Meister Eckhart, God and consciousness

Consciousness: Cosmic Consciousness | Death | Dreams | God vs. Science | Karma & Nirvana 1895-6 | Life of St Issa - Jesus Christ | Manipulating consciousness | Meister Eckhart | Memory | Nothing | Organ transplants | Reincarnation & Karma | Science | Taylor Swift's Karma | Telepathy Tapes / Spellers | Theory of Everything | Time & the specious present |

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Videos
3. References

---------------------

God is not a being, but the act of being itself (St Thomas Aquinas) 

Introduction

Meister Eckhart, or Eckhart von Hockheim (1260-1328) was a German Dominican friar famous for his radical views on God and the soul, or consciousness - views which, in the 21st century appear more relevant than ever and in line with the evolving zeitgeist and move towards a non-materialistic view of the origin and experience of consciousness. During his life he reached a high level of intellectual and philosophical regard within the Dominican hierarchy and both taught and lectured throughout Europe. He was highly respected, though towards the end of his life he was accused of heresy by the Pope due to his belief that in order to be at one with God, all the material and theological trappings of life needed to removed and an emptiness achieved in order to facilitate that oneness. He denied being a heretic, and though some of his teachings were banned after his death, the bans were subsequently lifted. His theology is grounded in elements of Neo-Platonism and Negative Theology., the latter of which highlights the fact that humans cannot adequately conceptualize or understand or describe fully God.

The complexity, alongside an inherent simplicity, of Eckhart's teachings is the reason for the ongoing, and recent, revival of them through organisations such as the Eckhart Society, numerous articles and books, social media discussions, and video presentations on YouTube which aim to bring them to a wider audience. Some of these are referenced and linked to below.

The discovery of Eckhart's teachings by the present writer followed on his own discovery, or revelation in May 2025 that Consciousness is the individual awareness of a being., and that science and the church itself was masking this core reality. Some of Eckhart's thoughts and teachings include the following:

• God exists in the infinite presence of awareness.
• God is awareness itself.
• God is being itself, and that being lives through your awareness, your consciousness.
• This is the so-called Divine Spark.
• God is born in the soul.
• To empty one's soul is to allow it to be filled with God.
• A vigorous metaphysics of The One, as opposed to the Trinity.
• The processes of Creation itself, which for him is both ongoing and outside time (pre-Darwin evolution as applied to the Universe).

In eastern religions God is Brahman or the universal consciousness, whilst modern discussions around consciousness refer to the creator of the universe as the Cosmic Consciousness, otherwise known as God, the Creator, Source, the One.

-------------------

Videos

* Meister Eckhart and Christian Mysticism, Let's Talk Religion, 25 December 2020, YouTube, duration: 44.12 minutes.

* The Realistic Mystic who found God in nothingness, Artificially Aware, 17 July 2024, YouTube, duration: 12.56 minutes.

* God Beyond God: Meister Eckhart, Labyrinths, 21 February 2023, YouTube, duration: 36.42 minutes.

* How to enter Heaven here & now - Meister Eckhart, Seeker to Seeker, 24 August 2024, YouTube, duration: 17.00 minutes.

-------------------

References

How to enter Heaven here & now - Meister Eckhart, Seeker to Seeker, 24 August 2024, YouTube, duration: 17.00 minutes.

Kuhn, Robert, Pantheism: Is the world God?, Closer to Truth, 4 July 2020, YouTube, duration: 26.46 minutes. 

McGinn, Bernard, Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher, Classics of Western Spirituality Series, Paulist Press International, U.S., 1981 and 1992,

-----, The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart: The Man from Whom God Hid Nothing, Independent Publishers Group, 2003.

Meister Eckhart and Christian Mysticism, Let's Talk Religion, 25 December 2020, YouTube, duration: 44.12 minutes.

Meister Eckhart, Online Philosophy: Philosophy as therapy to cure the mind, n.d., accessed 14 August 2025.

The Realistic Mystic who found God in nothingness, Artificially Aware, 17 July 2024, YouTube, duration: 4.20 minutes. 

Tolle, Eckhart, Why did you choose the name Eckhart?, Eckhart Tolle, 4 May 2022, YouTube, duration: 11.52 minutes. 

Excerpt: I was aware at that time already of the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart. If you have not read Meister Eckhart, I highly recommend [his] wonderful, deep teachings. Of course, Meister Eckhart was a monk in the Christian tradition in medieval times [and] had never heard of Buddhism. But I often say, if you really want to understand Buddhism, read Meister Eckhart because he really shows you the essence of Buddhism.

Walsh, Maurice O'C., The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2009, 640p. 

Wikipedia, Meister Eckhart, Wikipedia, accessed 14 August 2025.

-------------------

Consciousness: Cosmic Consciousness | Death | Dreams | God vs. Science | Karma & Nirvana 1895-6 | Life of St Issa - Jesus Christ | Manipulating consciousness | Meister Eckhart | Memory | Nothing | Organ transplants | Reincarnation & Karma | Science | Taylor Swift's Karma | Telepathy Tapes / Spellers | Theory of Everything | Time & the specious present |

Last updated: 14 August 2025

Michael Organ, Australia