Gelassenheit

Gelassenheit is a German word with many meanings: relinquishment surrender abandonment submission detachment letting go allowing acquiescence etc. Meister Eckhart's favorite term for Gelassenheit is releasement. Eckhart like mystics of every age experienced God as a Mystery of Releasement. Gelassenheit involves the whole trinitarian Life. The father 'lets go of' Himself to be begotten in an intra-trinitarian act of Gelassenheit and together Father and Son 'release' the Holy Spirit for the salvation of the world.These meditations on Gelassenheit are offered to help us experience God as a Mystery of Divine Releasement. And since the spiritual life is also a progressive growth in interior Gelassenheit the author also hopes that this book will inspire a trinitarian vision of deification and contemplative prayer. Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) was a German theologian philosopher and mystic. A Dominican priest his writings comprised mostly of sermons were considered heretical during his lifetime but are now considered the mystical gold standard of the Middle Ages.