirtiéndose con él.
«The master went and said to his brothers, 'It seems to me that I have just heard the purest person I have ever met.'» — cierre de esa leyenda, con el maestro declarando a sus hermanos haber oído a la persona más pura que ha conocido.
«He said, 'The sun that shines on Cologne also shines on the city of Prague.'» — tercera leyenda, La hija de Meister Eckhart: la respuesta sobre el sol que alumbra a la vez Colonia y Praga.
«If a man has not the truth within, let him love it outside, then he will also find it within.'» — de la misma leyenda: quien no tiene la verdad dentro que la ame fuera, y así la hallará dentro.
«She said, 'By three things. The first is that he daily grows less in the way of bodily things, desires, and natural love.» — de la misma leyenda: la doncella da las tres señales del progreso espiritual, menguar en lo corporal, crecer en amor divino y volcar el trabajo en el prójimo.
«She said, 'I never heard that there could be too much of what concerns God's glory and man's blessedness.'» — de la misma leyenda: la doncella responde que nunca oyó que pudiera haber demasiado de lo que toca a la gloria de Dios.
«The Master said, 'If all debts were as well paid off as this wine, there is many a soul in purgatory that would now be in eternal life.'» — cuarta leyenda, La fiesta de Meister Eckhart: el dicho del Maestro sobre las deudas y las almas del purgatorio.
«The maiden said, 'You are a Master whose skill has been proven three times in Paris.'» — de la misma leyenda: la doncella recuerda al Maestro que su destreza se probó tres veces en París.
«Meister Eckhart said, 'If there was anything that needed saying to me, it has been said.'» — de la misma leyenda: la respuesta de Eckhart, que si había algo que decirle ya está dicho.
«The maiden said, 'He should so live that what he preaches in words, he practices with deeds.'» — de la misma leyenda: la doncella fija la regla del predicador, vivir lo que predica con palabras.
«Quint interprets this too as a response to the poor man's words about 'carrying his sermon from his cell to the pulpit,' namely, that anyone who does nor find the truth within must learn to love it when he hears it preached (and that the preacher must, therefore, 'carry it to the pulpit').» — nota de Walshe a las leyendas: recoge la lectura de Quint sobre llevar el sermón de la celda al púlpito.
«Eckhart was in fact three times in Paris (1293, ca. 1300-1302, and 1311-12) (cf. Introduction, pages 7-8), and certainly 'proved himself' in disputation there.» — nota de Walshe a las leyendas: data las tres estancias de Eckhart en París y consigna que se probó en la disputa.
«But, says the poor man, to have been 'tried and proven' in the truth is more important than such academic distinctions.» — nota de Walshe a las leyendas: recoge el punto del pobre, que haber sido probado en la verdad importa más que esas distinciones académicas.
«Their answers together indicate the relation that should exist between the teacher or preacher, and the truth that he declares (Q).» — nota de Walshe a las leyendas: dice qué indican juntas las respuestas de la doncella y del pobre, la relación entre el predicador y la verdad que declara.
«Quint calls the whole an 'ovation' for Meister Eckhart and quotes with approval Friedrich von der Leyen's words (Zeitschrift fur deutsche Philologie 38 [1906]: 356) that it 'emanates from the circle of our Master's disciples,' or that it was 'produced under his immediate influence.'» — nota de Walshe a las leyendas: recoge de Quint la calificación del conjunto como ovación a Eckhart salida del círculo de sus discípulos.
«The dialogue clearly emanates from those who had known the Master in his last days in Cologne.» — nota de Walshe a las leyendas: sitúa el diálogo entre quienes conocieron al Maestro en sus últimos días en Colonia.
«the four pieces translated in Parr I of this Appendix can only be classed as entirely apocryphal, however spiritually profound or poetic we may find them, there is some possibility that this reflects, however indistinctly, a genuine tradition of what the Master may have said to his disciples» — nota de Walshe al Apéndice B: clasifica como enteramente apócrifas las cuatro piezas del Apéndice A y deja abierta la posibilidad de que el Apéndice B refleje una tradición genuina.
«after all entirely probable that he would have been asked for a 'last word,' and that his parting message would have been lovingly preserved.» — nota de Walshe al Apéndice B: razona que era probable que se le pidiera al Maestro una última palabra y que su despedida se conservara.
«This, I think, lends weight to the argument in favor of the authenticiry of this text.» — nota de Walshe al Apéndice B: declara que eso da peso al argumento a favor de la autenticidad de ese texto.
