Watch out for the little man in a beige vest; he’s up to no good.
Though it shouldn’t come as a surprise, turns out Eckhart Tolle is a threat to all that is good and moral.
Well, at least according to leaders of just about every organized religion out there.
The Canadian magazine Macleans recently ran a feature on the man who some consider “one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our age.”
Other considerations range from heretic, to a mixer of “Hinduism, Buddhism, and New-Age Pop,” to “anti-Christ” (in a beige sweater vest, as the author notes).
What’s his sin? Well, it seems to be one thing essentially, no matter which religious leader you ask. He removes the hierarchical view of God being “above” us, and states instead that God is within each of us. We are all of, and share, the same source, so there is no need to go outside oneself to find connection or peace.
Or, as Mr. Walker, Texas Ranger himself, Chuck Norris had to say:
To me, [Tolle's success] is more evidence of the paradigm shift in our culture from its moral absolute and Judeo-Christian basis to a relativistic world view in which anything goes and everything is tolerated.
Anything goes? Has he read Tolle?
The Purpose of the Now
I’m not sure this commenter on the Macleans‘ piece has either: “Spiritual masturbation. All the good feelings without any intellectual discipline, interpersonal communion, or a perspective informed by tradition or mentorship.”
Tolle’s overall message is to always live in the present moment. To attempt living in the now, it takes extreme discipline. As Ian MacKenzie wrote in his piece, The Traveler’s Guide To Enlightenment, “‘Now’ is what you’re doing at this moment. It is you sitting in your chair, hand on the mouse, pupils reading the words on this screen.”
Are you fully in your body right at this moment, or is your mind somewhere else – thinking about checking Facebook, that annoying thing your friend said earlier today, or contemplating what sex with Eckhart Tolle might be like based on his picture above? (No need to lie, now).
In other words, it’s every day, every second, both within yourself and in connection with others, of not thinking about the past, and not contemplating the future. It means always connecting to the spirit inside of you and all around you.
He is simply spreading a message about our own ability to achieve inner peace.
I hardly consider Tolle perfect, and he certainly is making a chunk of change off of his books, videos and new ET-TV (yes, that’s Eckhart Tolle, not Entertainment Tonight, TV). But as far as I can tell, he has never claimed perfection, or being better than the rest of us; he is simply spreading a message about our own ability to achieve inner peace (a message which can be accessed at the public library for free).
God or Prophet? No. Simple, loving message? Feels more like it.
What do you think of Eckhart Tolle’s message and tactics? Share your thoughts below.
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12 Comments... join the discussion!
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I believe that out of the millions of self help books out there, The Power of Now & The New Earth are probably the only ones you need to read. If more of us lived in the moment, like children & animals do, we wouldn’t have so much angst in our lives. I don’t see him preaching anything other than practical self help.
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That’s a laugh, Chuck Norris talking about morals while he lives off the benefits of his violent movies. I think everyone’s just jealous of “poor” ol’ Eckhart.
Re Maclean’s quote “perspective informed by mentorship”…well, isn’t he a mentor? And no intellectual discipline? I don’t think they’ve ever tried meditating.
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I think that religious leaders are threatened because Tolle’s philosophy will even trim the already challenged number of their flocks. So instead of being perched on their high horse and protected by what they called as tradition, they should join the rest of us and start doing something good for a change such as building hospitals and schools instead of useless churches.
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“start doing something good for a change such as building hospitals and schools instead of useless churches. ”
I agree with Christine. This guy is not a serious threat to anyone but the most dogmatic. On the other hand, I respectfully disagree with you SEACHILD. Building only hospitals and school will leave you with a very educated, healthy, spiritually empty and depressed population. Some people are fine without any higherpower in their lives and I respect that, but I think calling churches uselss is a stretch. For many people, it’s the only time they think about anything higher than themselves.
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Great piece Christine! It made me outraged, laugh out loud, and ponder. Personally, I am a fan of Tolle and his message. (And to think, before this article I never thought of what it would be like to have sex with him! lol) Mindfulness of the now is what it’s all about. I think his message is powerful, simple, and common sense. (Something that makes the dogmatic people of the world cantankerous…)
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Really interesting article Christine…just sparked an idia…if ET is such a threat to organized religion we should flood Afghanistan & Pakistan with copies of his books translated into Arabic, Pushtun & Urdu. Put the Taliban on the defensive. If I win the lotto this is going to be my gift to the world.
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Hi Christine,
already from the title I thought it must be you:) You always make me laugh and I so much like your thoughts about these subjects.
But regarding Tolle, – to be honest, I couldn’t last more than ten pages of his book ‘The Power of Now’. I found it extremely boring, but it probably just means that I don’t live in the now:)↵ -
I think it is a great book – but definately needs to be read several times to fully comprehend it and benefit from it. The present is all we ever have, so much dissatisfaction comes from stress and worry, which usually never happens and is the future. I think Eckart Tolle, has a good message and does comes from his own experience. There is always something that can be learned and benefited from these inspirational book. Great Article
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Thanks for introducing Eckhart Tolle.
I haven’t read the books but respect ET’s right to voice his opinions.
Just seems like personal experience and thoughts to me, which some people will relate to and some won’t.
I agree with him about the buildings, and think people should just worship where they want, inside or outside, and individually or in a group of like-minded people.
But I don’t agree with just thinking in the now, if that’s what he proposes; I believe in using memories and planning for the future.
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who wants to be in the same state as Buddha,Osho,J.Krishnamurti, Gurdjieff,
well who doesn’t…..but….
who wants to be in the same state as Eckhart Tolle……not me, seems to be some ‘enlightened self-hypnosis’ going on, as the likes of Gangaji, de Ruiter, etc. ….. i rather be, and stay, a farmer.↵ -
like your interpretation Christine.
to the questioners here, my take is this.Only personal experience!!
The ground on which we all stand is the life we experience, why let anything take us away from its beauty. And how else would we know beauty if we did not have ugliness as contrast? Without our senses how would we know either? Is’nt then it somehow a reflection of our inner self we see?Critics
What are the critics afraid of ? A loss of their egoic importance? Afraid they are nothing without their given/recieved story?Don’t need the message! Maybe you practice being in the now already.
I have met a few individuals who are superb farmers. dentists, surgeon who are supremely happy with their situation.Eckhart Tolle’s thoughts are not new , only a skilled contemporary account of learning from personal experience and inspired enough to share with others. Accessable to all because he pretends to be nothing other than an ordinary human being. I only hope success does not ‘go to his head’ and discredit a very timely message for humanity.
cheers Duncan
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