The concept of the Ground of the Soul () is a term of late medieval philosophy and spirituality that also appears in early modern spiritual literature. The concept was coined by Meister Eckhart (d. 1327/1328) and refers in a figurative sense to a "place" in the human soul where, according to spiritual teachings, God or the divine is present and a union of divinity with the soul can come about.
From antiquity, philosophers and theologians proposed theories that later became prerequisites and components of medieval teachings on the ground of the soul. The relevant medieval terminology can also be traced back to the concepts of these thinkers. Ancient Stoic and Neoplatonic philosophers were convinced that there was a guiding authority in the human soul that was analogous or of the same nature as the divine power that governed the universe. This established the possibility of a connection between mortal and error-prone human beings and the realm of the eternal, divine and absolute truth. Church writers took up philosophical concepts of the relationship between God and the soul and reshaped them in a Christian sense. The church father Augustine assumed that there was a realm in the depths of the human mind, the , in which a hidden a priori knowledge lay.
In the 12th century, concepts were developed according to which it was possible to contemplate God in the innermost realm of the soul. However, it was not until the late Middle Ages that a fully formed doctrine of the unity of the soul with the divinity at the ground of the soul emerged. Its originator was Meister Eckhart, who referred to St Augustine but primarily proclaimed his own unconventional doctrine of the divine in the human soul, which was offensive at the time. He postulated the existence of an innermost divine quality in the soul, which he designated as the "ground." The ground of the soul was not a creation of God but rather existed above and beyond all created things. It was a simple and limitless entity, devoid of any limiting determinations, and was identical to the "Godhead," the supra-personal aspect of the divine. All created entities are devoid of access to the divine, whereas the uncreated, supra-temporal ground of the soul provides an experience of God, as the godhead is always present there. Eckhart described this experience as the "birth of God" in the ground of the soul. The prerequisite for this was "seclusion": the soul had to detach itself with the utmost consistency from everything that distracted it from the divine simplicity and undifferentiatedness in its innermost being.
Eckhart's doctrine of the ground of the soul was condemned by the Church as heretical shortly after his death. However, its content was sometimes accepted in a modified form by late medieval seekers of God. In modern times, it has often been regarded as an expression of mystical irrationalism. However, more recent historians of philosophy emphasise that Eckhart in no way devalued reason; rather, he sought to convince with a philosophical argument and understood the ground of the soul as intellect.
In the early modern period, the concept of the ground of the soul or soul centre as a place to experience God survived in spiritual literature. It was adopted by Catholic authors as well as in Protestant pietism. The Enlightenment thinkers gave a different meaning to the expression "soul ground". They used it to describe the place of a "dark" realisation from which clarity emerges.
Background
Antiquity In antiquity, pagan and Christian authors developed doctrines of the soul that anticipated elements of Meister Eckhart's model. This involved a part of the soul that was regarded as divine or godlike or a divine entity within it.
Early approaches The pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus (d. 460 BCE) posited that the boundaries of the soul could not be identified even through exhaustive travel of all paths, as its "logos" was very deep.Heraclitus, fragment DK 22 B 45. For the interpretation, see Heraclitus regarded the soul as a representative part of the cosmic fire, the power that, according to his teachings, constituted all things and upon which the processes in the universe depended. He also described the soul as a spark of the substance of the stars.Heraclitus DK 22 A 15 See
In his work, Plato (d. 348/347 BCE) developed a model of the soul in which he ascribed to it a three-part, hierarchically organised structure. According to his theory, the lowest of the three parts of the soul is controlled by sensual desires and is of a passionate and reckless nature. In contrast, the highest part, the sphere of reason, is characterised by its opposite qualities. The middle part, the "courageous", is situated between reason and desire. Its function is to implement the decisions arrived at by reason. Since reason is the source of wisdom, it is naturally accorded the highest rank. According to the natural order, this part of the soul is entitled to rule over the other parts and the body, because only reason can judge what is beneficial for the whole and, thanks to this insight, is capable of correct guidance. The rational part of the soul is imbued with divine qualities. It is akin to the divine, eternal and immutable, and is similarly unborn and imperishable. Its endeavour is directed towards knowledge. The goal is not only knowledge that is gained through a discursive process; rather, it is primarily about a special experiential knowledge of the highest order, which everyone can only strive for themselves. Plato leaves open the extent to which such knowledge is attainable. The experiential knowledge he is referring to results from a kind of insight that has an intuitive and religious character and relates to a transcendent, divine realm. The object of such a vision is something that cannot be conceptualised in language. Such an experience is "unspeakable" (árrhēton), since it cannot be justified or communicated. It cannot be objectified and cannot be right or wrong; it is only either given or not given to the subject. See also and
