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"Power of Now", "A New Earth", Living in the Present

BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

Welcome…

The intention of this thread is to discussion Eckhart Tolle’s books, The Power Of Now and A New Earth and other information and views on “living in the present.”

Below some excerpts of a conversation brought forward from the Atheist & Agnostics-Hi there! thread.

This post is out of sync. It is here for someone who wants to get started on the Tolle/Oprah material.

Bluedolfin writes,

EVERYONE~ No matter what spiritual/religious/non-spiritual/non-religious belief one is, one can benefit from the information and it won’t conflict with your current path or lead you to another path. I believe this (as well as other similar teachings) reach beyond our differences to our shared humanity. This might be the structure to how all of us (those interested) can create a common place from where we can unite and work together to make a world that works for everyone. Each person different, working towards benefiting humanity. As aspire mentioned, the synergistic results of Oprah and Tolle combining efforts far out reaches what they could have done individually. The possibilities for all of us are mind blowing when we work together.

If you are wondering if this is for you, here are a few links to explore:

Meditating~ Way cool! I only have A New Earth. I got it when I heard about Oprah’s course. Here are a few links that you might find useful:

  • Tips for Reading A New Earth
  • Here’s their suggestion on how to proceed. I started out doing the workbook first then listening to the class. I think there is more understanding that can be brought to the workbook exercises after hearing the class. A New Earth Summer Syllabus

If I remember correctly, before the class was available, Oprah suggested reading the book through first, then expanding one’s understanding through the classes. However, there is not “right” way.

No I’m not an expert on this, just a struggling “classmate.” Yes, I’m a bit anal… Yes, there are other links I didn’t include. I hope you find this useful.

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Comments

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie
    • Winona writes, Aug 4, 2008:

    aspire – i’d like to read eckhert toll’s book! i think folks on this earth are connected because we’re all stuck on the same earth together, and the negative actions you do simply create a worse environment for everyone.

    meditating – try posting a message in the library, naming a few books you’d like to read in the potential book club. or posting in the bookstore sounds good.

    ...

    • aspire writes, 2 days ago:

    ...

    Bluedolphin- isn’t he just AMAZING?!! I’d enjoy seeing a thread on Tolle’s works. I recently read both “Power of Now” and “New Earth” and reread them immediately they were so awesome, and got even more the second times through. I don’t know which one I like best, they’re both so good! Now I am watching Oprah’s web series with him and WOW, how incredibly wonderful he is and exciting to see so many of us waking up! How incredibly fortunate we are to be living in these amazing, transformative times! :)

    • aspire writes, 2 days ago:

    Meditating- I can relate to everything you just wrote about!

    I, too, believe- in fact, have NO doubt in my mind whatsoever – that there is a universal consciousness that we each are connected with, even if we are individually ignorant of the fact. :) By that I mean, even before Newton proved to the world gravity was a reality and fact, gravity still was in existence and had its affect on the entire world, even if most people didn’t yet know it,believe it, or accept it. And as far as scientific backing and reasoninig, I LOVE to read about the scientific evidence and reasons behind things and how they come to be or happen. I also can accept that we do not have scientific “facts” to prove everything in existence yet, and possibly never will for EVERYHTING. (I mean, how boring would that be to know everything about everything anyway? No more bright-eyed wonder and imagination in our world perhaps.) In my mind, it is easy to see that science and “religion” (and I use that term in the loosest form possible, meaning sprituality, belief in whatever one calls what they believe in even if it is a belief in Nothing – it is all semantics. Yet I believe is ultimately all the same on the most basic levels if one digs deep enough – even in this Atheist thread, the things Athiests and Agnostics speak of is many times more “enlightenend” and Love – inspired and radiantly beautiful than those still confused “believers” of an organized western religious institute, and yet they all still are fundamentally saying the same things even if one does tend to be able to act it out [live it] better than another at this point. But I have digressed…) are simply two sides of the same coin. In the end and ultimately as time evolves, we will see that science and “religion” simply compliment each other and are not enemies of one another. Just as I believe that, ultimatley, there will be a swing back to the middle of the pendulum and balance will happen as we humans learn that western organized religions and no belief in any kind of organized religion or supreme entity will turn out to be one and the same thing, just worded or defined in different ways, yet the underlying feelings of how to act and BE in this life towards others and our world are the same really. Love one another, do not intentionally harm another, take responsbility for yourself and your life, and honor Life in everything, etc.

