Total Incomprehensible Unequivocal *FOR PROFIT* Bullshit

[chlamor]

Eckhart Tolle is said to have attained enlightenment at the age of 29 after suffering long periods of depression, dissolving his old identity and radically changing the course of his life. Tolle's non-fiction bestseller, The Power of Now, emphasizes the importance of being aware of the present moment as a way of not being lost in thought. In Tolle's view, the present is the gateway to a heightened sense of peace and aliveness. "Being in the now" also brings about an awareness that is beyond the mind. This awareness helps in transcending "the pain-body" that is created by the identification of the mind and ego with the body. His later book, A New Earth further explores the structure of the human ego and how this acts to distract people from their present experience of the world. His other works include Stillness Speaks, a book that modernises the ancient sutra form.

The aim of Tolle's teachings is the transformation of individual and collective human consciousness--a global spiritualawakening.

Core teachings include:

1. You are not your thoughts. You are the awareness behind the thoughts. Thoughts are often negative and painful, yearning for or fearing something in the future, complaining about something in the present or fearing a matter from the past. However, the thoughts are not you; they are a construct of the ego. Awareness of your thoughts without being caught up in them is the first step to freedom.
2. Only the present moment exists. That is where life is (indeed it is the only place life can truly be found). Becoming aware of the 'now' has the added benefit that it will draw your attention away from your (negative) thoughts. Use mindfulness techniques to fully appreciate your surroundings and everything you are experiencing. Look and listen intently. Give full attention to the smallest details.
3. Accept the present moment. It is resistance to the present moment that creates most of the difficulties in your life. However, acceptance does not mean that you cannot take action to rectify the situation you are in. What is important is to drop resistance so that you let the moment be, and that any action arises from deeper awareness rather than from resistance. The vast majority of pain in a person's life comes from resistance to what is.
4. Observe the pain-body. Years of conditioned thought patterns, individually and collectively, have resulted in habitual emotional reactions with an apparent personality of their own. During 'pain-body attacks' we become completely identified with this 'pain identity' and respond from its agenda--which is to create more pain for ourselves and others. Observing the pain-body is awareness itself arising--as it allows humans to separate from this unconscious identification with pain.

[edit] Influences

Eckhart Tolle is not aligned with any particular religion or tradition. Influences which are alluded to in The Power of Now are the writings of Meister Eckhart, Advaita Vedanta, A Course in Miracles, mystical Islam, Sufism, and Rumi's poetry and Zen Buddhism's Lin-chi (Rinzai) school. The book also interprets sayings of Jesus from the Bible.

Some disciples of the Australian teacher Barry Long see Long's influence in Tolle's writings as well. Tolle attended Long's seminars in London in the mid-1980s, some years after his own self-described awakening. Tolle himself mentions briefly in an interview with John Parker [2] that by listening to and having some conversation with Long, he understood things more deeply. In the same interview Tolle also mentions the influence of the Western-born Buddhist monk, Ajahn Sumedho, and also speaks passionately of his appreciation of the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti and Ramana Maharshi. He sees his own teaching as enabling the respective messages of the two latter to merge as one.

[edit] Reception

The first of his four books was The Power of Now, a #1 New York Times best-seller that has been translated into over 30 languages. He has also recorded numerous audio interviews and a video. American talk-show host Oprah Winfrey considers The Power of Now to be one of her favorite books.[3]

[edit] Quotations

* “All forms are Impermanent.”

* “All structures are unstable.”

* “Compassion is the awareness of a deep bond between yourself and all creatures.”

* "To meet everything and everyone through stillness instead of mental noise is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe."

* “True salvation is freedom from negativity, and above all from past and future as a psychological need.”

* “Is suffering really necessary? Yes and no. If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you, no humility, no compassion.”

* “Enlightenment means choosing to dwell in the state of presence rather than in time. It means saying yes to what is.”

