On Eckhart Tolle – The Power of Now and A New Earth

I am not usually up with popular culture enough to get on bandwagons the first time they come around. Heck, I didn’t even get into Springsteen until the 90’s even though Born to Run was out before I started college! So I missed the whole Oprah craze with Spiritual Teacher Eckhart Tolle. I literally “discovered” this guy when I was in my local used book store looking for some books on tape to make a drive I had coming up go a little faster. I saw this tape collection called “The Power of Now” and spent the $1 asking price – yes, that’s right – ONE DOLLAR – and figured with a title like that it’s got to be worth a buck. Suffice it to say that The Power of Now did not disappoint; in fact, it changed my life, and if you listen to it or read it, I believe it could have a significant impact on yours too.

My listening experience was filled with the sense that Tolle had written this work just for me. I felt spiritually undressed by him, like he stripped away all of my defenses and somehow knew how my mind worked. A good buddy of mine named George once said this to me in his inimitable way: “Tobes, you’ve got one foot in the past, the other in the future, and you’re just pissin’ all over the present!” Yeah, I know, with friends like Georgie who needs enemies, right? No, he’s a dear enough friend that he can tell me the truth and it won’t hurt, and this particular truth was unarguable. That is pretty much what I’ve done all my life! I spin over and over the past – regrets, painful experiences, disappointments – and I worry incessantly about the future. Tolle believes that the present is the only real time; it is the only moment that matters, the only time in which one can act, decide, or do anything that matters. He also believes that those of us who live in our minds, churning endlessly over the past and/or the future, have no access to God and His still small voice. Tolle argues that our minds have literally taken over us, controlling us when we were designed to control them. The inability to turn my mind off has resulted in everything from years of therapy to all manner of prescription sleep aids, most of which have been no match for my never resting brain.

If any of you struggle with turning off your mind or truly living in the present moment, please read Tolle! I can’t begin to explain the difference his work has made in my life in a few short weeks. One thing I particularly appreciate about his work is his deep knowledge and respect of ALL faiths and religions. He draws from Jesus, Buddha, the Hindu scriptures, and all manner of Zen masters. The truth he unveils transcends religious truth and plumbs the depths of psychology as well. I’m hoping when the group I’m meeting with to found Living Vision in Northern Michigan gets through its current study of The Way of Jesus: Re-Forming Spiritual Communities in a Post-Church Age, we will turn our attention to Tolle’s work. He is truly a gifted spiritual teacher!