Eckhart Tolle  

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Eckhart Tolle (born February 16 1948) is a German/ Canadian spiritual teacher, motivational speaker, and writer.

Contents

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Teachings

Tolle's non-fiction bestseller The Power of Now emphasizes not being caught up in thoughts of past and future as a way of being aware of the present moment. 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. It is the feeding of the human ego that is thought to be the source of inner and outer conflict. Only in examining one's ego may people begin to see beyond it and obtain a sense of spiritual enlightening or a new outlook on reality.

In Tolle's view, the present is the gateway to a heightened sense of peace. He states that "being in the now" brings about an awareness that is beyond the mind, an awareness which helps in transcending the ego. The ego means here the false identification with forms and labels: body, mind, thoughts, memories, social roles, life-story, opinions, emotions, material possessions, name, nationality, religion, likes and dislikes, desires, fears, etc. If one is present, one recognizes oneself as the space of consciousness in which the thought or impulse arises. One doesn’t lose the self in thought, nor does one become the impulse. Being present is being the space, rather than what happens. He says that the mind is to be used as a tool, but not let the mind use the person.

A central element in Tolle's teaching is a concept, which he calls the "pain body", which is described in greater detail in A New Earth, the audio book “Living the Liberated Life and Dealing With the Pain Body”, and other teachings. He believes that a good understanding of this concept is an effective way to stop the suffering and to allow life to flow freely. The pain body is the emotional component of the ego and therefore the source of all suffering by non-acceptance of what is. It is created by the accumulation of suppressed emotions. The size of the pain body differs from person to person and originates in the person’s past conditioning, usually early childhood. It can be understood as a contracted energy field within the body that “feeds” on pain, i.e. which needs negative emotions to exist further. On a positive note, Tolle claims that the pain body can be a necessary motivation to live in the present moment. He considers it to be your teacher. The goal would be to stay fully present as the watcher of the pain body when it gets activated, and feeling the negative emotion without reacting to it. This way, the pain body would decrease in size and eventually dissolve, leading to a full acceptance of what is and a life free of suffering.

Tolle says that our true "identity" is the underlying sense of I Am, which is consciousness itself. Awareness of Being is self-realization and true happiness. He states that we people are very important, because we are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold.

In Tolle's view, all wanting implies that the future is more desirable than the present. As long as you want something, you are seeking to reach some point in the future that promises fulfillment. Thereby you are making the present moment, as well as other persons, into a means to an end. More importantly, in desiring future events, you are denying the value of the present moment; the right now. And as Tolle points out, the right now is all you have. This is true since the past (and even the future) are experienced "in the now." Other authors, such as Robert Pirsig, also make this same point.

Tolle says you don't need the future, or future lives, to find yourself, and you need to add nothing to "you" to find yourself.

Tolle believes that the New Testament contains deep spiritual truth, as well as distortions, which are due to a misunderstanding of Jesus's teaching. He teaches that when you are present, you access your inner knowing and you will sense what is true and what was added on or distorted.

Tolle believes that love comes into existence when you know who you are in your essence and then recognize the "other" as yourself. It is the end of the delusion of separation, which is created by excessive reliance on thinking.

Although Tolle himself became suddenly conscious following a period of intense suffering, he believes that for most people this shift in consciousness will not be a single event, but a process, a gradual disidentification from thoughts and emotions through the arising of awareness.

Tolle stresses that we should not become attached to any particular word. Instead, the words are only signposts, pointing to the truth. He believes that the word God is a signpost that has been so misused that it has lost its real meaning. He prefers the words Being and spaciousness.


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Influences

At about the age of fifteen he received five books that were written by a German mystic, Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken, also known as Bô Yin Râ. Tolle responded "very deeply" to those books. He said the first texts with which he came in contact after the awakening and in which he found deep understanding were the New Testament, the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Te Ching and teachings of The Buddha. In The Power of Now, he mentioned the writings of Meister Eckhart, Advaita Vedanta, A Course in Miracles, the Bible, mystical Islam, Sufism, and Rumi's poetry, as well as Zen Buddhism's Lin-chi (Linji in pinyin ) (Rinzai) school. He has also acknowledged the influences of J Krishnamurti, Ramana Maharshi (both of whose teachings he seeks to link to and extend) and Barry Long.

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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 33 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. Tolle's most recent book, A New Earth, also topped the Times chart in March, 2008.

In January 2008, Winfrey selected A New Earth as her Oprah's Book Club selection, accompanied by a 10-week live online seminar (or "webinar") with Tolle, which started on March 3, 2008.

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Business Organization

In a 2003 interview with the Telegraph Magazine, Eckhart Tolle indicated that he has no intention to create a heavy commercial structure or setting up an ashram or centre but left open the possibility it could develop organically.

Eckhart Tolle`s for profit company provides a wide variety of spirtual development materials at his website with the mission of attaining the union with the Divine. His business organization offers audio downloads, card decks, workbooks, calenders, music, cds, dvds and retreats. For example, a 2009 Australian two-day retreat costs $685 (USD). Participants are not permitted to take notes or recordings due to copyright restrictions.

Eckhart Tolle lecture ticket prices posted on vary from $40 to $150 dollars with participants paying more to be in closer proximity. Ecker Tolle`s sales demographic is 85% women and 15% men, primarily in the white American boomer demographic. This closely parallels the audience of Oprah Winfrey for her book club.

Eckhart Tolle`s sold-out public appearance are marked with a brand image of chic geek simplicity by dressing in a trademark oatmeal wool sweater. His public persona is marked by a clear, gentle, monotonous, repetitive whispering voice with timed comedic remarks, rolling eyes and painful growls to illustrate his New age spirtual teachings.

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Works

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Books

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Audio Books

  • What is Meditation?
  • Practicing the Power of Now
  • Companion to the Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, June 2001
  • Living the Liberated Life and Dealing With the Pain Body, October 2001
  • The Realization of Being: A Guide to Experiencing Your True Identity, October 2001
  • Know That "I Am", January 1 2002
  • Even the Sun Will Die: An Interview With Eckhart Tolle, September 2001
  • The Eckhart Tolle Audio Collection, September 2002
  • The Essence of Now, 2002
  • Choose to Awaken Now, 2002
  • In the Presence of a Great Mystery, 2002
  • Realizing the Power of Now: An In-Depth Retreat With Eckhart Tolle, June 2003
  • Entering the Now, August 2003
  • Gateways to Now, September 1 2003
  • Whispers, January 1 2004
  • The Flowering of Human Consciousness, May 2004
  • Living a Life of Inner Peace, October 10 2004
  • Practicing Presence: A Guide for the Spiritual Teacher and Health Practitioner, November 1 2004
  • Eckhart Tolle's Findhorn Retreat: Stillness Amidst the World, October 10 2005
  • Through the Open Door: Journey to the Vastness of Your True Being, January 30 2006
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DVDs

  • The Flowering of Human Consciousness: Everyone's Life Purpose, Namaste Publishing, Inc., 2001 ISBN 1-59179-154-5



Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Eckhart Tolle" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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