Meister Eckhart

This article sets out to articulate Meister Eckhart’s understanding of subjectivity as split between a possessive self and a detached ground of the soul. Because identifying with one necessarily entails relinquishing the other, Eckhart tells his listeners to abandon the possessive soul that wills and knows in favour of an empty soul that is inhabited by God. But this God cannot be known, desired, or understood, since the cogito has already abandoned the site of subjectivity to make room for God. So God as well is split, between what the word God signifies to the cogito in the world of linguistic dualities, and a nameless apophatic God beyond all knowing. This article will set out to compare Eckhart’s understanding of this split subject with that of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, who similarly speaks of the subject as split between a thinking self and a self that is only where it is not thinking. Because Lacan explicitly adopts apophatic techniques to explain the subject’s relation to an Other that he calls ‘the Obscure God’, his strategy will be shown to overlap in signifi- cant ways with the way Eckhart’s mystical subject relates to the divine.

Whitehead's thought continues to attract attention in mathematics and metaphysics, but few have recognized with Roland Faber, the deeply mystical dimensions of his philosophy. "If you like to phrase it so," Whitehead states, "philosophy is mystical. For mysticism is direct insight into depths as yet unspoken." Where, however, do these unspoken depths speak in Whitehead, and what are their associated themes in his philosophy? For the first time, Depths As Yet Unspoken gathers together Faber's most compelling writings on Whitehead's mutually immanent themes of mysticism, multiplicity, and divinity. In dialogue with a diversity of voices, from process philosophers and theologians, to mystical and poststructuralist thinkers, Faber creatively articulates Whitehead's "theopoetic" process cosmogony in its relevance to metaphysics, cosmology, everyday experience, religious pluralism, and interreligious violence, spirituality, and longstanding concerns of the theological tradition, including creation, the Trinity, revelation, religious experience, and divine mystery. Although Whitehead's mystical inclinations may not be obvious at first, they in fact constitute the apophatic backdrop to his entire philosophical corpus. Through Faber's work, Whitehead's philosophy is revealed to be nothing short of a remarkable endeavor to speak to the unfathomable depth of things.

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Mysticism refers to a religious philosophical approach emphasizing a deep, direct connection between the divine and a believer, achieved by faith and manifested through inspiration and illumination. The word finds its origin in ancient Greek, referring to the term for "to conceal." Similarly, individuals participating in mystery religions are referred to as mystae. Medieval mysticism and inspired forms of Christian faith influenced subsequent religious movements across Europe, such as the Protestant Reformation (especially its radical branch) and the so-called Counter-Reformation. During the Renaissance and the Reformation, mystical thought played a major role in the many attempts to reform the Church. Women, in particular, were instrumental in the diffusion of mystical ideas and practices in both the Middle Ages and in early modernity.

Il modulo è dedicato a Meister Eckhart, il cui pensiero riassume ed innalza a livelli mai più raggiunti la cosiddetta “mistica speculativa”, patrimonio indiscusso della scuola domenicana tedesca del XIV secolo. La teologia dell’imago dei eckhartiana è strettamente connessa alla sua teologia dell’unione: immagine di Dio è il Figlio, immagine di Dio sarà l’anima, nel preciso senso paolino della transformatio in eandem imaginem (2Cor 3, 18) la quale corrisponde al Figlio stesso.

Mark McIntosh was an Anglican priest, scholar, and author of multiple books on the history, study, and practice of Christian mysticism. His latest book, published just before his death in October of 2021 due to complications resulting from ALS, is titled The Divine Ideas Tradition in Christian Mystical Theology. In this work he addresses what he argues is a key component of mysticism in general and Christian theology in particular: the divine ideas tradition (abbreviated throughout as DIT).

The very issue of philosophy is the loss of the scientifical rank of its classical fundament, the metaphysics. Martin Heidegger - who had understood philosophy mostly at the age of the last century - saw this problem very well, and he saw the right direction of the solution as well. Why he failed then? This brief article tries to give an answer to this question.

