Eckhart's Combustion Of Co-Operative Identity

Using Schumann’s translation and interpretation of Eckhart’s philosophy of existence and being, one can connect these to moments in life that constitute what he calls “operative identity”, characterized by actions that are without motive that reveal who we are and that we are existent beings, while also suggesting that God is a necessary being. One example from my own life would be the creation of artworks throughout my life. Although beginning with the motive of a grade in high school, the action of art became a much more important event in my life that did not require any reasons or motives. This is portrayed in the connection between Schurmann’s terms combustion, releasement, and living with or beyond a why.
My first attempts and encounters …show more content…
When two things are said to be one, in a state of oneness, they are not like. Because they are one, they are inseparable and indistinguishable, and cannot be given characteristics to draw connections between them. The term combustion is fitting because of the chemical reaction of combustion is a prime example of two things becoming one. When a piece of wood catches on fire, the fire draws the wood in to be one in the flame, not the wood drawing the fire in to be part of it. In this example the wood is not like the fire, but the wood and fire are both becoming one. Eckhart says this is the same thing that happens with humans and God. God, like the fire, acts as God and we become God, like the wood; this created a unity of oneness between us and God, allowing humans to understand that they living in God and to know …show more content…
Because I continued to practice drawing and painting beyond the class, I am able to say that I was released from the “why” that began my interactions with art. My release came when I no longer looked at the approval of a teacher or a high grade. Being able to create with free will and free range was the outcome of my release, and it was the best art I could imagine creating. In fact, a piece that I made in that moment is now framed and hanging in my home. In terms of destiny, I can’t say that I found that I was destined to be the next Andy Warhol, creating profound pieces that the world would see and fall in love with. But rather, my destiny was to create things for me and my immediate family. Following this moment, I went on to create sculptures, one sitting in my parent’s bed room; drawings, like the one that my grandmother has hung in her home; and paintings, one currently hanging on a wall of artwork created for and by a close