Eckhart Tolle voted "most spiritually influential person in the world"

Eckhart Tolle changed my life. I have read his books and listened to them on cd over and over. I was being driven crazy by the endless chatter in my head. I lived in the past and dreaded the future. Learning to live in the NOW is the greatest lesson I have ever learned and I believe it is the secret to happiness. Isn't that a simple concept? But so profound! It was like waking up from a dream. I will be forever grateful to Mr. Tolle.

reply to post by Stillness


I actually have 'The Power of Now' on my personal reading list.

Are you familiar with Buddhism? Lord Gautama Buddha did a wonderful job at teaching the concept of 'now' and mindfulness of the present moment. Does Eckhart Tolle bring anything new to the table, or is he simply reteaching the ancient and trancedental truth of 'now'?

• Sacrament of the Present Moment - Catholicism (Jean-Pierre de Caussade) 
• Mindfulness of the Present Moment - Buddhism 
• Presence without Absence - Islam-Sufism 
• Conscious Awareness - New Age Movement 

Originally posted by zippy1958
Eckhart Tolle changed my life. I have read his books and listened to them on cd over and over. I was being driven crazy by the endless chatter in my head. I lived in the past and dreaded the future. Learning to live in the NOW is the greatest lesson I have ever learned and I believe it is the secret to happiness. Isn't that a simple concept? But so profound! It was like waking up from a dream. I will be forever grateful to Mr. Tolle.

Yes it is this endless thought chatter that drains away vital energy from the Self. 90% of most peoples thinking is repetative, useless, dysfunctional and harmful. This constant stream of 'what if' of projecting often negative situations into the future are mind in origin and not from our true self. This kind of compulsive thinking has now become an addiction in man. We quite simply have lost the 'off' button and now allow our minds to rule us with its constant chatter, chatter usually of a negative nature.

To simply accept the Now and live fully within it is a great release from this disfunction.

I often wonder if the dream we wake up from is these false projections of past and future we seem to constantly be asleep within. While we live within our minds projections we are in effect asleep.

Eckhart Tolle's books had a significant impact on my life, but I have to say that Neale Donald Walsch's books had even more. The two authors share similar philosophy's, but Walsch's "Conversations With God" series really blew me away. They are the most thought-provoking books I have ever read on spiritual topics.

Originally posted by Sahabi
reply to post by Stillness

 

I actually have 'The Power of Now' on my personal reading list.

Are you familiar with Buddhism? Lord Gautama Buddha did a wonderful job at teaching the concept of 'now' and mindfulness of the present moment. Does Eckhart Tolle bring anything new to the table, or is he simply reteaching the ancient and trancedental truth of 'now'?

• Sacrament of the Present Moment - Catholicism (Jean-Pierre de Caussade) 
• Mindfulness of the Present Moment - Buddhism 
• Presence without Absence - Islam-Sufism 
• Conscious Awareness - New Age Movement 

edit on 10/1/11 by Sahabi because: (no reason given)

Yes I am familiar with Buddhism and read many of its teachings, I find they tie in well with Eckhart Tolle. The first two nobel truths of Buddha deal with suffering. They state that life has always in it an element of unfulfillment and suffering and that the cause of this suffering is desire.

It is the minds ego that causes this desire, if we dont desire things from our past or want things in our future then suffering ends. The suffering is due to the attachments made by the mind and its false self (ego). To fully accept our Now and live in it no matter what it brings ends desire. As long as we attach ourselves to things 'in time' we will always suffer because we always loose things in time .Anything in time will always pass away. To live in a state of 'no time' or the Now we liberate ourselves from the suffering . Being is eternal, it can never be lost. Eternal does not mean constant time, it means a state of no time, to be eternally Now, to be free of the desire of time.

I think there is one true message that is passed on in many forms, as in the ones you list above.

I think what Eckhart is doing is bringing this message to many people who are now ready to listen.

Originally posted by NightGypsy
Eckhart Tolle's books had a significant impact on my life, but I have to say that Neale Donald Walsch's books had even more. The two authors share similar philosophy's, but Walsch's "Conversations With God" series really blew me away. They are the most thought-provoking books I have ever read on spiritual topics.

ND Walsh also brings significant light into the human awakening. I have read these books and found them also to be very inspiring. The one that made most impact on me was Tomorrows God.

reply to post by Stillness


Sounds good. No one can really trademark or patent such spiritual truths... though they may be hidden from the masses, such truths are always revealed to the sincere seeker asking the right questions. It's always nice to hear transcendental truths being rearticulated by many different individuals. Peace to you friend.

Originally posted by Sahabi
reply to post by Stillness

 

Sounds good. No one can really trademark or patent such spiritual truths... though they may be hidden from the masses, such truths are always revealed to the sincere seeker asking the right questions. It's always nice to hear transcendental truths being rearticulated by many different individuals. Peace to you friend.

Exactly, the same message is brought by many different individuals. It is good that surveys like this bring teachers like Eckhart Tolle to the attention of those that have not heard of him, who knows maybe some of those who have read this magazine article are ready to listen to him. You are right no one can patent spiritual truths, and true spiritual teachers just put the message out there and allow it to do its work. For me, Eckhart Tolle is just such a teacher.