Il volume ripercorre lo sviluppo del pensiero del giovane Nicola Cusano dalla frequentazione del maestro albertista Eimerico da Campo presso l’Università di Colonia (1425) e dal confronto con le posizioni filosofiche dei domenicani dello Studium coloniense, fino agli anni della maturità a Roma (1450).

Il saggio illustra il contesto storico-culturale della genesi del De docta ignorantia, testo che suggella la presa di distanza di Cusano dal proprio passato universitario ma anche, al contempo, la sua insoddisfazione nei confronti dell’umanesimo diffuso in Italia negli anni del Concilio di Ferrara-Firenze; e lo segue nella sua ‘caccia della Sapienza’, nell’incontro con differenti tradizioni e contesti, fino alla formulazione dell’ideale del ‘Socrate cristiano’ nell’Idiota.

Il volume, riccamente documentato anche sul piano della storia delle interpretazioni e degli studi su Cusano, contribuisce a far luce sulla formazione del suo pensiero e sulle questioni che ne hanno segnato la vita.

In this chapter, we examine a few potential problems when inquiring into the ethics of medieval Christian and Islamic mystical traditions: First, there are terminological and methodological worries about defining mysticism and doing comparative philosophy in general. Second, assuming that the Divine represents the highest Good in such traditions, and given the apophaticism on the part of many mystics in both religions, there is a question of whether or not such traditions can provide a coherent theory of value. Finally, the antinomian tendencies and emphasis on passivity of some mystics might lead one to wonder whether their prescriptive exhortations can constitute a coherent theory of right action. We tackle each of these concerns in turn and discuss how they might be addressed, in an attempt to show how medieval mysticism, as a fundamentally practical enterprise, deserves more attention from practical and moral philosophy than it has thus far received.

Published as part of the special issue "New Life of German Idealism" edited by Kirill Chepurin.

The Russian version of the article appeared in: http://www.logosjournal.ru/cgi-bin/arch.pl?action=show&id=86&lang=en

The paper turns to the thought of G.W. F. Hegel and its convergence with Meister Eckhart's thought in order to explore the possibility of a speculative and affirmative relationship between philosophy and religion. It argues that these thinkers, taken together, offer a possible way of rejecting one of the binary structures prevalent in recent continental philosophy, namely the division between an atheistic defense of philosophy and its (secular) egological subjects on one hand, and the affirmation of the primacy of transcendence and alterity (in a quasitheological vein) on the other hand. Hegel's and Eckhart's works suggest that such binaries foreclose a third possibility of annihilating the subject as a way to affirm a speculative and infinite immanence. Utilizing different discursive spaces and theoretical vocabularies , Hegel and Eckhart propose to annihilate the subject as the site from which transcendence could be affirmed in the first place. Moreover, here, God no longer functions as a name against which to struggle in the name of atheism, or one to uphold for a theological critique of the secular. Rather, it becomes the name for the possibility of absolute desubjectivation, of self-emptying and annihilating the subject— processes that are no longer open to transcendence, but reveal the ungrounded immanence of life. In tracing these logics, this paper questions the dominant distribution of concepts structuring the recent turn to religion in continental philosophy, and suggests one possibility for the democratization of thought that would dislocate the imperialism of secular and atheistic discourses without elevating theology to a renewed position of power.

Der als Fundbericht konzipierte Beitrag berichtet über die Wiederentdeckung einer seit mehr als 160 Jahren als verschollen geltenden besonders frühen Eckhart-Handschrift mit Übersetzungen vorwiegend aus dem "Opus expositionum", rekonstruiert die eruierbaren Zwischenstationen ihrer Tradierung in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts und skizziert ihre Funktionalisierung auf der Wartburg in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. und der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts (Stichwort: Immersion), die mitverantwortlich dafür ist, dass die Handschrift dem Blick der Forschung entzogen blieb.

