The aphorisms of the twelve Masters

The prayer

Wolfgang Wackernagel

Talk given on the 10th Annual Conference of The Eckhart Society

(http://www.op.org/eckhart/default.HTM), in Oxford, August 29th 1997 - published in The
Eckhart Review, Spring 1998

The subject of this paper is somewhat unusual, as it is concerned with texts that have been left
out of the critical edition of Meister Eckhart. In a sense, one could call them "apocryphal",
which means "hidden away". But the fact is that up to this century, most of Eckharts writings
have remained in such a state. Thus, since the entire corpus of his authentic texts has not yet
been edited, it is not possible to say exactly which texts should belong to such a category.

This brings us to the main point I want to convey in this paper. Namely that the legends, the
aphorisms, and even "the apocrypha" are an inseparable part of the Eckhart phenomenon.
Something wonderful would get lost if, once the critical edition is finished, one would totally
disregard the "unauthorised texts" or the legendary aspects inspired by the charisma of Eckharts
name. Just as other voices deplored that something might get lost if the academic research
focused exclusively on a few scholastic aspects of the Eckhartian teachings.

Eckhart has always been a legendary name. It seems to have already been a tradition in the
times of Meister Eckharts own family. Just as today, people get names because of famous
actresses, football players, saints or heroes. For instance Arthur still reminds most people of the
legendary king. This kind of idolising must have existed even in the most distant past. For a
long time, some legends have been circulating about another Eckhart, called Eckhart the true,
and it is possible that they have inspired some legendary aspects of Meister Eckhart.(1) Of
course, Meister Eckhart is also the "true" Eckhart - though these legendary figures should not be
confused, there is no false one! And last but not least, the creation of the Eckhart Society may
be considered the most recent event in the legend of Meister Eckhart himself.

All this is part of the Eckhart phenomenon, people being fascinated by him, and the many true
things that circulate about his life. Others stories are to be considered more dubious legends -
though "legend" actually means "what is worthy to be read"! Since Eckhart has not (as yet) been
canonised, there is no authorised legend about him; for instance as Jacques de Voragine wrote
about other saints. Today, Eckhart can neither be considered as an official saint nor as a mere
heretic. Though some people consider it a compliment to be called a heretic, it would not be fair
to apply such an etiquette to Eckhart, since he truly deserves to be rehabilitated. At the same
time, those legends that seem sometimes a bit strange are also a part of the Eckhart
phenomenon.

Let us now consider three texts that beside the pleasure of being new translations, illustrate
these introductory remarks.
1. The Aphorisms of the Twelve Masters

The first text, "The Aphorisms of the Twelve Masters", is the most difficult since it offers a kind
of summary of the various philosophical positions of (neo)platonic or even eleatic inspiration,
that characterise the German Dominican school in the days of Meister Eckhart:

Meister Eckhart speaks of essence pure.

He speaks one single tiny word, formless in itself.
This is his own sense; where nothing can be added nor withdrawn.
Who thus can speak is a good master.

Meister Dietrich speaks of meaning (sinnekait).

He places the soul's image in its own self (selbeshait);
There it knows God in its being (istichait).

The one from Ettlingen helps him to see

that naturally and reasonably flows forth
every creature, that stands without accident.
It knows God by nature; this is its own way.

The one from Tannebach stands near by.

He sets the image of the soul so free
in its own being, that it stands alone.
Its reason is to stand in there.

The one from Regensburg speaks so wonderfully.

He says Gods grace is above all essence.
He holds the highest degree in pure unity.
Life and activity he sets in otherness.

Binderlin from Friburg speaks openly:

a light is in the soul, that is open to reason.
If it infuses itself of what it is by nature,
it stands substantially in its ultimate quality.

The one from Walthusen is a grand priest.

He speaks reasonably the bare truth.
He has arisen in the wild Deity.
There he found freedom without distinction.

He speaks also: there is a light in the soul, that cannot be touched

by any creature; this is its own way.
There shines the being in simplicity.
There he found freedom without distinction.

Brother John from the Müntz is a young man

and came up with the praise of the masters.
Now we have heard, he wants to deny himself.
For this he has good reason.
He also sets life and action free.
And yet he objects, that this is not the ultimate.