* “As you go about your life, don’t give 100 percent of your attention to the external world and to your mind. Keep some within. Feel the inner body even when engaged in everyday activities, especially when you are relating with nature. Feel the stillness deep inside it. Keep the portal open.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle

10 minute YouTube Video of Eckhart here:

Eckhart Tolle, the enormous power of YES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg9lY7_hCGA

THE POWER OF NOW
A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment





Attending a Silent Local Group

All are welcome to attend a Silent Local Group.
The groups listed follow Eckhart's recommended Silent Group format. The group may begin with ten to twenty minutes of silence (silent meditation), 1 to 1 1/2 hours of an Eckhart Tolle audio or visual recording, ending with ten to twenty minutes of silence (silent meditation). It's best not to engage in discussion, as it tends to stimulate the mind and ego.

http://www.eckharttolle.com/groups

Testimonials


Very seldom do I say, "this is a book everyone should read", but Eckhart Tolle's book (The Power of Now) truly deserves such a recommendation. It took me three weeks to read and inwardly assimilate this book, but I finished with a much clearer feeling of the self.

- Peter Russell, Author of From Science to God and Waking up in Time

Stillness Speaks is a gentle journey, one that could take you to a spectacular and very special place of new awareness and deeper understanding.

Stillness Speaks has enriched my life.

- Neale Donald Walsh, Author of Conversations with God


One of the best books to come along in years. Every sentence rings with truth and power - the power to bring you into the gap, the space between our thoughts, where we find, as Eckhart so beautifully puts it, deep serenity, stillness, and a sacred Presence. (The Power of Now) is a book to cherish.

- Deepak Chopra, Author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success


"I keep this book at my bedside. I think it's essential spiritual teaching. It's one of the most valuable books I've ever read."

- Oprah, from oprah.com

In The Power of Now, author-sage Eckhart Tolle uses words to guide readers beyond words. Pointing to the portals of the eternal present, this practical mystic's modern gospel offers transcendent truths that set us free.

-Dan Millman, Author of Everyday Enlightenment and The Laws of Spirit


The Power of Now is the best book I have ever read, period. For several years, I said there wasn't even a close second, but then Eckhart wrote Stillness Speaks. The books have an impact beyond any other books that is difficult to put into words, but I can put it this way: They have brought far more grace, ease, and lightness into every moment of my life.

- Marc Allen, Author of Visionary Business and The Millionaire Course


I heartily recommend this profoundly inspiring book (The Power of Now) to all seekers today.

- Lama Surya Das, Author of Awakening the Buddha Within






Eckhart Tolle is widely recognized as one of the most original and inspiring spiritual teachers of our time. He travels and teaches throughout the world.

Eckhart is not aligned with any particular religion or tradition, but excludes none. His profound yet simple and practical teachings have helped thousands of people find inner peace, healing and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of his teachings lies the transformation of individual and collective human consciousness - a global spiritual awakening.

Eckhart was born in Germany and educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge . At the age of twenty-nine, a profound spiritual transformation virtually dissolved his old identity and radically changed the course of his life. The next few years were devoted to understanding, integrating and deepening that transformation, which marked the beginning of an intense inward journey. Later, he began to work with individuals and groups as a counselor and spiritual teacher.

Eckhart Tolle is the author of The Power of Now, a #1 New York Times Bestseller, which has been translated into 32 languages and become one of the most influential spiritual books of our time.

In his most recent book, A New Earth, he shows how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world.

http://www.eckharttolle.com/eckhart_biography

Dear Eckhart

.

We invite you to submit a question in writing to info@eckharttolle.com (subject heading “Dear Eckhart”) and Eckhart may answer your question through our newsletter and Dear Eckhart web page. Please note that only one to three of the total number of questions received each quarter will be answered and please limit questions to 50 words or less.

Question:

Is there any relationship between ailments such as depression and anxiety and the way we conceive our life? In which way are mind, body and emotions connected?
..
Answer:
Thinking, for most people, is involuntary and compulsive, even addictive. Many people are tortured on a daily basis by their minds, by the voice in their head that never stops speaking. Most negative emotional states are caused by dysfunctional thinking, and emotions are the reaction of your body to your thoughts. For example, grievances, resentment, guilt etc. disappear when the voice in your head stops telling its old stories. Fear disappears when your mind no longer creates future scenarios – to which your body reacts as if they were a present reality

http://www.eckharttolle.com/dear_eckhart

[tKl]

I knew someone in an institution... a charity house for homeless people discharged from the hospital with no place to rest and heal. There was a lot of pain in that place. Tolle helped someone there deal with an inescapable situation.

