The Now-moment in which God made the first man and the Now-moment in which the last man will disappear, and the Now-moment in which I am speaking are all one in God, in whom there is only one Now. Look! The person who lives in the light of God is conscious neither of time past nor of time to come but only of one eternity….Therefore he gets nothing new out of future events, nor from chance, for he lives in the Now-moment that is, unfailingly, “in verdure newly clad.†— MEISTER ECKHART 1260-1328
Now we know why Tolle changed his first name from Ulrich to Eckhart. He says he greatly admired and identified with the work of Meister Eckhart, the famous Christian mystic (tried by the Inquisition as a heretic). Meister Eckhart is a voice from the past speaking to us today, or now. And Tolle rocks.
Wow, the now. … Â awesome and ancient.
Found the Meister Eckhart quote above in an old book written during the World War II London Blitz by the not-yet-famous still-quite-young Anglican-priest-turned Zen writer, Alan Watts. (Link below). Tolle says he read Alan Watts and Joel Goldsmith, two sort of Zen Christians. The harmony between Zen, the Gospel of Thomas, their work and Tolle’s is cool.
BEHOLD THE SPIRIT, by Alan Watts
Click on “See Inside This Book” and you can see the other quotes Watts scribed in the front cover along with the Meister Eckhart quote about the Now-moment.
In college we studied Medieval Philosophy where Meister Eckhart got much attention. We pondered over his Now-moment and had no idea how Zen it was. And what’s his most famous quote of all…oh yeah, here it is: “the eye that I see God with, is the same eye that God sees me with..” or something like that. Yeah, he’s dangerous dontcha know, might wake up some people. The “authorities” had to drag him before the Pope, put him on trial and brand him heretic. I think Eckhart died mysteriously before the verdict was reached. They never even found his body. But his disciples carried on his teachings, though very quietly and carefully. Here’s to them and…
Here’s to the NOW,
+Katia
most famous quote of all…oh yeah, here it is: “the eye that I see God with, is the same eye that God sees me with.
That suddenly clicked with me. That makes you understand how important it is to ‘go within’.
Pam
I was made aware quite early in life of Meister Eckhart, via Evelyn Underhill’s “Mysticism” book. Quotations I’ve read from his writings always resonated with me. Now I guess it’s time for me to go digging for more about Eckhart via the Internet. Thanks for the post, Katia! Your blog always leaves me wanting more — but quality beats quantity in this field, every time.