Therefore, since God in a certain way wills that I should have committed sins, I cannot wish that I had not committed them, for thus it is that God’s will is done ‘on earth, which is to say in misdeeds, as it is in Heaven, which is to say in right doing. Therefore such a person desires to renounce God for the sake of God and to be free of God for God’s sake, which is the sole true repentance of our sins, and so we grieve at our sins without grief, just as God grieves at evil but without grief. I know regret, and the greatest regret, on account of sin, since I would not wish to sin for all that is or can be created…yet my regret is free of grief, and I accept and receive it in and from God’s will. Only this kind of grieving at sin is perfect, for it comes from and originates in pure love of the purest goodness and joy of God. Thus what I have said in this little book becomes true and is seen to be true, namely that a good person, in so far as they are good, enters into the very property of goodness itself, which God is in Himself. —Meister Eckhart

But there is a something else, which is the outflow and work of love. This is easily visible as inwardness and devotion and celebration, although it is not always the best thing, for it comes sometimes not from love but from nature that some people experience such sweetness and delight, or it might result from heaven’s influence or be conveyed by the senses. And those who experience this more frequently are not always the best people, for, even if it comes from God, our Lord grants it to such people as an enticement and way of leading them on as well as a way of keeping them apart from other people. But as such people grow in love, it may well be that they have less sense and awareness of it, and then it can be seen whether they truly have love by the extent to which they remain wholly faithful to God without feelings of this kind.  – – Meister Eckhart

I was once asked: ‘Some people like to withdraw from company and prefer always to be alone. That is where they find peace, when they enter a church. Is this the best thing?’ My answer was ‘No!’ And this is the reason why.

That person who is in the right state of mind, is so regardless of where they are and who they are with, while those who are in the wrong state of mind will find this to be the case wherever they are and whoever they are with. Those who are rightly disposed truly have God with them. And whoever truly possesses God in the right way, possesses him in all places: on the street, in any company, as well as in a church or a remote place or in their cell. No one can obstruct such a person, if only they possess God in the right way, and possess him alone. is this so?

This is the case because they possess God alone, intend God alone, and all things become God for them. Such a person bears God with them in all that they do and wherever they go, and it is God who acts through them…if we truly intend God alone, then he must be the one who acts in what we do and nothing, neither the crowd nor any place, can stand in his way. No one can obstruct this person, for they intend and seek nothing but God and take their pleasure only in Him.

…Truly, this demands hard work and great dedication and a clear perception of our inner life and an alert, true, thoughtful and authentic knowledge of what the mind is turned towards in the midst of people and things. This cannot be learned by taking flight, that is by fleeing from things and physically withdrawing to a place of solitude, but rather we must learn to maintain an inner solitude regardless of where we are or who we are with. We must learn to break through things and to grasp God in them, allowing him to take form in us powerfully and essentially.

Meister Eckhart

People say: ‘O Lord, I wish that I stood as well with God and that I had as much devotion and peace with God as other people, and that I could be like them or could be as poor as they are.’ Or they say: ‘It never works for me unless I am in this or that particular place and do this or that particular thing. I must go to somewhere remote or live in a hermitage or a monastery.’

Truly, it is you who are the cause of this yourself, and nothing else. It is your own self-will, even if you don’t know it or this doesn’t seem to you to be the case. The lack of peace that you feel can only come from your own self-will, whether you are aware of this or not. Whatever we think — that we should avoid certain things and seek out others, whether these be places or people, particular forms of devotion, this group of people or this kind of activity — these are not to blame for the fact that you are held back by devotional practices and by things; rather it is you as you exist in these things who hold yourself back, for you do not stand in the proper relation to them.

Start with yourself therefore and take leave of yourself. Truly, if you do not depart from yourself, then wherever you take refuge, you will find obstacles and unrest, wherever it may be. Those who seek peace in external things, whether in places or devotional practices, people or works, in withdrawal from the world or poverty or self-abasement: however great these things may be or whatever their character, they are still nothing at all and cannot be the source of peace. Those who seek in this way, seek wrongly, and the farther they range, the less they find what they are looking for. They proceed like someone who has lost their way: the farther they go, the more lost they become. But what then should they do? First of all, they should renounce themselves, and then they will have renounced all things. Truly, if someone were to renounce a kingdom or the whole world while still holding on to themselves, then they would have renounced nothing at all. And indeed, if someone renounces themselves, then whatever they might keep, whether it be a kingdom or honor or whatever it may be, they will still have renounced all things.