This paper is about the role of images and metaphors in the writings and sermons of the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart. It tries to point out why at the one hand Eckhart uses a whole buch of images and at the other side criticises the usage of images and metaphors

https://www.routledge.com/Mysticism-and-Materialism-in-the-Wake-of-German-Idealism/Goggin-Hannan/p/book/9780367546137

This book argues that the rediscovery of mystical theology in nineteenth-century Germany not only helped inspire idealism and romanticism, but also planted the seeds of their overcoming by way of critical materialism. Thanks in part to the Neoplatonic turn in the works of J. G. Fichte, as well as the enthusiasm of mining engineer Franz X. von Baader, mystical themes gained a critical currency, and mystical texts returned to circulation. This reawakening of the mystical tradition influenced romantic and idealist thinkers such as Novalis and Hegel, and also shaped later critical interventions by Marx, Benjamin, and Bataille. Rather than rehearsing well-known connections to Swedenborg or Böhme, this study goes back further to the works of Meister Eckhart, Nicholas of Cusa, Catherine of Siena, and Angela of Foligno. The book offers a new perspective on the reception of mystical self-interrogation in nineteenth-century German thought and will appeal to scholars of philosophy, history, theology, and religious studies.

El problema de la unidad refiere al mundo como tal, es decir, a la existencia de las cosas, como un todo. Es-ta cuestión ha tenido a lo largo de la historia aproxima-ciones filosóficas y teológicas, estando la primera referida al ser y la segunda a Dios como ser absoluto. Entre ambas existe un campo que podemos llamar «teosofía», en la que coexiste el pensamiento filosófico con diversas for-mas de mística. En particular, nos interesa aquí la com-paración de dos teosofías, una cristiana y otra islámica. La primera, tendrá su exponente en Maestro Eckhart y la segunda en Ibn Arabi. Exponemos aquí que en ambos pensadores, lo que está en juego es una vinculación pro-funda entre el ser y la unidad, donde aparece la unidad

One way to speak of the cultural productivity of guilt is to consider the meritorious actions that result from or are mandated by guilt. Can guilt become productive by causing compensatory action that would otherwise not happen? This question involves two different angles: on the one hand, there is the question of justice and the related obligation to vindicate the victims of serious crimes (as far as this is possible at all). On the other hand, there is the potential of guilt to inspire meaningful and socially valuable actions that go beyond the individual offense and beyond benefitting individual victims. In this latter, more "open" sense, the productivity of guilt consists of the ways in which guilt can be instrumentalized to motivate morally good action in general. However, the world-particularly the Western world-exhibits a profound aversion to the instrumentalization of guilt, even if done with the best of intentions. For example, it is a disparagement and an insult to accuse individuals of attempting to buy their way out of guilt. And when charitable or political organizations use guilt to mobilize action (e.g., in the campaign against climate change, when carbon offsets and climate certificates are offered to reduce travelers' guilt feelings and ecological footprints), they are accused of practicing Ablasshandel (trade in indulgences), in a nod to the Church's pre-Reformation guilt negotiations. From whence does this aversion to instrumentalizing guilt originate, and what might its alternatives be? A brief look into the history of Christian repentance can help us to identify, understand, and contextualize the answers. Christian Penance in the Middle Ages and the Effect of Good Actions Christianity's first sacrament to facilitate the forgiveness of sins is baptism, which can be received only once. However, early Christians' hope that the grace of baptism would prevent all sinning henceforth proved unrealistic and required the

(English and Spanish). German Mystic Theology. Comparative Study between Henry Suso's Little Book of Truth and Meister Eckhart's Works. This study analyses the Little Book of Divine Truth, written by the Dominican Henry Suso (1295-1366) to clarify and to defend Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), his teacher. Both authors belong to the spiritual tradition called Dominican German mysticism or Rhineland mysticism, and both are compared, to present the most important topics of the Mystical Theology they share, God as Ground, Unity and Trinity, creation and return to God, detachment, giving birth to God in the Soul, etc. and also the special characteristics of Suso’s thought, his pedagogy and his balanced positions. // En este estudio se analiza el contenido del Libro de la Verdad de Enrique Suso (1295–1366), escrito como clarificación y defensa del Maestro Eckhart (1260–1328) y se ponen en paralelo ambos autores. Se presentan los grandes temas de la teología mística que comparten: el Misterio de Dios, tri-unidad, la creación y el retorno del ser humano a su Origen o, dicho de otro modo, el nacimiento de Dios en el fondo del alma. Para ello el ser humano ha de vivir desde el desprendimiento de todo y de sí mismo, y despojarse de toda imagen hasta llegar a ser transformado en la Imagen: el Hijo de Dios. Por último, se señalan también las peculiaridades de Suso, entre las que destaca el equilibrio de su planteamiento y su pedagogía.

