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Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) · 14 of 23 · tr. Claud Field

V-b

It is necessary, therefore, for all the creatures which issued forth from God to co-operate earnestly with all their powers to form a Man who may again attain that union with God which Adam enjoyed before he fell, and who may again restore to the creatures their forfeited powers. This is fulfilled in Christ as He Himself said, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.” He means, if He is exalted in our knowledge, He will draw us unto Himself. In Him human nature grew divine, and thanked God and loved Him with immeasurable love. This also befits God that he loves human nature with so great love. I counsel you, sisters and brothers, that you grow in knowledge, and thank God, while you are in time, that He brought you out of non-existence to existence, and united you with the Divine Nature. But if the Divine Nature be beyond your comprehension, believe simply on Christ; follow His holy example and remain steadfast. Convert Jews, heathen, heretics, bad Christians, and all who do not enjoy your knowledge of God, and are still astray. Now rejoice, all ye powers of my soul, that you are so united with God that no one may separate you from Him. I cannot fully praise nor love Him therefore must I die, and cast myself into the divine void, till I rise from non-existence to existence. If I should remain entombed in flesh till the judgment day and suffer the pains of hell, that would be for me a small thing to bear for my beloved Lord Jesus Christ, if I had the certainty at last of not being separated from Him. While I am here, He is in me; after this life, I am in Him. All things are therefore possible to me, if I am united to Him Who can do all things. Previously I could not distinguish whether we were divine by nature or by grace. Then came Jesus and enlightened me so that I recognized in the Divine Nature Three Persons, and that the Father was the Bringer-Forth of all things, as St James says, “every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights.” The Father and the Son have one Will, and that Will is the Holy Ghost, Who gives Himself to the soul so that the Divine Nature permeates the powers of the soul so that it can only do God-like works. Just as a spring, which perpetually flows and waters the roots of the flowers, so that the flowers bloom and receive their colours from the water of the spring, so the Godhead imparts Itself to the capacities of the soul that it may grow in the likeness of God. The more that the soul receives of the Divine Nature, the more it grows like It, and the closer becomes its union with God. It may arrive at such an intimate union that God at last draws it to Himself altogether, so that there is no distinction left, in the soul’s consciousness, between itself and God, though God still regards it as a creature. Wherefore let yourselves not be misled by the light of nature. The higher the degree of knowledge which the soul attains to in the light of grace, the darker seems to it the light of nature. If the soul would know the real truth it must examine itself, whether it has withdrawn from all things, whether it has lost itself, whether it loves God purely with His love and nothing of its own at the same time, so that it may not be separated from Him by anything, and whether God alone dwells in it. If it has lost itself, it is as when the Virgin Mary lost Christ. She sought Him for three days, and yet was sure that she would find Him. All the while Christ was in the highest class in the school of His Father, unconscious of His mother’s seeking Him.
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Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

It acknowledges the 'Divine Nature be beyond your comprehension' and that higher grace makes natural light seem darker.

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Birth Of Word In Soulanthropology

Eckhart's signature doctrine that the Father eternally begets the Son in the ground of the soul; the human interior as the actual site of the divine generative act, distinct from inner_light's static indwelling.

It describes the Father as Bringer-Forth and the Divine Nature permeating the soul's powers to do God-like works.

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Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

The speaker mentions remaining 'entombed in flesh' as a state to be endured for the sake of union.

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Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

[auto] The passage urges the soul to 'withdraw from all things', 'lost itself', and 'cast myself into the divine void', reflecting Eckhart's Gelassenheit.

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Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

References to 'light of nature', 'light of grace', and the 'Father of lights' are central metaphors.

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Eschatological Judgmentsoteriology

Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.

References 'the judgment day' and suffering pains of hell.

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Fana Annihilationsoteriology

Sufi self-effacement in God — the via by which the lover is unmade as a separate ego and recovered as God's act; specifies the practice/event rather than mystical_union's resulting state.

The speaker says 'I must die, and cast myself into the divine void', indicating self-effacement in God.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

The author counsels to 'grow in knowledge' and warns against being misled by the light of nature versus grace.

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Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

The 'light of grace' illuminates the soul, distinguishing it from the light of nature.

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Inner Silencepraxis

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

The soul must have 'withdrawn from all things' to know the truth.

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Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] The text affirms 'While I am here, He is in me' and that 'God alone dwells in it', locating the divine realm internally.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is depicted as active, loving, drawing men, and dwelling within the soul.

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Logoscosmology

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

Christ is presented as the mediator who draws all men unto Himself.

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Love Of Neighbourethics

Active compassionate care for others as a central spiritual obligation or expression of divine love.

The author counsels to 'Convert Jews, heathen, heretics...'.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The text describes an intimate union where 'there is no distinction left... between itself and God' and 'He is in me; after this life, I am in Him.'

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Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

In union, there is 'no distinction left... between itself and God', transcending the creature-creator binary in consciousness.

