Select Works, Section 701

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

The instruction to 'withdraw' and eliminate all space/environment reflects a radical letting-go of conceptual grasping.

The infinite, unknowable aspect of the divine prior to and beyond all emanation; the hidden root from which the Sephirot unfold.

The description of the infinite, unknowable source prior to emanation parallels the Kabbalistic concept of Ein Sof.

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

The mention of 'sequents' implies a flow of existence from the Principle, though the hierarchy itself is not detailed.

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

The text distinguishes the One from 'shape Intellectual', implying the existence of a lower intellectual principle (Logos/Nous).

Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.

The passage outlines a contemplative process of eliminating space and concepts to conceive the Principle.

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

The goal described is to 'take it into the mind' and approach conception of the Principle as far as possible.

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

The Principle is defined by the absence of spatial, qualitative, and relational opposites ('no shape', 'no quality').

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The text refers to reaching the 'furthest' and approaching conception of the Principle as a movement upward.

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

Referring to the 'principle of all' suggests a singular source underlying existence.

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

[auto] The passage centrally argues that the First Principle has no attributes, cause, or nature and can only be approached by negation.

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

[auto] The text emphasizes the difficulty of conceiving the Principle and the necessity of withdrawing from ordinary enquiry.

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

[auto] The passage states the Principle has no attributes or qualities, indicating a lack of composite parts or divisions.

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] Knowledge is described as taking the Principle into the mind beyond questioning, rather than through discursive enquiry.

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

[auto] The author instructs to 'withdraw, silent' as the appropriate response to the ineffability of the Principle.

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

[auto] The text describes the 'Unoriginating' as the 'principle of all' with no principle beyond it, fitting the definition of the absolute first principle.