A wonderful book that needs a different title

I've seen other reviews that decry this book as being too much of James Finley and not enough about Meister Eckhart, and if you came here for an audio version of Eckhart's work, then this isn't for you. It could do with a different title to reflect better what the book actually is. It's a bit like picking up what you thought was tea and finding that it's coffee: it takes you a while to find that as coffee goes, it's great, it's only if you thought it was tea that it tastes odd.

It really helps to know that James Finley is not just anyone: he was for many years a spiritual directee of Thomas Merton, as well as a psychotherapist, and author in his own right, and colleague/affiliate of Richard Rohr's Centre for Action and Contemplation. This audiobook is James Finley reflecting on Meister Eckhart's work (literally: he'll read a bit of Eckhart, then say "Let's take a moment to reflect on that.") Somewhere, he says that if you read Eckhart too quickly, it just becomes "words" and you miss what he is saying. This audiobook is a way of slowing down and reflecting. The reflections, in my view, are wonderful. They're not meant to be simple explanations of what Meister Eckhart is trying to say, they are "seeds of contemplation" that grow as you listen.

It matters that Finley's voice is rich, soothing and well-recorded here, so just the experience of listening to this is a pleasure, and a form of contemplation in itself, and that I think is the idea behind the book/talk. Finley describes Eckhart's sermons as "reverberations of language in the service of the unsayable," and the same is true of these reflections. I can see myself coming back to this many many times (as I have done already since I first listened).

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14 people found this helpful

demanding of total attention!

Where does Meister Eckhart's Living Wisdom rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This isn't an easy exploration, but its profundity repays careful and repeated listenings. It touches on one's own most significant insights and deepens them.

What does James Finley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

James Finlay is an understanding guide whose 'presence' through his voice is reassuring and has a lyrical quality that adds to the experience. One also feels in company rather than grappling with these challenging texts alone.

Any additional comments?

In the way that a great actor who really understands a difficult or archaic play can help you to do the same, I think James Finlay's own insights help to express those of Meister Eckhart.

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10 people found this helpful

Deep and Insightful Teaching

This has to be one of the most profound and outstanding books yet produced by Sounds True and Audible. Dr James Finley is one of greatest spiritual teachers of our time. He is also a very talented communicator and broadcaster. More please. Thank you so much.

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8 people found this helpful

Contemplative and inspiring

James has the ability and gift to unravel, reveal and subsequently inspire; it feels like a path has been cleared of bramble and it is now time, for me, to don my hiking boots and cross that ravine (threshold)

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3 people found this helpful

Life changing

Great narration by the author,. I got this book on a whim not knowing what to expect. I'm so glad I did because this book was the book I needed, I just didn't know it. It helped me heal the last shreds of religious wounding.

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2 people found this helpful

Take a breath...and listen.

I love Jim Finlays voice, his exquisite felt sensibility, his depth as he illuminates this marvellous mystic. Beautiful.

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2 people found this helpful

Divine Poverty: A released Ex-istence

The whole universe is a world out of God's eternal "inner work", means in Greek "energon"; it is not the act that God performs, it's a MUST to give itself away. The reality of a spatiotemporally closed codifications of energy-packets is an infinite arising out of God's poverty and infinite passing away into God's poverty! James Finley leads the listeners to the core of Master Eckhart's faith that understanding and infinite desire to ex-ist are already released in God's eternal Poverty, which 'i' prefer to call "Purity's eternal Love".

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Wonderful, Rich, Generous

I loved this audiobook especially because Jim Finley narrates it himself and I find his voice so inviting and easy to listen to. I feel as though I’ve learnt so much during the course of listening but I couldn’t even begin to tell you what! Now I’m starting again. One of the standout phrases for me was/is: God does not exist, God is existence. I’ve ‘known’ this conceptually for a long time but Jim’s reading and teaching helped me to get it in my body for the first time. I’m so moved and so grateful. Needless to say, I highly recommend this audiobook!

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1 person found this helpful

Not knowing what I do understand sometimes

Very easy to identify with as far as that is achievable through James's interpretation. From start to end very very enjoyable.

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Brilliant intro to Meister Eckhart

At first I found this book hard, but I realised I just had to stop trying to understand and just listen. it all became clear. Incredible..

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1 person found this helpful