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Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

The instruction to 'rise from non-existence to existence' after dying into the void is paradoxical.

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Poverty Of Spiritanthropology

Eckhart's radical reading of Matthew 5:3 — the saint as one who wants nothing, knows nothing, and has nothing, having emptied even the will and the self with which to receive God; distinct from renunciation_of_wealth (material poverty).

The instruction to 'cast myself into the divine void' and 'lost itself' aligns with Eckhart's poverty of spirit.

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Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

The text advises to 'thank God' and 'love Him', constituting direct address and devotion.

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Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

[auto] The passage explicitly calls for creatures to form a Man who may 'attain that union with God which Adam enjoyed before he fell' and restore forfeited powers.

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Self Examinationpraxis

Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice.

The soul must 'examine itself' to see if it has withdrawn from all things and lost itself.

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Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

The soul is instructed to 'examine itself' regarding its withdrawal from things and loss of self.

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Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

The text references the fall where creatures lost 'forfeited powers' and need to restore union with God.

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Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The text describes growing in knowledge and attaining union as a progressive movement toward God.

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Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

[auto] It states 'In Him human nature grew divine' and the soul grows in the likeness of God as the Divine Nature permeates its powers.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The union is described as so intimate that 'there is no distinction left... between itself and God'.

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Related passages · 15 of 68 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 426
“Section 10 10. We have shown the inevitability of certain convictions as to the scheme of things: There exists a Principle which transcends Being; this is The One, whose nature we have sought to establish in so far as such matters lend them…”
Shared concept: Logos — The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world. (derived)
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“The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page]] 325 THE IMPARTIALITY OF SCIENTIFIC DENIALS. [[This page continued from previous section ]] § III. PRIMORDIAL SUBSTANCE AND DIVINE THOUGHT. "As it would seem irrational…”
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“When humanity has completed its physical evolution, the empty shell of materiality left behind will be used by other life waves as steppingstones to their own liberation. The trend of man's evolutionary growth is ever toward his own essent…”
Shared concept: Self Knowledge — The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 489
“Section 11 11. Similarly any one, unable to see himself, but possessed by that God, has but to bring that divine- within before his consciousness and at once he sees an image of himself, himself lifted to a better beauty: now let him ignore…”
Shared concept: Kingdom Within — The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XX
“Omitting, therefore, these things, we may reasonably adduce a second cause, assigned by you, of the above mentioned particulars: viz. “ that the soul says and imagines these things, and that they are the passions of it, excited from small i…”
Shared concept: Gnosis Direct Knowledge — Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 4 (part 12)
“They found in this basin, after they had broken the covering of it, the decayed remains of a man, but no treasures, excepting some golden tablets inscribed with characters of a language which nobody could understand. Each man's share of th…”
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egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 4 (part 17)
“will show that about three-fourths of the whole may be found in the monuments of his ancestors. What principle guided each king in the selection of his texts, or whether the additions in each represent religious developments, it is impossi…”
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egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 4 (part 19)
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egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 4 (part 27)
“For the variant vignettes see Naville, Todtenbuch , Bd. L, Bl. 8o. 2. One of the two variant vignettes shows the deceased in the act of adoring Ra, and in the other the deceased kneels before Ra, Thoth, and Osiris; see Naville, Todtenbu…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 5 (part 1)
“THE LEGEND OF OSIRIS. The main features of the Egyptian religion constant. The chief features of the Egyptian religion remained unchanged from the Vth and VIth dynasties down to the period when the Egyptians embraced Christianity, after t…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 7 (part 2)
“But side by side with neter , whatever it may mean, we have mentioned in texts of all ages a number of beings called neteru which Egyptologists universally translate by the word "gods." Among these must be included the great cosmic powers a…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 13 (part 7)
“16.) The text of this Chapter agrees rather with the second version in the papyrus of Nebseni than with that in B.M. papyrus No. 9964. As the Ani papyrus is of Theban origin this was to be expected. Chapter LIV. "The Chapter of giving…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 17 (part 2)
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“PLATES VII.-X. Vignette : The vignette of these plates, forming one composition, runs along the top of the text. The subjects are:- Plate VII. i. Ani and his wife in the seh hall; he is moving a piece on a draught-board (to illustrate l…”
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egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 36 (part 1)
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Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
Contrasts · where traditions diverge
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|6. The Medium And Mediator-c
“Many persons will say that it is difficult and even impossible to attain such resolution, that strength in volition and energy in character are natural gifts. I do not dispute it, but I would point out also that habit can reform nature; vo…”
Both passages emphasize the transformation and perfection of the human will or nature through spiritual practices and divine connection. Passage A discusses the cultivation of will and the projection of astral light through magical rituals, while Passage B focuses on the union with the Divine Nature through knowledge and faith in Christ, leading to divine-like actions and ultimate union with God.