When the soul is totally lost, it finds that it is the very Self which it sought for so long in vain. Here the soul Is God.
Meister Eckhart
The Very Self
Theme: Being in Self
Come now, noble souls, and take a look at the splendor you are carrying within yourselves! But if you do not let go of yourselves completely, if you do not drown yourself in this bottomless sea of the Godhead, you cannot get to know this divine light.
When the soul is totally lost, it finds that it is the very Self which it sought for so long in vain. Here the soul Is God. Here it enjoys supreme bliss; here it is sufficient unto itself; here it shines with its own radiance. Here at last it has found that the Kingdom of God is itself!
Meister Eckhart, whose full name was Eckhart von Hochheim OP, (c. 1260 – c. 1328) was born around the year 1260, possibly between 1250 and 1260, in the village of Tambach, near Gotha, in the Landgraviate of Thuringia, which is now central Germany, within the Holy Roman Empire. The prefix "Meister" in his name translates to "Master," signifying his scholarly prestige. His birth into nobility was initially purported, however, later examinations revealed that this notion stemmed from a misinterpretation of period archives, clarifying that his Christian name was Eckhart, with the surname von Hochheim.
Eckhart commenced his ecclesiastical journey around the age of 18, circa 1278, by joining the Dominican convent at Erfurt. His scholarly pursuits possibly led him to study at Cologne before 1280, and perhaps also at the University of Paris either before or after his time in Cologne. His commitment to the Dominican order was substantial, as he entered the order when he was 15 and later, around 1294, began his teaching career as a lecturer on the Sentences of Peter Lombard at the Dominican convent of St. Jacques in Paris.
Meister Eckhart's theological and philosophical endeavors were deeply rooted in mysticism, with a notable emphasis on the union between the individual soul and God, as expressed in his sermons both in German and Latin. His rising prominence was particularly noted during the Avignon Papacy, a period marked by increased tensions among monastic orders and diocesan clergy. Unfortunately, the latter part of his life was marred by accusations of heresy, leading to a trial by the local Franciscan-led Inquisition, and subsequently by Pope John XXII. Despite these challenges, Eckhart's teachings continued to resonate through his disciples like Johannes Tauler and Henry Suso, and his mystic philosophy continues to garner attention and appreciation in contemporary religious and academic circles.
Star, Jonathan. Two Suns Rising: A Collection of Sacred Writings. Edison, New Jersey, Castle Books, 1996, p. (p. 160). [Eckhart, Meister. “When the soul is totally lost, it finds that it is the very Self which it sought for so long in vain. Here the soul Is God.” Meister Eckhart, the Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises, and Defense, New York: Paulist Press, 1981.
Meister Eckhart
Theme: Being in Self
About This Meister Eckhart Quotation [Commentary]
Meister Eckhart’s insight, “When the soul is totally lost, it finds that it is the very Self which it sought for so long in vain. Here the soul Is God,” speaks to the paradox of the spiritual journey. In surrendering and dissolving the ego, the true Self is discovered. Eckhart reveals that this Self is God. The journey is not about gaining, but losing—losing the false self and uncovering the divine essence within. Eckhart highlights the unity of the human soul with the divine, a central theme in his teachings.
In the context passage, Eckhart urges “noble souls” to recognize the divine splendor within. This recognition requires letting go of the self and immersing in the “bottomless sea of the Godhead.” Only through profound detachment from the ego can one perceive the divine light within. Eckhart envisions a spiritual path where the individual ceases to exist in the conventional sense, instead realizing their unity with God.
The theme of “Being in Self” aligns with Eckhart’s teachings. For him, the true Self is the divine presence within each person. This realization brings supreme bliss, self-sufficiency, and inner radiance. When Eckhart says, “Here the soul Is God,” he points to a state of being where the soul fully embodies its divine nature. The Kingdom of God is a present reality within the realized soul. By living in the now, detached from past and future illusions, one can experience this divine truth. Eckhart challenges us to look beyond the superficial self and find the divine essence that is our true nature.
Meister Eckhart—Eknath Easwaran
Devotion to a divine incarnation—Jesus, Sri Krishna, the Buddha, the Divine Mother—helps greatly, for it gives us a focus for our love outside the narrow compass of our self-will. The subtlety is that this divine focus is not outside us. The Lord is our real Self, embodying the divine qualities which all of us have within us.
It follows that when we are looking for the Lord, unifying our desires to realize him, the Lord is looking for us at the same time. Meister Eckhart, the towering mystic of Medieval Germany, goes even further: the eye with which you see God, he says, is the same eye with which God is looking all the time at you… We don’t realize that He can open the door to deeper consciousness from inside; yet silently, subtly, all the time we are banging away on the door, He is undoing the latch on the other side. This is what devotion to a spiritual ideal can do.
—Eknath Easwaran [Conquest of the Mind] pp. 148 – 149.
Meister Eckhart—Annetta Maguire
In her chapter on Meister Eckhart, Maguire (2013) explains that Eckhart was a most significant figure in the history of Christian Mysticism. Born in Thuringia in Germany in 1260 he is believed to have belonged to a family of the lower aristocracy. Eckhart entered the Dominican Priory at the monastery in Erfurt at the age of fifteen.
Few details of his personal life are known to us. Unlike Christian mystics such as Julian of Norwich, St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, he did not speak of himself or his own spiritual experiences. What is known of him and his theology is largely gleaned from his sermons. As was the case with other members of the Dominican Order, he stressed the importance of preaching. Consequently, Eckhart’s focus was on those to whom he preached and their experiences rather than his own. As his reputation grew large numbers of people came to hear his sermons.
As revealed by the quotations in the Anthology included in this essay, the non-duality, transcendence and immanence of Divinity was an inherent aspect of his theology. According to Maguire (2013):
Maguire also stated:
*Source: Maguire, Annetta. (2013). Praying with Christian Mystics. County Dublin, The Columba Press. [Cited in Mysticism, the Perennial Philosophy and Interfaith Dialogue by Philip Brown.]
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