| Name | Meister Eckhart |
|---|---|
| Known As: | Theologian |
| Born On: | 1260 AD |
| Died On: | 1328 AD |
| Born In: | Gotha, Germany |
| Died At Age: | 68 |
Meister Eckhart was a German philosopher, mystic, and theologian who lived during the middle ages. During the reign of the Papacy at Avignon, when tensions were rising between diocesan clergy, Eckhart’s Dominican Order of Preachers, the Franciscan Order, and monastic orders, he rose to prominence.
Because of his involvement with respectful civilian organisations like the Friends of God, he gained increased popularity. In his day, the Christian Neoplatonist Eckhart was one of the most important thinkers of the 13th century, and his writings were widely read throughout the later Middle Ages.
We have compiled a collection of well-known quotes and sayings attributed to Meister Eckhart.
These quotes and sayings were taken from his works, philosophies, thoughts, writings, and life, and they cover topics such as gratitude, prayer, beginnings, willingness, inner-peace, fallibility, religion, faith, mysticism, self-awareness, and self-knowledge, among other topics.
Meister Eckhart Quotes
Nobody, at any point in time, can be separated from God.
My eyes and God’s eyes are one eye; we share the same vision, the same understanding, and the same love. The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me.
There is a part of your spirit that has never been hurt or broken in any way.
Nothing else in all of creation is as much an image for God as silence.
God is at home. It is we who have gone too far.
The cost of doing nothing is far higher than the cost of doing something incorrectly.
Isness is God.
Run into peace.
Have a look at some of Meister Eckhart’s most thought-provoking quotations and sayings.
One must have the ability to remain alone with oneself, regardless of location.
Meister Eckhart Quotes if the only prayer
Even if the only thing you ever uttered in prayer was “thank you,” that would be sufficient.
The only hand that can write the truth is the one that also erases.
Always be willing to start from scratch first thing in the morning.
New Beginnings
And all of a sudden, you realise that it is time to begin something new and put your faith in the power of fresh starts.
The only way to attain spirituality is not by isolating oneself from the rest of the world, shunning the responsibilities of daily life, or running away from the challenges that life presents. Instead, we need to have the ability to be alone with ourselves regardless of where we are or who we are with. We need to have the ability to look deeper into things and discover God there.
Even if theologians argue with one another, mystics all around the globe have a common language.
In point of fact, one discovers the light inside the shadows; hence, while we are experiencing misery, this light is the one that is physically closest to us of all others.
The essence of wisdom is knowing how to move on to the next task at hand, committing one’s whole attention to that task, and deriving pleasure from the act of completing it.
Some people like seclusion. They claim that their mental well-being is dependent on it.
Others believe that going to church would be more beneficial for them.
If you do well, you do well wherever you are. If you don’t succeed, it doesn’t matter where you are.
It does not make a difference where you are. God is there with you at all times, whether you are in a public setting, a private one, or even a place of worship.
If you focus your attention only on God, then nothing or no one will be able to shake your peace.
God is not easily sidetracked by a plethora of different things.
And neither can we be.
Nothing else is in such direct range to me as God, that much I am certain of in this life. God is closer to me than I am to myself, and my whole existence is dependent on God’s continued closeness to me and presence in my life.
When the Soul is interested in experiencing anything, she will first create a picture of what she wants to do and then walk into that image.
Love is just as powerful as death, and just as challenging as hell. Death is the only thing that can really split the soul from the body, but love can split the soul from everything else.
Meister eckhart quotes mothers of god
We are all supposed to play the role of God’s mothers; after all, God has an endless need to be born.
Some individuals have the mentality that they should be able to see God in the same way that they see a cow and that they should love God in the same way that they love a cow because of the milk, cheese, and profit it provides them. People who adore God for the purpose of material prosperity or internal contentment will experience this reality in their lives. When people love God for the sake of what it can accomplish for them, they are not loving God in the correct way.
A human person has an incredible number of skins on the inside, each one protecting a different part of the heart. There are a lot of things we are aware of, but we are not aware of ourselves! Because the soul is covered with thirty or forty skins or hides that are as thick and tough as those of an ox or a bear. Enter your own territory and spend some time there getting to know who you are.
One need to focus more on how they ought to be rather than on what they ought to do all the time. Our efforts do not ennoble ourselves; rather we must ennoble our works.