«CONCORDANCE w the present translation Pf Pfeiffer E Evans (B = Vol. II) Q Quint, DW QT Quint 1955» — la Concordancia abre con la clave de las siglas que permiten cruzar esta traducción con Pfeiffer, Evans, Quint y la traducción alemana de Quint; el resto de la tabla es un catálogo numérico que se ficha por muestra.
«BIBLICAL INDEX Numbers 1-97 refer to Sermons. App.I refers to the Appendix to Part One (pp. 471ff.); numbers refer to paragraphs.» — el Índice bíblico declara su propia clave de lectura, con los números de sermón y la referencia al Apéndice de la primera parte.
«Scriptural references for the most part follow the Douay-Rheims translation of the Latin Vulgate.» — el mismo Índice bíblico declara qué traducción de la Vulgata siguen sus referencias escriturarias, que es dato para cotejar cualquier cita bíblica del volumen.
«Since Walshe's overriding concern was to make available to the English reader the best and most accurate rendering of Eckhart, I believe that my relatively minor adjustments are in accord with his intentions.» — McGinn declara el criterio de sus ajustes al texto de Walshe, que dice hacer conforme a las intenciones del propio Walshe.
«Jena (Latin and German texts from MSS in Berlin, Brussels, Cues, Oxford, etc.).» — entrada de la Select Bibliography de Walshe con las bibliotecas de los manuscritos latinos y alemanes.
«(Note: the LW received official support at the expense of the Thery-Klibansky edition, but there is no sign of political influence on the contents.)» — Walshe consigna en su bibliografía que la edición Kohlhammer recibió apoyo oficial a costa de la Théry-Klibansky y niega que haya señal de influencia política en el contenido.
«XXXIV Select Bibliography Meister Eckharts und ihre Konfrontation mit der Mystik des Zen-Buddhismus.» — entrada de la Select Bibliography con el estudio de Ueda que confronta a Eckhart con la mística del zen, que es el precedente de la comparación que Walshe hace en su introducción.
«Oh Father's heart from which did start that same Word: yet 'tis averred, the Word's still kept in womb perforce.» — estrofa del poema Granum sinapis que Walshe traduce dentro de su introducción: la autoría queda declarada como no probada.
«Introduction to Part One Thy way then lies through desert very strange to see, so deep, so wide, no bound's descried.» — otra estrofa del mismo poema, con el desierto muy extraño y sin límite que Walshe imprime en su introducción.
«Archimedes, who is said to have been killed by a Roman soldier while making geometrical drawings in the dust in his own garden at Syracuse (212 B.C.E.).» — nota de Walshe: identifica a Arquímedes y da la versión de su muerte a manos de un soldado romano.
«Miss Evans translates 'the color from the cloth.' This is a mistranslation, though the more intimate penetration of cloth by the dye would seem a better image.» — nota de Walshe: objeta la traducción de Evans y a la vez concede que la imagen alternativa sería mejor.
«Eckhart's word is eigenschaft, which, as Quint (QT 470) notes, is difficult to render, though perhaps more so into modern German than into English.» — nota de Walshe: declara difícil de verter el término *eigenschaft* de Eckhart y recoge la observación de Quint.
«The Franciscans gave the will supremacy, the Dominicans (and therefore Eckhart) the intellect.» — nota de Walshe: reparte la primacía de la voluntad a los franciscanos y la del intelecto a los dominicos, y con ellos a Eckhart.
«Eckhart's rendering of Fiat voluntas tua as 'may (my) will be thine' recurs in Sermon 18 and elsewhere.» — nota de Walshe: registra la versión propia que Eckhart da del *fiat voluntas tua* y dónde reaparece.
«But if C is also derived from A, it may resemble B, but is the image of A, not B.» — nota de Walshe: explica con letras la derivación de la imagen, para leer la doctrina del sermón.
«This expression normally means that there is biblical confirmation for a statement.» — nota de Walshe: glosa el uso de una expresión que suele indicar confirmación bíblica.
«Augustine's "Love, and do what you will." The people referred to may be the so-called Brethren of the Free Spirit.» — nota de Walshe: remite a la fórmula de Agustín sobre amar y hacer lo que se quiera, y conjetura que los aludidos sean los Hermanos del Libre Espíritu.