Brother John, this you should tell us,

what is now the ultimate, that is long exposed,
which you place above [the fact] that all consists in one?
That we can know that, this is [your] mastership.

The Tauler from Strasburg speaks with simplicity:

he who gets bare of himself and of God, stands free from deed.
There God acts [out of] himself; he is without deed.
Bare is the image of the soul: there is no [more] createdness.

The Ros[e] of the Bavarians speaks sincerely:

everything that is created is by accident.
The spirit stands without accident in its simplicity:
there it is united in its being (istichait).
And also: of both sense and desire he is free;
he is detached to the very ground, as if he didn't exist.

The one from Talhain speaks masterly:

the Father bears his eternal word directly.
In every creature entered in unity
the Father bears his eternal word internally.
What is it, that the Father bears and has born?
A revelation of himself in his own self (selbeshait);
The spirit stands bare of all alterity.
There the Father considers himself; this is his own way.

This is the noble vine the Father planted,

they are ready to bear complete virtue
and yet they stand idle before and after the beginning,
and here is introduced the end.(2)

This poem, in which the spiritual feats have replaced the tragedy of weapons, was meant to be
chanted or recited in the way of an ancient epic, because it imitates, in a sometimes irregular
way, the metric form of the new Hildebrandslied, inspired by the old Hildebrandslied
(composed in the IXth century). The Hildebrandslied, in which a father accidentally fights and
even kills his own son, could actually serve to illustrate the absurdity of war - a collective
suicide, threatening to suppress the very offspring of mankind. In using such an old epic form,
the author of the "Aphorisms of the Twelve Masters" does not explicitly refer to the old tragedy,
but he may suggest that the new chivalric heroes are the members of the Dominican Order.(3)

The first aphorism is a very appropriate summary of one of the most characteristic components
of Eckhartian thinking.(4) The pure essence or "bare being" (wesen blosz), detached (from all
images) about which one cannot speak, unless one could voice the paradox of the unspeakable.
One single tiny word (ain ainiges wörtlin), which is formless in itself, to which nothing can be
added nor withdrawn. The implicit theme of the soul's (=God's) image is then explicitly exposed
by Meister Dietrich (Theoderic), who places God's image in the soul's own self (selbeshait)
where the soul knows God in terms of what could be translated by "is-me-ness" (istichait), that
is, within its own being. The Meister from Ettlingen (Heinrich von Ettlingen, to whom Dietrich
dedicated his treaty De intelligentiis) assists him in speaking of the emanation of intelligence in
every creature. The Meister from Tannebach (maybe Johannes von Dambach, who was a
witness in the trial of Meister Eckhart) speaks again about the image of the soul. Just as
Binderlin from Friburg (the sixth master, unidentified) speaks in terms of an intelligible light;
(John) Tauler from Strasburg (the tenth master) in terms of uncreatedness; the Ros (Rose?) of
the Bavarians (the eleventh master, unidentified) in terms of detachment and freedom; the
Meister from Talhain (the twelfth master, perhaps Henry from Talhain), in terms of bearing the
word internally. Whereas the Meister from Regensburg (the fifth master, perhaps Albertus
Magnus) speaks about Gods grace, pure unity and otherness.

Brother John from the Müntz (the eighth master) seems to be the same as Brother John (the
ninth master), or even another brother with the same name (Johannes Juvenis, that is John the
Young, who is mentioned together with Johannes von Dambach in the trial of Meister Eckhart).
Indeed, it is von der Müntz who is called here the "young man", and both are still on their way,
without having acquired mastership. Both brothers speak also of the "next" or "ultimate", which
the first brother places before the freedom to live and to act, whereas the second brother places
it above the fact that "all consists in one". With the praise of the masters, the first brother is
encouraged to deny himself, whereas the second brother should define himself better. The two
brothers are also mentioned in a sermonary compiled by Hartwig from Erfurt.(5)