Stoic conception of the soul The Stoics adopted conventional ideas, including the Platonic model, and modified them. They considered primordial fire to be the divine force that had unfolded and shaped the universe and that permeated, animated, moved and maintained it in being. They regarded the human being as a "microcosm", a "small world" in which the order of the "macrocosm" was reflected. The Stoics ascribed the role of the vitalising fire in the microcosm to the human soul, which they saw as an image of the deity who directed the cosmos. This led to the metaphor of the "soul spark", whereby the individual soul was conceived as a spark (apóspasma, torn-off part) of the divine primordial fire. At the core of the soul, the Stoics posited the existence of a guiding and coordinating authority, the hēgemonikón, which they typically situated in the heart. According to Stoic doctrine, this nucleus of the soul initiates and coordinates the various faculties, including imagination, thought, and will, following a uniform plan and directing them towards a unified goal: the preservation of the whole. The hegemonikon in the heart is the organising principle – the Logos – of man, just as the primordial fire, which has its seat in the sun, plays the role of the organising and structuring principle in the cosmos. The Logos in man corresponds to the world Logos; the nature of the macrocosm and the microcosm are one and the same. and
The Greek Stoics' theory of the soul was adopted by the educated Romans, with the relevant terms being translated into Latin and incorporated into the terminology of Roman philosophical literature. Subsequently, the Greek and Latin expressions entered the vocabulary of the Church Fathers. The term hegemonikon was translated or paraphrased in various ways: principale cordis ("main instance of the heart") in Seneca, Jerome, Rufinus; principatus ("guiding principle", "basic power") in Cicero; regalis pars animi ("the royal part of the spirit") in Apuleius.Evidence is compiled in The renowned Roman Stoic Seneca (d. 65) believed that the soul of the wise man, who could not be shaken by anything, possessed superhuman strength; a divine power had descended into him. The larger part of this soul remained where the smaller, descended part had come from.Seneca, Epistulae morales 41,5. Following the Stoic tradition, Seneca used the image of the "spark" (scintilla) to visualise the divine origin of the spiritual principle in a person: Sparks of stars had fallen to earth, as it were, and remained in this place far from heaven.Seneca, De otio 5. The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (d. 180), who also professed the Stoic doctrine and wrote in Greek, claimed that the hegemonikon was unconquerable "when it is content with itself, withdrawn into itself", because it does nothing that it does not want. He compared it to a castle; those who seek refuge there become invincible.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8,48. See also
Neoplatonic concepts of the soul The concept of a divine entity in the soul plays a central role in Plotinus (d. 270), the founder of Neoplatonism. According to his teachings, the immortal soul originates from an immaterial, purely spiritual world in which it is at home and enjoys bliss. However, it can descend into the physical world and temporarily connect with a body, which it then controls and uses as a tool. This is how earthly life comes about. However, the soul does not bind itself to the body in its entirety; rather, it only partially does so. "Something of it", its highest "part", always remains in the spiritual world. The term part is used here in a figurative sense, not in the sense of a spatial division or a real divisibility; the soul forms an indissoluble unity. The highest part of the soul is of divine quality, its bliss is never interrupted. The soul thus constantly shares in the entire fullness of the spiritual world, even if its embodied part becomes confused and suffers misfortune. However, this fact usually remains hidden from human consciousness because it is so overwhelmed by sensory impressions that it is unable to grasp what the uppermost part of the soul perceives.Plotinus, Enneads III 4,3; IV 8,8. The soul experiences the manifold hardships and inadequacies of earthly existence, but the affects (emotions) that arise only affect it seemingly. These beliefs are based on illusions, as the soul is actually, in its highest and most important aspect, free from suffering. This aspect is permanently focused on the universal spirit (Nous), or the "Platonic ideas", which it contemplates with great delight. In contrast, the lower parts or layers of the soul are more or less oriented towards the material and sensually perceptible realm, and thus susceptible to numerous evils. However, if one leads a philosophical life, they can also orientate themselves towards the spiritual. It is therefore, ideally, that the parts will be in agreement; that their different functions will be harmonised and that the whole will be unified.See and