    But as you, I too have a hard time saying to people that I will “pray” for them and have negative connotations with the term for the same reasons as you mentioned. Negative taste in my mouth for anything to do with organized (western) religions after growing up seeing/experiencing the hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness and limitedness I saw it bring out in people who proclaimed and followed these religious leaders’ and institutes’ “rules.” I have come to the point that I say “I will send you good thoughts” or “wishes,” or “I will be sending you positive thoughts.” i have reached the point that I do not care too much what others think when I say that. It is their choice to accept my good intentions and energy or to not. Either way, it does not affect me or change who I know I am and if they choose to take offense ay my wording I cannot help that.

    I must say that after reading Tolle though, too, I have noticed a much better tolerance for people whom I used to judge as “wrong” (like very relgious, close-minded people whom I really depsised before, or sexist or prejudiced people). I still do not appreciate some people’s actions and will not tolerate, or stand idly by with certain harmful actions towards others, but I am more compassionate about where it is coming from in them and learning not to judge them as individuals, just to react to the action when necessary, not the person and to not take it perosnally or make it into a story for me. If that makes any sense. I am feeling much much more peaceful in life in other words, which I love AND, crazily, i am feeling MORE empowered this way, too.

    I agree about the energy of sending thoughts (prayers, vibes, or whatever one calls it) out. And althogh I love to read about scientific findings, I also believe that just about anything can be “proven” or “disproven” depnding on so many little and/or not so little things in the study’s or subject’s environment, including intentions (thought, energy waves), and of course, individual and collective intepretations.

    I can relate to everything you spoke of. :)

    • Bluedolfin writes, 2 days ago:

    aspire~ He is. Sometimes I just want to shoosh Oprah to let him talk. lol What I really find amazing is how real he is. Not everything is rosey. He struggles at times. I haven’t gone through the whole thing yet. Can we say “resisting”? Ugh! That’s why I was “hoping” to start a group to explore more… I have many “but what about me… about my situation… blah, blah, blah” I think books/lectures/programs/etc. like these because they don’t say “this is how it is, the one and only way” bring about new openings/dilemmas each time they are visited, one is just a different person each go-around. It is amazing the power Oprah has and how she uses it. With so many around the world participating and continuing to participate in this program and others, one wonders what the critical mass is that will really shift the consciousness of the world in a significant way to create a world that works for everyone.

    Which leads me to a huge dilemma that I struggle with a lot. If I am truly of the consciousness of live and let live, where is the balance? ... is balance even what’s to search for? ... how to be with someone who I diametrically oppose?... how do I truly express live and let live when someone tells me I’m going to burn in h*ll because I don’t believe as they do?... how do I not become that person and judge or condemn because that person doesn’t believe like me? ...how do I deal with my needs? ... does one person’s needs necessarily lead to subjugating another’s needs? ... do I need (that’s how it “feels”) to always suppress my needs to make it work?... (it’s not working for me!....) ...how can the consciousness of the world come together? Ugh! Ok… I know I’m spinning… I feel like I can’t even communicate the struggle in an understandable way… :(

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie
    • Bluedolfin writes, 2 days ago:

    I’m afraid to type anything that I will miss another great post like aspires. lol

    aspire~ I soooo relate! BTW, I question “proofs.” I think of it as a model that is working so far. Technology changes, which is a fascinating part, because technology is spawned from the original model that it “disproves.” Humans like to think if something is named then it is real! NOT! Crazy making!!!

    PS. I think a clearer way to state the last part of what I posted is… how can everyone be fully self-expressed without subjugating another’s self-expression?

