The Way of the Meister

by Christian M Wiese

Can you imagine waking up one day and experiencing a force—the Way—opening up to you? You may have been intrigued by Eckhart Tolle’s ‘The Power of Now’ or admired Neal Walsch’s ability to have conversations with God. Christian M. Wiese demonstrates in ‘The Way of the Meister’ that everyone can enjoy this daily intimate God connection. A Meister is a master of a craft. Ten years into his spiritual awakening, Christian shares his lessons learnt. The content of this book is enlightening, yet its delivery is pragmatic. ‘The Way of the Meister’ is a pilgrimage in a pocket. It is both an art and a science to keep the magic of the Way going every day. Learn how to become a spiritual Meister yourself.

Genres: Inspirational

71 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 27, 2018

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A “meister” refers to a master craftsman in German; most people on spiritual paths have heard of Meister Eckhart, who was, in a sense, a “master craftsman” in the craft of theology and mysticism.

Christian Weise uses this designation as a jumping-off point to describe his own spiritual path, or Way. This is not a how-to or self-help guide, really. In fact, somebody wanting 7 Steps to Spiritual Ascension aren’t going to find that here. What they will find is a gentle, encouraging, and meandering account of his spiritual journey; he speaks through stories, quotations, suggestions, and simple descriptions of the spiritual life he began in earnest in 2008. (By “simple” I mean the simplicity that is often far more profound than the complexity human minds seem to gravitate towards.)

Christian wasn’t expecting any kind of awakening, and so he’s very encouraging: “if it can happen to me, why not you?” He has an endearing humility about his spiritual awakening:

Getting ourself out of the Way is sometimes as easy as ignoring the chatterbox inside. Unfortunately, our ego is persistent and clever, and is equally happy to put on spiritual clothes . . . . This was perhaps the most painful lesson learnt by me personally. Call yourself a spiritual Meister, and you have already disconnected from the Way. Yet, stay alert in the Now and you are a natural spiritual Meister. 77

Endearing, isn’t it?

Christian uses storytelling to convey spiritual principles; I had heard some of them, and some I hadn’t, but even the ones I already knew were charming because of his straightforward, simple storytelling ability. Section Two (out of five) is a series of stories – “Is that so?”, “The poor man and the Buddha,” “”The story of the bamboo tree,” “the scorpion and the holy man,” and a particularly odd and charming one, “Everything is taken care of,” which involves a baby/boy/young man whose mother breast-feeds him in 3 7-year cycles; ultimately, the point of that story is that “We don’t have to strive and we don’t have to fear. The only thing we spiritual travelers have to do is let the Way take care of us” (30).

One of my favorite lines is in a story about a lotus growing in a lot of muck (as, apparently, they do). “Shade and light come in pairs,” he says. ““Stop trying to be a lotus flower swimming in an infinity pool at a luxury resort. They don’t grow there” (22).

The Way of the Meister is deceptively simple, but it’s also sophisticated; the author gently disabuses us of some common misconceptions about the spiritual path. Sometimes we have to be assertive – what he calls “Constructive Assertiveness” – not aggressive or violent, but also not spiritual doormats. We can and even must be honest and do what we are led to do, whether others like it or not, but we can assert ourselves kindly. Another pitfall can be spiritual “bypassing” – we want to go straight to spiritual levitation, bypassing anything unpleasant, but it’s really about “waking up to what is,” rather than trying to find a pretty spirituality that will allow us to avoid anything we find disagreeable.

I turned first to the works cited in the back (as I usually do) and second on the list was Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. “Oh, dear,” I thought. “Here we go. Let’s manifest us a mansion and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Yahoo!” But when The Secret is discussed, Christian articulates my discomfort much better than I ever had: “I am personally not a fan of the many manifestations techniques as expressed . . . in The Secret. Not that there is anything wrong with . . . abundance, but because I distrust our ability to visualize what in fact is good for us” (63).

Throughout, Christian encourages us to look for our own path. His attitude is mostly,“Well, who knows? This is what worked for me.” When he discusses his own history of being extremely competitive, and its “antidotes,” so to speak, he concludes:

Yet in a strange way, all of this doesn’t really matter. The ego longs for self-expression and our Soul wait until the drive for specialness exhausts itself. Only then will the spiritual mission be complete. . . . [O]ur mission is patiently waiting for us to make God’s world complete with the help of our unique talents. There is no wrong or right in any of this, it is simply a different stage in the spiritual Awakening journey. 48 [my emphasis]

One thing I’d approach a little differently is Christian’s repeated assertion: “Get out of your head.” It’s absolutely correct, I believe, at least ultimately. But most people need to stay in their heads simply to survive until they arrive at a place where they can start seeking a wisdom deeper than anything we can think up. It’s something easier said than done for many people; I remember a counselor in a program telling me, “Sandra, you need to get out of your head!” and I thought, “Do you have an instruction manual?” For us head-types, that’s a big part of the journey, not something we can do on command. Which I’m pretty sure Christian knows quite well, because I think he was a head-type himself, who has transitioned to the three-centered knowing that comes from a balance of head, heart, and body.

I could quote lots of other things, but this is a short and simple book; 86 pages, broken into sections of a few pages each. I read it through quickly, and then read it through again much more slowly. It’s both simple – great for a spiritual seeker early in their journey – but certainly not simplistic; there’s wisdom here. For me, there wasn’t really anything brand-new, but many powerful and engaging reminders expressed through story and personal experiences. If you want some inspiration and encouragement, The Way of the Meister would be a great place to start.