If I had a buddy and loved him because of the advantages that this gave me and because of the fact that this allowed me to have my own way, then it would not be my friend that I loved but rather myself. It is appropriate for me to adore my buddy due to the inherent qualities and characteristics that he has, as well as everything that he is in himself. The only way for me to love my buddy in an appropriate manner is if I love him in this way.
A joke was delivered to me by my Lord. And just hearing Him laugh has been more beneficial to me than any scripture I will ever take the time to study.
God seeks nothing more from man than a tranquil heart.
I have to stay quiet for a little time because my heart is making room for new worlds.
So long as I am this or that, I cannot be everything at the same time.
God isn’t good, else he would be able to accomplish better,
The inner man is the hinge that remains still, while the outside man is the swinging door.
Nothing can ever stand in the way for someone who has mastered the art of letting go and letting be.
If someone spent a millennium asking life, “Why are you alive?,” If life could respond, all it would say is, “I live so that I may live.” The reason for this is that life exists because it does, springing from its own source and existing without reason.
The fact is that, no matter how admirable the thing may be, it will nonetheless act as a barrier between you and the deepest Truth.
God always acts compassionately first in all He does.
We own less as we have more.
Every living thing is a creation of God.
We must transition into a new kind of knowing—an ignorance that derives from knowledge rather than ignorance.
If the internal work is excellent, the external work will never be meagre.
Whoever has God in their being possesses Him in a divine manner, and He shines out to them in all things; for them, everything tastes of God, and in everything, they see the image of God.
We seldom encounter individuals who accomplish great things without first going wrong.
Even in this day and age, it is unusual to hear of people achieving great things without first experiencing some kind of failure.
As a result of this breakthrough, I am beginning to understand that God and I are one. Then I am what I was, and then I neither decrease nor increase because I am then a fixed cause that moves all things. In that state, I am simply who and what I was.
There is a part of every person’s spirit that is so closely aligned with God that it is identical to Him… It has no characteristics with anything that has ever been made.
The result of a mind at peace is the most effective prayer, one that is almost completely all-powerful, and the most valuable effort of any kind. The prayer is more effective, reverent, profound, illuminating, and flawless to the degree that it is accompanied by an atmosphere of silence. Everything is conceivable to the mind that is at peace. What exactly is a calm state of mind? A mind that is tranquil is one in which nothing bears down on it, nothing causes it to worry, and which, liberated from all bonds and all forms of self-seeking, is completely merged into the will of God and dead to its own will.
People need to focus less on what they do and more on who they are as a source of concern rather than their actions. If they and their methods are excellent, then it follows that their acts are shining examples of goodness. If you have a righteous character, then the actions that you do will likewise be just. Because it is not our works that sanctify us; rather, it is we who sanctify our works, we should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are. This is because it is not our works that sanctify us; rather, it is we who sanctify our works.
I might be wrong, but I don’t consider myself a heretic since the former refers to the intellect while the latter refers to the will!
The less you speculate about God, the more open you will be to the inflow of his presence in your life.
Selected Writings Meister Eckhart Quotes
There is only the moment that is happening right now… a Now that is always and will never stop being brand new. There is only the present moment, exactly the same as it was one thousand years ago and exactly the same as it will be one thousand years from now. There is no yesterday and there is no tomorrow.
The only thing that will be burned in hell is the part of you that will not let go of your life, including your memories and your ties to them. They destroy everything, but they are not trying to punish you; rather, they are setting your spirit free.
There is no use in searching in this world or in any other for God. He is as close as the entrance to your own heart, and no farther away.
The people who make up the Trinity are conceived when God laughs at the soul and the soul laughs back at God at the same time. Laughter brings pleasure, pleasure brings joy, joy brings love, and love is the Holy Spirit. When the Father laughs at the Son and the Son laughs back at the Father, that laughter brings pleasure, pleasure brings joy, joy brings love, and love is the Holy Spirit.
However, there is no such thing as having enough of God. The more of God you have, the more you want to have of Him. If you could ever get sufficient revelation from God to the point that you were happy with your relationship with him, then God would no longer be God.
