IN OUR TIME, THERE IS NO GREATER INFLUENCE ON THE MYSTICAL TRADITION. AN INTRODUCTION;
Eckhart von Hochheim was a 14th century theologian, author and academic. He is best known today as a philosopher and mystic, and is commonly known as Meister Eckhart. He was born circa 1260CE in Tambach-Dietharz, which is central on the map of modern day Germany, near Gotha. He died circa 1328 in Avignon, France.
Meister Eckhart was influenced by Augustine of Hippo, Aristotle, and Albertus Magnus. Augustine pioneered theological anthropology identifying God as creator, whose presence is expressed in the human body. Augustine compiled a body of work writing about eschatology, sin, mariology and ecclesiology. Aristotle was a philosopher and a realist. He focused on study of the natural (tangible) world, but he was happy to concede that if the metaphysical existed, then we ought prioritise consideration of the metaphysical before the material. Importantly for Aristotle, the metaphysical exists by virtue of being, and must be studied as being. There is no man in the sky, is what he was saying - no golden handshake to be had. Albertus Magnus was one generation older than Eckhart, born in Lauingen before 1200CE, and died in Cologne 1280CE around the age of 85yo. He was a friar, Bishop and was later made a saint in the Catholic church. Magnus was a student of Aristotelian thought. Like Aristotle, his areas of interest were broad and included astronomy, love, theology, morals and natural law.
Meister Eckart existed in the same tradition as these greats: Augustine, Aristotle and Albertus Magnus. All were grounded in the scientific and tangible, but drawn to the metaphysical. One might say they were practical men who were drawn to the possibility of God. The only way they could discuss God was as being, or as mystery. They could not perceive the possibility of greater meaning to be empirical or scientific. There was no strong sense of God as an entity.
Meister Eckhart added to the work of the greats by separating the attributes of man, from the presence of God. In so doing, man could not perceive the existence of God through the lens of his own attributes. In other words, God is sometimes understood as loving because man is loving. But there is no real proof of that. Maybe God is and maybe God is not.
According to Eckhart, God was not an entity, nor is God a he, nor is God good or loving or kind or just. These are human attributes. God can only exist as mystery, as presence, as energy that is beyond human understanding. For Meister Eckhart God is mainly fecund, meaning God is a fertile creating energy that cannot withhold its own creative powers.
Eckhart was a profound teacher and preacher. Much of what he taught was about detachment and then allowing God to reform and refurbish our minds through what has already been planted within the human at birth. In other words, humans cannot begin a spiritual journey toward God until they cease to cling to the material world.
Eckhart is saying to us; we cannot understand anything about God except that God is mystery. We live in the reality of this tangible world. The emphasis of the spiritual journey is our own transformation. We have access to ourselves, we hope in God.
Eckhart famously wrote; “if the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is; “thank you,” it shall be enough.”
Meister Eckhart was not known as a mystic in his own time. He was a creditable academic, author, and theologian. He did run adrift of the Papal authorities later in life. Eckhart was charged with heresy and brought to trail before Pope John 22nd. Eckhart died before any verdict was given. 20th century petitions to the Vatican to have accusations against Meister Eckhart’s theology overturned were rejected by the Vatican on the grounds he was never proven guilty of heresy to begin with, which is technically correct.
Meister Eckhart was considered a mystic only after his death. There was a movement during the reformations that drew strongly on Eckhart’s work and that was when he was first considered a mystic. Recently from about 1960 the "spiritual but not religious" (SBNR) movement, alternate spirituality, and Christian minorities have breathed new life into Meister Eckhart, with thousands of references to his quotes. Eckhart’s creation philosophy is useful for the theological feed into climate change debates.
Erich Fromm and Carl Jung both refer to Meister Eckhart in their work, discussing Eckhart’s ideas as a basis for the archetypal man and identifying Eckhart as a gnostic Christian.
“The only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that wont let go of your life. Your memories, your attachments. The demons burn them, but they’re not punishing you. They are freeing your soul…. If you’ve made your peace, the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth.” Jacobs Ladder, Louis, reflecting on Meister Eckhart.
#MeisterEckhart #mysticism #mystery #CarlJung #AlbertusMagnus #Aristotle #Augustine . #WhatIsGod #metaphysical
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