Dōgen and Meister Eckhart on Detachment/Non-attachment*

ABSTRACT Dōgen and Eckhart are two of the most influential spiritual masters of the thirteenth century. Though from completely different religious traditions, they share stark similarity concerning detachment/non-attachment. Both masters were criticized, condemned and neglected for centuries. They are, however, regarded with great respect by Zen Buddhists, Catholic monks, and even by seminal philosophers such as Kitarō Nashida and Martin Heidegger. What makes these two masters so attractive to disparate groups and to unlikely places such as the Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky and Kyoto University in Japan?