Oprah and Eckhart Tolle: The Flowering of the Human Consciousness of "A New Earth"

I am going to begin using this blog as a way to study A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. The blogs will not only contain what is discussed in the book, Tolle and Oprah's podcasts, and also my own input and thoughts as well. I'd love open discussion, if you have any thoughts of your own!

Oprah and Eckhart Tolle: The Flowering of the Human Consciousness of "A New Earth"

They were talking about walking into a garden or a park, and looking at plants, trees, the grass in a whole new way. To look at it without giving it a name, as a babe would. A deeper meaning of what the Bible says, to be child-like in nature, hit me. Suddenly I realize what it really means to be "innocent in this world." Oprah said she went out into her garden one afternoon, and didn't look at the lovely colors, the wonderful smells, but instead she saw the flowers for what they were, not their labels. She was in the Now. Tolle says that the compulsive naming of things, and applying labels, keeps us from stillness and true enlightenment. It disconnects us from Spirit when we are concerned, not for the thing it self, but its name, purpose, and what it can do for us (flowers - smell, color, beauty). Not labeling nature, as a start, causes a vibrating within life. The world around is vitally alive. Being in one's own head, or lost in thought, doesn't allow you to see the world and life around you. You begin to see decay, death, destruction, instead of the growth of the flowers, the flight of the bumblebee, the smile of a child. Squelch "The Voice in the Head" that asks all the questions, and doesn't hear the answers.


A woman from Alton, IL. called in and asked how Oprah has reconciled the teachings of Tolle and that of her Christian beliefs. Oprah told a story of how she was raised Baptist and how one day she was caught up in the rapture of a sermon when the preacher started talking about how God is omnipotent and omnipresent, but that he is a jealous God. She says it didn't feel right within her Spirit. This is something that I too faced as a child, and then later as an adult. The last time was one evening at the First Baptist Church in Seagraves, TX. I was working at the church, running the nursery, on Wednesdays and Sundays. There was a speaker that I could turn on and listen to the sermon. As I sat in that empty nursery, alone, and listened to the preachers sermon of "how great thou art, but ohhhhhhhhhhhh don't you piss him off," I wanted to scream. God is love. Pure love. How can God, the infallible, be jealous and full of rage? My beliefs and others differ, but I've opened up my mind to the belief that whether what I or others do or do not believe is the truth or not, it is the intention of Love behind the actions that matters. You have the choice to be jaded and cynical, just as you have the choice to be hopeful and love-full.
"Man made God in his own image. The eternal, the infinite, and unnameable was reduced into a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as My God or Our God."

Old Spirituality vs. New Spirituality - In the old way the hierarchy, the church, tells you how to worship and how to behave outside of church. God and the path to follow him has already been set, you just have to follow the yellow brick road. This is the right way, and all other ways are wrong, is the teaching. The new spirituality is that you are your own best authority as you work to know and love yourself, you discover how to live a more spiritual life. You can listen and plow your own road to God. Many paths lead to spiritual meaning and peace, there is a rich array of gems from which to draw illumination. Those gems are teachings, sermons, world religions, world beliefs, healing, science, all experiences, and you use them all to "string a necklace all your own." (This was all loosely taken from the podcast)

Tolle doesn't want to change any ones mind or become their guru. The message is simply to strike a chord, and awaken something within you.

Ryan asked, "human history in the past years, especially in the last years, people have become more aware of 'Christ-consciousness.' Why do you think that is?" Tolle says that it is happening now because we are reaching a crisis point. Many things do not happen unless there is an absolute need for them to happen. In the past, this awakening was really a luxury. They tried to teach others, but were misinterpreted. Fallible man. We are awakening now, because if humanity is to make it to the next evolutionary level, we cannot allow the ego to become more and more destructive. If we do not step out of the egoic-consciousness, we will destroy ourselves and the planet. If you look at the history of the 20th century, you get a glimpse of what the non-evolutionary process, no major shift, does. There were 160-180million people in the 20th century were murdered by war, concentration camps, prison camps, starvation. If there is no shift, conflict will continue and eventually control.

This isn't just about being positive, but putting our own ego's in check. You are not your thought processes. Thought processes are conditioned through thousands of years of conditioning. This is how the ego arises. The dysfunction in the ego has created dysfunction in the world today. "Our individual fears, doubts, angers, jealousies, resentments, all contribute to the collective. In order to change the collective, each one of us has a responsibility to mine that within ourselves. That's how we're contributing to the collective." What ever you put out into the world, positive or negative, contributes to the energy field of the world.