«Our salvation lies in the recognition that God is pure spirit, pure intelligence, thus making it possible for us, as spiritual beings, to be united with Him (Q).» — nota de Walshe: recoge de Quint la lectura de que la salvación está en reconocer a Dios como espíritu puro.
«One MS has name 'name' instead of gniide 'grace.' Quint finds 'name' unintelligible, and 'grace' difficult.» — nota de Walshe: consigna la variante manuscrita entre nombre y gracia y la dificultad que Quint halla en las dos.
«Thus every angel has a complete nature and is distinct from the other angels as one animal is from another that has a different nature.?» — nota de Walshe: explica que cada ángel tiene naturaleza completa y se distingue de los otros como un animal de otro.
«This is what the Gospel actually says, but Eckhart has quoted it differently because he wants to talk about time.» — nota de Walshe: hace notar que Eckhart cita el evangelio de otro modo porque quiere hablar del tiempo.
«The enumeration of the nine choirs of angels, of which these are the first three, goes back to 'Dionysius the Areopagite.' Quint gives references in Isidore, Peter Lombard, etc.» — nota de Walshe: remite la enumeración de los nueve coros angélicos a Dionisio el Areopagita y da las referencias de Quint.
«This and Sermon 32b are closely related, so much so that some have held them to be different versions of one and the same sermon.» — nota de Walshe: consigna que algunos han tenido los dos sermones por versiones de uno solo.
«Eckhart is here largely following a homily ascribed to Origen (Q), but actually a twelfth-century product.» — nota de Walshe: consigna que la homilía que Eckhart sigue se atribuye a Orígenes y que es de hecho del siglo XII.
«This is the Latin esse 'being'; it could also be a play on esse 'furnace,' which leads to the 'melting.' 2.» — nota de Walshe: propone el juego entre *esse* como ser y *esse* como horno, que lleva a la imagen de la fundición.
«This type of conversation is fully developed in The Little Book of Eternal Wisdom by Eckhart's pupil Heinrich Suso (trans.» — nota de Walshe: remite el tipo de diálogo del sermón al Librito de la Sabiduría Eterna de Suso, discípulo de Eckhart.
«Durchbruch zur Gottheit (Giitersloh, 1965), in which Eckhart's teaching is compared with that of Zen Buddhism.» — nota de Walshe: remite al estudio de Ueda que compara la enseñanza de Eckhart con la del zen.
«These are not really four different 'masters': the whole is a free rendering of one passage in Pseudo-Dionysius (Q).» — nota de Walshe: declara que los cuatro maestros del sermón no son cuatro, sino una versión libre de un pasaje del Pseudo-Dionisio.
«The kiss as a symbol of the unio mystica is not often mentioned by Eckhart: it is a favorite theme of St.» — nota de Walshe: consigna que el beso como símbolo de la unión mística es raro en Eckhart y propio de otro autor.
«Quint reads brut ('bride') for the meaningless geburt ('birth') of the MSS and Pfeiffer's text.» — nota de Walshe: consigna la enmienda de Quint que lee esposa donde los manuscritos y Pfeiffer dan nacimiento.
«It is tempting to suppose that this is Eckhart's interpretation of the eternity of hell.» — nota de Walshe: marca como tentadora, y no como establecida, la lectura del pasaje como la eternidad del infierno según Eckhart.
«Eckhart has durchkutzelt 'thoroughly tickled.' Regretfully I rejected this as a translation, as I do not think there is identity of tone, though Eckhart's expression does indicate a touch of playfulness.» — nota de Walshe: declara haber rechazado con pesar una traducción literal del verbo de Eckhart por no haber identidad de tono, y consigna el matiz juguetón del original.
«Quint's text, which I translate, is much better than Pfeiffer's, which is abridged and incomplete.» — nota de Walshe: declara mejor el texto de Quint que el de Pfeiffer, abreviado e incompleto, y dice cuál traduce.
«Quint's change is based on the Latin of the bull: unum, non simile (Q).» — nota de Walshe: apoya la enmienda de Quint en el latín de la bula.
«The first and second definitions are not explicit in the Liber; the third definition is proposition 20.» — nota de Walshe: acota que dos de las tres definiciones no son explícitas en el Liber y localiza la tercera.
«Their Latin text adds the words, which have probably dropped out of the German manuscripts: 'or if there is the image of anything else in you except the Son.' 12.» — nota de Walshe: consigna las palabras que el texto latino añade y que probablemente cayeron de los manuscritos alemanes.
