Some Notes On Eckhart Tolle
Feb. 13th, 2022 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloI've known about Eckhart Tolle for ages, but I'd never engaged with him until now. What started me off was an interview he did with Russell Brand. Then I watched a couple of his solo videos.
His teachings are very simple. Uncomplicated. You could reduce them to a few bullet points.
1. You are not your ego.
2. You are pure consciousness.
3. Therefore identify with pure consciousness and not your ego.
Have I left anything out? Lots and lots I'm sure. But that's the essence and the rest is commentary.
Before we go any further I think I should say that I agree with him completely.
He's not saying anything new. He's rephrasing perennial wisdom in the sort of language that's likely to appeal to people living on the west coast of America in the 21st century. He has a few favourite quotes- from Jesus, the Buddha and Nietzsche- which he deploys repeatedly.
He's a sweet guy. Unpretentious. He speaks calmly and humorously in a soft German accent. His English is perfect and fluent.
He looks like an elf. In fact he looks a lot like Yoda. I'd be guessing that Yoda was modelled on him only I think Yoda came first.
He's apparently worth $83 million. Blimey!
But then wealth is an illusion. Fussing about it because you have it or because you don't have it is an egoic thing. I believe that's what he'd say...
His teachings are very simple. Uncomplicated. You could reduce them to a few bullet points.
1. You are not your ego.
2. You are pure consciousness.
3. Therefore identify with pure consciousness and not your ego.
Have I left anything out? Lots and lots I'm sure. But that's the essence and the rest is commentary.
Before we go any further I think I should say that I agree with him completely.
He's not saying anything new. He's rephrasing perennial wisdom in the sort of language that's likely to appeal to people living on the west coast of America in the 21st century. He has a few favourite quotes- from Jesus, the Buddha and Nietzsche- which he deploys repeatedly.
He's a sweet guy. Unpretentious. He speaks calmly and humorously in a soft German accent. His English is perfect and fluent.
He looks like an elf. In fact he looks a lot like Yoda. I'd be guessing that Yoda was modelled on him only I think Yoda came first.
He's apparently worth $83 million. Blimey!
But then wealth is an illusion. Fussing about it because you have it or because you don't have it is an egoic thing. I believe that's what he'd say...
no subject
Date: 2022-02-13 12:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-13 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-13 06:22 pm (UTC)Ekhardt didn't seem like the sort of person who does his thing for money at all, and so I liked him too. Although if I have to accept the object reality as well as the state of being free from Ego, then I have to accept the demands of that object reality as well... :) But I think I believe in his explanation of awareness and being awake. He put it so clearly: whether you love or hate your yourself, who is the one doing all the the loving and/or hating? The observer exists in us and that is also where peace lives, if we can manage to find it.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-13 09:33 pm (UTC)I don't think Eckhart is in it for the money- but he does seem to have collected quite a lot of it. I find this odd. But he won't be the first guru who to wind up rich.