Wandering Joy: Meister Eckhart's Mystical Philosophy

Rating:
Summary: A phenomenological tour de force
Review: First published over 20 years ago, this book has lost none of its power. As a phenomenological treatment of the mystical philosophy of Eckhart, it is a classic. Schurmann takes the postion that Eckhart's Latin works are like signposts, while his German works invite one to a way--the way of detachment. According to Schurmann, Eckhart's mode of thought is not indicative, but imperative: herein lay the the difficulty Eckhart ran into with the Scholastic language of his accusers. The translated sermons are well done, and the use of Angelus Silesius in the footnotes are a joy. Schurmann does not make any facile comparisons with Zen or Heidegger as the last chapter indicates. One flaw in this edition: some paragraphs of the sermons, which should have large margins to set them off from the surrounding analysis, were not formatted that way, making it tricky sometimes to see where Eckhart ends and Schurmann begins. This is a minor problem which the publisher ought to correct in subsequent printings. This work is not an easy read, and New Agers may find themselves over their heads. So be it: this book is a the fruit of a trained, keen philosophical mind.