05-24-2014, 04:46 PM
Gemini Wolf, go out and buy “A New Earth,” it’s a very interesting book. I cannot do it justice. You began this thread with the question: “How are some people able to just live like that, nearly all the time? In relative calm, where nothing apparently upsets them.”
Our thoughts, our minds, create our perception of our world, and of ourselves.
My mind can get furious about something that happened when I was 14 years old. It can become terrified by something that has not yet happened. It can feel superior to, or less than, others. It can drive me crazy.
Those who manage to follow Eckhart Tolle’s advice, manage to realize that “I am not that mind, I am the observer of that mind.” And then to go further, “I Am. I Am aware. I Am consciousness.” It is spirituality wrapped in psychology. Or is it psychology wrapped in spirituality (?)
You cannot fight with your mind, but you can observe it. You can even laugh at it. And you can feel joyful about that. You cannot force that joy, but you can relax and go within, and find a joyful peace within your inner Being.
At the start of “A New Earth” Tolle writes of the similarity of various spiritual teachings:
That is, similar teachings about the human condition. Tolle says that the “normal” state of mind is “dysfunction or even madness.” In Hindu this “collective mental illness” is Maya, in Buddhism it is Dukkha (aka suffering), in Christianity it is Original Sin. (And this is my addition, RA calls it our Distortion.)
Another similarity of the spiritual truth found in various religions, and heard of from various teachers, is that transformation is possible. In Hindu this is enlightenment, Jesus called it salvation, and the Buddha called it the end of suffering. (I believe that Ra calls it Harvest.)
I love Eckhart Tolle. I’ve only just begun “A New Earth,” but I already know that I will probably be reading it more than once. He’s an excellent writer, and I believe that he knows what he writes of.
But this “collective mental illness” refers to all of us “normal” folks. If someone is experiencing a deeper form of mental illness, then these teachings may be magnificent, or may create confusion, I’ve no idea. I think that each case would be different. Perhaps, Gemini Wolf, you may consider buying two books, one for yourself, and one for your therapist? I want to help, and I very much want to do no harm . . . but you did ask this question about Eckhart Tolle, and why people like him.
Our thoughts, our minds, create our perception of our world, and of ourselves.
My mind can get furious about something that happened when I was 14 years old. It can become terrified by something that has not yet happened. It can feel superior to, or less than, others. It can drive me crazy.
Those who manage to follow Eckhart Tolle’s advice, manage to realize that “I am not that mind, I am the observer of that mind.” And then to go further, “I Am. I Am aware. I Am consciousness.” It is spirituality wrapped in psychology. Or is it psychology wrapped in spirituality (?)
You cannot fight with your mind, but you can observe it. You can even laugh at it. And you can feel joyful about that. You cannot force that joy, but you can relax and go within, and find a joyful peace within your inner Being.
At the start of “A New Earth” Tolle writes of the similarity of various spiritual teachings:
That is, similar teachings about the human condition. Tolle says that the “normal” state of mind is “dysfunction or even madness.” In Hindu this “collective mental illness” is Maya, in Buddhism it is Dukkha (aka suffering), in Christianity it is Original Sin. (And this is my addition, RA calls it our Distortion.)
Another similarity of the spiritual truth found in various religions, and heard of from various teachers, is that transformation is possible. In Hindu this is enlightenment, Jesus called it salvation, and the Buddha called it the end of suffering. (I believe that Ra calls it Harvest.)
I love Eckhart Tolle. I’ve only just begun “A New Earth,” but I already know that I will probably be reading it more than once. He’s an excellent writer, and I believe that he knows what he writes of.
But this “collective mental illness” refers to all of us “normal” folks. If someone is experiencing a deeper form of mental illness, then these teachings may be magnificent, or may create confusion, I’ve no idea. I think that each case would be different. Perhaps, Gemini Wolf, you may consider buying two books, one for yourself, and one for your therapist? I want to help, and I very much want to do no harm . . . but you did ask this question about Eckhart Tolle, and why people like him.