Contemporary Wisdom

A Comparative Rereading of "This-Worldly Vision of God"; Ṣadrā to Eckhart

Document Type : Biannual Journal

Author

Fatemeh Farzali

Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30465/cw.2026.53089.2136
Abstract
Abstract
The problem of the possibility and quality of the sensory vision of God in the material world has long been a fundamental question in the field of comparative philosophy and mysticism. The main research question in this paper is as follows: Can and how can the vision of God be interpreted as a this-worldly and objective experience within the framework of Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy (al-Ḥikmat al-Mutaʿāliya) and Meister Eckhart's mysticism? This research has been conducted using a descriptive-analytical method with a comparative approach. Data were collected by referring to the primary texts of the two thinkers, and then the ontological and epistemological principles they uphold regarding the problem of sensory vision were analyzed and compared. The findings indicate that, despite differences in language and intellectual tradition, both thinkers emphasize the centrality of several common principles: God is not beyond the world, but present within it; the material world is not a veil over God, but rather a mirror and manifestation of Him. In Transcendent Philosophy, concepts such as the existential poverty (faqr wujūdī) of possible existents, the personal unity (waḥdat shakhṣiyya) of existence, transcendent sense, and certain other rules provide the philosophical basis for the sensory vision of God in this very world. Eckhart, too, with concepts such as ground (Grund), the birth of God in the soul, and the single eye, considers vision contingent upon the human being emptying themselves of self and intuiting the divine presence at the heart of all creatures, including sensible things. The article concludes that the vision of God in the material world is possible, but it is neither a simple sensory-physical observation nor a purely mental affair; rather, it is an existential experience in which sense, reason, and intuition unite in the light of a transcendent truth. In this experience, the duality of "seer" and "seen" dissolves into unity, and the world is read as a book in which every word manifests the immediate presence of the Divine.
Keywords: sensory vision of God, Mulla Sadra, Meister Eckhart, existential poverty, foundational principles, transcendent sense.

Introduction
The problem of the vision of God (or seeing God) is one of the most long-standing and yet most complex issues in the history of religious, philosophical, and mystical thought. In theological traditions, especially in apophatic theology, the emphasis on the simplicity, immateriality, and unlimitedness of the divine essence has often led to the negation of the possibility of sensory vision of God in the material world. Accordingly, any kind of vision has been deemed either entirely impossible or deferred to a non-material and otherworldly realm. In contrast, mystical traditions, despite admitting the possibility of divine intuition, have generally limited this intuition to the inner and non-sensory realm, and have not clearly explicated its relation to the objective and sensible experience of humans in the material world.
The common consequence of these two approaches is the formation of a kind of conceptual rift between God and the sensible world—a rift that either leads to the negation of the divine presence in the material realm or reduces the world merely to a veil and an obstacle in the path of perceiving God. Nevertheless, in some philosophical and mystical traditions, especially in Islamic Transcendent Philosophy (al-Ḥikmat al-Mutaʿāliya) and late Christian mysticism, efforts have been made to rethink the relationship between God and the world—efforts that seek to interpret the divine presence not outside the world, but within its very essence.
In this regard, the ideas of Mulla Sadra and Meister Eckhart offer noteworthy theoretical potentials for reconsidering the problem of the divine vision. Previous research has primarily examined the metaphysical foundations of Transcendent Philosophy or analyzed the mystical aspects of Eckhart's thought, but have less directly provided a comparative examination of the possibility of the this-worldly vision of God as an existential and objective experience. Therefore, the present research seeks to fill this gap.
Materials and Methods
This research was conducted using the descriptive-analytic approach and based on library resources.
Discussion and Results
The research findings indicate that in Transcendent Philosophy, the possibility of seeing God can only be explained in light of the specific ontological foundations of this school.
1. The principle of the existential poverty of possible existents expresses that no being in the universe possesses existential independence of its own, and all beings, in their essence and actualization, are identical to dependence upon God. Accordingly, the world is not a collection of independent beings standing in opposition to God, but rather a network of existential aspects and relations, all of which signify the unitary truth of existence.
2. This conception is supplemented with the principle of the personal unity of existence, according to which existence is a unitary and simple (basīṭ) reality, and the multiplicities (katharāt) of the world are degrees and determinations of that very reality. In such a horizon, the observation of any being, at a certain degree among the degrees of perception, is the observation of a manifestation of the truth of existence. Mulla Sadra, by proposing the theory of "transcendent sense," demonstrates that sensory perception can, in the light of the substantial motion (ḥaraka jawhariyya) of the soul and its existential transcendence, go beyond the merely physical level and become aligned with intellect (or reason) and intuition. In this state, sense functions not as a raw apparatus of material perception, but as a conduit for the manifestation of meaning and truth.
3. In Meister Eckhart’s mysticism as well, the material world is understood not in opposition to God, but in a fundamental relation to Him. The concept of "ground" in Eckhart refers to a divine depth that is both the source of God's existence at the level of manifestation and the source of the existence of creatures. From this perspective, creatures do not possess existence independent from God, and the divine presence flows through all of them. The doctrine of "the birth of God in the soul" indicates that the vision of God requires the emptying of the human from self-centeredness and an existential openness toward the presence of the Truth. The metaphor of "the single eye" also shows that in the experience of seeing God, the distinction between the seer and the seen fades away, and perception reaches a kind of existential unity.
4. The comparative study of these two intellectual traditions shows that both, despite verbal and theological differences, are in agreement in negating the dualism of God and the world and in interpreting the universe as the locus of divine manifestation. In both views, the vision of God is not meant as the physical observation of the divine essence, but rather as an existential experience in which the human apprehends the divine presence within the sensible world.
Conclusion
The research findings suggest that the vision of God in the material world, within the framework of Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy and Meister Eckhart's mysticism, is possible and meaningful, provided that one distances oneself from simplistic sensory and reductionist mental conceptions. On this account, matter is not a veil over God, but rather the form of His manifestation, and sense, in the event of the existential transcendence of the soul, itself becomes a conduit for divine intuition. The vision of God in this framework leads neither to anthropomorphism (tajsīm) and corporealism (tajsīm) about God nor to pantheism, but rather culminates in an existential experience in which sense, intellect, and intuition attain unity. Thus, the article demonstrates that one can speak of the this-worldly presence and vision of God, without conceding to the independence of the world from God or to the dissolution of God in the world.

Keywords

sensory vision of God
Mulla Sadra
Meister Eckhart
existential poverty
foundational principles
transcendent sense
Subjects
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Contemporary Wisdom
Volume 16, Issue 2
February 2026
Pages 353-385

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