Meister Eckhart

“When God looks at a creature, He gives it existence;
When a creature looks at God, it gains its existence.
The soul has a rational, knowing existence;
Therefore, where God is, there is the soul, and where the soul is, there is God.”

Meister Eckhart was born around 1260 in the small village of Hochheim near Gotha in the German province of Thuringia. Around the age of fifteen, Eckhart joined the Dominican order in the city of Erfurt. Because of his intellectual abilities, he was quickly sent to Studium generale, a university in Cologne founded in 1248 by Albertus Magnus, the greatest scholastic philosopher of the Middle Ages. It is believed that Eckhart arrived at the school a few months before Albertus Magnus’ death in 1280.

According to the rules of the Dominican order, after two years of basic education, two years are dedicated to the study of grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic, followed by the study of arithmetic, mathematics, astronomy, and music. The final three years are devoted to the study of theology, at that time considered the queen of knowledge, after which one is ordained. A significant year in Eckhardt’s life was 1293 when he went to the University of Paris, which was at that time the spiritual and educational center of Europe. In Paris, Eckhardt taught interpretations of the Bible, public speaking, and preaching skills. The following year, in 1294, he returned to Thuringia where he was chosen as a vicar, and shortly after as the head of the monastery in Erfurt. In addition to his church and administrative duties, which he performed diligently, he dedicated himself to active preaching and teaching.

Around 1300, Eckhardt returned to Paris to teach, and there he engaged in fierce debates with the Franciscans, traditional opponents of the Dominicans. His knowledge at the University of Paris made a strong impression, and after just two years, he was offered a chair, succeeding Thomas Aquinas. From then on, he became known as Meister Eckhardt (Latin: magister – teacher, master). Eckhardt’s teaching at the University of Paris coincided with the work of another great scholastic philosopher, Duns Scotus, in Meister Eck, born around 1260, was a German theologian, philosopher, and mystic. He is considered one of the founders of a special direction within scholasticism called “Scotism.” During this time, the Dominican Order experienced significant expansion, and Eckhardt became the first provincial of the Dominicans, traveling to many European countries in that role. In 1311, Eckhardt returned to Paris, where he began writing one of his most important works in Latin, the Opus Tripartitum, in which he elaborated and explained his philosophical and theological views. In 1323, he became a professor and director of the Studium Generale in Cologne.

At that time, the Archbishop of Cologne, Heinrich von Virneberg, who was persecuting the growing male and female fraternities that had evolved into true sects, also targeted Eckhardt’s teachings. He initiated a sort of inquisition against him for spreading dangerous ideas of faith. He claimed that Eckhardt’s sermons, delivered to the common people in the German language, contained ideas “that could lead believers astray.”

The portal of the Predigerkirche in Erfurt bears a quote in memory of Meister Eck. “Light shines in darkness, and darkness cannot overcome it,” Gospel of John.

Since there was no Inquisition at that time, Eckhardt was called to defend himself before the assembly of the Dominican Order. In his defense, he said: If we do not teach the ignorant, they will never learn or comprehend the art of living and dying. We should not deceive ourselves in the hope that the ignorant will become enlightened individuals.

After presenting his defense, he was acquitted of all charges. However, Archbishop Virneberg did not rest and in 1326 initiated a new proceeding. After examining all of Eckhardt’s sermons and works, he listed all the teachings that he believed were not in accordance with Christian doctrine. In response to these accusations, Eckhardt said: I am surprised that my writings and words have not been criticized for many more things because I have made hundreds of statements that my critics’ limited understanding does not comprehend. I am aware that I have written and spoken boldly and unusually about extraordinary matters, but sublime matters can only be proclaimed with sublime words. However, I can definitely deceive myself, but I cannot be a heretic, as it is a matter of will. So if someone manages to prove to me any misconception I have written, spoken, or preached publicly or privately, I will retract it before the people.

