Johannes Tauler Quotes

Unity is strength.

Johannes Tauler (Sermons)

The soul has a hidden abyss untouched by time and space.

Johannes Tauler

In this stage the Lord leads a person out of himself into himself.

Johannes Tauler (Sermons)

Become a fertile ground for the divine birth. Cherish this deep silence within, nourish it

Johannes Tauler (Sermons - Translated by Maria Shardy, 1985)

It is certain that if God is to be
born in the soul
it must turn back to eternity….

Johannes Tauler

The mystery of our union with God affected by the Eucharist, is a union more intimate than the human mind can conceive.

Johannes Tauler (Sermon)

This food of love draws the soul above distinction or difference, beyond resemblance to divine unity. This is what happens to the transfigured spirit.

Johannes Tauler (Sermons)

One man can spin, another can make shoes, and all these are gifts of the Holy Spirit. I tell you, if I were not a priest, I should esteem it a great gift that I was able to make shoes, and I would try to make them so well as to be a pattern to all

Johannes Tauler (Sermons)

So you must be silent.
Then God will be born in you,
utter his word in you and you shall hear it;
but be very sure that if
you speak the word will have to be silent.
If you go out, he will most surely come in;
as much as you go out for him
He will come in to you; no more, no less….

Johannes Tauler (Sermon)

God is pure Being, a waste of calm seclusion…much nearer than anything is to itself in the depth of the heart, but He is hidden from all our senses. He is far above every outward thing and every thought, and is found only where thou hidest thyself in the secret place of thy heart, in the quiet solitude where no word is spoken, where is neither creature nor image nor fancy. This is the quiet Desert of the Godhead, the Divine Darkness—dark from His own surpassing brightness, as the shining of the sun is darkness to weak eyes, for in the presence of its brightness our eyes are like the eyes of the swallow in the bright

This is the quiet Desert of the Godhead, the Divine Darkness—dark from His own surpassing brightness, as the shining of the sun is darkness to weak eyes, for in the presence of its brightness our eyes are like the eyes of the swallow in the bright sunlight sunlight.

Johannes Tauler

It is certain that if God is to be
born in the soul
it must turn back to eternity….
It must turn in toward itself with all
is might, must recall itself,
and concentrate all its faculties within itself,
the lowest as well as the highest.
All its dissipated powers must be gathered up into one,
because unity is strength.

Johannes Tauler (Sermons)

The soul has a hidden abyss,
untouched by time and space,
which is far superior to anything
that gives life and movement to the body.
Into this noble and wondrous ground,
this secret realm,
there descends that bliss of which we have spoken.
Here the soul has its eternal abode.
Here a man becomes so still and essential,
so single-minded and withdrawn,
so raised up in purity,
and more and more removed from all things. . . .
  This state of the soul cannot be compared to what it has been before,
for now it is granted to share in the divine life
itself.

Johannes Tauler

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Johannes Tauler Biography

Johannes Tauler portrait

Born: 1300
Died: 1361

Johannes Tauler was a influential and luminous Christian German mystic and preacher. He is also known for being the disciple of the mystic master Meister Eckhart.

Notable Works

Sermons (14th Century)