Meister Eckhart

The year 1326 CE.

Inquisitors summoned the revered mystic Meister Eckhart to stand trial for heresy.

His unorthodox views strayed too far from dogma.

Eckhart died before a verdict was reached, leaving behind a legacy of mysterious teachings – ones seeking God within the soul, beyond Church walls.

So who was this philosopher-monk who ruffled religious feathers by urging his followers to discover the Divine tucked silently within their beings?

Born in 13th century Germany, Eckhart von Hochheim joined the Dominican Order as a young man.

Here he began to study (as all the monks of the Order did): “the logic of Aristoteles”, naturopathy and moral philosophy. Followed by his theological education and ordination to the priesthood.

In 1302 he was given the degree of ”Magister of Theology” in Paris.

From there on known as Meister Eckhart, his mystic interpretations of scripture quickly attracted disciples.

Throughout his life he got into the highest functions of the Dominicans teaching in Universities of Paris and Cologne.

At the core of Eckhart’s philosophy was the concept of the God Within – the presence of the Divine at the very center of our soul.

To realize this, he urged followers to strip away attachment to worldly things and clear inner space for spiritual rebirth.

At moments of perfect stillness and detachment from self-will, Eckhart described a state he called “the breakthrough” or “the spark”– pure being as the Son within us (Christ-Consciousness) is reborn and we recognize our eternal nature.

This resonated as blasphemous to Church authorities.

But Eckhart doubled down on his conviction in our divine nature, stating, "The seed of God is within us."

Though radical for medieval Europe, this sounds very similar to Eastern mystical traditions, where as far as we know Eckhart had no knowledge of.

He spoke of shedding the ego and attachments, stilling the rambling mind, and merging with the eternal One.

Centuries before Freud or Jung, he examined the unconscious realm, urging students to explore the hidden ground of the soul.

There also exist some curious overlaps between Eckhart's teachings and modern New Age manifesting – he stated that once ego attachments fall away, one gains the power to "wish, and what you wish happens." 

Yet he cautioned this should be for divine purposes, not personal gain.

Eckhart urged unlearning everything one thinks they know mentally, and approaching God through silence, detachment from desires, and meditation to withdraw all senses.

By emptying oneself fully, Eckhart taught that we become pure being – able to reunite with the eternal Creator and recognize ourselves in God.

Meister Eckhart's words resonate through time, urging us to find God not in distant realms but in the very fabric of our existence.

But who could say it better than he himself?

Just give the following quotes a read and discover the profound wisdom in Eckhart’s teachings for yourself…

1. “The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me."
   

2. "If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough."
   

3. "God is at home. It is we who have gone out for a walk."
   

4. "The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake."
   

5. "The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if He stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one."
   

6. "Spirituality is not to be learned by flight from the world, or by running away from things, or by turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, we must learn an inner solitude wherever or with whomsoever we may be. We must learn to penetrate things and find God there."
   

7. "What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action."
   

8. "There is nothing in the world that resembles God so much as silence.”
   

9. "God is not found in the soul by adding anything, but by a process of subtraction."
   

10. "Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”
    

11. "Wisdom consists in doing the next thing you have to do, doing it with your whole heart, and finding delight in doing it.”