Mark S. Burrows

Jon M. Sweeney

An elegant rendering of the great mystic's thoughts on the mysteries of the authentic life This is a little book about soul freedom. It is a book about discovering the secret to all the things we most desire: contentment, meaning, peace of mind, and true freedom. This skillfully edited translation of selections from the writings of Meister Eckhart provides a roadmap to the spiritual life for contemporary seekers. Eckhart takes us on a journey of discovery; a journey in which we learn to let go, relinquish our need to know everything, and lose those things that we think are important for a life of worth. And in the end he shows us that the true secret is this: to find yourself, you must lose yourself. Here is timeless wisdom from a medieval mystic who has influenced a wide range of spiritual teachers and mystics both inside and outside the Christian tradition. Erich Fromm, Arthur Schopenhauer, Dag Hammarskjöld, Eckhart Tolle, Richard Rohr, D. T. Suzuki, Rudolf Steiner, and Matthew Fox have all credited Eckhart as being an important influence on their thought. In addition, his work has influenced the development of 20th-century American Buddhism and the Theosophical tradition. Divided into five sections—Seeking the Light, Facing Darkness, Risking Love, Knowing Nothing, and Embracing Everything—the book leads readers on the path to an authentic spiritual life.

Meditations on Letting Go and Finding True Freedom

Meister Eckhart's Book of Secrets

Laura Mei

There is a secret hidden in the heart, a treasure as close to us as our breath. A mystery living in the midst of our soul. Finding it is simple but may be hard since to do so we must abandon the self we thought we were and seek the gift that was always ours. This inner spark that no darkness can finally extinguish, though it keeps us from knowing it. This gift is always present to us if only we have eyes to see. And when we do, we will find its radiance in everything, and at all times this light that blazes on in a darkness that cannot put it out.

We see in two ways because the soul has two eyes. One is an outer eye beholding all that is creaturely around us, all that we can see in the outer world, all that we can imagine among things that change. We need this eye to manage from day-to-day and moment to moment, but the eye that really matters is the inner eye that beholds what is beyond change. When you retreat from what is outside of you, you'll taste what true freedom means. Not that you will have no more troubles, but all this will no longer bother you. What to do? Find the inner eye and learn to see your life entirely with it; the rest will follow.

If you want to reach the highest wisdom refuse everything you know, abandon all you aspire to be, and seek the darkness of the lowest place of all.

You will not find me in the usual places, come to the desert if you'd like to see. Look where you might become lost for a while, there is a wide wilderness in me.

Some imagine there is no light in their life, but only a long darkness. I say that the light is never absent, always seeking to flow forth within the ground of the soul, but we block it in our confusion and fail to see how it ever shines and burns in us. So, if you want to know the light you must first face the darkness that is in you. Only then will this light overflow your soul and dance with radiance in your life.

A great teacher once said that the soul becomes what it loves, so pay attention to this and consider well what you love – whether things that delight or inspire, or those you feel drawn toward. For while there's nothing wrong with any of this, consider when you love that you are becoming what you love and so love in a way that grows the soul and gentles the mind and graces the world. The rest will take care of itself.

Meister Eckhart's Book of Secrets quotes

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