That's where I know him from. I gave the CD a listen once when the resident tried to "turn me on" to it but I didn't get it.

If his teaching helped someone with physical pain management and nearly intolerable emotional suffering I'm in no place to discount him entirely.

[JackRiddler]

You don't have to agree with the philosophy to acknowledge that it is comprehensible (simple, really) and not bullshit. Perhaps not as important as it makes itself out to be, but not bullshit.

Your headline without any commentary other than a bunch of cut and paste about Tolle doesn't make it so.

[chlamor]

You don't have to agree with the philosophy to acknowledge that it is comprehensible (simple, really) and not bullshit. Perhaps not as important as it makes itself out to be, but not bullshit.

Your headline without any commentary other than a bunch of cut and paste about Tolle doesn't make it so.

But the Tolle itself, with or without the 'e' does.

Complete insidious BS.

[Hugh Manatee Wins]

I think what chlamor is pointing at is the tactic of quieting the population with personal palliatives.

What is important is to drop resistance...

After the social rebellion against fascism of the 1960s there was lots of encouragement to "just mellow out" by CIA-Stanford Research Institute New Age types.

Predictably, we are getting the same Deepak Chopra-Oprah-esque messages again during Vietnam II and the Global Warming era of "oops-we broke the planet but just stand down, kids."

While some people would hurt themselves or others without some calming techniques, the rest of us should become aware enough to sustain functional and applied outrage.

Social tension is the wound rubberband of action.
No tension, no action.

[OP ED]

we used to just call it buddhism.

[tKl]

Have you ever just sort of risen above your inner psychological processes to just observe?

After maybe a couple seconds a really peaceful quiet dawns. It is very relaxing.

I find this is easy for me while in between sleep and waking in the morning, after my dreams cease and awareness of the day (and my thoughts) are dawning. ("the yoga of rising")

I find prayer is much more effective from this zone or mode of relaxation and inner peace - more effective in the short term of dealing with bothersome emotions and who knows how effective in the long term.

This type of psychological state has been shown to be healthy and I suppose a philosophical minded person could elaborate on these types of states in all sorts of ways.

Hugh-

It is all too easy to misuse the language of this kind of stuff. Consider that drunk drivers are less likely to die in a car crash they cause, because their drunk bodies offer less resistance to the impinging force.

It is the kind of unhealthy and even maladaptive "resistance" common enough in the martial arts.

Perhaps some of our warriors could benefit from some of this "bullshit."

[OP ED]

Have you ever just sort of risen above your inner psychological processes to just observe?

After maybe a couple seconds a really peaceful quiet dawns. It is very relaxing.

yep.

*lights. inhales deeply*

though I prefer pranayama.

[compared2what?]

I knew someone in an institution... a charity house for homeless people discharged from the hospital with no place to rest and heal. There was a lot of pain in that place. Tolle helped someone there deal with an inescapable situation.

That's where I know him from. I gave the CD a listen once when the resident tried to "turn me on" to it but I didn't get it.

If his teaching helped someone with physical pain management and nearly intolerable emotional suffering I'm in no place to discount him entirely.

Dude, there's helping, and then there's helping. There are a huge number of people who are in some way differently brained, or otherwise have trouble living independently, who do not have the resources to help themselves, and who need a pretty substantial assist. And that is just not available from any place in the help-giving business, unless the lost soul is very, very rich, or very, very lucky. The kind of program Tolle is offering would help someone who had lost his way, transiently. And that would be help if all that person needed was a quick booster shot of inner resources from which he or she could then draw.

