A New Earth is the only book I've read by Tolle, but seeing the star splattered night sky is number one on my list of aha moments in my life. I was raised Catholic, became a born-again Christian in high school, rejected all religions in my twenties, and still felt as if I had no clue as to what the purpose of my life might be. Then, I happened to spend a night deep in southeastern Utah. We slept without a tent as the weather was balmy. Sometime in the night I woke up and saw the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I saw a sky filled with a God-zillion stars! As I gazed in wonder a strange thought came into my mind. I had suddenly realized how incredibly, unknowingly huge the universe must be. In the next few moments I also realized how incredibly puny our little planet was; it wouldn't be bigger than a spec of dust. Then, I felt sad thinking that nothing I had ever done or said nor anything I might say or do could possibly have any relevance at all. I started to cry feeling that there was no point to my being alive. But, then another feeling began to swell in me; I sat up and shook my fist at the stars and said,"I have feelings and that matters to me!" This event was a turning point for me because, I realized that being an Atheist didn't answer any of my questions about life here on our Earth. So here's to those starry starry nights, may everyone experience that incredible FEELING!

Sounds like an amazing night!

What Eckhart pointed out to is the space bettween the objects in the sky helping to make one realize the vastness and Stillness/Consciousness. He talks about the speed of light. Don't quote me here but I have the gist. He says it takes the speed of light to reach the moon like 1 second and what also is so amazing is for the speed of light to reach our closest galaxy the Andromiter(sp) galaxy, it would take 1 million years, that's not specific but I know it was a million something. You can get the picture! So to add to this, this morning I was in true Awe looking at the sunrise. I live here in Montana and I see the sunrise every morning while I Meditate. It comes up over the mountains from my house and I always say I love this time of the year because the Sunrises are so beautiful and this morning it was more beautiful than ever! I think the awareness to be in Awe of what I am looking at made it one of the best moments I can remember but I am having a lot more of those lately by being Present : ) Here's to the Now!!!!

I have been in awe of space as long as I can remember. I have had some wonderful experiences. I have watched in awe as the spectacular northern lights (aurora borealis) dance in ever changing colors across the sky in both northern Alberta and Alaska, witnessed showers and showers of falling stars, watched the tail of a comet that won't be seen again in my lifetime burn across the sky and much more that draws my gaze to space. I live on a mountain overlooking a big lake in rural south central British Columbia, no street lights, no airports, no pollution etc to light up the sky. The last full moon was a full lunar eclipse in this area. It was below freezing that night. The sky was as clear as I have seen it. Sitting on my lawn chair in total darkness, bundled in a quilt with an electric blanket on high, I watched in awe as the eclipse appeared across the moon and the milky way glowed brightly among the billions of stars. And I am connected to all of that. Wow! How could I not be in awe.

I haven't read all of ANE yet, but in The Power of Now, ET speaks about the awe of space: (p. 116-117)

"Go out on a clear night and look up at the sky. The thousands of stars you can see with the naked eye are no more than an infinitesimal fraction of what is there. ... Yet what is even more awe-inspiring is the infinity of space itself, the depth and stillness that allows all of that magnificence to be. Nothing could be more awe-inspiring and majestic than the inconceivable vastness and stillness of space, and yet what is it? Emptiness, vast emptiness."

"What you perceive externally as space and time are ultimately illusory, but they contain a core of truth. They are the two essential attributes of God, infinity and eternity ..."

Yes. You'll find by the way almost anything Tolle said or wrote is a quote.

Do you have proof of that? He is original IMHO, but Truth is Truth! It can be represented poetically, mythically, spiritually, religiously, scientifically, artistically etc, but all language and even symbols just 'point to the moon'.

Please back up your statement.

It would cost me too much time to give you all the quotes and where he got it from. But when I read his book, I constantly thought 'this is Nietzsche', 'this is Plato', 'this is Einstein'. Example? Christ being killed because he was a beautiful flower. Quoter from Oscar Wilde. In his letter 'De Profundis'. Everybody assumes it is Tolle being poetic here. No way.