«Following Quint's tentative rendering of an obscure passage found only in the London Ms.» — nota de Walshe: declara seguir la versión tentativa de Quint para un pasaje oscuro que solo trae el manuscrito de Londres.
«Reading iine 'without' for Quint's an 'in respect of': as stated above and elsewhere, the angels are innumerable, and Eckhart is declaring that he has all of these in himself.» — nota de Walshe: propone una lectura distinta de la de Quint y dice qué sostiene Eckhart con ella.
«Understoz, which according to Quint renders a scholastic Latin suppositum, i.e., 'an individual which subsists in the genus of substance, which is called hypostasis or primary substance' (St.» — nota de Walshe: remite un término de Eckhart al *suppositum* escolástico según Quint y da la definición.
«In Eckhart's sense, this does not of course conflict with the next virtue mentioned, true humility.» — nota de Walshe: acota que la virtud mencionada no riñe, en el sentido de Eckhart, con la humildad verdadera.
«Miss Evans has translated this in her second volume from the text published by E.» — nota de Walshe: consigna de qué texto tradujo Evans esa pieza en su segundo tomo.
«The text says, 'since we love (minnen) things with goodness.' I take minnen as an error for meinen 'mean, intend.' When we say 'goodness' we mean things, not God.» — nota de Walshe: propone leer un verbo del texto como error por otro, y explica qué cambia el sentido.
«The disposition of the sermon has been obscured by the corrupt transmission, but this refers to the text Exod.» — nota de Walshe: adjudica a la transmisión corrupta que la disposición del sermón quede oscura.
«Traced by Quint to a homily falsely ascribed to Origen: Opera II (Basle, 1571), 450: Amor faciebat eam stare, et dolor cogebat eam plorare.» — nota de Walshe: remite la frase a una homilía falsamente atribuida a Orígenes y da el latín.
«Quint does not know who this 'great master is; Blakney thinks of Plato.» — nota de Walshe: consigna que Quint no sabe quién es ese gran maestro y que Blakney piensa en Platón.
«Perhaps deliberately and humorously ambiguous: Eckhart is possibly waiting for latecomers to settle down, but his main intention is to get his hearers to concentrate their minds.» — nota de Walshe: conjetura que la frase sea deliberada y con humor, entre esperar a los rezagados y concentrar a los oyentes.
«Such a formulation is not expressly found anywhere else in Eckhart's certainly genuine works.» — nota de Walshe: declara que esa formulación no aparece en ninguna otra de las obras ciertamente genuinas de Eckhart, que es dato de atribución.
«Eckhart has here rendered induimini as 'take in' (intuot) rather than 'take on' (the Latin in has, of course, both meanings): he then explains it by inniget, 'internalize' (Q).» — nota de Walshe: explica cómo Eckhart vierte el *induimini* latino y cómo lo glosa después.
«Eckhart speaks of the ineffability of God in many places, e.g., Sermons 32a, 39, 67.» — nota de Walshe: enumera otros sermones donde Eckhart habla de la inefabilidad de Dios.
«The expression negatio negationis occurs in several places in the Latin works, e.g., LW I, p.» — nota de Walshe: localiza la expresión *negatio negationis* en las obras latinas.
«As one cause which produces exactly the same effects in individual members of the species.» — nota de Walshe al Apéndice de la primera parte: glosa la causa que produce los mismos efectos en los individuos de una especie.
«I THE TALKS OF INSTRUCTION These are the talks of instruction which the vicar of Thuringia, the prior of Erfurt, Brother Eckhart, O.P, delivered to certain of his novices, who asked many questions concerning these talks as they sat together 'in collationibus.» — rúbrica con que el manuscrito encabeza las Talks of Instruction, que nombra a Eckhart vicario de Turingia y prior de Erfurt y lo llama Hermano: es la base con que Walshe las data entre 1295 y 1298.
«'und ie mer wir des unsern entwerden, ie mer wir in disem gewaerlicher werden.' The play on words with entwerdenlwerden is hard to reproduce in English (but cf.» — nota de Walshe a las Talks: imprime el alto alemán medio del juego de palabras entre *entwerden* y *werden* y declara que es difícil de reproducir en inglés.
«This is the Glossa ordinaria, the famous Bible commentary widely used throughout the Middle Ages.» — nota de Walshe al Libro del Consuelo: identifica la Glossa ordinaria como el comentario bíblico de uso general en la Edad Media.