But most people need more. Tolle's set-up is designed in a way that not only doesn't screen for that kind of neediness, it's like a recipe for dependency. Which might or might not then become exploitation, although I have to say, the website looks like a spiderweb to me. That's obviously a problem if, say, the thing on which you are dependent is costly and you don't have any income. Less obviously, and very insidiously, it's also a problem even if you can afford it indefinitely. It would be very emotionally demanding to spend a lot of time in a Tollean power-of-nowness environment. Fragile people who did would be at high-risk to break. And those are the people the advertised as open-to-all silent group meetings are the most likely to attract.

If there's one around here, I'll go check it out if I can. But I can already tell you what is overwhelmingly likely to happen if I do. Someone will engage me in conversation, and ask me what my troubles are. Whatever I answer, they will then either say that they too had that problem but are now entirely cured, or offer to put me in touch with another serious Tolle student/recruiter/ringer. And within a week I would have some new friends and several hundred dollars worth of merchandise, if I went that far.

If you want me to test the accuracy of that, I'll try to get around to it. But I've never made that kind of open-house contact with any other result, and it's territory I spent some moderately serious time exploring.

Now is only powerful until somebody gets hurt.

And whether that's the plan or not, I think quite a few people who take up with Tolle probably do, in a mild way, at least. Assign the responsibility for that where you like, honey, and I won't argue with you. But mostly because my opinion on it is so examined, it wouldn't be any fun for me to examine it any further. I'd just be harshing the mellow of your examination with the monotony of my "Uh-huh-Right" attitude.

[lunarose]

speaking personally, i was cured of decades long, chronic, extreme depression (can't take care of yourself, fingernails stop growing, that type of depression) through using these type of techniques. after trying the routes of medicine, therapy, lifestyle changes, etc. which all helped. but this type of looking inside, letting go of thought is what cured me of it.

my teacher wasn't tolle, but you could end up getting seriously involved and dropping a bucket of money on her organization if you wanted. though this was not encouraged, that i saw. the trouble is, there are risks in every human pursuit. however, if you pursue nothing, there are risks in that, too. i don't know any cure for mental/emotional troubles that does not involve risk, if only the risk that it won't work.

[compared2what?]

speaking personally, i was cured of decades long, chronic, extreme depression (can't take care of yourself, fingernails stop growing, that type of depression) through using these type of techniques. after trying the routes of medicine, therapy, lifestyle changes, etc. which all helped. but this type of looking inside, letting go of thought is what cured me of it.

my teacher wasn't tolle, but you could end up getting seriously involved and dropping a bucket of money on her organization if you wanted. though this was not encouraged, that i saw. the trouble is, there are risks in every human pursuit. however, if you pursue nothing, there are risks in that, too. i don't know any cure for mental/emotional troubles that does not involve risk, if only the risk that it won't work.

It's difficult to say what the techniques are, exactly, beyond the generalities described. Lots of Eastern philosophy (or even the physical parts of meditation, minus the philosophy) and western "New Age" movements can be enormously ameliorative. For someone who has a really acute, chronic morbid depression, any of them, like any "conventional" therapeutic practice, might or might not be enough in itself. And, god knows, conventional therapy is riddled with very serious risk, too.

Furthermore, I don't know why I'm ranting at you, Lunarose! Because I was the one who wasn't clear. I guess it's because OBVIOUSLY, my failure to express myself well is YOUR FAULT.

Let me start over.

It's not the practices he's preaching that make me think it's a trap. It's the way they're being preached. Yes, there is always some risk in seeking help, or, for that matter, in seeking contact with another human being for any reason, including buying a pack of Double-A batteries.

But there is more than one danger sign on his website. The easiest one briefly to convey is that he is selling his teachings as a universal cure-all. That should immediately set off at least the faint and distant sound of an approaching Drudge-report-style siren. Any organization that suggests as strongly as that site does that if you put all your eggs, no matter what they are, in its one and only basket is very likely to present an extremely high risk of being 99 parts snake oil to one part truth.

As an example, here's this, which was the first of many similarly vague implicit promises on the site I saw yesterday that I encountered at random when clicking over there just now:

Eckhart’s profound yet simple teachings have already helped countless people throughout the world find inner peace and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of the teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego-based state of consciousness. This is a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for the ending of violent conflict endemic on our planet.

