Dangerous Mystic

Meister Eckhart's Path to the God Within

By: Joel F. Harrington

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Life and times of the 14th-century German spiritual leader Meister Eckhart, whose theory of a personal path to the divine-inspired thinkers from Jean Paul Sartre to Thomas Merton, and most recently, Eckhart Tolle.

Meister Eckhart was a medieval Christian mystic whose wisdom powerfully appeals to seekers seven centuries after his death. In the modern era, Eckhart's writings have struck a chord with thinkers as diverse as Heidegger, Merton, Sartre, John Paul II, and the current Dalai Lama. He is the inspiration for the best-selling New Age author Eckhart Tolle's pen name, and his 14th-century quotes have become an online sensation. Today, a variety of Christians, as well as many Zen Buddhists, Sufi Muslims, Jewish Cabbalists, and various spiritual seekers, all claim Eckhart as their own. Meister Eckhart preached a personal, internal path to God at a time when the Church could not have been more hierarchical and ritualistic. Then and now, Eckhart’s revolutionary method of direct access to ultimate reality offers a profoundly subjective approach that is at once intuitive and pragmatic, philosophical yet non-rational, and, above all, universally accessible. This "dangerous mystic’s" teachings challenge the very nature of religion, yet the man himself never directly challenged the Church.

Eckhart was one of the most learned theologians of his day, but he was also a man of the world who had worked as an administrator for his religious order and taught for years at the University of Paris. His personal path from conventional friar to professor to lay preacher culminated in a spiritual philosophy that combined the teachings of an array of pagan and Christian writers, as well as Muslim and Jewish philosophers. His revolutionary decision to take his approach to the common people garnered him many enthusiastic followers as well as powerful enemies. After Eckhart’s death and papal censure, many religious women and clerical supporters, known as the Friends of God, kept his legacy alive through the centuries, albeit underground until the master’s dramatic rediscovery by modern Protestants and Catholics.

Dangerous Mystic grounds Meister Eckhart in a world that is simultaneously familiar and alien. In the midst of this medieval society, a few decades before the Black Death, Eckhart boldly preached to captivated crowds a timeless method, a "wayless way", of directly experiencing the divine.

©2018 Joel F. Harrington (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Masterfully executed... rich... Harrington...takes on the so-called ‘mystic’s mystic’ with a historian’s capacity to immerse the reader in the 14th century and in Eckhart’s spiritual framework. He does so with a writerly elegance and elucidation that situates the medieval thinker squarely in this modern-day moment.” (Chicago Tribune)

“[A] wonderfully smart, readable biography of a 14th-century Dominican priest and mystic named Meister Eckhart.... [Harrington] is a scholar/storyteller who can tell a true tale that feels like a novel, without cheap tricks.... At times, Dangerous Mystic has a Name of the Rose excitement to it, a man against the grain during a time of ferment, a mind that sought to rise above it. Dangerous Mystic is likely to make Eckhart even more of a hero to more people. Good.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

“Impressive.... This illuminating book successfully explains Meister Eckhart’s philosophy and large influence on Western Christian mysticism.” (Publishers Weekly)

awesome book

Very well balance between philosophy, historial facts, theology and análisis, a real good and complete research. A must for any seekers of any tradition. The similarities between budism, neoplatonism, hinduism mystics and sufy mystics with Míster Eckhart are incredible.

Understanding the man behind the words

Absolutely wonderful audio book, well written and read. A must listen to any fan of Meister Eckhart.

Excellent book

Excellent insight into Meister Eckhart and how he developed his understandings. Must read for those wanting to under mysticism.

Quality production

Audio books can go either way in terms of the voice, the pauses, the inflections, cadence, etc... That's why I avoid fiction, because they never read the way I would and it ruins the story for me. This one reminds me of a good college lecture in an easy to listen to voice. I do wish they came with closed captioning so I could see unfamiliar words. Very informative and pleasurable book.

A fuller picture of the Meister

Meister Eckhart is often quoted (in my readings on Perennialism, etc) but I wanted a more direct understanding of his life and his thinking. This book was enormously helpful in that regard. It’s a well researched and very well written account of this important and influential figure. Time spent listening to this information was well worth it for me - and enjoyable to boot.

Get historical account

Really gives you a feel for the historical, social and political times in which Meister Eckhart lived and this life.

Descriptive history, truth profound and timeless.

Great descriptions of times past, contrasting forces manipulating events, different national and local boundaries. with the profound and timeless insights of a truth seeker who must have directly experienced goodness which enabled him to share wisdom and love simply.

Meister Ekhart foisting his sexuality....

The picture painted in this book shows the young Echart abusing his power with regard to sexuality with those abuses then catching up to the mature Eckhart. What redeems Eckhart is his egalitarianism and his willingness to cut out the distractions, especially any focus on or really any mention of Christ.

Everything that religion offers East and West could be summed up in Neuruda's 2-3 sentence Love Sonnet XVII. Everything that Western religion offers summed in the 240 or so words of Corinthians 13. If you consider Islam Western then add the Suffi love verses.

Part of why I went through this book was to see if Eckhart belonged to the non dual line of perspective because devotional western tradtion tends to pitch glorification of personhood or ego instead of seeing that love dissolves the experience of ego. Yes, the later Eckhart is defiantly non-dual.

Good listen

Interesting look at the life of a Catholic theologian and mystic that is still influential today as well as medieval church life and society

A Hard Slog

I found this to be a useful book, but very difficult to listen to for longer than half hour periods in order to think about the content. I think I need to buy a print version to follow along, or Kindle edition to make notes.