A 40-day journal
The Detachment Journal
Forty days with Meister Eckhart: one short passage, one small practice, and room to write.
$9
Or get all five, the book, the course, the devotional, the journal and the guided audio, as The Complete Meister Eckhart Collection for $89, and save $29. Get the collection
What this is
The Detachment Journal is a printable, 40-day guided journal built around Meister Eckhart's teaching on detachment, what he called Abgeschiedenheit.
Each day gives you a short passage of Eckhart's own words, a few lines that open it up in plain English, one small practice to try that day, and two journal prompts with space to write your answer.
There is no soundtrack, no app, no sign-in. It is a PDF you print at home or write on directly, meant to sit on a desk or a kitchen table for forty days.
Why detachment, and why forty days
Eckhart talked about detachment more than almost anything else. Not withdrawal from the world, and not indifference to people. He meant something closer to letting go of your grip on outcomes, on being right, on needing things to go a certain way.
{{Q1}}
Forty days is long enough to notice a pattern in yourself and short enough to actually finish. You are not asked to understand Eckhart's theology in full before you start. You are asked to read a few lines, try one small thing, and write for a few minutes.
How the days are built
Each day follows the same shape, so you are not figuring out a new format every morning. First the passage, taken from the Evans translation of the Pfeiffer edition, the same text this site draws on. Then a short, plain explanation of what Eckhart seems to be saying and why it might matter.
Then one small practice. Sometimes it is a way of praying or sitting. Sometimes it is something to notice during an ordinary task that day, washing dishes, driving, waiting in a line. Then two prompts and space to write your own response, in your own words.
You can do one day a morning, one day a week, or sit down and read several at once. Eckhart was not big on forcing things into a schedule for their own sake.
Who this is for
This is for people who already spend time with contemplative prayer or meditation and want a daily structure to go deeper with one teacher instead of skimming many.
It is for readers who came to Eckhart through Zen or nondual teaching and want to meet the Christian source directly, in his own words, rather than through someone else's summary.
It is for anyone who has read a sermon or two of Eckhart's and wanted a way to actually live with his ideas for a stretch of time, rather than just admire them once and move on.
Who this is probably not for
If you want a light, inspirational quote-a-day calendar, this will feel heavier than that. Eckhart writes dense, sometimes strange sentences, and the daily explanations try to respect that rather than flatten it.
If you are looking for a structured course with teaching videos or a group, you won't find it here. This is a quiet, solitary document, meant for one person and a pen.
And if the word detachment sounds cold or off-putting to you right now, it might be worth reading a sermon or two on the site first, to see whether Eckhart's sense of the word fits what you need.
It is fine to pass
This is one small resource among many ways to read Eckhart, and plenty of people get what they need from the free sermons and essays on this site without ever buying anything.
If forty days with one idea does not suit how you read or pray right now, that is a perfectly good reason to leave it for later, or not at all.
What you get
- A printable PDF covering all 40 days, formatted for home printing or for writing on directly in a PDF reader.
- A short passage of Eckhart's own words for each day, drawn from the Evans translation of the Pfeiffer edition.
- A few lines of plain explanation after each passage, written for readers without a theology background.
- One small practice per day, something to try, notice, or carry through an ordinary task.
- Two journal prompts each day with space on the page to write your own answer by hand or by typing.
Or get all five, the book, the course, the devotional, the journal and the guided audio, as The Complete Meister Eckhart Collection for $89, and save $29. Get the collection
The 30-day guarantee
Take 30 days with it. If it is not right for you, email Gregory@meistereckhart.com and you will get a full refund. You do not need to give a reason. The details are in the refund policy.
Questions
Is this a physical book?
No. It is a digital PDF you download after buying. You can print it at home or write directly onto the pages in a PDF reader or tablet app.
Do I need to know Eckhart's work already?
No. Each day gives you the passage and a plain explanation, so you can start with no background at all.
Which translation does it use?
The passages come from C. de B. Evans's English translation of Franz Pfeiffer's edition of Eckhart, the same public domain text this site is built on.
Do I have to be Christian to use this?
Eckhart was a Christian friar and preacher, and his language is Christian through and through. The journal does not ask you to sign on to any particular belief before you start, but it does not try to strip his faith out of his words either.
How long does each day take?
Most days take somewhere between ten and twenty minutes, depending on how much you write.
Do I have to do the days in order, one per day?
No. The forty days build on each other loosely, but you can slow down, speed up, or go back and repeat a day, whatever suits you.
Or get all five, the book, the course, the devotional, the journal and the guided audio, as The Complete Meister Eckhart Collection for $89, and save $29. Get the collection