Now. Consider that as a piece of marketing copy, rather than for the truth or absence of truth on its surface. Because it is a piece of marketing copy. First of all, to deal with the only substantive statement made in it, FWIW, I personally agree that transcending our ego-based state of consciousness in one form or another is a fundamental part of all emotional evolution, though I'm fine with people who believe otherwise. That's not really very relevant though, because that's not the primary message being sent; a rough translation of those words into the language of sales-pitch is:

"This guy has hit upon a secret that only he can tell you. It's very deep, but (implicitly) not much work at all! It can transform anything and everything that ails you into anything and everything that empowers you, as proved by the thousands for whom it has already done so. Indeed, it will make you superior to people who don't know the secret. But in case that doesn't appeal to you, how about this: Wanna be happy? Then you need to know the secret. What's that you say? You regard the cause of your unhappiness as external rather than internal? No problem. Except that you don't know the secret. Because if you did, it could change the world."

Any trustworthy teacher or emotional/spiritual guide who was really able to teach anything close to such a secret would be more straightforward about how much discipline (and, in a sense, how much submission to discipline) it takes to achieve that high a state of consciousness, or in some other responsibly wise way, qualify the terms on which it could be achieved. Especially if, for some reason counter to what he himself should know if he has achieved it, he has decided to mass-market it for monetary profit on an enormous global scale.

That site is bait. I don't know what the switch is, because I haven't explored it. But as I said, I think the odds that there is one -- perhaps a comparatively minor one for those who are not inherently at risk -- border on near-certainty.

And people at moderate-to-high risk, who are the most likely to respond to that kind of pitch should not go anywhere near it without advance knowledge of what kind of stressors the work might entail, a subject on which the site is entirely and suspiciously silent.

Tolle should know that. And he might. But he should also admit it. And he emphatically doesn't.

It is this, rather than the vaguely stated principle, that I find suspect.

[Searcher08]

While some people would hurt themselves or others without some calming techniques, the rest of us should become aware enough to sustain functional and applied outrage.

Social tension is the wound rubberband of action.
No tension, no action.

I remember when doing karate, how I would LOVE to have a sparring partner who was easily angered, who would get outraged at my moves or attitude. These were often people who thought they could improve their performance by "getting mad" and often ended up being incredibly easy to defeat as a large proportion of their attention was actually *on themselves* - centered calmness and relaxation beats the living tar out of "sustained functional and applied outrage" again
and again
and again.

Social tension is absolutely *no* guarantee of useful action - for example people will often take action to relieve feelings of conflict, will take actions inside of

To me this is a variation of the old canard "No pain, no gain" -

Like who says?

I have usually found that the people who are the least centered, whose mind is churning, who are constantly in a state of fight-or-flight reaction, are generally the ones who HATE this stuff to the point of apoplexy.

[MacCruiskeen]

Searcher08 said:

c2w said:

Social tension is the wound rubberband of action.
No tension, no action.

Social tension is absolutely *no* guarantee of useful action - for example people will often take action to relieve feelings of conflict

Yeah, this is precisely the problem: as thousands of examples demonstrate daily, the "action" taken as a result of "social tension" is much more likely to be a) child-beating, or binge-drinking, or TV-addiction, or the acquisition of medication against depression (or all four), than it is to be b) patient social work, or productive labour, or serious art, or the furtherance of working-class solidarity, or furious rebellion.

And yet I do certainly share c2w's reservations about an author recommended so breathlessly by Oprah Winfrey and by the author of Visionary Business and The Millionaire Course.

"Anger Is An Energy", said John Lydon in the early 80s. I last saw him on TV about ten years ago, in California, being interviewed in the grounds of his private villa by the side of his private swimming-pool. He wasn't noticably angry about that swimming-pool, presumably because it was his own.