    • aspire writes, 2 days ago:

    Wow, deep stuff BlueDolphin. :)

    I wonder about the critical mass thing too and hope it is as low as 11% of the population (or even of just one country’s population to start the ball rolling with other countries catching on next):

    11% one minute video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03N2irkKOho

    I am on chapter 5 (watching the last half of it right now as soon as I finish here, in fact) on Oprah’s web series. I know what you mean about her interrupting him sometimes. Sometimes I wish she wouldn’t because I want him to be able to finish in hiswn words, and other times I have noticed that I think to myslef how beautiful and amzing Life is that the two of them could have the synchronicity to come together and help each other reach so many more people than they possibly ever would have on their own, even as tremendously talented and listened to as they each are individually. And at times when she has added things to what he says, she does seem to help add another dimension to what he says and help get his point across to some people who maybe didn’t quite grasp it when he explained it. I’ve noticed I am getting more tolerant (compassionate is how they describe it being) of allowing others to be where they are in Life and accepting of our differences, at work and home both. I think it will happen in small steps but we will get better ad better at it. No doubt I will slip up and lose my temper (ego) at times still, but I know I can use it as another learning and growing experince when that does happen and become “better” (more present) each time. Don’t be hard on yourself. You’ll find your way and answers. We each will. :)

    I don’t want to hijack the this thread so maybe we could start another about Tolle?

    • Bluedolfin writes, 2 days ago:

    aspire~ I stalled in reading the book a few pages into chapter 8 – Discovery of Inner Space. Not a surprise that I should stall out at the chapter that is designed to dissolve the painbody. I am on chapter 3 in the workbook and audios.

    I went to the link you posted. It is going to take a bit to view… I’m on dialup. I see the video is Marianne Williamson. How cool! I have never seen her speak… I just know of her and the famous speech she wrote for Mandela. Did you notice that she also has some stuff going on on Oprah’s site. It’s a lesson a day for a year. I’m bummed that I can’t download and store them like a podcast. I can only find a way listen to them off the site. While I was touring around iTunes podcasts (I’ve been a bit podcasty lately), I spotted “A Crash Course In Miracles” that I will download when I venture to a high speed connection… that also looks interesting and some people I know have going through a different version of the course in 3D…

    I have also noticed that I have become more compassionate and appreciative of others being themselves. At least, I think, I have an inkling of a clue now. Not as prone to rip someone a “new one” as easily and not making my own day a wreck. :) Thankx for the tip on the practice.

    PS. Inspiring video. That was way cool so see Marianne Williamson speak.

    • Meditating writes, 20 hours ago:

    Earlier today I went to the Oprah site mentioned herein and watched and read some of the Tolle discussions. I just got back from the book store and purchased both his books.

    I don’t know which book to read first. Suggestions? I am not also not sure I understood how the Oprah classroom works either. Instructions?

    • aspire writes, 18 hours ago:

    Meditating- I had the same dilemna and decided to start with the earlier book, “Power of Now.” Then I read “New Earth” his latest, and I was glad I did it that way. “Power” (an awesome and stand-alone on its own book) lays a good foundation, so I was able to really catch on easily what he was saying in “New Earth.” Not sure how easily I would have grasped the ideas in “New Earth” otherwise, but who knows? I am now almost finished watching all of Oprah’s 10 free web series with him, and I am so glad I took the time to watch them. I thought I had a good grasp on what he wrote, but it’s been really great watching him and I’m still getting more from it and more after I reread the books, again, too. They are the kind of books you will get more and more deeper and relevant things from each time you read them, I think!

    Oprah had a free ten week, Monday night, live web class series with Eckhart discussing his “New Earth” book back in April or May (I forget) and had (hundreds of?) thousands of people from ALL over the world watching and participating, a first of its kind thing they did. They would discuss a chapter each week and people would call or Skype in with questions to help them understand what he was talking about, helping people begin to raise our consciousness level to create a better world for us all. You can go to her main page and click on the “Spirit” tab near the top left side, then click on Eckhart Tolle and “New Earth” to the right. Then under the video screen in the middle, you can click on either “Message from Eckhart,” Get started,” or jump on in with “Watch the Classes” and pick your chapter(s) to watch. There was a workbook you could get originally for the web series, but it is unavailable right now at least. There is also a forum where people can discuss things about the book.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie
    • Winona writes, 5 hours ago:

    I’m reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I recommend reading a couple pages at a time. It’s really dense, and tough for me to digest all the information – but I want to absorb it all!

