Meister Eckhart on Temporality and the “Now”: A Phenomenological-Hermeneutical Interpretation

The paradoxical nature of mystical theories, makes them difficult to explain. Meister Eckhart’s thinking is no exception. Various attempts have been made to employ phenomenological-hermeneutical tools to make sense of it.1 Reliance on the direct data of consciousness, pre-understanding, empathy, or metaphor helps explain the mystical phenomenon in ways in which non-hermeneutical-phenomenological accounts cannot. My aim in this essay is twofold. First, to suggest a variant of the phenomenological-hermenutical method which can render Meister Eckhart’s (and others’) mystical teachings more understandable. Second, to explain Meister Eckhart’s teachings on the “now” — a theme which in many phenomenological-hermeneutical interpretations of his theory has hitherto been neglected. In Part 1 I present the characteristics of this method. In Part 2 I exemplify its use by applying it to Meister Eckhart’s teachings on the “now”.