That, too, was the power of now, at that time, for him. He was a personable chap, though a bit of an old rogue, and clearly no threat to anyone. It's hard to describe his demeanour. You might call it the calm irony that comes with maturity. Oprah might call it wisdom. I don't know what Mr. Tolle would call it. But I can imagine what Martin Luther King would call it, if he hadn't been assassinated long ago.

[Pazdispenser]

I am not surprised a chlamorous mind would find Tolle's teachings incomprehensible, and therefore, BS...

My mind used to be MUCH noisier. Since studying with some folk of the Buddhist ilk, it has been tamed significantly, even as I am awed at how wild it continues to be. This is akin to "the more I learn the less I realize I know" (though, of course thats a bad analogy, because its really all about unlearning what you "know")..... Ive read The Power of Now, and as OP ED said, it is very much from the Buddhist tradition, with perhaps a western perspective, given Tolle's German origin.

Like lunarose, I found such study and practice to be instrumental in rousing me from significant (my family would say dangerous, though I dont know if it was THAT bad) depression. I initially, at my sister's insistance, read a best-selling book written by the head of a Buddhist org, and found out that, auspiciously, he ws speaking in NYC that very week. Even as I was otherwise totally shutdown (having been laid off, not knowing what I would DO (ie, BE), dealing with internalized homophobia, bla, bla, bla) I managed to muster the resolve to go. The teaching intrigued me just enough to sign up for a weekly course. I bargained with myself that "as long as Im feeling even just a little better" I would continue with the course and the practice. It was, as Tolle's site says, simple, but that sure doesnt mean it was easy. Yet, I was getting better, and within nine months I had endeavored on a new career (which is SO much better than what I was doing before), AND came out of the closet to my family. It wouldnt be melodramatic to say this Buddhist group and its teachings not only profoundly changed my life but saved it.

c2w, if you had told me after reading the book how much WORK I would have to do to tame my mind, I would never have left my apartment for that first teaching. Yet, if you were to read the Buddhist org's site you would probably interpret the "sales-pitch" to be much in the vein of Tolle's site. I cant speak for any other moderate-to-high risk person, but I would have been absolutely overwhelmed if Id known how much work I would have to do going in. And I really dont read the "sales-pitch" on Tolle's site to be a universal cure-all OR that its a secret that will make you better than the next guy. Tolle, like the Buddhist teachers Ive studied with, is looking to enable a world where we ALL employ wisdom and compassion with ourselves and others.

Further, I dont see the "expense" to really be exorbinant or extortionate (is that a word, c2w?). Compared to anti-depressants and psycho-therapy(esp. w/o health insurance!), the Buddhist courses and tapes were very reasonable. And, while I was unemployed, they allowed me to work for the org to pay for my courses. I helped with some accounting matters, and found that, while they werent the most effiecient org Id ever seen, the costs of maintaining the org was wholly dependent on course tuition, the sale of books, tapes (it was a while ago), and videos, and donations. In looking at the cost of materials on Tolle's website, I dont suspect that he's making a PROFIT, but rather supporting the ongoing activities of his org.

Now dont think Im saying everything is just Koombyah with such orgs. I am no longer practicing with the Buddhist group there proved to be too much cliqueshness and intrigue for my taste. I can put up with that at work if I have to, but not with a group that is aspiring to wisdom and compassion.
c2w, you said,

But I can already tell you what is overwhelmingly likely to happen if I do. Someone will engage me in conversation, and ask me what my troubles are. Whatever I answer, they will then either say that they too had that problem but are now entirely cured, or offer to put me in touch with another serious Tolle student/recruiter/ringer. And within a week I would have some new friends and several hundred dollars worth of merchandise, if I went that far.

I find this unlikely, as I dont think Tolle's org is the Landmark Forum. Of course, I could be wrong, so please do let us all know what you find out!

Searcher, I concur; I was useless when my mind was (more) scattered, angry, and depressed.....

[tKl]

How about "not feeling guilty for not being in hell"?

It does not preclude concern for other humans.

And before all you saint-like *revolutionaries* protest, give away ALL of your comforts and go do something to help others.

On the other hand, exploitation is a good thing to watch out for. Like in propaganda campaigns, and other stuff.