Eckhardt prepares a lengthy defense and utilizes the privilege of his order to directly address the Pope. Therefore, in 1327, he travels to Avignon, where the papal seat had been relocated at the time, to present his defense to Pope John XXII. At the papal court, there is a dispute between the Dominican and Franciscan orders, as well as between the orders and the church hierarchy. In the midst of this confusion, Eckhardt’s defense before the investigative committee summoned by the Pope is poorly received. Several months later, Eckhardt dies, so we do not know what further fate awaited him, as the Pope issued a bull declaring twenty-eight of Eckhardt’s teachings heretical, while nine others were marked as suspect. The Pope’s bull states that Eckhardt was he withdrew everything in his writings and sermons that could have been seen as heretical, wrong, or dangerous to the faith by the decision of the Apostolic See. This compromise, made after Eckhart’s death, satisfied his accusers, but it irreversibly shook Eckhart’s reputation and his teachings were forever rejected.

Eckhart’s Works

With the exception of the sermons collected in the old edition of Tauler’s sermons, Eckhart’s works were unknown for centuries, until 1857 when Franz Pfeiffer published a collection of his works, fragments of which were previously scattered. The discovery of parts of his main work, Opus tripartitum, followed in 1880 and 1886.

The oldest preserved fragment of Eckhart’s sermon, University of Georg-August in Göttingen.

German Mysticism

The history of philosophy places Meister Eckhart in German mysticism as its founder and most important representative. It emerged within the framework of Eckhart’s teachings. In the Dominican order, German mysticism aimed at a return to the original teachings of Christ and, accordingly, the early Christian ideal of poverty.

To understand German mysticism and the circumstances that preceded it, we need to look at the historical situation of that time. Namely, through the Crusades, the Pope becomes both the spiritual and secular ruler over the entire Western Christian world. With secular power came greed, corruption, and debauchery, leading to various movements within the Church that sought a return to the original Christian ideal of poverty. The Church recognizes new mendicant orders, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans, but it is disturbed by the emergence and spread of independent, critical thinking and free thought among lay religious communities, with the most prominent being the beguines, begards, and the Brotherhood of the Free Spirit.

Meister Eckhart came into contact with these semi-monastic communities that practically followed Christ’s teachings through their charitable work and were predominantly characterized by poverty. Faith was the mainstay of the mystical movement to a great extent. Through his preaching, Eckhardt ignited the fire of true faith in the souls of those who listened to him, arousing a desire for internal renewal and liberation from anything that separates from God. After his death, his Dominican brothers Johannes Tauler and Heinrich Seuse founded a particularly influential mystical order – Friends of God (Gottesfreunde).
Most of the Friends of God were Dominican monks, but also laypeople associated with the order, which was the epicenter of German mysticism. The foundational text of this order was a small booklet by an unknown author (they usually hid their names so that the desire for fame would not mix with their efforts to be useful), called Germanska teologija. Its teachings are based on Eckhardt’s teachings and emphasize the unity of man with God, stating that there is no sin except selfishness and that every selfishness is a sin. Therefore, the emphasis was on self-denial and total submission. submitting our will to God’s will. When we allow divine light to penetrate our daily activities, God then directs our will with His perfect will.

The earliest known Eckhart’s work written in the German language is the Instructional Discourses. These are readings for the table for members of his monastery: Do not say, ‘I would like it soon,’ but say, ‘I want it to be so now!’ and in this very strongly gathered will, one single step forward is ‘better than crossing the sea without it,’ and if you stumble in this will once, do not give up, because ‘just because sometimes weeds fall among the wheat, noble wheat should not be discarded.’

It cannot be determined with certainty when these Instructional Discourses were created, probably in the late 13th century after Eckhart returned to his native Thuringia from the University of Cologne.

Eckhart’s works in the German language contain over two hundred different manuscripts and sermons, and his main, albeit unfinished work, written in Latin, is “The Dark Night.”

The fundamental message of this work is that a righteous person, one who lives in accordance with God’s principles, will not be affected by anything that happens to them. On the contrary, they will find incomparable joy in their righteousness, greater even than that of any angel. Saints have confirmed this through their joyful dedication to righteousness. If, however, external harm befalls the righteous person, and yet they remain balanced and undisturbed in the peace of their heart, then it is true that nothing can sadden them. If external harm does indeed grieve them, it only means that God allowed that harm to reveal the truth about that person who presented themselves as righteous but was easily saddened by trivial matters. Only in God can we find peace, and the extent to which we are connected to God determines the extent of our peace.

How much you are in God, and whether it is so, recognize it by whether you have peace or unrest… Similarly, in Him there is nothing over which one should grieve. Whoever has His complete will and His desire, has joy. However, no one has this except the one whose will is completely aligned with God’s will.”