Ecumenism as a movement always pursue movement that always include as many as possible people in this world. To make that real, the thought of Meister Eckhart and Ibn Al-'Arabi can be a great inspiration. In this paper i argue that Eckhart and 'Arabi's thought about Cosmic Spirituality can contribute to Participative Ecumenism especially in Asia with all the context in it. Their concept with stresses in relation of all Creation in this world can make something in the struggle of Asian People. The relation of all Creation can make support the Ecumenism with a great care of Poverty and real engagement in Interreligious Dialogue.

Article de l'Encyclopédie des Mystiques Rhénans qui présente l'œuvre d'Henri Suso nommée : « Livre de la Vérité » ou « Petit livre de la Vérité », écrit comme défense de Maître Eckhart après la Bulle In agro dominico de 1329. Ce livret est une bonne synthèse de la mystique rhénane et signale les enjeux théologiques qui s’y présentent.

In this volume, Reiner Schürmann develops the idea that, in between the spiritual Carolingian Renaissance and the secular Humanist Renaissance, there was a distinctive Medieval Renaissance connected with the rediscovery of Aristotle. Focusing on Thomas Aquinas’s ontology and epistemology, William of Ockham’s conceptualism, and Meister Eckhart’s speculative mysticism, Schürmann shows how thought began to break free from religion and the hierarchies of the feudal, neo-Platonic order and devote its attention to otherness and singularity. A crucial supplement to Schürmann’s magnum opus Broken Hegemonies, Neo-Aristotelianism will be essential reading for anyone interested in the rise and fall of Western principles, and thus in how to think and act today

Meister Eckhart zählt zu den bedeutendsten und wirkmächtigsten Persönlichkeiten des Mittelalters. Bis heute hat sein Werk nichts an Aktualität und Faszination verloren. Als Prediger, Theologe und Philosoph lehrte er die Einheit von Gott und Mensch. Sind seine deutschen Predigten eher von rhetorischer Emphase geprägt, argumentiert er in seinen lateinischen Traktaten in aller scholastischer Strenge für sein zentrales Anliegen: die göttliche Natur der menschlichen Seele. Diese Verflechtung von mystischer Predigt und philosophischer Begründung stellt einen Höhepunkt philosophischer Mystik dar. Christian Jung weist in einer konzisen Gesamtschau nach, wie Meister Eckhart die Geistigkeit Gottes und die Vernünftigkeit des Menschen, das Seelenfünklein, in eins setzt. Dabei berücksichtigt der Autor alle Werkschichten, von den frühen Pariser Streitschriften, über das lateinische Hauptwerk, das Opus tripartitum, bis hin zu den deutschen Predigten.

In the late Middle Ages the philosopher and mystic Meister Eckhart preached that to know the truth you must be the truth. But how to be the truth? Eckhart’s answer comes in the form of an imperative: release yourself, let be. Only then will you be able to understand that the deepest meaning of being is releasement. Only then will you become who you truly are. This book interprets Eckhart’s Latin and Middle High German writings under the banner of an imperative of releasement, and then shows how the twentieth-century thinker Martin Heidegger creatively appropriates this idea at several stages of his career. Regardless of whether Heidegger is promoting the will or, like Eckhart, letting-be, the mood of Heidegger’s discourse, from beginning to end, is imperative. Experience is all.

