Reading list

The Rhineland Mystics

Eckhart, Tauler and Ruusbroec, and their heir Nicholas of Cusa: the birth of God in the ground of the soul.

Intermediate. 6 steps

Orientation

Tradition
Rhineland Mysticism
The movement, its preachers and its audiences of nuns, beguines and Friends of God.

Text
Meister Eckhart’s Sermons
Meister Eckhart, tr. Claud Field, 1909
Begin with the sermons on the birth of God in the soul and on poverty of spirit.
Concept
Detachment
The letting-go that Eckhart ranked even above love, and its later history.

Text
The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler of Strasbourg
Johannes Tauler, tr. Susanna Winkworth, 1857
Tauler’s sermons carry Eckhart’s teaching into the daily practice of humility.
Text
The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage; The Sparkling Stone; The Book of Supreme Truth
Jan van Ruusbroec, tr. C. A. Wynschenk Dom, 1916
Ruusbroec on union without difference, and the life that rests and works at once.

Text
The Vision of God
Nicholas of Cusa, tr. Emma Gurney Salter, 1928
Cusa’s short masterpiece, read with an icon or picture whose eyes follow you.

Cite this entry

Chicago (bibliography): “The Rhineland Mystics.” Reading list. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/the-rhineland-mystics.
Chicago (note): “The Rhineland Mystics,” reading list, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/the-rhineland-mystics.
MLA: “The Rhineland Mystics.” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/the-rhineland-mystics.
BibTeX: @misc{reading-lists-the-rhineland-mystics, title = {{The Rhineland Mystics}}, howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society}, note = {Reading list. Last modified November 7, 2026}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/the-rhineland-mystics} }