Monday 5th July, 2021
Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries,Treatises and Defence (SPCK, 1981), 2080.
Image: Dimitri Houtteman, pixabay.com/users/dimhou-5987327/
This quote is by the late 13th - early 14th century theologian, philosopher and mystic, Eckhart von Hochheim, commonly known as Meister Eckhart. He was born near Erfurt, Thuringia, in the area that today we know as central Germany in around 1260 and died at Avignon in 1328. During an initially distinguished academic career he became a Professor of Theology in Paris and also played a leading organisational and pastoral role in the Dominican order. At the time of Eckhart's death he was in the middle of a trial for heresy but died before a verdict was passed. A few weeks after his death, 28 articles of his teachings were denounced by Pope John XXIII in a Papal Bull. However, over the intervening centuries Eckhat has become one of the most respected writers about the contemplative journey and is often quoted. You can find out much more about Eckhart through the Eckhart Society, here.