Mysticism And Love - John Tauler, Heinrich Suso, Meister Eckhart (The Mystical Triumvirate) HD

What is the meaning of love in mystical speculation? Mystical speculation means, from a philosophical point of view, not a system of belief but rather a kind of intellectual perspective: that of the physical world mirroring the spiritual world, being an image of it. Therefore, love in mystical preachings is not seen as a bond between human partners, but as a bond between the soul and God, as its origin. If there are descriptions or images of love between partners in mystical literature, it is usually a metaphor of the "loving" union between the human soul and God. In greek philosophy, there is a threefold meaning of love: eros, erotic love, philia, friendship, and agape, devotion, love to God. Christian mysticism oftenly turns to these ancient meanings of love, especially of eros and agape, pointing out that eros could mirror agape, or the love between partners would be an image of the love of the soul to God. So, there is a christian tradition of speaking about devotion in the terms of loving relations, or with allegorical figures such as the mystical bride (the human soul) and the mystical bridegroom (Jesus Christ, God). There are three eminent german mystics, called "the mystical triumvirate" by scientist Gerhard Wehr : John Tauler, Heinrich Suso, Eckhart (called Meister Eckhart). They all refer to "love" in their mystical speculation, but Tauler and Suso mean something different from Eckhart, and take on a different imaginery. Tauler and Suso use the image of "holy matrimony", which goes back to the cult of "hieros gamos" in ancient Greece and Babylon. They replace the ancient image of the priest and the priestess in "holy union" by the image of the loving soul and God or Jesus Christ. Eckhart omits these traditional metaphors: in his view, the soul and God are already at one. Love is something preliminary, for the process of forming a bond between "lovers" (the soul and its divine origin) has already been successfully installed even before man was born.