The voice in the head is conditioned thinking. It is from teachings and experiences from birth. To recognize them as conditioned thought processes, then you become less identified by them and their restrictions. When these thoughts come up, don't tell them to go away, because it only gives it more power. Just be aware of the thoughts, but that it doesn't identify who you are. Guilt comes in when there hasn't been a decision made by You as to whether this is real or true. You are being led still, by conditioned thinking.

Do not ask what is my life's purpose, but what is life's purpose for me.

When people come together and enter the state of presence together, it generates an energy field, a different level of consciousness, in the present. Beware, however, to not become dependent on the group. Your responsibility is to be in the present at all times.

You don't become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge. But it can only emerge if something fundamental changes in your state of consciousness. The ego has many idea of who and what it wants to be, because it wants to have a better image of it self. "On that level, the essential dysfunction of the ego is still operating. This is why we have the phrase 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions.'" If your good behavior is still wrapped up in the ego, then it will be challenged and destroyed. You have to go beyond good and bad, and reach an unconditioned place within yourself. A formless consciousness. "Be still and know that I am God." The formless, or eternal, is where the soul resides. It is the untouched place that is, and forever will be, untouched, no matter what has or will happen to you. You can only do this by becoming Still. Not by going to sleep, but becoming more aware than ever. The way to begin to feel that, is to go out in nature. After a time, you begin to start to sense the stillness within nature. What you sense is also within you. It is a sacredness. There is no real definition of Sacred, because it is what you are.

There is a separation of ego within humans. There is an image of Me, and an image of You (I). This is the true self, and the ego. When we speak to ourselves, we says, "You shouldn't have said that." "You need..." "Why did You..." So, when one reaches a crisis point, for example suicide, they say, "I just can't live myself any more." There is the separation of the true self and the ego. The ego drives one to destruction, but recognizing the separation, the ego can be calmed and peace felt. True self = Stillness. You/I/Me - continuous suffering. Ego - the unobserved mind. Killing the Buddha is when the ego met, recognized, and dies because it cannot survive in true consciousness. The mind becomes Still.

You don't need years and years to undo the years and years of conditioning. It is done in the Now. Just find the point of power in the present moment. There are many things you can do to access the power of the presence. Ask yourself, "Am I still breathing?" to find out if you are still breathing, your attention moves from the ego to the body, and a focus is found. You become present in that moment. Even if it is just 5 seconds. Everyday motions like walking, washing hands, taking a cup out of a cupboard, do it consciously. Feel the water, smell the soap. Sense perceptions become acute and brings you into the moment. Feel the muscles, the motion of the body, there's a foot, feel every part of what it takes to get you to the top of the stairs. To the mind, that kind of thing is meaningless. However, this is how you bring in awareness. It is something fresh and new, and the more your old conditioning becomes eroded. Learning to do the simple things begin to retrain your mind. This is true meditation. Everything is a means to the end, so you never really get into the moment. You make a cup of coffee, but you really just want to drink it. Focus on the making of the coffee, then the drinking of it. Be present Now.

Power can only flow into your life until you are completely present Now.

In an ever changing world, a species either needs to adapt or die out. "Humanity is now faced with a stark choice: evolve or die." Consciousness does not stop to exist if humans are not here. We are forms that come out of consciousness. It is the evolutionary process. The unmanifested consciousness is God. God comes into manifested consciousness gradually. Through each human being, flowers, animals. So, even if the human species were to die out, the human consciousness would remain within the collective consciousness of the world. It is a transformation of form. There is a significant number of humans who are recognizing this fact, and their awakening is causing a shift within the world, and thus a great hope for the future of the species.

Be In the world, but not Of It.

The basis of life is the Present Moment. Find a place of acceptance. No matter where you are, come to terms and become friendly with the Present moment. The Present Moment is Life. What is my relationship with the Present Moment? Don't make the Present Moment you enemy, make peace with it in order to get yourself out of it. Example: Getting stuck in the mud. Accept what it is before you can begin to change it. Action then comes out of acceptance, not resistance, and a totally different energy begins to flow into what you do. It is empowered by life it self. WOW!

The more you make your thoughts and ideals into your identity, the more cut-off you become from the Spiritual within yourself. How Spiritual you are has nothing to do with what you believe, but everything to do with your state of consciousness. How spiritual you are means How Present you are. Stillness. What you believe in is not an important question, but are you present. People want to know what you believe in, in order to label you, so they can decide whether they can like you or accept you or not.