besinnliches Denken, pensamento que medita, pensar meditativo

As maintained earlier, the uncovering of being occurs through meditative thinking (besinnliches Denken, from sinnen and its old German: sinnan “to clear a way”), through which one opens up the self for being to emerge. Such thinking, which contemplates the truth of being, “comes to pass (ereignet sich) before the distinction” (between the theoretical and the practical); hence it is a “recollection of being and nothing else”. This moment of thinking and of recollection is decisive for the whole of one’s being. It is a moment that determines who one is in the world; a moment of disclosure and of uncovering of truth; a moment of be-ing what one has already been. Thinking which contemplates being—cares for the light in which θεωρία or the gazing upon truth occurs. Such thinking takes the form of words and language so that its truth can be attainable and reachable. In this sense, thinking assumes some kind of doing, a doing which, nevertheless, pervades all other kinds of praxis. With all its implications, however, thinking of being remains the simplest of all thinking as it neither entails speculative engagement nor compels particular achievements. It remains, rather, outside what is commonly known as theoretical and practical accomplishments. Meditative thinking, therefore, is a movement toward being as such, and thus it comes near to being, yet nevertheless remains distant. So, Heidegger, in his “Conversation on a Country Path about Thinking” (1944-45), wrote: “… perhaps we can express our experience … by saying that we are coming near to and so at the same time remaining distant from that-which-regions”. In his “Conversation”, Heidegger avoided the use of ‘being’ as that opening within which the horizon of consciousness is set—or that which lies beyond the horizon. Instead, he referred to the open ‘region’ (Gegend) as in itself mysterious and beyond the human “capacity to re-present … as if sheltered amid the familiar and the secured”, while itself being “exactly that which alone permits all sheltering”. He even used the verb-forms of the word ‘region’, such as ‘that-which-regions’ and ‘regioning’, in order to imply the direct involvement and the coming of being as such through and into the human being. Thus, the open ‘region’ makes thinking in the sense of ‘letting be’ possible, while it is itself that which cannot be thought ‘fore’ or fore-conceived, the Un-vor-denkliche, that which thinking cannot go beyond. Being as such approaches the human being, opening itself up as the nearest possible, yet simultaneously withdrawing itself from him/her. Hence,

… That-which-regions itself would be the nearness of distance, and the distance of nearness … a characterization which should not be thought of dialectically … (rather) in accordance with the nature of thinking.

This is the difference between calculative and meditative thinking: while the first thinks that it can attain control over whatever it wills, the second realizes that the very truth upon which it ponders is a Mystery, far beyond its grasp and mastery through the will. This is why the ground of meditative thinking, though the nearest possible while nonetheless remaining at distance, can never be completely grasped. The culmination of this process is what Heidegger called Gelassenheit (releasement), which indicates the openness of the human being, which is nothing other than his/her true nature in relation to being as such. Such re-leasement of the self into the divine is the outcome of ultimate freedom, made possible through spirit, as the human being is given to be him/herself in freedom and in God. Thus, through meditative thinking not only being as such but also the human being emerges. In his later works, Heidegger addressed this higher meditative activity of human thinking that incorporates being as such directly. Thus, it is possible to describe this opening of the self as one’s awareness of the wider horizon within which all awareness and self-consciousness of beings reside. It follows that meditative thinking entails opening the self to that which is beyond this horizon, as the horizon is “but the side facing us of an openness which surrounds us”. This opening of the self is not, however, merely the decision of the person, but rather equally depends upon the opening of that which lies beyond the horizon. In this sense, the horizon is to be perceived as made possible through the region, which is itself given to the human being or is “that which comes to meet us”. (Sylvie Avakian ‘Being Towards Death’)