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John O’Donohue

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John O'Donohue was born in 1956, into a native Gaelic-speaking family, on a farm inhabited by previous generations in the Burren Region of County Clare, Ireland. As the oldest of four children, he learned to work alongside his parents and uncle, developing a close kinship with the wild landscape, framed by an ethereal view of a limestone valley and the beckoning waters of Galway Bay. 

This valley was the shell of John's soul, forging a deep and powerful connection with the elements shaping him. He was educated at the local primary school, alternating his studies with the farm chores of tending livestock, raising crops, and carving peat for fuel in his youth. John later described the profound influence of his childhood home as "A huge wild invitation to extend your imagination…an ancient conversation between the land and sea."

At age 18, John entered the University of Ireland in Maynooth, studying English Literature, Philosophy, and Theology. During these formative college years, he recalled feeling his "mind awakening - an exciting, frightening and lonely experience" and began writing in poetic form. John was ordained into the priesthood in 1982, completing a MA in the same year. 

In 1986, he began his doctoral studies at the University of Tübingen in Germany and was awarded his Ph.D. in Philosophical Theology in 1990. John wrote a provocative dissertation on the German philosopher Hegel, later commenting, ‘Hegel struck me as someone who puts his eye to the earth at the most unusual angle and manages to glimpse the circle toward which all things aspire. 

He sticks to the hard edge of what is absolutely real while encouraging this rich imagination that allows you to glimpse how dualities and contradictions actually entwine around each other.' John's insights into the Self as an unfolding journey of consciousness, memory, and spirit reconciled our contradictory human existence as both Individual persons and persons in Relationship to Others. 

The prestigious journal, Review of Metaphysics commended John's dissertation for "…breaking new ground in our thinking about consciousness with a richer and deeper notion of Personhood." Following his rigorous academic studies, John returned to Ireland in 1990 to resume his priestly duties. He began to recognize an affinity of non-dualism between Celtic consciousness and the rhythms of Hegel's thought. 

Straddling his native folk world and the adopted Germanic culture of a primary architect of twentieth-century thought proved a rich source of creativity. During these years, John also began working on a post-doctoral dissertation on Meister Eckhart, a 14th-century German mystic and philosopher. Eckhart's ideas became a primary and profound influence, offering invitation and companionship for John to venture further in his own exploration.

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