Do we have to SEEK enlightenment, or is seeking enlightenment counterproductive? Should enlightenment be a goal, or should we renounce the search? Different traditions have a different emphasis, and Eckhart reconciles these seeming contradictions in this excellent brief teaching on Enlightenment.
Jan 222010
A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. Although the book has been around for a while, I haven’t yet posted a review on it. As I’ve stated before, Eckhart is, in my opinion, the clearest and best spiritual teacher around today. His first book, The Power of Now was wonderful, and if anything, A New Earth is even better. For one thing, this book deviates from the question and answer format of the first book. I personally prefer the new format.
In this book, Eckhart takes his previous teachings; the power of now, the pain body, developing awareness – and fits them into a grand theme. This theme is no less than the spiritual transformation of the planet, and our role in it. From the beginning chapter, Eckhart emphasizes the importance of this particular time in human history as a period of transformation in human consciousness – one that each of us can be a part of.
Along the way, he also goes even deeper into each of his teachings, and gives more detail on fascinating concepts such as the pain body, which is an energetic system, almost a “being” that we create with our negative emotions that then takes over our consciousness to produce and feed from negative energy. Eckhart also gives more attention to practical techniques for developing a focus on the present moment and escaping from our self-created roles and images.
The really great thing about this book is the material that is available for free to go along with it. Oprah selected this book as a book club selection. Not only that, but she felt so strongly about it that she hosted a series of web seminars with Tolle to discuss and work through each chapter. Not only that, but there are additional workbooks and exercises and materials available on her site. So all you have to do is get the book, and you can take a complete “course” in the material for free.
I’m not sure how much longer the material will remain on her website, so you if you haven’t gotten Eckhart’s book yet, now would be a good time. Here is the link to Oprah’s website area for the book. Sign up for the book club (free) to get access to all the workbook materials.
Funny. I’ve just noticed that while I refer to most authors by their last name (Dyer, Wilber, etc), I always refer to Eckhart Tolle as “Eckhart”. I’m not completely sure why, but I certainly have a strong affinity for his teaching. Also, come to think of it, his first name reminds me of Meister Eckhart, the great German mystic, so perhaps that’s why I gravitate to the name.
Pick up the book and enjoy a new spiritual classic.
Oct 252009
I remember first encountering Eckhart Tolle. I was on a long commute to work and I slipped one of his audio CD’s into my car player. I had picked him up at random because his CD’s happened to be next to Wayne Dyer’s and it looked interesting. I turned on the player and waited. And waited. I began to be tense and worried. Was the CD defective? Then, finally, Eckhart’s calm, peaceful voice started talking.
It took a while to get used to his speaking style. Eckhart is NEVER in a hurry. But soon I found myself looking forward to it. His very voice, above and beyond what he was teaching, seemed to bring light and peace into me. Echkart’s career as a spiritual teacher began after a shattering mystical experience in his life. He spent a year on a park bench assimilating the state of bliss and happiness he has stumbled into. And after years in “obscurity”, he burst onto the spiritual scene almost overnight. His recent series of webcasts with Oprah Winfrey put him decidedly into the limelight.
Eckhart Tolle has, in my experience, the clearest, most approachable teaching on spirituality of anyone alive (and quite a few who are dead, for that matter). Stripping away the jargon and elaborate processes that burden some systems, he gives it to you simply, directly, and with beautiful, minimalistic elegance. If you are just beginning to become interested in spiritual things, or you are desperately looking for happiness and finding yourself empty, Eckhart Tolle is a wonderful place to start.
Eckhart’s first book was The Power of Now, and it introduced many of the themes found in all his work.
Themes
The need to live profoundly in the present moment is a primary theme in Tolle’s work. Eckhart urges us not to focus on the past or the future, except as needed to function in the everyday world. Both of these are attempts by the ego to escape the power of the present moment. The secret to happiness is to abandon resistance to the present moment. This does not mean passivity, but an acceptance of reality as our starting place.
A mind may be a terrible thing to waste, but according to Eckhart, the mind is also a terrible slave master. Most of us live our lives trapped in a stream of repetitive thinking. Our constructed world of thought draws us away from the reality of existence in the present moment, and leads to our unhappiness.
A unique concept that I’ve only run across in Eckhart’s teachings is the concept of the “pain body”. This is apparently a collection of emotional energy that many of us accumulate that virtually “feeds” on emotional energy. The pain body can act almost as a separate entity, taking over the mind of its host, controlling their thinking so as to produce more emotional energy to feed on in the form of pain, anger or similar negative emotions.
Recent Controversy
I have noticed that since Eckhart’s series of webcasts with Oprah, there has begun to be some significant opposition to his teaching. By the way, the webcasts with Oprah are still available for free to download or listen to live here on Oprah’s book club site. For many people, this will be a good introduction, since Oprah keeps the pace moving a bit more briskly. Personally I prefer the calm serenity of Eckhart speaking alone. In any case, since these webcasts, the opposition to Eckhart has increased. This is often in the form of Christians who insist that Eckhart is a false teacher because he doesn’t specifically endorse a particular set of Christian dogmas or acknowledge Jesus as the only path to salvation.
The fact is that if you are familiar with the teachings of the great Christian mystics, you will realize that their teachings overlap Eckhart Tolle’s at many points. Still, if you are a very dogmatic Christian, you will probably find his inclusiveness a bit uncomfortable. I would urge you, nevertheless, to give him a try.
Listen to a bit of Eckhart in the video below:
Feb 102009
My wife completely surprised me by becoming intensely interested in Oprah Winfrey’s recent webcasts in collaboration with Eckhart Tolle. What was puzzling is that up till now, she has not liked Oprah at all and has shown no interest in Eckhart! For some reason the combination “clicked” for her.
For those who aren’t aware of him, Eckhart Tolle is, in my opinion, the most direct, no-nonsense teacher on the subject of enlightenment walking around today. His teaching is generic and non-religious ,while using illustrations from several religions. His concepts are profound but simple. Eckhart is a true mystic as opposed to an esotericist (more on that later perhaps).
I enjoy both his books and his audio and visual seminars. I remember that it took me a few minutes to get used to his lecture style. Eckhart is not afraid of silence, and at several points I thought there was something wrong with my CD or that the lecture was over. My impatience for the next piece of information was very revealing.
I quickly came to enjoy the style he uses, and luxuriated in the intervals of silence. For the type “A”‘s out there who need a brisker pace, the Oprah webcasts mentioned above might be a good intro.
His first book is The Power of Now, and the follow up (the subject of the Oprah webcase) is A New Earth. If you haven’t been exposed to his work, I highly recommend it. Amazon has a nice page with all his work featured here. I’d be interested to know if anyone else is a Tolle fan (or critic) and what your thoughts are.
