Chapter 37

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.

Being 'free from all external aim' and having 'no desire' aligns with the concept of radical letting-go of will.

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 description of maintaining the Tao through rest and stillness implies a disciplined state of inward attention.

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

[auto] The Tao is described through negation as 'nameless' and free from external aims or desire.

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

[auto] The supreme principle is characterized as 'nameless' and beyond ordinary designation or perception.

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

[auto] The text explicitly identifies the governing principle as 'Simplicity without a name' that is undivided.

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

[auto] The passage prescribes a state of being 'at rest and still' as the condition for natural order.

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

[auto] The Tao is presented as the singular, undivided first principle from which all transformation flows.

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

[auto] The logic of non-action achieving all action dissolves the binary opposition between doing and not doing.

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The passage opens with a quintessential paradox stating that by doing nothing, the Tao accomplishes everything.

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

[auto] The text implies a unified cosmic order where all things align naturally under the influence of the Tao.

Effortless action aligned with the spontaneous flow of the Dao; non-coercive, non-striving conduct that yields results without forcing — the sage acts without acting.

[auto] The passage explicitly defines the Tao's action as doing nothing for the sake of doing it, which is the core definition of effortless action.