    He has some incredible stories. There is an interesting discussion on the mind, in chapter 2. He says that our mind keeps time traveling (thinking about the future, worrying about the past) because that’s how our mind asserts control over us. If we can let go of everything and live in the present moment, that’s when enlightenment begins.

    The pain we experience is a form of nonacceptance of what IS. “The mind seeks to deny the NOW and escape from it.”

    “Nothing ever happened in the past, it happened in the NOW” “Nothing will even happen in the future, it will happen in the NOW”

    Imagine the world devoid of human life, only containing plants and animals. Could we speak of time in a meaningful way? What time is it? The trees would answer that it’s now. The animals would say well, the time is now, what else would it be?

    Surrender to what IS. Say yes to life, and watch how life works for you rather than against you.

    If you set yourself a goal and work toward it, you’re using clock time – giving your fullest attention to the present moment. That’s good. If you become excessively focused on the goal, the Now is no longer honored!

    Stop resisting your life situation. You CAN be happy, you can be free, and live in the present moment… WITHOUT changing your life situation! All problems are illusions of the mind.

    • Meditating writes, 5 hours ago:

    First, I would have an interest in a new thread on reading either book and don’t care which it is. If there is an interest in doing that, I suggest we start at the beginning of the book so we can move through it as a group.

    After thumbing through them and reading portions here and there, it sounds very much like an English distillation of buddhist teachings so none of what I read is foreign to me. It is fabulously written but from a Westernern standpoint so nothing is lost in translating the concepts which is often difficult when your teacher is from an Eastern culture.

    CARMENTINA – I want to comment on some of the things you mentioned earlier. The missionaries on the train remind me of the quakers that silently protest the war wearing black and sitting in the front of our state capital. I have talked to a few of them and they are incredible. I just want to take them all to my house and have tea. They do not try to forcefeed you their beliefs and they are very compassionate.

    I too understand the problems with meditating and not being able to clear your mind. I had trouble initially learning to meditate because I was so anxious reaching the clear state and I could not get that out of my mind. I was initially instructed to focus on an object in my mind. They became entertainment for my mind and I became fixated with redrawing it over and over again and could not clear. I switched over to a method where I concentrated on my breath. The first time I realized I had reached that space it was only for a few seconds. I heard dogs barking outside and then I realized I hadn’t been thinking about them. Of course when you realize you haven’t been thinking about them you are occupied with your thoughts and the moment is gone.

    The great thing about meditation is that as long as you do it, it doesn’t matter what the actual practice feels like because you will benefit from it. I used to sit for an hour a day. Now I try to sit 5 minutes at least once and preferably twice daily. Occasionally I sit for longer periods outisde in the spring or fall when it isn’t too hot. I like to meditate outside. It is like brushing your teeth, you just do it. You don’t see the results immediately but you will see them. Another thing that just seems unfair is that when you achieve a clear state, you aren’t there but that is the point. You have stopped being a self and just melted into the universe.

    I am not much for formalities either. The Tibetan center I used to attend was very much into preserving Tibetan culture. While I have great concern for what Tibetans are going through and their desire to preserve themselves, it seems that became the primary goal and not the teachings so I decided to split. It also caused me to have flasbacks to catholic school/church.

    I know what you mean about indulgences. Isn’t that just insane? I remember when I was a child thinking that the ability to say a prayer, light a candle, and pay a fee to get to heaven meant the whole shebang was bogus. I figure this out when I was 6 years old. Amazing that it still continues and proves now desperate and stupid people can be.