May surrender be learned until nothing of one’s own is retained. All hurry and all unrest always come from self-will, whether one realizes it or not. One should lay oneself, with all that one can want and desire in all things, in the good and precious will of God, in its pure disappearance of desire and will.

Now I could tell you: However, man must turn outward, must perform external actions; for no work can be done except in its inherent manifest form.

This is certainly true. External forms of manifestation for a spiritual person are not external, because all things have an internal, divine way of existence for an inner person.

You might think… ad mogao upitati: When is the will a righteous will? The will is perfect and righteous when it has no attachment to the self and when it has surrendered itself and merged with the will of God, conforming to it. Yes, the more it is so, the more righteous and genuine the will is. And in such a will, you can do anything, whether it be love or anything you desire.

The strongest and almost omnipotent prayer is the one that comes from a free heart. The freer it is, the stronger, more worthy, and perfect the prayer and action are. Everything is possible for a free heart.
What is a free heart?
It is a heart that is not disturbed by anything and not attached to anything, that is not bound in any way to what is best for itself, and does not seek its own interests, but is completely immersed in the precious will of God, having renounced its own will. A person can never accomplish even the smallest deed without receiving its strength and power from there.

Fra Angelico, Blessed Dominicans, parts of the altarpiece painted in 1423 or 1424 for the church of San D This passage discusses the religious philosophy of Eckhardt. His teachings were rooted in the Christian tradition, but also drew from the Platonic and Neoplatonic traditions. Eckhardt emphasized the need to free oneself from the constraints of materialism and seek unity with God. According to Eckhardt, the divine is a universal and eternal unity that transcends all differences. He described the entire creation as an idea in the mind of God, existing in its eternal and uncompounded simplicity. God is present in all things, not as nature or as a person, but as Being. God is omnipresent and indivisible, and individuals can come to know Him based on their personal standards. The teachings of Thomas Aquinas, his later teachings diverge from the classifications of God’s gifts and the qualities of his teacher, emphasizing the inner path of seeking unity with God: The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which he sees me. My eye and God’s eye are one eye, one sight, one knowledge, and one love. (…) It is something in the soul that is akin to God, that is one with him, and not so much united with him.

He does not attach great importance to external ceremonies because he believes that man approaches God only through his inner life, which is crucially important for the purity of his heart. He says that God assigns each person their task that they must solve themselves. This does not mean that man has to separate himself from the world, but that he has to separate himself from his selfish desires and instincts. Eckhardt sees suffering as the most effective means for internal purification, although he believes that suffering should not be invoked, but that we should patiently endure it.

He speaks about knowledge that it must be reduced to “non-knowledge”. Our ra Ambition and willpower, as well as our lower abilities, must transcend themselves, they must die. We must free ourselves even from God, says Eckhardt. He calls this state of spiritual nakedness “poverty”. Only then, when our house is emptied, can God dwell in it and create His Son within us. This saying is often present in other mystics as well. Saint Paul uses very similar language in his letters when he says: Christ is constantly being born again in the hearts of the saints. Jacob Boehme also reaches the same conclusion: When you are free from your own desires and thoughts, then you will find eternal hearing, sight, and speech within yourself, and God will listen and see through you.

A depiction of a medieval university, Laurentius De Voltolina, 14th century.

Regarding the beauty of the soul, it is said to be well-ordered, with its higher abilities above the lower ones, each in its appropriate place. The higher abilities of the soul are above reason, and reason is above the senses.

Love is, according to Eckhardt, the highest of all virtues, love… I am God. Then comes humility. From a higher point of view, evil is only God’s tool for realizing His creation and in the end it will be overcome by good.
According to him, the purpose of religion is to find the unity that lies at the foundation of all differences, or in other words, religion is the possibility of looking God in the face.
For faith, it is said that it represents the unity of the soul with God, it reveals God to man, but it also reveals the essence of one’s own soul, and that is why it says: Faith is the birth of God in man, man becomes God’s son. It enables him to be born anew, and the condition for that is for man to distance himself from sin and to stop being interested in finite and perishable things.
Although Eckhart’s writings do not present a coherent system, they reveal to us the mind of an original philosopher, theologian, and mystic. His living teachings direct us towards the way of the heart, the way of love for God and neighbor, the way that gradually awakens man from slumber and brings him before the face of God.