«Eckhart is quoting scripture very freely again to suit his purpose -something which was never held against him!» — nota de Walshe a El hombre noble: hace notar que Eckhart cita la Escritura con mucha libertad y que eso nunca se le imputó.
«The variant reading eine sin 'to be alone' is rejected by Quint, following Schaefer.» — nota de Walshe a Sobre el desasimiento: consigna la variante rechazada por Quint siguiendo a Schaefer.
«The 'poor man' evidently represents the 'poor in spirit' so frequently mentioned by Eckhart.» — nota de Walshe a las leyendas: lee al pobre de la primera como figura de los pobres de espíritu de los sermones.
«is nor merely an 'ovation' bur a defense of the Master, whether produced before or after his death (d.» — nota de Walshe a las leyendas: sostiene que el conjunto es una defensa del Maestro y no solo una ovación.
«Hosea Wisdom of Jesus Sirach 2:14 4n., 45, BDC 545, N 564 (Ecclesiasticus) (continued) __ 7:12 69n.» — entrada del Índice bíblico con las referencias de Oseas y del Eclesiástico repartidas entre los sermones y los tratados.
«This fragment from the British Library (formerly British Museum) MS. Egerton 2 188, f. 104v was printed by Priebsch in his Deutsche Handschriften in England II (Erlangen, 1901 ), p. 82. It was shown by Brethauer to be in close agreement with art. 8 of the Supplementary Accusation.» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 14(a): localiza el fragmento en el manuscrito Egerton de la British Library y consigna que Brethauer lo emparejó con el artículo 8 de la Acusación Suplementaria, con lo que la pieza queda ligada al proceso.
«Quotation untraced (Q). 3. Paul. 4. Quotation untraced (Q). 5. The three highest powers of the soul.» — bloque de notas de Walshe al Sermón 27, donde repite la fórmula con que declara no localizada una cita de Eckhart: el aparato consigna el hueco en vez de rellenarlo.
«Luke 3:22, inaccurately rendered, as Clark notes.» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 66: consigna, apoyado en Clark, que Eckhart rinde el pasaje de Lucas con inexactitud.
«Augustine actually says, 'an oar': cf. True Religion 33.62 (Q).» — nota de Walshe al Libro del Consuelo: enmienda la cita de Agustín diciendo qué dice de veras el original.
«Treatises and Other Works w Pf E Q QT B c I II, 17 B II, 1 V, 3 p. 53 p. 3 cs p. 63 II II, 5 II II, 5 v, 1 p. 101 p. 43 cs p. 109 B II, 2 III B II, 2 V, 2 p. 140 p. 74 cs p. 149 IV II, 9 II, 9 V, 4 p. 82 cs p. 160 v (=98) App. A, 1 III, 67 III, 67 p. 444 p. 251 2 III, 68 III, 68 p. 444 p. 252 3 III, 69 III, 69 p. 443 p. 252 4 III, 70 III, 70 p. 445» — sección de tratados de la Concordancia, que cruza los cuatro tratados, el fragmento y las cuatro leyendas con Pfeiffer, Evans, Quint y los demás sistemas; el resto de la tabla es numérico y se ficha por muestra.
«Song of Songs (continued) __ 37:10 81 2:8 52n. 37:1 8 BDC 550 2:9 26, 26n. 39:7 81 2:10 26n. 41:4 BDC 530 2 : 1 1 26n. 41:5 43 2:12 26n. 44: 1 1 74 2:14 26, 26n. 44:12 74 2:16 26n.» — muestra del Índice bíblico en la columna del Cantar de los Cantares y los Salmos, que remite cada versículo al sermón o al tratado donde se cita.
«Matthew (continued) Luke (continued) 14:29 54n. 2:49 3 15:4 83 3:22 66n. 16:17 9, 30 5:31 BDC 553» — otra muestra del Índice bíblico, con las siglas BDC y TI que la clave de la plana 635 resuelve.
«24a 13 14 23 24b 24 24 13a 15 25 25 25 3 3 9 6 26 B II 45 57 27 27 27 34 28 28 28 78 29 (29) { (29) 38 B II 27 30 30 30 45 3 1 3 1 31 37 32a 32 32 20a 20 7 32b 20b 21 33 33 33 35» — muestra de la tabla numérica de la Concordancia para los sermones 24a a 33, donde cada columna es un sistema de numeración distinto.
