Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times | Matthew Fox

Though he lived in the thirteenth century, Meister Eckhart’s teachings were in many ways modern. His thinking was deeply ecumenical, encompassing Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism as well as shamanism and indigenous spirituality. He advocated for social, economic, and gender justice; taught about what we call ecology; and championed artistic creativity. All these elements have inspired Matthew Fox and influenced his Creation Spirituality. While Fox recognizes that Eckhart has influenced everyone from Teresa of Avila to Eckhart Tolle, Karl Marx to Carl Jung, and Annie Dillard to Anne Morrow Lindbergh, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to those activists addressing contemporary crises. Toward that end, and as he did in his Hildegard of Bingen, Fox creates metaphorical meetings between Eckhart and the Dalai Lama, Thomas Merton, Joanna Macy, Black Elk, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, and others. The result is wonderfully reader-friendly, profoundly substantive, and deeply inspiring.