I suppose that, in the same manner, you would consider Aristotle, Plotinus, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and so many others to be mere plagiarizers of Plato? Because that is the assumption you would lead me to infer!

No, dear. The philosophers you mention added something to Plato it or gave such a different and original interpretation of Plato's thinking that made their philosophy stand on its own. Tolle does no such thing, he merely repeat what others are saying.

Well "dear" mamabertie, I beg to differ. (And BTW, I've read many of the classics, and most religious texts, not in their entirety given my lifespan of course, but enough to recognize Truth when I read it.)

So tell me what Tolle has to say that is so new and original to make him a new Aristotle?

LOL!!! Why don't you tell me?

First of all, I think that ET and Aristotle are profoundly different in their approaches to reality. Aristotle reduced everything to 'names of things' and 'cause and effect' and is responsible in part for the "thinking without awareness, the main dilemma of human existence" (ET, ANE, p. 32). IMHO, Aristotle and ET are more polar than congruent, so I would never consider Tolle to be "a new Aristotle!" He does have a remarkable similarity to Meister Eckhart, and I've tried to determine if that is how he derived his name, but have not yet been successful in that endeavor of curiosity.

Aristotle seems to be a cause of the disease that ET believes is the plague of our so called civilized society. That is, that only by thought can we come to understand our place in the universe. I am a scientist, and I had great difficulty with the concept of thinking as being the problem of anything, because I so firmly believed that by thought alone we could cure and solve problems.

As for your suspicions regarding the authenticity of Tolle, why don't you read A Treasury of Traditional Wisdom, a complete gem of a book. Topics from all religions, from all ages, from various authors all show more similarities than dissimilarities.

Have you ever read or heard of Thomas Hora, MD? (Didn't think so) You would likely have accused ET of plagierizing him, although he was a current author of wisdom and founder of metapsychiatry. Or how about Ken Wilber? Is he too a copy or cheater because he speaks truth in the modern age?

Dear mamabertie (and this time, the 'dear' is not meant sarcastically),

I kept checking and rechecking for the latest response by you and I have had to really LOL, because I see how much I am inevitably glued to 'ego.' I perceived your difference of opinion on Tolle as an attack because I so strongly believe that he is the 'real deal' and I went on defense because of ego! It's OK if you think he is just a reduplication/regurgitation of 'old' ideas, and I think he's genuine.

I want you to know that I checked out your previous posts and found them to be thoughtful and inspiring (topics including illegal immigrants, Darfur and 'we/they' thinking) and I thank you for your input regarding ET. I simply don't think he is a fake.

Hugs:x

Thank you so much. And I had some time to let it 'sink in' too. I do agree with you truth is not about originality, though I love the great thinkers for their ability to shed new light on important questions and I love their originality too.

Personally I sometimes think Tolle is a good guy, but sometimes I'm not so sure. At any rate, I don't like the guru status Tolle is getting and maybe even is creating himself. Mainly because it prevents us from experiencing if all he says is real to us or just some ideas we simply adopt, without understanding it to be really true. I personally don't like to give up what I consider to be healthy criticism and thinking for myself.
Is there really such a thing like a 'pain body'? There certainly is 'pain', but a body?
Is there really a phenomenon called the 'ego'? There certainly is centripetal thinking (Schelling...), but a little man in my head?
It does seem to me that Tolle 'objectifies' certain ideas, making them 'real' by turning them into 'things' or 'beings'.
I don't know if this is really helpful. I'm a bit afraid it will create yet another form of superstition. Then we'll have people relentlessly trying to battle their 'ego's' and tame their 'pain bodies' in order to be in 'the now'.
There is always a fine line between philosophy and theorizing on the one hand and cults and superstition on the other. I think we should not forget Tolle is one of many voices, who might offer us some truth, but certainly not the whole truth.
I think it's even dangerous getting 'hooked up' to a single philosophy, even if it is an enlightened one...