    • Meditating writes, 5 hours ago:

    BLUE DOLPHIN I know what you mean by having to constantly bow to someone’s ignorance and intolerance at the risk of your own identity/autonomy/human rights. All just to keep the peace. That is exactly how I felt when this doctor touched me and launched right into his prayer, relying on his perceived superiority and never considering my feelings.

    After I thought about it, I almost wished I had then reverently touched him and asked if I could add to his prayer and then asked satan to free the world from christians. Not that I think any of that is true, but when faced with religious intolerance in others I always ask them to consider a scenario where they would be over-the-top offended by a ceratin belief and satanism always fits the bill.

    I too am tired of being on the alter of sacrifice for the feelings of intolerant others. No topic sets me off like religious intolerance. I suspect it is because it caused me so much grief as a christian to see my fellow believers acting contrary to christian principles and then as an atheist because I have repeatedly been persecuted as such.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    whoo… sweat dripping off the copy/paste keys… Ok… I think everyone is pretty much caught up on the conversation… Let the games begin…

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    I think anyone should be able to post anything they want whenever they want to this thread, Given that, do we want to try and move through the chapters with some reasonable timelines attached so perhaps we can better discuss them as a group? I am game either way but I think the latter option will aide in the discussion and keep it moving.

    Chime in everyone who’s interested.

  • Blue_EyesBlue_Eyes Raw Master

    I Would really like to go through the chapters if any one is game for it. I have read both books and thou I do feel I have done a lot of changing in the past few years I still struggle with ‘being in the present’. And lately my tolerance level has been really low with people. I went to Oprahs website and downloaded some things but so far have not listened or read them yet. I have always been quite the daydreamer so staying in the present is hard. I always go wondering off. I spend all day with people who believe things I don’t anymore and I think if I were more in the now I could learn to just let them be but right now it is just frustrating!

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    I think more people have A NEW EARTH rather than the POWER OF NOW so that may be a better book to start with if we go chapter by chapter. Or not. Input?

  • Blue_EyesBlue_Eyes Raw Master

    Sounds great to me

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Another vote for ANE… especially with all the great resources on Oprah’s site.

  • Blue_EyesBlue_Eyes Raw Master

    Yes, If we incorporate the book and Oprahs site I think that would be helpful. I feel better after reading the books but then after I am away for a while I just lose it. Tolle says that the more you expose yourself to Now that it will get easier. So to me a Great disscussion on this subject should be helpful. I am trying to not get frustrated with myself because I know I am working on it.

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    Yesterday I started THE POWER OF NOW, but I am happy to switch over to ANE.

    I don’t know what time constraints people have to read a chapter. I started ANE – The Flowering of Human Consciousness this morning. I have to admit I do emjoy the way he writes and I like the metaphor that the first flower announced the new earth of it’s time – when humankind first recognized beauty absent utility. I think that must have been an awakening of consciousness.

  • Sorry to interrupt the organisational stages of this thread but after reading I’ve become fascinated by this topic. Without going into too much, I just wanted to ask what book you would suggest reading first? The Power of Now or ANE? Cleary I’ve read neither, but as I am always excited about learning new things… (3 degrees and no real experience in the real world yet! ha) I don’t want to miss out on vital information. So, my point is, if I read ANE will I miss out on anything that was written in the first book or is the second book everything ANE is, plus more.

    That’s it folks. Thanks in advance and I hope to get as enthused as all of you are.

    Zoe

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    ZOE – It was suggested by Aspire who read both of his books to read Tolle’s POWER OF NOW first, which was his first book. However, I just purchased both and I am going to read A NEW EARTH first for the purposes of this thread. I feel comfortable in doing that. Oprah has a website for others to read the book and there are archive videos you can watch at the end of each chapter. In her study group I didn’t see anywhere that the first book was required or even suggested prior to this book. Why don’t you got a copy and join us? We would love to have you.

    Here is a link to the video for Power of Now – Chapter One: The Flowering of Consciousness

    If the link doesn’t work you will need to go to this link to load the video player.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Boy, I could have sworn the question of whether a person would be missing something if they read ANE first was answered somewhere. I wish I could find it. It might have been addressed on her show. But basically they said one would not be missing anything… was this a CYA ploy to get people to just start in on ANE? Don’t know… PON is mentioned in the An Invitation from Eckhart Tolle.