The Meister from Walthusen (the seventh master, unidentified) is also mentioned in this
sermonary. He is the only master that is mentioned in two regular verses (7 and 8). Walthusen
means in fact "he who lives in the woods". Some episode of his life was perhaps like that of
Saint Frideswide, the patron of Oxford. Thus, one could imagine he may have been portrayed in
a similar manner as Frideswide is shown on her thirteenth-century shrine in Christ Church
Cathedral: hiding in the woods. Yet the evocation of Walthusen remains most enigmatic. The
"wild Deity" and "freedom without any distinction" he is said to have found may have some
resemblance with "The Nameless Wild One" of Henry Suso, which can in turn be related to the
"Heresy of the Free Spirit".(6) Furthermore, the second rime reminds us of the beginning of the
famous poem of Parmenides from Elea:

He has arisen Er hat sich uf erswungen

in the wild Deity. in die wilden gothait.
There he has found freedom Da hat er freÿhait funden
without any distinction. an allen vnderschaid.(7)

2. The Twelve Masters in Paris

Whereas the content of the first group of aphorisms was philosophical, the second group of
aphorisms, "The Twelve Masters in Paris", is rather of moral nature:

The Twelve Masters in Paris

There are twelve sublime masters in the School of Paris. Each said what came spontaneously to
his mind.

The first master spoke: "It is better to have renounced sin through God than to have suffered
because of sin as much as our Lord Jesus suffered when he dwelled on earth. Thus, it is better
that man renounces sin through God, than that he suffers as much as our Lord Jesus Christ
suffered, when he suffered death on the cross."

The second master spoke: "God has created all things for man for great good. The least virtue
that he (man) may accomplish, God may not reward with all [things] he has ever created: he
must give himself."

The third master spoke: "As much as the sun is purer and clearer than the stars, so much is
patience nobler than great works without patience."
The fourth master spoke: "I would rather die with him that God kicks with his feet, than with
him that God kisses on his mouth. What do we mean by kicking? When things are going bad
with our body and our friends and our goods, then we say 'God is angry with us.' But when we
are doing well both physically and mentally, then we praise God and we thank him. Thus I
would rather die with him to whom nothing lovely occurs than with the person to whom
everything is well."

The fifth master spoke: "In the same eternal love, in which the celestial Father sent his true born
Son into suffering, in this same eternal love he sends the suffering to all men, and in no other
love. If suffering were not the noblest thing that God could give in time, he would never have
sent his true born Son into suffering. With suffering the saints have overcome all their enemies;
with suffering the saints have gained the kingdom of heaven.

The sixth master spoke: "If there was a man who spoke an Our Father with devotion and
fervour, may that man say: 'Lord, keep me this Our Father until the last judgement, where I shall
need it.' And had that man been king and emperor on earth, on his last judgement he may yet
speak to our Lord: 'Lord, take some time: I have to speak to you for a while. I gave you an Our
Father, which you have not yet retaliated. You gave me, O Lord, nothing but what you have
created: thus you have not retaliated what you owe me.' So noble is a devote Our Father."

The seventh master spoke: "If there was a man as wise as Solomon and as strong as Samson,
and beautiful as Absolon, and if that man consumed all that force, all that wisdom and all that
beauty, if this was possible, in all the sickness that may sicken and disable all men: nevertheless
it would be more laudable to the celestial Lord, that this man stayed without sin, than that he
suffered all that for his sins. I say more. If the sultan of Babylon said to a young woman [he
desires]: 'I shall be baptised and [with me] all paganism (heidenschaft)' for the price of her
virginity: it would be more laudable to the celestial Father that the young woman remained a
virgin, than that all the pagans would get baptised. So noble is a man that stays in his original
purity."

The eighth master spoke: "If man knew how much he betrays himself with the least thought he
directs against God, he would fear God so much that he would never more dare to pray to him.
And I speak also: If man knew how much he gets closer to God with the least virtue that he may
exercise, he would estimate himself so wise, that he would think he never needs God any more."

The ninth master spoke: "Man, if you want to behold the face of God, give back everything you
owe. In the first place, give your fellow man everything you owe him, according to his grace
and compassion. And then you may do whatever you please. In the second place, if you have
taken someone's good reputation, give it back to him, as it would be according to truth. If your
fellow man is supposed to have committed a sin, yet it was you but nobody knows, and you thus
take his good word (of honour), unless you give him back his good word, you shall never more
behold the face of God. In the third place, become in time such a pure and clear soul to your
heavenly Father, that he may continually bear again his eternal word in you: thus you have
given him back what you owe."