But where exactly may one get this genuine possession of God, the means by which one really has God? This real possession of God is found in the heart, in an inner motion of the spirit towards him and striving for him, rather than simply thinking about him always and in the same way. This real possession of God is found in the heart. Because of the fact that doing so would go beyond the capabilities inherent in our make-up, would be very challenging to do, and would not even be the most effective course of action. We shouldn’t be satisfied with the God of thoughts because when our thoughts stop, so will God. This is something we should strive to avoid thinking about. Instead, we need to have a living God who is outside of both the minds of humans and the minds of all other animals. A God like that would never abandon us, even if we make the conscious decision to live our lives in opposition to him.
Now, you may be wondering: how is it possible for this to be? I am completely unable to sense his presence in any manner. Take a look at this. It is not in your ability to sense his presence; rather, it is in his power. He will reveal himself when it is in his best interest to do so, but he is also able to stay concealed if that is what he chooses. Christ was explaining this concept to Nicodemus when he made the following statement: “The spirit breathes where it will: you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going” (John 3:8).
The kind of prayer that emerges from a mind that is at peace is the most effective kind there is; it is also the kind of prayer that can almost achieve everything one desires, and it is the kind of prayer that is the most deserving of any labour. The more at ease one is in their own mind, the more potent and deserving their actions are, and the more effective, honourable, and flawless their prayer and their labour become. A mind that is not restricted may do anything.
God, who is loyal, enables his friends to fall regularly into weakness for the sole purpose of removing from them every prop on which they may depend in order to strengthen his friends. If you are a loving person, it would be a tremendous delight for you to be able to accomplish many big accomplishments, whether they include holding vigils, fasting, doing various forms of ascetic practises, or undertaking significant, difficult, and uncommon activities. For them, this is a huge source of pleasure, encouragement, and hope that their labour will one day bear fruit and provide them with a support system upon which they may rely. But it is precisely this that our Lord wishes to take from them so that he alone will be their help and support… in no way do our works serve to make God give us anything or do anything for us. Rather, our Lord desires to take this from them so that he alone will be their help and support. Our Lord wants his friends to be freed from such an attitude, so he takes away their support so that from this point forward, they can only find support in him. He does this because he wants his friends to be freed from such an attitude.
Pay close attention to the following. Because no one can speak about God or have any personal experience with him, he has no name. Since of this, a pagan teacher once said that everything we can know or say about the First Cause reflects more on ourselves than it does on the First Cause, because the First Cause is something that is beyond both word and comprehension. He is being beyond being: he is a nothingness beyond being. Because of this, Saint Augustine is quoted as saying, “The greatest thing that we can say about God is to keep quiet concerning him from the knowledge of inner riches.” [Citation needed] Therefore, be quiet and don’t talk about God; if you do, you’ll be lying and committing a sin. Talking about God is a sin in and of itself. Do not talk much about God if you want to be holy and without fault; this will help you achieve your goal. You also shouldn’t make it a goal to grasp anything about God, since God is beyond anyone’s ability to comprehend him. A wise person once said that if there was a God who could be explained to them, then they would not consider him to be God. If you comprehend anything about him, then he is not a part of it, and if you understand anything about him, then you fall into ignorance, and if you fall into ignorance, then you become like an animal since the animal element of beings is that which is ignorant. Do not pretend that you have any comprehension of the ineffable God if you do not want to devolve into the state of an animal because of this.
Because God does not give us anything so that we might take pleasure in its possession and be pleased with it, and he has never done so in the past, neither does he do so now. Every blessing that he has ever bestowed upon us, whether in heaven or on earth, has been done so simply for the purpose of preparing him to bestow the one gift that is himself onto us. The purpose of all of his other gifts is just to get us ready for the greatest gift of all, which is himself. And every work that God has ever done, whether in heaven or on earth, has been done for the sole purpose of helping him sanctify himself so that he can help us sanctify ourselves. This is the only work that matters. And so I say to you that we should learn to perceive God in all the talents and deeds that he has given us, without being attached to anything and without being happy with anything in particular. No matter how successful we may have been, there is no way that we can get attached to a specific way of behaving in this life, nor has this ever been the correct thing to do.
For whomever does not actually have God inside themselves, but rather has to continually receive him in one external item after another, seeking God in a variety of ways, whether it is via specific actions, particular persons, or certain locations, such a person does not possess God. Because they do not have God and do not seek, love, or intend him alone, even the smallest thing has the potential to stop them in their tracks. It is not only wicked company but also good company that might impede them; it is not just the street but also the church; it is not only evil words and acts but also good words and deeds; yet, the barrier is inside themselves, since God has not yet become all things within them.