  • BlueDolphin- thanks for starting this thread!

    Z Chen- I think you’ll be fine if you start with ANE, especially if you’re able to watch Tolle on Oprah’s webpage, to help see others’ questions about his writings and Tolle’s expansions to their trouble with any uncomprehensions. There were many people there who started with that book and hadn’t (haven’t) read “Power of Now.” I did start with “Power” and was glad I did, because I felt I understood ANE better when I read it immediatly after “Power,” and that I may have struggled more with some of the concepts in ANE, but I think people on Oprah seem to be getting it well with her and Eckhart’s help.

    • ANE does say some, if not much of the same things he says in ‘Power of Now,” but he doesn’t elaborate on quite the same things, while mentioning other things too, in ANE than in “Now.” But generally speaking, they both are empahsizing to live in the Present Moment, let go of the Mind (conditioned thoughts, Past and Future) in most all instances except as a tool when needed. I really enjoyed them both and couldn’t tell you which one I like better; they’re both different yet ultimately the same message. Whichever you do decide to start with, I definitely recommend reading both, but you will probably want to if you are like me and others who get a lot of peacefulness from reading his works.
    • I do think it’s great to start with ANE here, just because, like BlueDolhin and Meditiating have pointed out- it’s what more people are discussing and there are helpful tools to take advantage of to enhance our understanding quicker.

    Blue Eyes- I have struggled with that feeling of frustration in myself for not being able to incorporate being in the Present Moment more often, and letting my PainBody rise up at times still (too often still, but at least I am aware of it now when it has, thank goodness!). After watching the webseries I am reminded that I am bringing in judgement (on myslef) when I get impatient and demanding of myself to be better quicker which is my Mind and thoughts, so I’m therefor not in the present moment and resisting what is, where I am at. And he and Oprah itirate that the change does not happen overnight (except for Tolle who was an exception to the rule), but comes more gradually and in steps. So I am trying to catch myself from being judgemental to myself and recognize it as the Mind coming in. :)

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    FYI y’all~ An Interview with Eckhart Beginning August 14, listen to Eckhart Tolle and public radio’s Krista Tippett’s intimate conversation about Eckhart’s spiritual development and newfound celebrity. Visit SpeakingofFaith.org for local broadcast times and to listen to or download the program.

    There is something up there right now but my connection is massively slow so I was unable to view it. Please someone go see and tell us about it.

    aspire~ My privilege. :)

  • Hey Bluedolphin~ Good-on-you! WOW, I have been so purely amazed at the timing of some of these posts, as they resonate so deeply with me! This addition of yours is no exception! And Carmentina and Aspire, I really relate to everything you have both shared, too. So, I’ll tell you, this book (New Earth) has surfaced THREE times in my world in the past few weeks alone! I know I must be in harmony with the universe, and, I’m apparently destined to dive into this text again. I’ve had it for a while and even entertained joining an ongoing “New Earth” book club here in San Diego but, I think I would even rather discuss the findings here with you all. SO MUCH TO EXPLORE!!!

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi slcogliano~ :) I am also in San Diego… North County. There a few of us that are active on the site in San Diego. Funny how things happen…

  • Awesome! Hey, if you’re in North County… are you familiar with Hillstreet Cafe (organic) in Oceanside? If not, you should check it out. It’s on PCH between Michigan and Wisconsin. My cousin owns it (along with the Fish Joint next door) and he grows a lot of his own vegetables. Just a thought. ;P

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    slcogliano~ Thankx for the heads up on the Hillstreet Cafe. I’ve never been there. The next time in the Oceanside, I’ll look it up. That is awesome that your cousin grows his veggies.

