Meister Eckhart – Four Eckhart Legends
FOUR ECKHART LEGENDS (Pf III, 67-70, QT pp. 443-48)
1 . A GOOD MORNING
Meister Eckhart said to a poor man, ‘God give you good morning,
brother.’
‘Keep it for yourself, sir, I have never had a bad one.’
He said, ‘How is that, brother?’
‘Because whatever God has sent me to suffer, I have suffered gladly
for His sake and have considered myself unworthy of Him, and so I
have never been sad or troubled.’
He asked, ‘Where did you first find God ?’
‘When I left all creatures behind, then I found God. ‘
He said, ‘Where did you leave God, brother?’
‘In every pure, clean heart.’
He said, ‘What kind of a man are you, brother?’
‘I am a king.’
He asked, ‘Of what?’
‘Of my flesh: for whatever my spirit desired from God, my flesh was always more nimble and quick to perform and endure than my spirit was to receive.’
He said, ‘A king must have a kingdom. What is your realm, brother? ‘
‘ I n m y soul.’
He said, ‘In what way, brother?’
‘When I have closed the doors of my five senses and desire God with all my heart, I find God in my soul, as radiant and joyous as He is eternal life.’
He said, ‘You must be a saint. Who made you one, brother? ‘
‘Sitting still and raising m y thoughts aloft and uniting with God that has drawn me up to heaven, for I could find no rest in anything that was less than God.
Now I have found Him I have rest and joy in Him eternally, and that surpasses all temporal kingdoms. There is no outward work so perfect, but it hinders the inner life.’
2. THE NAKED BOY
He said, ‘I come from God.’ ‘Where did you leave Him?’
‘In virtuous hearts.’
‘Where are you going? ‘
To God.’
‘Where will you find Him?’
‘Where I abandoned all creatures. ‘
‘Who are you ? ‘
‘ A king.’
‘Where is your kingdom?’
‘Mind that no one shares it with you.’
‘I will.’
Then he took the boy into his cell and said, ‘Take whichever coat
you like.’
‘Then I would not be a king ! ‘4 And he vanished.
It was God Himself having fun with him.
3. MEISTER ECKHART’ S DAUGHTER
A young girl6 came to a Dominican convent and asked for Meister
Eckhart. The porter said, ‘Whom shall I announce ? ‘
She replied, ‘I don’t know.’
He said, ‘Why don’t you know?’
She said, ‘Because I am neither a girl nor a woman, nor husband nor wife, nor widow nor virgin, nor master nor maid nor manservant.’
The porter went to Meister Eckhart.
‘Come out to the strangest creature I ever saw, and let me go with you, and put your head out and ask, “Who wants me ? ” ‘
He did so. She spoke to him the same as she had spoken to the porter.
He said, ‘My dear child, you speak truthfully and with a ready tongue: explain to me more fully what you mean.’
She said, ‘If I were a girl, I would still be in my primal innocence; if
I were a woman, I would be bearing the eternal Word without cease
in my soul;
if I were a man, I should put up a stiff resistance to all sins;
if I were a wife, I should be faithful to my sole and beloved husband;
if I were a widow, I should ever yearn for my one and only love; if I were a virgin, I should be in reverent service; if I were a master, I would command all the divine virtues;
if I were a maid, I should be meekly subject to God and all creatures; if I were a manservant, I should be hard at work, serving my Lord with my whole will and without contradiction.
But I am none of all these things: I am j ust a thing like anything else and go my way.’
The master went and said to his brothers, ‘It seems to me that I
have just heard the purest person I have ever met.’
4. MEI STER ECKHART’S FEAST
Once a poor man came to Cologne on the Rhine in quest of poverty and the life of truth.
Then a maiden came to him and said, ‘Dear child, will you eat with me in God’s love?’
‘Gladly,’ he said.
When they sat down, she said, ‘Eat heartily, don’t be ashamed. ‘
‘If I eat too much it is wrong, if I eat too little it is wrong. The middle way is best: I will eat like a poor man.’
She asked, ‘What is a poor man?’
He said, ‘That consists in three things. The first is that he is dead to all natural things. The second is that he cannot desire too much of God. The third is that he should desire whatever is termed, or is, suffering for no one more than for himself.’
