Meister Eckhart (c. 1260–c. 1328) is one of the greatest Christian mystics who ever lived. What is so astonishing about him is that he lived his entire life within the Catholic Church but his teachings went fundamentally against the mainstream philosophy of the Church. He was accused of heresy later in life and eventually was convicted of it after his death. He had the uncanny ability to express his revolutionary views using the Christian myth; he did it in such a graceful way that formal opposition was brought against him only later in life. His views on God and the person of Jesus have a mix of existential and Gnostic elements. He was a man who fully understood the function of myth and the transcendent life behind dualities.
Here are some interesting links on Meister Eckhart:
Here are some of his words:
"The ultimate and highest leave taking is leaving God for GOD, leaving your notion of God for an experience of that which transcends all notions."
"What a man takes in by contemplation, that he pours out in love."
"The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me."
"The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge."
"There exists only the present instant... a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday nor any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago and as it will be a thousand years hence."
"Truly, it is in darkness that one finds the light, so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to us."
"You may call God love, you may call God goodness. But the best name for God is compassion."
"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough."
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