  • amysueamysue Raw Newbie

    Sorry to interupt, I’ve read A New Earth, loved it, but this is just about a t-shirt I thought you all might like, it’s relevant, don’t worry…http://www.lovingraw.com/blog/ Just scroll down.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    amysue~ Yo. Yo. Yo. >Fingers outstretched< Eckhart goes urban. Gotta love it. That is to funny. lol

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    I haven’t quite finished the first chapter: The Flowering of Human Consciousness.

    Since the late 80s, for me, it has been undeniable that mankind is riding a bullet train straight into a s**t hole. Just when you think there are no new lows, every few years brings in exactly that. The critical mass of people wallowing in their material junk while we destroy the planet and each other has led me to believe that human kind is a lost cause and the quicker we die off the better it is for all other living things. Twice in the last 8 years or so I have had people tell me that humankind is “waking up” to a new existence. First, you gotta wonder what planet they are on. Second, while optimism has its good points, you still have to be a realist.

    I have never heard this “waking up” phenomenon addressed in any relative context with the state of the modern world, until this book. His premise that the wretched state we find ourselves in is the catalyst to seek a better way, an enlightenment, abandoning our way of doing things to find a ethical, emotional, environmental and spiritual sustainable lifestyle makes sense to me. Perhaps there is a method to all this madness. It has been my disgust with so much of what I see, hear and feel that made me begin to look at what I used to consider radical alternatives in thinking.

    For the first time, I recognize that there is a possibility that some good could come out of all this chaos and insanity. He condenses the whole concept of this possibility of humankind’s redemption in one sentence: “To recognize one’s own insanity is, of course, the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence.” (Paperback, p.14).

    I read that several days ago and it gave me such joy to think there could be hope. It felt so good that I would suppress my critical mind each time it recalled historical famines, genocide, etc., and realized that humankind has traveled this same road many times and failed to rise from the occasion for any period of time. But mass-media technologies and globalization keep all the dysfunction in your face day in and day out. Personally, I have felt like I have been overdosing on the stuff. This is why I rarely watch TV anymore and found myself becoming content doing simple, everyday things. (On the other hand, that might be normal for people my age.)

    On another note, I knew the stories of different religions had to be there to tell all the people the same thing, albeit in a different way that made sense to each culture. Having been raised as a christian, I am relieved to read his translation that “original sin” is actually our ego dysfunction. I knew that whole sin story didn’t make sense the first time I heard it. Either something was lost in the translation or it was a parable and not intended for literal interpretation.

    Tolle does an excellent job of identifying the common denominators of all religions and presenting them in a concise way that is relative to understanding the difference between ourselves and our unruly ego-minds.

  • So, not to eclipse Meditating’s entry but, Oh My Good Grief Amysue, that t-shirt is too funny! I’m with you, Bluedolphin! Yo Homies! I just love you gals! What a blessing in this f#cked up world!

    So, on a more serious and depressing note, can I just tell you that I live with a male roommate who can be the most negative, unfeeling, self-absorbed, uncaring, materialistic person EVER? I am living the very dichotomy that Tolle writes about. You all are truly my ray of sunlight in a sometimes mean, dingy, stinky world!

    Luv Ya! ;P

    So funny but, I JUST purchased some of those T-Shirt Transfers at Target, you know, so you can make your own iron-ons. Maybe I’ll make my own Eckhart shirt to where around the house. :P

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    slcogliano – I know what you mean. Since going raw I have felt the need to get negative people out of my life. I just feel so much more free! Is it just me, or does being a raw vegan not only make your body more sensitive in terms of diet(listening and understanding what your body is saying and what it wants) but also your “spirit” or whatever you want to call it. Other people’s emotions, moods, energies have more of an impact, at least in my experience. I avoid stress now, live in the present (while planning and not being stupid, of course), and do whatever I want – whether it’s diet or activities. With unhealthy activities – drugs, alcohol, motor cycle racing lol, etc, it would be a problem, but with healthy activities, it feels great and is great.