She said, ‘My dear child, tell me, what is the poverty of the inner man ? ‘
H e said, ‘That too lies in three things. The first i s utter detachment from all creatures, in time and in eternity. The second is determined humility of the inner and the outer man. The third is a diligent devotion and a continual raising of the mind to God.’
She said, ‘Indeed, I am glad to hear that. Now, dear child, tell me, what is the poverty of the spirit?’
He said, ‘You ask too much ! ‘
She said, ‘ I never heard that there could b e too much of what concerns God’s glory and man’s blessedness. ‘
The poor man said, ‘You speak truly. This too consists in three things. The first is, that a man should know nothing in time or eternity but God alone. The second is, that he should not seek God outside of himself. The third is, that he should not carry any spiritual goods, as his personal property, 10 from place to place.’
‘Well then, should not the Master, your father and mine, not carry his sermon from his cell to the pulpit?’
He replied, ‘Not he. ‘
‘Why? ‘ she asked.
He said, ‘The more temporal, the more physical; the more physical, the more temporal . ‘
She said, ‘This spirit did not come from Bohemia! ‘
H e said, ‘The sun that shines o n Cologne also shines o n the city of Prague.’
She said, ‘Explain that to me more clearly.’
He said, ‘It is not my place with the Master here present.’
The Master said, ‘If a man has not the truth within, let him love it
outside, then he will also find it within.’
She said, ‘This meal is well paid for.’
Then the poor man said, ‘Maiden, now you must pay for the wine! ‘
‘Gladly,’ she replied, ‘just ask me.’
He asked, ‘How can a man recognize the works of the Holy Ghost in his soul?’
She said, ‘By three things. The first is that he daily grows less in the way of bodily things, desires, and natural love. The second is that he continually grows in divine love and grace. The third is that, with love and eagerness, he devotes his labors more to his fellow men than to himself.’
He said, ‘Our Lord’s chosen friends have given good evidence of this.’
Then he said, ‘How can a spiritual man tell if God is present at his prayers and exercises ?’
She said, ‘By three things. The first is by the object which God sets before His chosen ones: that is the scorn of the world and physical suffering. The second is by a growth in grace commensurate with the
love that is between him and God. The third is that God never leaves that man without indicating some new path of wisdom to him.’
He said, ‘That must indeed be true. Now tell me, how can a man tell if all his works are performed according to the sovran will of God ?’
She said, ‘By three things. The first is, that he never lacks a clear conscience. The second is, that he never turns from union with God.
And the third is, that the heavenly Father begets His Son in him
continually by grace. ‘
The Master said, ‘If all debts were as well paid off a s this wine, there is many a soul in purgatory that would now be in eternal life.’
Then the poor man said, ‘If there is any more to pay, that is up to the Master. ‘
Then the Master said, ‘Let old age be privileged.’ But the poor man said, ‘Let love do its work, which knows no distinctions.’
The maiden said, ‘You are a Master whose skill has been proven
three times in Paris. ‘
The poor man said, ‘ I would rather have someone who had been tried and proven once in the truth than three times in Paris in the chair.’
Meister Eckhart said, ‘If there was anything that needed saying to
me, it has been said.’
The maiden said, ‘Tell me, Father, how can anyone know he is a child of the heavenly Father?’
He said, ‘By three things. The first is, that a man performs all his actions out of love. The second is, that he accepts all things equally from God. The third is, that he pins all his hopes on none but God alone.’
The poor man said, ‘Tell me, Father, how can anyone know whether
virtue is operative in him to the highest degree of nobility ?’
He said, ‘By three things: you must love God for God’s sake, the good for good’s sake, and the truth for truth’s sake.’
The Master said, ‘Dear children, how should he live who preaches
the truth? ‘
The maiden said, ‘He should so live that what he preaches in words, he practices with deeds.’
The poor man said, ‘That is good. But he should be inwardly so established that he has more truth within him than he can put
into outward words. 16 As the eternal Word is begotten of the heavenly Father, so the will of God is the begetting and becoming of all creatures.’ ~Meister Eckhart, This is Meister Eckhart’s Feast, Pages 580-585
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