The tenth master spoke, that was Bishop Albrecht (Albertus Magnus),: "It is much more
praisable to God and useful to man, that in time, as long as he lives and is in good health, a man
gives an egg by God, then after his death as much gold as there may be on earth and in the sky. I
say more. It is better that, by God, we bear an unpleasant word with patience than (because of
remorse for some violent reaction) to break more sticks on our back than a barrow may bear.
But I say more. Forgive your enemy, and him who does you harm, do him good by God: this is
more praisable to God and better to you, than if you would walk (with bare feet) every day from
here to the sea, so that the blood would flow from your feet. I say even more. If one asked for
the wisest priests (pfafen) that live on earth, one would find them in Paris at the school. But if
one asked for the innermost secret of God, one should seek the poorest man on earth, who is
willingly poor by God: he knows more about the innermost secret of God than the wisest priest
that lives on earth."

The eleventh master spoke, that was the one from Kronenberg: "God has everything he wants:
he never misses anything but one thing. Now we would like to ask: 'What does God miss? Isn't
he [all]powerful and [all]mighty?' Since God has created man, he never found as many pure
hearts and clear souls to which he could entirely give himself as he wished. Because he wishes
to give himself to all men equally, to one as much as to the other, to the evil one as well as to
the good one, if only men were pure and clear, in order to be receptive to him. This is what God
misses, and nothing else."

The twelfth master spoke, and that was Meister Eckhart, whom God loves so much that all his
divinity flows in him: "I state that it is better to receive a Gift given for God's sake, than to give
a hundred marks for God's sake. Now one would say: How can this be true? I will tell you. The
gift in itself is holy and good. This is correct. To him who gives the gift, it is at all times holy
and good in itself. But I want to prove to you that (what I stated) is true. If a man gives hundred
mark for God's sake, he gets two hundred marks' worth of honour in return. In so far as honour
is better than (material) good, he gains more than he has given. As much as the rich man hands
out in gifts, he receives in pleasure and honour. But in as much as the poor man holds out his
hand to receive the gift, he sacrifices all his honour for a hand-out of bread and at the same time
subjects himself to the person from whom he gets the gift. Now, as much humiliation is worth
more to the heavenly Father than honour, by so much the poor man is dearer to him than the
rich one who gives. I have more to say. Two men go for a walk together, and discover a flower
on the way. The first man thinks: Snap off the flower; it is so beautiful, and then on the contrary,
he thinks: Leave it, for God's sake. The other man follows him and snaps off the flower.
Thereby he is committing a sin. But he who for God's sake let it stay, he deserves as much
reward compared with him who snapped it off as the sky is above the earth. Since our Lord
wants to give such a great reward for a small work, what do you think he would give to him
who for his sake abandons himself and all things?"(8)

One notices that Master Eckhart is here expressedly quoted not as the first, but as the "last but
not least", that is, as the twelfth master. Most of the other masters are anonymous. In
comparison to these other masters, what Eckhart says is quite long and concerns two different
topics. The first topic is about giving and taking and the second about self-renunciation.

The two topics are preceded by an introductory qualification, Meister Eckhart, "whom God
loves so much that all his divinity flows in him", is a known formula, which can also be found
in other variations. For instance at the beginning of the collection of aphorisms (Sprüche)
published by Pfeiffer: "This is Meister Eckhart, to whom God never concealed anything". The
15th aphorism of this collection contains the only variation of the first topic.(9) One notices also
that the presentation of these twelve masters is not without similarities to the (pseudo-hermetic)
"twenty-four masters", in the beginning of the ninth sermon of Meister Eckhart: "Twenty-four
masters gathered together and wanted to speak about what is God. They gathered at a certain
time and each one presented his point of view."(10)

