On the Darkness of the Will

"For the will desires not to be dark, and this very desire causes the darkness” (Jacob Boehme). Moving through the fundamental question of this paradox, this book offers a constellation of theoretical and critical essays that shed light on the darkness of the its obscurity to itself. Through in-depth analysis of medieval and modern sources—Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Eriugena, Dante, Meister Eckhart, Chaucer, Nietzsche, Cioran, Meher Baba—this volume interrogates the nature and meaning of the will, along seven spontaneity, potentiality, sorrow, matter, vision, eros, and sacrifice. These multiple lines of inquiry are finally presented to coalesce around one fundamental point of the will says yes, yet only a will that knows how to say no to itself, entering the silence of its own darkness, will ever be free. Table of Contents Introduction I. The Whim of On the Question of Will II. Of a Leaden Chaucerian Non-Mysticism III. Sorrow of In Calignem IV. The Tears of On the Crucifixion Darkness V. Because It's Not A Vision of Climbing and Life VI. The Inverted On the Color of Love VII. Inner Life | Inner On the Threshold of the Sacred