Talk:Eckhart Tolle
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I am not really sure if one should call Eckhart Tolle a representative of the New Age movement. Any opinions to that?
- from New Age:
- Most New Age activity may be characterized as a form of alternative spirituality. Even apparent exceptions (such as alternative health practices) often turn out to have some spiritual dimension (for example, the integration of mind, body, and spirit). "Alternative" here means, with respect to the dominant Western Judeo-Christian culture. It is no accident that most New Age ideas and practices seem to contain implicit critiques of mainstream Christianity in particular. An emphasis on meditation suggests that ordinary prayer is insufficient; belief in reincarnation (which not all New Agers accept) challenges familiar Christian doctrines of the afterlife.
- Sounds to me like he fits in pretty well, except for the reincarnation part. --goethean ॐ 14:32, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Ok, if you use this definition of New Age than I would agree. Nevertheless New Age seems too me a just to comprehensive label for Tolle. Best regards, Dominic
-
- I agree he fits the definition of New Age in so far as being nonsectarian and focused on personal Gnostic experience of spirituality without reference to traditional notions of God or Buddha etc. However, in so far as the New Age is specifically a phenomenon of the 1980's and early 1990's and is now kind of passe, Tolle is not really part of the classical New Age movement. Perhaps perennial philosophy is a better description without any specific allusions to historical movements.
"new age" is a very vague word and carries alot of baggage. He doesn't advocate use of crystals or alot of alternative medicine. Perennoial works...inclusive is also good. -Mike
i think that "new age" is a term that carries too much conotation with astrology, crystals, and the like: things which have nothing to do with Eckhart Tolle. It would be a better entry without it. --Pjford 05:29, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
One of the things that Tolle talks about is: “Words point.” The phrase “New Age” is a phrase that points. What it points at depends on the person. Some people share a body of thought at which the phrase points. For some people (perhaps a majority), the body of thought includes crystals, astrology and so forth. Thus, words always stem from thoughts and THAT is the point that Tolle is best known for in my mind.
What I have found is what a pastor friend of mind said once, “I must learn to chew the meat and spit the bones.” Reading the words and listening to the words of Eckhart Tolle is no different. I have learned MANY good things from him. I have done so without falling in to the trap of “If I believe one thing, I must believe it all.” I believe this is one of the sad things about being human and being human in a group.
Group humanity wants me to accept “group thought” 100% (or close to it) in order to “fit in.” The closer I am to first defining what 100% is and then believing as close to 100% of it, the closer I am to be accepted and welcomed by 100% of the group. After 42 years of living, I have learned this is not a way of living, but a way of denying who I am for the sake of a group fantasy. I have found that when I look to the group for acceptance, what I really want is to accept myself. THERE is where I have finally come to. I can accept me as I am (not my collection of thoughts, but the REAL me), without 100% acceptance by the group (whatever that group happens to be).
I have said all of this to say – New Age is just a phrase that stems from thought. You have your thoughts about what New Age points at inside you and I have mine. We will never fully agree. I think it is ok that we do not agree because agreement is a fantasy of thought and not the basis for really living. I accept Tolle as he is. I accept what he says for what it is. I chew the meat and spit the bones for myself. I neither lift him up, nor do I put him down. I do not agree with 100% of what he says, neither do I reject all that he says because I find points of disagreement. My hope for all of humanity is the same as this.
- If that's anything like Tolle's work, I think calling him new age would be pretty damn apt --Deleuze 11:32, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
As Tolle himself puts it, words are only pointers. Does it matter that much if one calls him New Age or not? --Abysmal 09:13, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Critics
I softened this paragraph. Additional information was gathered from the organiser of Barry Long's seminars in London during the time when Tolle attended them. He told me via e-mail that it's true that there had been queries from people in Barry Long's teaching about the similarity of Eckhart Tolle's work, for instance the 'pain-body' is the same as the 'unhappy body' described in Long's 'Only Fear Dies'. He explained this as the natural influence of a teacher on a student, and said that "copying" would not be the appropriate word.
- I suggest to soften it further. In the light of this statement by the respective organiser the paragraph in question might better read, for example: "( [...] Rinzai) school. As some disciples of the Australian teacher Barry Long point out, also a certain influence of him, whose seminars Tolle attended in London in the mid-1980s, some years after his own alleged awakening, might be visible in Tolle's writings. Tolle himself expresses in an interview with John Parker [1] that by listening to and having some conversation with Barry Long, he understood things more deeply." (or something like this ?) --202.32.5.229 04:17, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I have twice reverted an anonymous user who removed all information about Tolle's connection to Barry Long, without any edit summary or discussion. Academic Challenger 00:35, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I have given it a try according to my explanation of July 6th. Please improve if adequate. --219.110.234.220 11:06, 17 July 2006 (UTC)is works.
Tolle mentions A Course in Miracles a couple of times in works. Having read a bit of this, I suspect this ought also be mentioned as an influence, at least in his choice of terminology. Read it yourself and you'll see what I mean. Any comments? --Abysmal 09:13, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Merge
This article has much better NPOV than the other, but there may something worth keeping in the other article. Any way you look at it, two articles differing in title only by capitalization is not the right way to go. --Thanatosil 20:09, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
In my recent edit I have inserted the sentence "At the core of Tolle's teachings lies the transformation of individual and collective human consciousness - a global spiritual awakening" into the first paragraph. Something about this does not feel entirely "true" / good, but not having found out at the time of writing this what it was I leave it at this for the moment. Maybe someone else can change that as far as it is necessary. --125.100.73.66 05:48, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
Clearly this merge needs to happen. Anything useful in the small T tolle article can be brought into here -- that's what merge means, after all. If I knew technically how to do so, I would be bold and do it this second. Msalt 19:22, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
Hey! I figured it out and merged the pages. Excellent help on the Wikipedia documentation page (unless I screwed it up, in which case it was terrible documentation.) Msalt 20:15, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
