"Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 - 1327/8) is one of the great Christian mystics. He was born near Erfurt in Thuringia and in his distinguished career became a Parisian Professor of Theology and took a leading pastoral and organisational role in the Dominican Order.
In the language of the Christian tradition Eckhart expounds the eternal mysteries in a style that is fresh and original in the best sense. Through the vividness of his use of imagery (alluding to the mysteries of the spark of the soul, the Abyss, the desert, the birth of the Word in the heart, etc.) Eckhart paradoxically directs us to that which lies beyond image.
The depth and universality of Eckhart's teaching has drawn seekers of truth Christian and non-Christian alike. His radical and penetrating insight makes him a natural point of reference for a genuinely ecumenical understanding."
-- taken from the Eckhart Society
http://www.eckhartsociety.org/meister.htm
"Johannes Eckhart O.P. (1260–1328), also known as Eckhart von Hochheim and widely referred to as Meister Eckhart, was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Erfurt, in Thuringia. Meister is German for "Master", referring to the academic title he obtained in Paris. Coming into prominence during the decadent Avignon Papacy and a time of increased tensions between the Franciscans and Eckhart's Dominican Order of Preacher Friars, he was brought up on charges later in life before the local Franciscan led Inquisition. Tried as a heretic by Pope John XXII, his "Defence" is famous for his reasoned arguments to all challenged articles of his writing and his refutation of heretical intent. He purportedly died before his verdict was received, although no record of his death or burial site has ever been discovered. Well known for his work with pious lay groups such as the Friends of God and succeeded by his more circumspect disciples of John Tauler and Henry Suso, he has gained a large following in recent years. In his study of medieval humanism, Richard Southern includes him along with Bede and Saint Anselm as emblematic of the intellectual spirit of the late Middle Ages."
-- Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meister_Eckhart
"Eckhart, Meister (Johannes Eckhardt), c.1260-c.1328, German mystical theologian, b. Hochheim, near Gotha. He studied and taught in the chief Dominican schools, notably at Paris, Strasbourg, and Cologne, and held a series of offices in his order. Eckhart communicated in various ways his burning sense of God's nearness to humanity. Exhorting the Dominicans, he wrote scholarly tracts, addressed the Book of Divine Comfort to the queen of Hungary, and preached everywhere to the humble and ignorant, urging them all to seek the divine spark. His evangelical activities among the undisciplined were deemed suspect, and his election (1309) to be provincial of the German province was not confirmed. Toward the end of his life he was wrongly accused of connection with the Beghards and charged with heresy. He was upheld by his order, but the charge was pressed. Eckhart appealed to Rome. He died between 1327, when his appeal was denied, and 1329, when John XXII issued a bull condemning 17 of Eckhart's propositions as heretical. His disciples tried vainly to have this decree set aside. From Eckhart's influence there sprang up a popular mystical movement in 14th-century Germany, which included among its leaders Tauler , Suso , and various Dominicans. These were all intellectual as well as practical preachers and did not show the tendency to separate holiness and learning that characterized the mystics of the popular school of Gerard Groote . Eckhart was perhaps the first writer of speculative prose in German, and from that time German, not Latin, was the language of popular tracts. "
-- High Beam Encyclopedia
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Eckhart.html
"It is a sad but also telling fact that this greatest of all Western mystics, the German Meister Eck(e)hart of Hochheim, was for almost seven centuries condemned by the Roman Catholic Church for expressing heretical views concerning theology. Only in this century has the bull in agro domini, in which Eckhart was severely attacked on a number of mystical issues expressed in his sermons, been officially withdrawn. This blunder is to be considered worse than the fault of condemning Galileo, because (to phrase it boldly) if there is to be a church in the next century, it will be the result of the writings of Eckhart and it will be Eckhart who will provide us with its theology. In the course of history it will be Eckhart, who (among others of course) will save Christianity. For in him we find religion expressed in its purest form, a form which goes back in its spiritual experience to the mystical roots of early Christianity. The church in his dayseckhart had failed to see this. They should have read him more carefully and they should have compared him more with the writings of the early church Fathers, especially with the Alexandrian Fathers. But on closer look it seems they have condemned Eckhart because his mysticism was a threat to the church. In him religion became too personal. They felt that Eckhart's mysticism could alienate the believer from the hierarchy of the church, because salvation was not dependent anymore on church membership and church rituals, but on the will of the believer to get into a close relationship with the god inside."
-- Introduction to "Meister Eckhart"
http://home.wxs.nl/~brouw724/Eckhart1.
Other sources:
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/eckhart.htm
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/meister-eckhart/
Mythos And Logos
http://www.mythosandlogos.com/eckhart.html