Whereas the second topic (about self-renunciation), is abundantly explained in the works of
Meister Eckhart, one cannot find any equivalent of the first topic in the critical edition. Some
thematic analogies can be found in Sermon one, e. g., that even attachment to good deeds
should be an object of renunciation. Further analogies can be found in Sermon 33, where
Eckhart says that one should overcome the wealth of the world through the poverty of the spirit.
And Sermon 62, which is about Proverbs 22,2 i.e., that "God has made the poor through the rich
and the rich through the poor".(11)
The eleven other masters speak about related themes. Thus, the first (sometimes attributed to
Gregor the Great) and the seventh master (anonymous) speak about the renunciation of sin. That
it is better to stay without sin. The second master (anonymous) speaks about the related theme
of virtuous action; to which the third master (anonymous) gives an example in talking about
patience. The fourth master (sometimes attributed to Nicolas of Saxony or Ebehard of Saxony)
speaks about the merit of dying with him who is in adversity. Whereas the fifth master
(anonymous) speaks about the related theme of suffering. The sixth master (in another variation:
Brother John from Hasla, i. e. John from Friburg, who was born in Haslach) evokes, in what
Eckhart would probably consider a somewhat mercantile way, the merits of an Our Father
spoken with devotion. After the seventh master (who has already been mentioned, together with
the first and the twelfth), the eight master (anonymous) speaks about the effect of negative
thoughts in opposition to virtuous actions. These are illustrated by the ninth master
(anonymous) who speaks about the importance of being fair and truthful.

The tenth master (Albertus Magnus) begins with an assertion that could be related to that of
Meister Eckhart. Namely, that it is better to be generous in this life, as there is not much merit in
giving by the time one is obliged to abandon everything at the hour of ones death. After having
spoken about forgiving and about patience, he goes on, talking about the mastery of reading
(Lesemeister) and the mastery of life (Lebemeister). Even if the attribution of such a saying
might be erroneous, the name of such a great expert of the scriptures is obviously well chosen to
give a greater weight to the ideal of the master of life: "If one asked for the wisest priests
(pfafen) that live on earth, one would find them in Paris at the school. However, if one asked for
the innermost secret of God, one should seek the poorest man on earth, who is willingly poor by
God. He knows more about the innermost secret of God than the wisest priest that lives on
earth."(12)

Finally, since the twelfth master, Meister Eckhart, has already been mentioned, the eleventh
master, Hartmann von Kronenberg, says in a most inspiring way, that God is always there to
give himself to all mankind.

3. The Prayer of Meister Eckhart

Our third text comes from the third treaty of the Pfeiffer edition which is entitled "About the
dignity and the quality of the soul". It is interesting to notice that twelve masters are also quoted
in this treaty, namely, in the order of their first appearance: "Meister Eckhart from Paris",
Gregorius, Augustine, Thomas, Aegidius, Henry, Albertus, Dionysius, Vincent, Paul, Bernard,
Richard and "the pagan master Seneca". All these masters are gathered by the author in a kind
of anthology, as it is said in the end of this treaty: "The true and loving soul acts like a bee
which extracts the sweetness of many flowers to make its honey. Thus, the soul takes something
of all the flowers of virtues to improve and strengthen itself."(13)

Meister Eckhart is explicitly quoted three times in this treaty, namely at the beginning, at about
the first third and near the end of the text. Here is the beginning of this text:

When God created the soul, he took something in himself and made it to his resemblance.
About this, Meister Eckhart from Paris says: God has created nothing alike himself except the
soul. For just as nobody can give a form to God, thus one cannot give a form to the soul either.
And just as God is immortal, thus he also made the soul immortal.(14)

The first quotation of Meister Eckhart is thus used to introduce the main theme of the entire
treaty "About the dignity and the quality of the soul". Usually, a sermon or a treaty is introduced
by a biblical quotation. So one may imagine the importance of Eckhart in the eyes of the
author/compilator of this treaty.

The second quotation exposes the essential doctrine of the birth of the soul in the ground of the
Deity:

But into the innermost part of the Three Persons, the Spirit and the Deity, no creature, neither
the soul nor even the humanity of Christ according to his own nature have ever had a glance.
For many Masters speak about it, and in particular Meister Eckhart from Paris, who describes
all these things: as sure as I am a man, as sure God bears his own nature in the ground of my
soul as in the sky, and for this I am not happy as long as I do not turn myself to God and I do
not depose all the intermediaries of the sins and their commerce with all creatures. For I am
fathered in the same ground in which God fathers his own Son according to his own nature.(15)

This second explicit quotation is found among many other considerations that also seem to have
been directly inspired by Meister Eckhart - though he is not explicitly mentioned. Presumably,
many parts of the content of this treaty go back to Meister Eckhart, but not the form in which it
is written. The author of the only known copy is Lienhard Peuger, a lay brother of the
Benedictine convent of Melk on the Danube, who lived in the first half of the XVth century. If
Peuger copied or even wrote that treaty, he must have used other manuscripts of Meister
Eckhart that have not been found anymore.

