The author places Eckhart in his historical context and analyzes the stages of his mystical expression. Forman also looks at Eckhart's teachings for their practical implications for theological investigation.
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Forty years of daily meditation practice led me to become professor of comparative religions, (CUNY), to found both the Forge Institute & The Journal of Consciousness Studies, and to a rethinking of the spiritual goal in our complex modern lives. That's why I wrote "Enlightenment Ain't What It's Cracked Up to Be: A Journey of Discovery, Snow and Jazz in the Soul". It answers the question, what if you spent years of your life seeking spiritual enlightenment, but were looking in the wrong place over a long time? It's happening right now to millions of seekers around the world.
Told in often poetic prose, it offers new direction for people looking for a sane and healthy spiritual pathway in our increasingly confusing world.
Here's a longer bio, if you're interested: My curiosity and confusion about my early spiritual experiences led me to a Ph.D in Comparative Religions (Columbia U), where I specialized in the nature of and philosophical issues around mystical experiences and the spiritual life. I used to be called, back in my academic days, "one of the leading voices in the academic debates on mysticism," I suppose because of my work in the international scholarly debate about mystical experiences, which came to be known as "The Katz-Forman debates." That was the work for which I was awarded quite a number of grants and recently an honorary doctorate from the beautiful Lund University, Sweden.
Before I resigned, I was a tenured professor of religions at Hunter College of the City University of New York and a professor at Vassar College, Union Theological Seminary and the New School for Social Research, where I often taught courses on mystical experiences and spiritual goals in every tradition. I hear that my books are still used in classes around the world. How cool is that?
But many of my insights about the spiritual path and goal came from my work as founder and Executive Director of the Forge Institute for Spirituality and Social Change, and the Forge Guild of Spiritual Mentors and Teachers, a non profit dedicated to helping people from any religion or spiritual path find the depths of soul together. If you're interested, take a look at www.GoDeeperTogether.org
I suppose you should know I also co-founded and became an executive editor of The Journal of Consciousness Studies , which has become the principle journal in the field of consciousness studies (no, please don't send your articles to me). And then there are the ten scholarly books on spirituality, mysticism, consciousness and world religions. You might be interested in Grassroots Spirituality: What It Is, Why It Is Here, Where It Is Going (Imprint Academic), which won the Bross Prize for the Best Manuscript in Religion, 2000; The Problem of Pure Consciousness (Oxford University Press); and a second from Oxford, The Innate Capacity. One of my favorite underappreciated books was Meister Eckhart: Mystic as Theologian (Element Books). For the academically inclined, you may like Mysticism, Mind Consciousness (SUNY Press).
Told in often poetic prose, it offers new direction for people looking for a sane and healthy spiritual pathway in our increasingly confusing world.
Here's a longer bio, if you're interested: My curiosity and confusion about my early spiritual experiences led me to a Ph.D in Comparative Religions (Columbia U), where I specialized in the nature of and philosophical issues around mystical experiences and the spiritual life. I used to be called, back in my academic days, "one of the leading voices in the academic debates on mysticism," I suppose because of my work in the international scholarly debate about mystical experiences, which came to be known as "The Katz-Forman debates." That was the work for which I was awarded quite a number of grants and recently an honorary doctorate from the beautiful Lund University, Sweden.
Before I resigned, I was a tenured professor of religions at Hunter College of the City University of New York and a professor at Vassar College, Union Theological Seminary and the New School for Social Research, where I often taught courses on mystical experiences and spiritual goals in every tradition. I hear that my books are still used in classes around the world. How cool is that?
But many of my insights about the spiritual path and goal came from my work as founder and Executive Director of the Forge Institute for Spirituality and Social Change, and the Forge Guild of Spiritual Mentors and Teachers, a non profit dedicated to helping people from any religion or spiritual path find the depths of soul together. If you're interested, take a look at www.GoDeeperTogether.org
I suppose you should know I also co-founded and became an executive editor of The Journal of Consciousness Studies , which has become the principle journal in the field of consciousness studies (no, please don't send your articles to me). And then there are the ten scholarly books on spirituality, mysticism, consciousness and world religions. You might be interested in Grassroots Spirituality: What It Is, Why It Is Here, Where It Is Going (Imprint Academic), which won the Bross Prize for the Best Manuscript in Religion, 2000; The Problem of Pure Consciousness (Oxford University Press); and a second from Oxford, The Innate Capacity. One of my favorite underappreciated books was Meister Eckhart: Mystic as Theologian (Element Books). For the academically inclined, you may like Mysticism, Mind Consciousness (SUNY Press).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Meister Eckhart understood.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Meister Eckhart: The Mystic As Theologian : An Experiment in Methodology (Paperback)
The great Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart, has puzzled scholars for 650 years. Robert Forman has found a way to unlock his writings. In "high ramification" or stilted language, Eckhart develops his philosophical ideas. But in "low ramification" or ordinary language, Eckhart communicates his mystical experience. By using this method of sorting out Eckhart's writings, Forman is able to chart out the stages in Eckhart's mystical development. At the highest mystical level, Eckhart elaborates ideas that are a great achievement for the Christian tradition - letting go, living in the eternal Now, and being empty and free. Eckhart's ideas have provided fruitful ground for dialogue with other religious traditions. We should be thankful that Robert Forman has made Meister Eckhart understandable to all.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What you really want to know.,
By don McKee (Camano Island, WA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Meister Eckhart: The Mystic As Theologian : An Experiment in Methodology (Paperback)
What a superlative organization of Eckhart's thought regarding the experiential side of his mysticism! While we should be wary of the hair splitting and eel wriggling of theologians, philosophers and Scholars, Mr. Forman's elucidation of the stages of Eckhart's mystical path is orderly, sensible, scholarly, and convincing. Since we are all enlightened to some degree or other, there seems little point in debating wether or not Eckhart had the mystical experience of which he spoke. If the depth of the "birth in the soul" or the level of enlightenment could somehow be definitively measured, There seems little doubt that many would be amazed at who is and is not, and who is more and who is less, spiritually developed. In this regard, we might remember Christ's teaching, "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first". That being said, Forman supports, in his introduction, the notion that Eckhart undoubtedly spoke from deep, legitimate, religious experience. This reviewer finds numerous expressions in Eckhart's sermons which do lend support to that probability. Forman writes with perspective and humility, never making large claims or long reaches. This skillfully crafted and well researched book is a must read for anyone with more than a passing interest in arguably the greatest mystic in the western tradition. Where was Forman when I was reading Dogen?Don
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