Conversation with Gemini: Meister Eckhart on Objectification

Ken: Why did Meister Eckhart say that any object in your mind, no matter how good, becomes an obstacle to the innermost truth?

Gemini: Meister Eckhart, the 13th-century German mystic and theologian, believed that the ultimate reality — what he called the “Godhead” — is beyond all form, thought, and particularity. His statement means that even the noblest mental concepts become barriers to directly experiencing this truth.

Here’s why:

• The Innermost Truth Is Beyond Concepts: Eckhart saw the Godhead as the ground of all being — utterly transcendent and ungraspable. Any concept, no matter how elevated, limits what is by nature limitless.
• Mental Objects Are Finite: A concept like “truth” or “love” still has form and definition. The Godhead, however, is undifferentiated and boundless. To latch onto a concept is to reduce the infinite to the finite.
• Attachment Creates Illusion: Even clinging to “good” ideas can mislead us into mistaking our ideas for truth itself. That attachment becomes a veil over the deeper, formless reality.
• Letting Go Is Essential: Eckhart emphasized Gelassenheit — a radical letting go. Only an empty mind, free from concepts, can receive the unconditioned truth.