Such might be the case of this "Prayer of Meister Eckhart". One may agree with Freimut Löser
that it is authentic, because it fits in what is known about the spirit of an Eckhartian prayer,
which is to ask for nothing: "Those who ask for something else than God or for God don't pray
well. When I ask for nothing, I pray well and my prayer is just and powerful."(16) In the second
chapter of The Talks of Instruction, Eckhart also says that "The most powerful prayer, one well-
nigh omnipotent to gain all things, and the noblest work of all is that which proceeds from a
bare mind."(17)

Furthermore, this prayer is introduced by the third explicit reference to Meister Eckhart, at the
end of the treaty. Thus, the entire text begins and ends with such an explicit reference. In fact,
the end of this treaty is like most of Eckharts sermons. But whereas the sermons end with a
short prayer, this treaty is rounded up with an unusually long one. Prayers are to be internalised,
they are not primarily a subject of analysis. So we shall entrust it to "the intelligence of the
heart", as a meditative conclusion to this paper (18):

1. About this hardly explored topic, see my article entitled "Eckhart et son double" in Revue des
Sciences Religieuses, 69e année, n° 2, Strasbourg, Avril 1995, p. 216-226.

2. Adolf Spamer, (from Straßburg, cod. 662 fol. 185r-186v, in) Texte aus der deutschen Mystik
des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts, Jena, Diederichs 1912, p. 175-177. (Transl. W.W.) Cf. Kurt Ruh,
"Mystische Spekulationen in Reimversen des 14. Jahrhunderts", in K. Ruh / W. Schröder, eds.,
Beiträge zur weltlichen und geistlichen Lyrik des 13.-15. Jahrhunderts, Würzburger Kolloquium
1970, 1973, p. 205-230.

3. The old Hildebrandslied, of which we have just a fragment, is considered as a "syncretistic

symbiosis of the missionary days" because it seems to have only been superficially touched by
Christianity. Cf. Klaus Düwel, 'Hildebrandslied'; Michael Curschmann, 'Jüngeres
Hildebrandslied'; and Loris Sturlese, 'Sprüche der zwölf Meister'; in VL III (= Wolfgang
Stammler, Burghart Wachinger, et al., eds., Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters,
Verfasserlexikon, Berlin / New York, de Gruyter 1987 f., Vol. III), p. 1240-56; VL IV, p. 918-
922; and VL IX p. 197-201. According to C. W. M. Grein (Das Hildebrandslied, Kassel 1880,
p. 27), "Irmingot, as a designation of God, does not appear in any specific christian work". See
the invocation in verse 30 (28) of the old Hildebrandslied : wettu irmingot (wissi wodan), i. e.
"The God of the sky knows."- and verse 11: chud ist min al irmindeot (ermantheud). "This is
testified to me by all (divine) humanity." Cf. Willy Krogmann, Das Hildebrandslied. In der
langobardischen Urfassung hergestellt, Berlin 1959.

4. As can be seen in the prologue of the Opus propositionum: "Being is God." Cf. Karl Albert,
Meister Eckharts These vom Sein. Untersuchungen zur Metaphysik des Opus tripartitum,
Kastellaun, Aloys Henn, 1976.

5. Cf. Volker Mertens, 'Hartwig (Hartung) von Erfurt' (XIVth century), in VL III, p. 532-535.

6. Karl Bihlmeyer (Heinrich Seuse, Deutsche Schriften, Stuttgart, Kohlhammer 1907, p. 354-
356) was probably among the first to recognise that the most bewildering dialogue with "The
Nameless Wild One" (daz namelos wilde) could be an allusive gloss for the rehabilitation of
Meister Eckhart. In "Maître Eckhart et le discernement mystique. A propos de la rencontre de
Suso avec 'la (chose) sauvage sans nom'" (Revue de Théologie et de Philosophie, 129, Lausanne
1997, p. 113-126), I tried to point out the similarities with other Eckhartian legends.

