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Christian Mystical Usage
editI wish we could turn this into a whole article on the historical use of the term in the Christian mystical tradition. Sondra.kinsey (talk) 19:51, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
Brief definition
editI initially offered "yieldedness" as the brief definition, following Anabaptist usage. Narky Blert changed it to "serenity", following Wiktionary. I'm not sure that fits the historical usage of the term, which emphasizes more a posture of accepting God's will, while also including the serenity that results. I would offer a rough equivalent in the modern phrase, "Let go and let God." This meaning is reflected in both Heideggerian and Anabaptist usage. Regardless, I'm going to wait until I have time to do more research to verify my understanding before changing it again. Sondra.kinsey (talk) 19:51, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
Alas, a brief glance at the literature shows I was more on point than I surmised. Schürmann affirms both the definitions of "let go" and "let God be."[1] Sondra.kinsey (talk) 20:08, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
Any suggestions for how to briefly capture this meaning?
- @Sondra.kinsey: "Yieldedness" is not a usual English word (it isn't in the Oxford Dictionary of English). I can't think of an exact one-word English equivalent of the concept of "Gelassenheit". Schöffler-Weis offers "calmness", "composure", "patience" and "self-possession", none of which strikes me as at all close to the Heideggerian or Anabaptist concepts. I agree that "serenity" is a consequence of "Gelassenheit", not the thing itself. How about "cheerful (or, willing) submission", instead? I think that either of those would convey the necessary idea of a conscious exercise of free will. Yrs, Narky Blert (talk) 20:26, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
Agreed that "Yieldedness" is too obscure for this. I'm leaning towards "acceptance", or "tranquil submission" Sondra.kinsey (talk) 17:13, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
- @Sondra.kinsey: I like "tranquil submission" :-) Narky Blert (talk) 16:03, 9 December 2016 (UTC)
References
- ^ Schürmann, R. (1973). Heidegger and Meister Eckhart on releasement. Research in Phenomenology, 3, p. 101.
Equanimity?
editA Google search for "Gelassenheit" brings up Equanimity, which Wikipedia considers the English translation of the current German meaning of "Gelassenheit".
I wondered whether this page should thus link to Equanimity - but maybe this page is here, and noteworthy, purely because of historical theological use relevant to current English speakers, and Wikipedia isn't generally a multi-lingual dictionary? And the "Look up Gelassenheit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary." box on the top-right can serve as one way for someone to get to "equanimity"?