* Postscript: I met Christian Weise through my husband’s FB group, Sacred Sanctuary; I’m not a regular on the page, but I’ve met him twice in person. This sounds like a disclaimer (“He’s my friend so this is a Friend Review”), but the reason I say that is that, having spent some time with Christian, I like his book even better than I might otherwise because it’s clear to me that this isn’t all some kind of mental construct of spirituality for him. He’s very smart, but what he presents here, while not divorced from his intellect, is on a different level. I guess that for me, the qualities of his personal presence validate what he has written about, and I’d gladly have or recommend him as a spiritual mentor.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A “meister” refers to a master craftsman in German; most people on spiritual paths have heard of Meister Eckhart, who was, in a sense, a “master craftsman” in the craft of theology and mysticism.

Christian Weise uses this designation as a jumping-off point to describe his own spiritual path, or Way. This is not a how-to or self-help guide, really. In fact, somebody wanting 7 Steps to Spiritual Ascension aren’t going to find that here. What they will find is a gentle, encouraging, and meandering account of his spiritual journey; he speaks through stories, quotations, suggestions, and simple descriptions of the spiritual life he began in earnest in 2008. (By “simple” I mean the simplicity that is often far more profound than the complexity human minds seem to gravitate towards.)

Christian wasn’t expecting any kind of awakening, and so he’s very encouraging: “if it can happen to me, why not you?” He has an endearing humility about his spiritual awakening:

Getting ourself out of the Way is sometimes as easy as ignoring the chatterbox inside. Unfortunately, our ego is persistent and clever, and is equally happy to put on spiritual clothes . . . . This was perhaps the most painful lesson learnt by me personally. Call yourself a spiritual Meister, and you have already disconnected from the Way. Yet, stay alert in the Now and you are a natural spiritual Meister. 77

Endearing, isn’t it?

Christian uses storytelling to convey spiritual principles; I had heard some of them, and some I hadn’t, but even the ones I already knew were charming because of his straightforward, simple storytelling ability. Section Two (out of five) is a series of stories – “Is that so?”, “The poor man and the Buddha,” “”The story of the bamboo tree,” “the scorpion and the holy man,” and a particularly odd and charming one, “Everything is taken care of,” which involves a baby/boy/young man whose mother breast-feeds him in 3 7-year cycles; ultimately, the point of that story is that “We don’t have to strive and we don’t have to fear. The only thing we spiritual travelers have to do is let the Way take care of us” (30).

One of my favorite lines is in a story about a lotus growing in a lot of muck (as, apparently, they do). “Shade and light come in pairs,” he says. ““Stop trying to be a lotus flower swimming in an infinity pool at a luxury resort. They don’t grow there” (22).

The Way of the Meister is deceptively simple, but it’s also sophisticated; the author gently disabuses us of some common misconceptions about the spiritual path. Sometimes we have to be assertive – what he calls “Constructive Assertiveness” – not aggressive or violent, but also not spiritual doormats. We can and even must be honest and do what we are led to do, whether others like it or not, but we can assert ourselves kindly. Another pitfall can be spiritual “bypassing” – we want to go straight to spiritual levitation, bypassing anything unpleasant, but it’s really about “waking up to what is,” rather than trying to find a pretty spirituality that will allow us to avoid anything we find disagreeable.

I turned first to the works cited in the back (as I usually do) and second on the list was Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. “Oh, dear,” I thought. “Here we go. Let’s manifest us a mansion and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Yahoo!” But when The Secret is discussed, Christian articulates my discomfort much better than I ever had: “I am personally not a fan of the many manifestations techniques as expressed . . . in The Secret. Not that there is anything wrong with . . . abundance, but because I distrust our ability to visualize what in fact is good for us” (63).

Throughout, Christian encourages us to look for our own path. His attitude is mostly,“Well, who knows? This is what worked for me.” When he discusses his own history of being extremely competitive, and its “antidotes,” so to speak, he concludes:

Yet in a strange way, all of this doesn’t really matter. The ego longs for self-expression and our Soul wait until the drive for specialness exhausts itself. Only then will the spiritual mission be complete. . . . [O]ur mission is patiently waiting for us to make God’s world complete with the help of our unique talents. There is no wrong or right in any of this, it is simply a different stage in the spiritual Awakening journey. 48 [my emphasis]

One thing I’d approach a little differently is Christian’s repeated assertion: “Get out of your head.” It’s absolutely correct, I believe, at least ultimately. But most people need to stay in their heads simply to survive until they arrive at a place where they can start seeking a wisdom deeper than anything we can think up. It’s something easier said than done for many people; I remember a counselor in a program telling me, “Sandra, you need to get out of your head!” and I thought, “Do you have an instruction manual?” For us head-types, that’s a big part of the journey, not something we can do on command. Which I’m pretty sure Christian knows quite well, because I think he was a head-type himself, who has transitioned to the three-centered knowing that comes from a balance of head, heart, and body.

I could quote lots of other things, but this is a short and simple book; 86 pages, broken into sections of a few pages each. I read it through quickly, and then read it through again much more slowly. It’s both simple – great for a spiritual seeker early in their journey – but certainly not simplistic; there’s wisdom here. For me, there wasn’t really anything brand-new, but many powerful and engaging reminders expressed through story and personal experiences. If you want some inspiration and encouragement, The Way of the Meister would be a great place to start.

* Postscript: I met Christian Weise through my husband’s FB group, Sacred Sanctuary; I’m not a regular on the page, but I’ve met him twice in person. This sounds like a disclaimer (“He’s my friend so this is a Friend Review”), but the reason I say that is that, having spent some time with Christian, I like his book even better than I might otherwise because it’s clear to me that this isn’t all some kind of mental construct of spirituality for him. He’s very smart, but what he presents here, while not divorced from his intellect, is on a different level. I guess that for me, the qualities of his personal presence validate what he has written about, and I’d gladly have or recommend him as a spiritual mentor.