  • I’m with ya! Seriously, I know exactly what you’re talking about. My roommate and I have known each other over the course of 20+ years and he has always been negative and critical about anything that doesn’t serve his needs, but, since living under the same roof, we have managed to accept one another. However, the past few weeks I get the sense that he sees me doing things very differently now (and he has never once asked anything about it) and it’s almost like he resents it. I can tell every time he opens the refrigerator door and mumbles under his breathe. But, you’re so right, my spirit is so sensitive to that nastiness now! I just don’t want to be anywhere near it.

    Sort of related… I’ve also noticed that bad smells feel so much worse to me than they used to . I’ve always had a heightened, sensitive sniffer but, I find that I cannot handle being near something that smells bad. Have you noticed that? Thanks for sharing. It’s so nice to hear a guy share those similar experiences. It gives me hope. :D

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    Wow, your story sounds so familiar. In short, I had a falling out with a close friend and now he wants to hang out again but I don’t because of the weight that has been lifted by the lack of ignorance/bad vibe around me. Without the falling out, I would have never known. Since going raw and sensitizing my body, I can tell easily by the way I feel whether someone has a negative or positive impact on me. It is amazing that you now feel the impact of your roommate after so many years.

    As for the smells overall – that hasn’t hit me as hard as it’s hit you. I know what you mean though, as I am that way with certain smells. Chicken is one of them. I want to throw up if someone has a chicken salad around me and I am very sensitive now to that – can’t tune it out. It is worse since meat is now disgusting to me.

  • Meditating- I love your description and insights into the first chapter. And the book gets even more profound with each chapter! I was beginning to feel very similar at times to how you describe, but now after reading/listening to Tolle’s works, I am feeling so much more peaceful. Not to say I like the pain and suffering going on all around us, but I feel I understand more now why it is able to happen so much. And my peacefulness is not even just because of a feeling of “hope,” which I always had even when I’ve been so angry feeling at what is happening, before reading Tolle. It is a Knowing; a Knowing that things are as they should be and things (and all of us, one way or another) will be ok. Hard to explain.

    • Also, if you have not already seen this video of the late, great Ian Lungold, I think you will find the information in it to be extremely interesting, enlightening, and also beautifully coinciding with what is happening now. Long but very worth it, and even though title has Mayan Calendar in it, it is very pertinent and relevant to us now in understanding what is happening and why. I also found it to be uplifting because of what becomes clear, and this was even before I found Tolle’s work:

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-868926…;q=ian+lungold&ei=S_dCSPm4LIqm4QLcv9GFCQ -Part I

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-567329…;q=ian%20lungold&hl=en – Part II

    Sclogliano and Cavsman- I defintely noticed a profound jump in my spiritual understanding and depth when I started eating high raw. It started with going vegan 2 years before that, but defintely bounded forward with going raw. And I have to be around very unconscious, seemingly selfish, very egotistical acting men (not to say all men are selfish jerks of course) everyday at work at the fire department (I am the only woman). Practicing what Tolle talks about in his books is helping me, but who knows if I will stay in the end since it has been almost five years there and still don’t feel welcome. But part of it is that I also do not wish to join in the unconscious acting to “fit in” in order to be accepted as one of “the guys,” too. ...Ehhh. * shrugs * but live in the present and it will all work out, right? :) I just have to make sure not to judge them and fall back into thoughts and my own ego that way. ;)

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    ASPIRE Thank for the link. I have watched those videos in full before but haven’t yet made up my mind how I feel about them. Clearly, a great deal of thought has gone into his theory. I appreciate his take on 2012 much more than the average doomsdayer.

    GUYS – Am I only the only one reading this book?

  • Blue_EyesBlue_Eyes Raw Master

    I am on my second time around reading it. But not to sure on what to say even thou I get the book I find it hard to get my mind to shut up long enough. they say it takes time but I have even bought meditation tape to help me out and I cant stop thinking and when i try i am only “thinking of not thinking” how do i shut it off? I have used daydreaming as a way to escape a bad childhood and then to escape life because instead of learning how to deal with life i just tuned it out. Now when I pay attention to what is going on it scares me and that makes me just want to crawl back into the hole I have dug for myself I know I have brought this on myself it is just so hard to stop it has become second nature to me I do it without even noticing that I am lost again.

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