Eckhart, Heidegger, and the Imperative of Releasement does not just offer a novel way to read Eckhart and Heidegger, though. It also carefully examines Heidegger’s lifelong fascination with “the old master of letters and life,” as Heidegger liked to refer to his German predecessor. Drawing on archival material and Heidegger’s marginalia in his personal copies of Eckhart’s writings, this book argues that Eckhart was one of the most important figures in Heidegger’s philosophy. The book also contains previously unpublished documents by Heidegger on Eckhart, as well as the first English translation of Nishitani Keiji’s seminal essay “Nietzsche’s Zarathustra and Meister Eckhart,” which he initially gave as a presentation in one of Heidegger’s classes in 1938.

Le présent ouvrage, issu d’une thèse de doctorat soutenue en Sorbonne, propose une analyse philosophique détaillée de l’œuvre de celui qui fut surnommé « le prince des obscurs ». David König étudie les thèmes fondamentaux de la pensée de Jacob Böhme en se servant du processus de manifestation du Sans-fond comme d’un fil directeur guidant le lecteur jusqu’au cœur de la doctrine. Son but est triple : éclairer les difficultés de la théosophie böhmienne, mettre en lumière sa structure métaphysique inédite, et évaluer son influence sur le postkantisme, et plus spécifiquement sur les philosophies de Hegel et de Schelling.

In this monograph, I analyse mystical truth claims and the epistemologies they are based on. I investigate the structural homologies between Christian Mysticism (Meister Eckhart, Nikolaus Cusanus, and Jakob Boehme) and Zen Buddhism (Huangbo, Dogen, Bankei) and demonstrate that their basis lies not in the fact of mystical experience, but in the presuppositions inherent to mystical thought. These presuppositions produce a certain logic of mysticism. Differences, however, of necessity remain because that logic cannot produce any content: it has to rely on what is already given by the religious world-view that forms the matrix from which a certain mystical position proceeds.

A study of philosophy of religion, mysticism, mystics from many religions or none.
A study of mysticsm, that includes amoingst other things the following

Contents
  I.          Mystics of The Ancient Past

Pre-history Of Mysticism
Vedic Hymnists
Early Egyptians
The Early Jews
Upanishadic Seers
Kapila
The Bhagavad Gita
The Taoist Sages
The Buddha

            II.        Mystics of The Greco-Roman Era

The Pre-Socratic Greeks
Socrates And His Successors
Zeno of Citium
Philo Judaeus
Jesus of Nazareth
Early Christians
The Gnostics
The Hermetics
Plotinus
         
                      III.      Mystics of The Early Middle Ages

Pseudo-Dionysius
Narada
Patanjali
The Tantra
Shankara
Dattatreya
Milarepa
The Ch’an And Zen Buddhists
The Sufis
Al-Hallaj         

                        IV.      Mystics of The Late Middle Ages

Jewish Mysticism
Ibn Arabi
Iraqi
Rumi
Jnaneshvar
Medieval Christians
Meister Eckhart
Thomas á Kempis

                          V.        Mystics of The Modern Era

Nicholas of Cusa
Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross)
Kabir
Nanak
Dadu
Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century Mystics
Sri Ramakrishna
Ramana Maharshi
Swami Rama Tirtha
Twentieth Century Mystics
Conclusion

Eckhart refers to Origen as "a great Master", and he is one of his fundamental patristic sources, along with St. Augustine. But it is not easy to recognise what he has retained specifically from the thought of the Alexandrian, so distant in time and so influential also on other authors who preceded Eckhart. Of all the Alexandrian's writings, we know for sure that he read directly his Homilies on Genesis, which present important Origenist notions, a work that Eckhart quotes 17 times. It is therefore interesting to study Eckhart's use of these homilies, especially in his Book of the Parables of Genesis, in order to consider from these texts his relationship with Origen, what he assumes from the latter and what is new about him. Thus, Eckhart extracts and condenses what is most significant in the Alexandrian's Homilies on Genesis, making use of his allegorical exegesis and his metaphors (the divine seed in us, the well and the spring of living water), as well as his profound reflections on the image of God in the human being, which may be obscured, but never disappears. However, Eckhart displaces Origen's ethical orientation and assumes a more ontological perspective, and goes beyond the Alexandrian, adding a new interpretation of the texts by incorporating the notion of the double being of things and of the continuous creation in the Word.