"The authors have translated Eckhart's original sermons and academic texts, both from Latin and German into English and from prose into poetry. They consider their work a "carrying over" of his insights for readers "for whom the style of his writings might not be easily accessible."--From the Publisher's Weekly review.

Gold Winner, Lyric Prose or Hybrid Works, Nautilus Book Awards “Within each of us is a divine treasure, and if we hope to discover it, we need to go deep into the heart of who we are.” —Meister Eckhart Meister Eckhart has been a huge figure in spirituality for more than eight hundred years—spiritual leaders such as Eckhart Tolle, Richard Rohr, and Matthew Fox have all credited Eckhart as being an important influence on their thought. This book of Meister Eckhart meditations is for people seeking the “wayless way.” It is not for those looking for a simple path. These fresh, stunning renderings of Eckhart’s writings in poetic form bring life to one of the great spiritual voices of any age. They reveal what it means to love God and find meaning in darkness. Not darkness in general, but your darkness, because it is the one thing you know something about—without facing your darkness, you’ll never know what it means to desire the light. Only when you are in the darkness, Meister says, do you have even the possibility of seeing the light. “What Coleman Barks has done for Rumi, Sweeney and Burrows have done for Eckhart—making his insight accessible and his wisdom sing.” —Carl McColman, author of The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism and Eternal Heart “Sweeney and Burrows, in poems that are as elegant as they are scholarly, revoice Meister Eckhart’s grounding and expansive instructions to ‘seek the light that shines / out of the darkness.’” —Pádraig Ó Tuama, poet and host of Poetry Unbound, from On Being Studios

Meister Eckhart was a 13th-century mystic, prophet, feminist, declared heretic, and an early advocate of creation-centered spirituality. This tradition affirms humanity’s potential to act divinely, and it embraces life--living and dying, growing old and sinning, groaning and celebrating--as the creative energy of God in motion. For Eckhart, to be spiritual is to be awake and alive; creation itself was for him the primary sacrament that begins from “the spring of life” or the heart. Eckhart’s pathway and that of the creation tradition is a simple way. It demands no gurus, no fanciful methods, no protracted exercises or retreats. This is why he called it a “wayless way” that is available to everyone, and why he points out that the person “who has found this way needs no other.”

Meister Eckhart (1260 -1328) was a priest, a mystic, and nearly a heretic (he died before the Church court's verdict). In the 20th century, the Roman Catholic Church rehabilitated him and the late Pope John Paul II spoke of his work with fondness. However, what makes him of particular interest is the fact that he has influenced a wide range of spiritual teachers and mystics both inside and outside the Christian tradition. Erich Fromm, Eckhart Tolle, Richard Rohr, D. T. Suzuki, and Rudolf Steiner have all credited Eckhart as being an important influence on their thought. In addition, his work has influenced the development of 20th century American Buddhism and the Theosophical tradition. Eckhart wrote at a time - much like our own - when society appeared to be coming apart at the seams. In the midst of all that chaos and uncertainty, he captured the many forms and stages of the love of God, the mystic path, and the journey of transformation - in language so startling that he, too, was often accused of heresy. Now, seven centuries later, this fresh, stunning rendering of his work translates the essence of one of Christianity's greatest poetic and spiritual voices. Here is a book that conveys the heart of Eckhart's teaching on what it means to love God and embark on an authentic spiritual journey - a journey that is characterized by mystery, paradox, and an embrace of the unknown.

Meister Eckhart was a German Dominican priest whose writings form a huge part of the foundation of the Western mystical tradition. Though condemned by the Church and excommunicated at the end of his life, his influence on people from a range of spiritual traditions has remained strong. Includes 10 German woodcut illustrations and ornaments.

"Meister Eckhart has been a huge influence on spirituality for more than 800 years. This book of meditations is for people seeking the 'wayless way.' It is not for those looking for a simple path. These fresh, stunning renderings of Eckhart's writings in poetic form bring life to one of the great spiritual voices of any age. They reveal what it means to love God and find meaning in darkness-not darkness in general, but your darkness. Only when you are in the darkness, Meister says, do you have even the possibility of seeing the light"--

In this remarkable work, Reiner Schürmann shows Meister Eckhart, the thirteenth-century Christian mystic, as the great teacher of the birth of God in the soul, which shatters the dualism between God and the world, the self and God. This is an exposition of Eckhar's mysticism--perhaps the best in English--and, because Eckhart is a profound philosopher for whom knowing precedes being, it is also an exemplary work of contemporary philosophy. Schürmann shows us that Eckhart is our contemporary. He describes the threefold movement of detachment, release, and "dehiscence" (splitting open), which leads to the experience of "living without a why," in which all things are in God and sheer joy. Going beyond that, he describes the transformational force of approaching the Godhead, the God beyond God: "A man who has experienced the same no longer has a place to establish himself. He has settled on the road, and for those who have learned how to listen, his existence becomes a call. This errant one dwells in joy. Through his wanderings the origin beckons."