Tractate 15
The soul's rage to be nothing less than God
Tractate 15 (Evans numbering)
In brief
This short piece reads less like a sermon and more like a confession spoken in the voice of the soul herself. Eckhart lets her complain, in four rising stages, about the gap between what she is and what God is. She starts out furious that she does not have everything God has by nature, and she ends up wanting to go past God and creature altogether, into something with no name at all.
It sounds strange on first read, almost defiant toward God. But Eckhart is working inside an old idea: that love wants everything the beloved has, and settles for nothing less. The soul's anger is really a picture of how far desire for God can go, and where it finally has to let go of even its own wanting.
In plain English
Tractate 15
The soul is furious for self-knowledge. Her face is lit with passion, red with rage for the arrears withheld from her in God, because she is not all God is by nature, because she has not all God has by nature.
The masters say there is no fiercer appetite than a friend's desire to possess his friend and all that he possesses. The soul proclaims her rage so boundless she cannot be appeased by him. The bonds of love are all too cruel for her. Alas, she cries, who will console me? My misery is too deep. If I were the one creator, without beginning and without end, and had made creatures, and if a soul were like me, then I would go straight out of my own place and let her enter in and be God while I became creature. And if it were an obstacle to God for him to get his being from me, he would be welcome to wipe me out, for I would rather perish than be a hindrance to him. But since it belongs to everything created to have something of the eternal present in man's nature, I do not know where to turn to find a place. So I take refuge in myself, and there I find the lowest place, yes, one even lower than hell, for even there my shortcomings hunt me down. It seems I cannot escape myself. Here I sit down and here I will stay. And I beg you, Lord, that you never call me to mind, and that you forbid any creature ever
to console me, and that you deny to my powers that even one of them should ever come before your face, lest I offend you. So I go out and let the soul go in.
The third rage of the soul is that she should be God and that there should be no creature at all, as when God was in his eternity before he created any creature, so that she might enjoy God-nature in its simplicity as he did before. But then his love would be lacking in him, for it is the nature of good things to give themselves.
Fourth, she rages to be absolutely nothing but the naked essence, with neither God nor creature there. She asks: what good are the three Persons in the Godhead, and what use are creatures? But wait, she cries, without them there would be no creatures. That must be the reason there are three Persons in the Godhead: they are the cause of creatures. God is God exalted: the creatures he has made cannot exalt him. All that creatures do toward God is themselves: whatever glory they can give to God is the same as what they are.
Plain-English version by Gregory Lahn, from C. de B. Evans's translation of Franz Pfeiffer's edition (London, 1924), which is in the public domain.
Read the 1924 translation
THE SOUL'S RAGE
The soul is furious for self-knowledge. Her face is lit with passion, red with rage for the arrears withheld from her in God, because she is not all God is by nature, because she has not all God has by nature.
The masters say there is no fiercer appetite than a friend's desire to possess his friend and all that he possesses. The soul proclaims her rage so boundless she cannot be appeased by him. The bonds of love are all too cruel for her. Alas! she cries, who shall console me? My misery is too deep. Were I the one creator, beginningless and endless, and had I made creatures and were a soul like me, then I would go straight out of my estate and let her enter in and be God while I was creature; and if it were an obstacle to God to get his being from me, he would be welcome to efface me for I would perish sooner than be a hindrance to him. But seeing it is common to everything created to have somewhat of the eternal in man's nature ever present in it, therefore I know not where to turn to find a place. So I take refuge in myself and there I find the lowest place, aye, one more base than hell for even thence do my shortcomings hound me. It seems I cannot then escape myself. Here I sit me down and herein will I stay. And I beseech thee, Lord, that thou never callest me to mind and forbiddest any creature ever to console me and deniest to my powers that ever any one of them should come before thy face, lest I offend thee. So I go out and let the soul go in.
The third rage of the soul is that she should be God and that there should not be a single creature, like when God was in his eternity ere he created creature, so that she may enjoy God-nature in its simplicity as he did before. But then his love were lacking to him, for it is the nature of good things to communicate themselves.
Fourthly, she rages to be absolutely nothing but the naked essence, there being neither God nor creature. She asks, What is the good of the three Persons in the Godhead and what is the use of creatures? But hold, she cries, except for them there would be no creatures. That must be the reason why there are three Persons in the Godhead: they are the cause of creatures. God is God-exalted: the creatures he has made cannot exalt him. All that creatures do to God is themselves: such glory as they can give to God is the same as they are.
Go deeper with this tractate
The spiritual guide to Tractate 15
The guide walks you through the inner journey this tractate describes, where it meets your own days, and the ways people go wrong trying to live it. It ends with a practice for the week, a meditation and questions for reflection.
It is in Sermons of Meister Eckhart, Explained, Volume 9.
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