Human Development
Via negativa
Description:
Because God transcends all qualities it is impossible to describe him in terms of such qualities, or in terms of what he is, but rather in terms of what he is not. Names and definitions of God are misleading because they limit what is essentially indefinable. What is above knowledge cannot be an object of knowledge. The via negativa seeks to have knowledge of God through union with him, transcending reason and avoiding definitions; instead there is self-purification and worship both in prayer and praise and in silence until, in pure devotion, God's presence is experienced. This state of "unknowing" is not the absence of knowledge but the surrender of the mind which then becomes the instrument in union and contemplation. This Christian approach is analogous to the "neti, neti" (not this, not this) of Vedic teaching, to the indescribable nature of Tao, to the Nirvana of Buddhism which cannot be described or analyzed. All these traditions emphasize meditation, contemplation and reflection as a means of approach. The via negativa does not imply that the positive way is actually wrong but that there is a danger of becoming lost in a system of concepts without real experience of God.