“The attention at its fullest is the highest ecstasy.”
-Simone Weil
Simone Weil was a French philosopher, writer, labor activist, theologian, revolutionary, and mystic. In her writings she investigated religion, science and art with a true love for God and humanity.
“A science which does not bring us nearer to God is worthless.”
She entered the intellectual sphere in Paris by way of philosophy, language, and study of religion, while maintaining a deep sympathy with the plight of oppressed people and the working classes. She left her teaching positions to work in factories and to fight in the Spanish Civil War as part of the anarchist militia.
Along with her intellectual and political pursuits she developed a great love of theology and mysticism, simultaneously questioning doctrines and seeking to experience directly a connection to God.
“A doctrine serves no purpose in itself, but it is indispensable to have one if only to avoid being deceived by false doctrines.”
She understood the need to look beyond the outer forms of religions into their inner teachings, and to inculcate that within oneself, in order to live deeply and wisely, to have a strong moral compass, and to know divine love.
“Every time that a man has, with a pure heart, called upon Osiris, Dionysis, Krishna, Buddha, the Tao etc, the Son of God has answered him by sending him the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit has acted upon his soul, not by inciting him to abandon his religious tradition, but by bestowing upon him light…in the heart of that same religious tradition.”
Although largely ignored during her lifetime, Simone Weil’s writings are now widely considered some of the greatest ethical and theological contributions of the twentieth century.
Philosopher Albert Camus described her as “the only great spirit of our times“.
Pope Paul VI said that Weil was one of his three greatest influences. French philosopher Gustave Thibon on his last meeting with her said: “I will only say that I had the impression of being in the presence of an absolutely transparent soul which was ready to be reabsorbed into original light“.
Recommended reading of Simone Weil
Gravity and Grace
Letters to a Priest
The Iliad or the Poem of Force
The Notebooks of Simone Weil