7. Er hat sich uf erswungen could also be translated by "He has mounted". Here is, as a
comparison, the beginning of the poem of Parmenides: "The horses that take me have brought
me as far as my desire, and their ride has lead me on the illustrious path of the Goddess that
everywhere guides the wise." Hermann Diels / Walther Kranz, Die Fragmente der
Vorsokratiker, vol. I, Zürich / Berlin, Weidmann 1964, p. 228. (Transl. W. W.)

8. Wilhelm Wackernagel, (from Zürich / Wasserkirche, cod. B. 223/720, fol. 122r-124r., in)
"Die zwölf Meister zu Paris", in Moritz Haupt, ed., Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum (ZfdA),
vol. 4, Leipzig, Weidmann 1844, p. 496-500. (Transl. W. W.) Also in: Wilhelm Wackernagel,
Deutsches Lesebuch, vol. II, 1836, col. 1107-1112. (Vol. I: 1835; vol. III: 1841/43.) Different
variations of this text, of Dominican origin, were widely spread since the XIVth century in
Dutch, English, French and German speaking countries. Cf. Volker Honemann,"Sprüche der
zwölf Meister zu Paris", in VL (Verfasserlexikon, op. cit. note 3) IX, 1993, p. 201-205.

9. Franz Pfeiffer, ed., Deutsche Mystiker des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, Vol 2: Meister Eckhart,
Leipzig 1857, Aalen, Scientia 1991, p. 601; other parallel: p. 337, 26 f. About "This is Meister
Eckhart, to whom God never concealed anything", see p. 3 and p. 597.

10. DW I, p. 142,1-2.

11. Similar ideas can also be found in the buddhist principle of dhana, namely that it is he who
gives who should also be the one who thanks for being able to give.

12. Wilhelm Wackernagel, ZfdA, vol. 4, op. cit. (note 8), p. 499. See also parallel texts in
Pfeiffer, op. cit. (note 9), III. Sprüche, n. 8, p. 599 and Tractat VII; p. 476-477. Adolf Spamer,
op. cit. (note 2), p. 150-151. For further details and translation of the parallel texts, see the
french version: "Vingt-quatre aphorismes autour de Maître Eckhart", in Marie-Anne Vannier,
ed. Les mystiques rhénans (Revue des Sciences Religieuses, 70e année, n° 1, Strasbourg,
Janvier 1996), Paris, Cerf 1996, p. 90-101.

13. Traktat III, Von der sêle werdikeit und eigenschaft, Pfeiffer, op. cit. (note 9), p. 414. (Transl.
W. W.)
14. Ibid., p. 394.

15. Ibid., p. 399-400.

16. Predigt 67, DW III, p. 131.

17. RdU, DW V, p. 29-30. Transl. M. O'C. Walshe, Meister Eckhart, Sermons and Treatises,
vol. 3, Shaftesbury, Dorset, Element Books, 1987, p. 12. Further quotations and comments on
the absence, and even the disapproval of intercessory and petitionary prayers may be found in
John Orme Mills, "Was Eckhart an Elitist?", in Eckhart Review, Spring 1996, p. 38. E. g. this
excellent English formulation: "When I pray for aught, my prayer goes for naught; when I pray
for naught, I pray as I ought." [W5]

18 Without any transition, and without even mentioning the new author, the compilator moves
on with a second prayer, which is in fact a translation of Anslelm of Canterbury's Oratio ad
deum. As Freimut Löser suggests, this was probably to tone down the strong effect of Eckharts
rather daring prayer. Cf. Freimut Löser, (from Melk, cod. 1569, fol. 117r-118v, in) "Anselm,
Eckhart, Lienhard Peuger. Zu einer deutschen Übersetzung der 'Orationes et Meditationes'
Anselms von Canterbury in Handschriften der Melker Laienbrüder", in Nikolaus Henkel und
Nigel F. Palmer, ed. Latein und Volkssprache im deutschen Mittelalter 1100-1500, Tübingen,
Niemeyer 1992, p. 245-246. Cf. also Pfeiffer, op. cit. (note 9), p. 414-415.