85 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timeless, June 18, 2000
This review is from: Meister Eckhart: The celebrated 14th Century mystic and scholastic: A central source and inspiration of dominant currents in philosophy and theology since Aquinas, w/the text of his historic Defense (Paperback)
This book is a well-chosen and remarkably comprehensive collection of Eckhart, in an absolutely enchanting translation. For someone who would like a readable and usable volume of Eckhart, this is a super choice. For someone who is a devotee of Eckhart, this volume simply can't be missed and should go on the shelf with other works of/on Eckhart. It contains the Talks of Instruction, the Book of Divine Comfort, the Aristocrat, a somewhat less well-known piece called "About Disinterest", and 28 sermons, plus an introduction to Eckhart. Also in the book are some legends concerning Eckhart that are deeply moving, and there is a copy of Eckhart's defense (which I have not seen elsewhere). As I said, the translation is marvellous and very readable. My only caveats are as follows. First, for someone entirely unfamiliar with Eckhart and needing something easier to "approach", probably the best book is "Meister Eckhart from whom God hid nothing" (compiled by Steindl-Rast), since it starts with short quotes and builds to longer excerpts from Eckhart's best works. But in the end Steindl-Rast's work leaves one wanting more of Eckhart and that's where this book satisfies (and continues to excel in its beautiful prose). And second, this edition is unfortunately done with "cheap" paper and eventually with passing years it will be yellowed, cracking, and possibly falling apart. It's a shame because it deserves good acid-free paper and a better binding. Maybe Harper and Row will come through someday, but even so this book is a gem. Enjoy!
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic, July 5, 2005
"The Eye with which I see God
is the eye with which God sees me"
- Meister Eckhart.
Almost everyone drawn to Eckhart agrees that he makes engaging reading. The writings of this 14th c German mystic are veritable 'essen' - spiritual food. As Blakney says. . ."Eckhart breathed his own endless vitality into the juiceless formulas of orthodox theology with such charm and passion that even the most common people heard them gladly. " Eckhart's pregnant sayings function rather like Christian koans, de-centering and then re-centering the mind, elevating thought to the unthinkable.
As Blakney observed, we often think of Eckhart's age as one of juiceless aridities - viz. Nietzsche's and Heidegger's strictures against Christianity as - 'Platonism for the masses'
- pallid abstractions. A serious reading of Eckhart shows us the other side of the coin, for Eckhart breathes spiritual vitality. In this, he wasn't alone. 14th c Europe witnessed a great flowering of mysticism. . .Julian of Norwich, The 'Cloud
of Unknowing,'Catherine of Sienna - to name but a few. Eckhart epitomised this movement and remains one of its most outstanding voices.
If you haven't yet read Eckhart, you can be sure that savouring his words will change your perception of Christianity. D.T. Suzuki - who more or less paved the way for Zen in the West, had a soft spot for Eckhart ('inked' references to Eckhart even found their way into the edition of the 'Rinzai Roku' issued by Suzuki at Matsugaoka Zen Bunka).
One reviewer has criticised Blakney's translation (1941), on the grounds that it was based on dated and poorly edited material (Pfeiffer, 1857). While I would certainly recommend reading recent translations based on the Kohlhammer text (1955, ed. Josef Quint), Blakney's translation has merits of its own. The translation is lively. It has a useful preface, with a glossary explaining some of the key terms used by Eckhart. This is followed by an absorbing Introduction, giving the general reader a good idea of Eckhart's background. Rest assured, the core material Blakney has presented gives you the 'quintessential' Eckhart. The disputed parts of the Pfeiffer text play a negligible role here and are unlikely to trouble the general reader. There are now a number of handy-sized, single volume 'introductions' to Eckhart - in English, but they tend to be rather dry. Blakney's was an inspired translation, and still represents the best account of Eckhart in an affordable, single volume - with enough supplementary material to give the general reader a useful grounding in Eckhart's background. You get a good spread of material:
(1) The Talks of Instruction.(2) The Book of Divine Comfort.
(3) The Aristocrat.(4) About Disinterest. (5) Sermons.
(6) Fragments. (7) Legends.(8) The Defence.
The text has extensive notes, which are placed unobtrusively at the back of the book. There is a useful bibliography.
What Eckhart says about 'disinterest' (abgescheidenheit) colours just about everything else he had to say. It is the opposite of clinging to the truth. It is not 'disinterest' in the common sense, but signifies humility, poverty of spirit, self-emptying. He sometimes used the term 'sich lassen' - 'letting go' - to find the truth, just as Zen masters speak of 'opening the hand of thought.' One strain of Christian feeling comes over as very much 'clinging bound,' and with his characteristic humour, Eckhart once said that 'men wish to use God - as they use a cow.' They want to 'squeeze' something out of the spirit. Alas, the 'clinging-bound' view of religion comes very much to the fore in the material titled the 'Defense.' It is Eckhart's reply to those who accused him of 'heresy.' Having savoured the sublimity of Eckhart's thought and teaching, the 'Defence' makes painful reading. It arguably exemplifies everything that was then wrong with the Church. Reading this material, it is evident that Eckhart's accusers betrayed a pathetic lack of understanding. In some cases, they even made quite orthodox elements of Christian doctrine or scripture - seem 'heretical' - and you can sense Eckhart's frustration, as he labours to point out that 'such-and-such was said in this gospel,' 'but does not Our Lord say. . .' etc. Still, that certain elements of Eckhart's thought did border on heresy, according to the understanding of the day - is what got him into trouble. . .
"I Therefore pray God, that he may set
me free from god" (Hier umbe so bitte ich
got, daz er mich quit mache gotes)
- although in fact, St.Paul had said much the same thing. The outcome of this sorry business was messy. Eckhart appealed against the charges brought before him, clearing himself to an extent in a preliminary hearing, but the Church delayed a further hearing, and finally denied Eckhart's appeal for one. He died before getting news of it. The Church hit him from behind - and condemned his writings, which thereafter languished for centuries, more or less unread. On an ironic note, and rather like 'Spy v Spy' in 'Mad' magazine, the Pope responsible for having the charges brought against Eckhart, was eventually charged with heresy, himself. These days, it seems, few in the Church would bat an eyelid over Eckhart's ideas. The revival of interest in Eckhart is one good thing about the age we live in. If Christianity is about the pursuit of disinterested truth, Eckhart should have been 'canonised' centuries ago.
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