Balancing the Poles of the Seesaw: The Parallel Paths of Eckhart and Hindu Vedānta toward Oneness with God/Brahman

Abstract

The ultimate aim of both Eckhart’s philosophy and Vedānta philosophy is to attain oneness with God/Brahman. Nevertheless, their different philosophical starting points and the conflict between the sublime ideal of the theory and reality means that their philosophies present a structural symmetry. They both have to face two dilemmas: “How can we claim that humans are already one with God?” and “Why is it that humans are not already one with God?”. Eckhart’s inherited tradition emphasizes the distinction between humans and God, while the Vedānta philosophical tradition emphasizes that “I am Brahman”. Each of them starts from one pole of the seesaw of the dilemma and encounters the other’s issue at the other pole. Eventually, they converge at the point of balance, with unity with God/Brahman realized in all human activities. Here, this worldly life becomes significant, all human work expresses the Divinity, and the importance of God is replaced by an impersonal Divinity that combines being and nothingness.