When I Was the Forest – Spiritual Poetry by Mystic Meister Eckhart

When most people hear the name "Eckhart," they generally think of the contemporary spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle.

But more than seven centuries before Eckhart Tolle came to prominence, there lived another Eckhart, whose soul continues to inspire other souls on the awakening journey: Meister Eckhart.

This video delves into one of the mystic's best poems, When I Was the Forest, which is a great contribution to the world by Christian mysticism.

I realize this video is quite long, but if you have the time and interest to watch all of it, I am confident you will learn something meaningful from this incredibly deep poem.

Thank you for watching and please don't hesitate to drop a like or comment if you enjoyed the video.

Sending peace and love to all!

#spirituality #meistereckhart #spiritualpoetry

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Music by Cousin Silas ("Permutations 006" and "Gentle Recollections")
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When I was the stream, when I was the
forest, when I was still the field
when I was every hoof, foot,
fin and wing, when I
was the sky itself,

no one ever asked me did I have a purpose, no one ever
wondered was there anything I might need,
for there was nothing
I could not love.

It was when I left all we once were that
the agony began, the fear and questions came,
and I wept, I wept. And tears
I had never known before.

So I returned to the river, I returned to
the mountains. I asked for their hand in marriage again,
I begged—I begged to wed every object and creature,

and when they accepted,
God was ever present in my arms.
And He did not say,
“Where have you
been?”

For then I knew my soul—every soul—
has always held
Him.

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Eckhart von Hochheim (1260 – 1328), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, was a German Catholic theologian, philosopher and mystic.

He has acquired a status as a great mystic within contemporary popular spirituality, as well as considerable interest from scholars situating him within the medieval scholastic and philosophical tradition.

* Biography taken from Wikipedia