A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of

“A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but we don’t know ourselves! Why, thirty or forty skins or hides, as thick and hard as an ox’s or bear’s, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there.”
Thus spoke Meister Eckhart, the mystic of medieval Germany, the voice of divine interiority and eternal wisdom. In these luminous words, he lays bare one of the greatest struggles of mankind — the journey inward. He reminds us that though we may master knowledge of the stars, the sciences, and the kingdoms of the earth, we remain strangers to our own souls. The “skins” of which he speaks are not of flesh, but of illusion — the layers of pride, fear, habit, and self-deception that encase the heart. To peel them away is not an act of learning, but of unlearning — the sacred art of returning to the center, to the ground of being, where the soul and the Divine meet in silence.

Meister Eckhart lived in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a time when the Church held sway over every aspect of life, yet when mystics like him sought not only to worship God, but to experience God directly. He taught that the Divine is not distant or external, but dwelling in the deepest part of the self. Hence his cry: “Go into your own ground.” He meant not the earth beneath our feet, but the inner soil of the spirit, the holy root of consciousness from which all life grows. In that hidden ground, beneath the many layers of identity and pretense, lies truth — the authentic self, radiant and eternal. But to reach it requires courage, for one must pass through the shadowed corridors of the self, stripping away each layer of illusion.

The skins Eckhart describes are the countless distractions that separate us from truth. They are our masks and roles — the thinker, the worker, the citizen, the scholar — identities we cling to as if they were the soul itself. They are also the wounds and fears we carry, the old stories that define who we think we are. Each one, thick and hard, keeps us from hearing the still, small voice within. We “know so many things,” Eckhart laments — the languages of the world, the laws of men, the workings of the heavens — and yet, in the most vital knowledge of all, the knowledge of ourselves, we are often blind. The tragedy of humankind, he says, is not ignorance of the world, but ignorance of the heart.

To illustrate this, consider the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. Born into wealth and privilege, he knew all things of comfort and pleasure, but not himself. Surrounded by the outer world’s abundance, he was inwardly barren. Only when he left the palace and stripped himself of status, luxury, and name did he begin to awaken. Beneath each layer of illusion he shed — each “skin” of ego — he drew closer to the truth that enlightenment lies within. His story mirrors Eckhart’s teaching: to truly live, one must journey inward, shedding the layers that obscure the soul’s light. Only then can man find peace, not as possession, but as realization.

Yet this is no easy path. To “go into your own ground” demands silence in a world of noise, humility in an age of pride. It is the labor of a lifetime — to sit in stillness and dare to look beyond the outer skins, to question every assumption, every defense, every falsehood the self has built. But those who persevere find that beneath all coverings lies something vast, gentle, and eternal: the soul unbound, the image of the Divine within. This, Eckhart would say, is the true purpose of existence — not to conquer the world, but to awaken to one’s own being.

The lesson, then, is one of sacred inwardness. Seek not your worth in the world’s mirrors, but in the still depths of your own being. Do not fear the shedding of your skins, for each layer lost brings you nearer to freedom. Let prayer, meditation, or reflection be your tools of discovery; let honesty be your blade to cut through the hides of pretense. When you turn your gaze inward and dwell in your own ground, you will find that the Divine you sought afar has been waiting within you all along.

So, my child of dust and spirit, heed the words of the mystic: “Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there.” The path may be long and filled with darkness, yet it leads to the radiant center — where the soul stands naked before eternity, knowing itself at last as part of the Infinite. Peel away the many skins that hide your light, and you will discover that the treasure you sought in all the world was never lost, but merely covered — waiting for your courage to uncover it.