«67 84 84 9 10 26 17 68 90 90 1 1 12 12 1 9 69 69 69 68 36 6» — otra muestra de la misma tabla, para los sermones 67 a 69.
«SERMON THIRTEEN (a) (Q 5a) SERMON THIRTEEN (b) (Pf 13, Q 5b, QT 6) SERMON FOURTEEN (a) (Q 16a) SERMON FOURTEEN (b) (Pf 14, Q 16b) SERMON FIFTEEN (Pf 15, Q 105, QT 44)» — el índice imprime la triple sigla de cada sermón junto a su número en la edición de Walshe, incluidas las piezas desdobladas en (a) y (b); el encabezado se repite luego sobre el sermón mismo.
«SERMON TWENTY-ONE (Pf 21, Q 17) 148 SERMON TWENTY-Two (Pf 22, Q 53) 152 SERMON TWENTY-THREE (Pf 23, Q 47) 155 SERMON TWENTY-FOUR (a) (Q 13) 159 SERMON TWENTY-FOUR (b) (Pf 24, Q 13a) 163 SERMON TWENTY-FIVE» — tramo del índice con los sermones 21 a 25 y sus folios impresos, que es como se resuelve la equivalencia entre plana del troceo y página impresa.
«SERMON FIFTY-SIX (Pf 56, Q 109, QT 26) 292 SERMON FIFTY-SEVEN (Pf 96, Q 12, QT 13) 295 SERMON FIFTY-EIGHT (Pf 58, Q 66, Qt 27, Evans II, 13) 300 SERMON FIFTY-NINE (Pf 59, Q 39, QT 25) 305 SERMON SIXTY (Pf 60, Q 48, QT 34)» — tramo del índice con los sermones 56 a 60, donde se ve que la numeración de Pfeiffer y la de Quint divergen.
«The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Treatises, 6th ed. (London, 1 95 1 ), p. xiii; ibid., p. 140.» — entrada bibliográfica de una nota de Walshe a la introducción, donde The Cloud of Unknowing sirve de término de comparación con la enseñanza de Eckhart.
«See the modern English rendering of the fourteenth century Denis Hid Divinity, in The Cloud of Unknowing and other Treatises by a 14th Century English Mystic, rev. ed. and introduced by Abbot Justin McCann, O.S.B. (London, Burns Oates, 6th ed., 1 952» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 1: remite a la versión inglesa medieval del Denis Hid Divinity impresa con The Cloud of Unknowing, que es como el volumen enlaza a Eckhart con la tradición inglesa.
«'Dionysius the Areopagite,' De divinis nominibus 9.1» — nota de Walshe al Sermón 25: cita por su título el tratado dionisiano de los nombres divinos, con las comillas con que el aparato marca el pseudónimo.
Conceptos tratados
Gnosis (conocimiento salvífico) — Eckhart llama conocimiento transformado al no saber que no viene de ignorancia sino de saber que hay que llegar a él, y en el sermón del justo excluye el hallazgo de Dios del amor, de la gnosis y de la visión.
Imaginación (phantasia) — Eje del volumen: Dios no tiene imagen y obra en el fondo donde ninguna entró; la imagen creatural más pequeña es tan grande como Dios por el estorbo que hace, y sin embargo la imagen es lo que une al alma con Dios cuando es el Verbo eterno.
Secreto (lo que se jura no fijar por escrito) — La palabra secreta que desciende en medio del silencio da el lema del primer sermón; Dios es el Dios escondido de Isaías en el fondo del alma y el alma está hecha tan secretamente que nadie sabe qué es.
Crítica de fuentes (criterios de inclusión y descarte) — Walshe declara su base textual en la edición de Quint, aparta en su Nota B las obras espurias y dudosas, marca con Q las fuentes que identificó Quint, consigna las citas que no pudo localizar y declara qué dejó sin traducir.
Cadena de transmisión (quién tomó de quién) — Walshe traza la cadena de la mística cristiana desde el neoplatonismo de Plotino, por el autor que se llamó Dionisio el Areopagita y su traductor Escoto Eriúgena, hasta los alemanes; McGinn traza la cadena editorial de Pfeiffer a Quint y a Steer.
Necromancia (nigromancia) — Eckhart nombra, sin aprobarla, la práctica de los que hacen magia por nigromancia y tienen un animal cuya vitalidad los vigoriza; es el único lugar del volumen donde se describe una práctica mágica.