A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61)

A New Earth Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61) by Eckhart Tolle (based on 1348 customer reviews)

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Author: Eckhart Tolle
Publisher: Penguin

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665 out of 849 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 1/31/08

Now is the Time for Peace--Within and Without

"Ego is a conglomeration of recurring thought forms and conditioned mental-emotional patterns that are invested with a sense of I, a sense of self. Ego arises when your sense of Beingness, of 'I Am', which is formless consciousness, gets mixed up with form. This is the meaning of identification. This is a forgetfulness of Being, the primary error, the illusion of absolute separateness that turns reality into a nightmare." -- From the book

I have several books, decks and audios by Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now, Through the Open Door to the Vastness of Your True Being, Stillness Speaks Inspiration Deck, Power of Now Inspiration Cards, and others), but A New Earth is by far the most illuminating, accessible and uplifting.

For those unfamiliar with Eckhart Tolle, this man experienced a profound instantaneous inner transformation at age 29. Born in Germany and schooled in England, he integrated and deepened his experience with an intense inward journey. Tolle then began teaching small groups as a spiritual counselor. In 1995, he moved to Canada and is now considered one of the most influential spiritual thinkers of our time, largely in part to his books The Power of Now and A New Earth.

In A New Earth: Awakening Your Life's Purpose, this gentle teacher traces human suffering to one simple, yet insidious, root: the ego. While many authors and philosophers throw around the word "ego", Tolle actually exposes what the ego IS--and why it causes us so much trouble.

While 17th century philospher Rene Descartes may be considered the "father of philosophy", his famous dictum "I think, therefore I am" mechanized humans into "thinking machines" that can reason their way through any problem--and to "ultimate truth". Cartesian philosophy (named for Descartes) has permeated our culture for centuries and can be best summed up with "I think--that is my identity--and therefore, my thinking is my Being". According to Tolle, Descartes discovered the root of EGO, not Beingness.

However, Tolle echoes another philosopher who came a few hundred years Descartes, Jean Paul Sartre saying: (my paraphrase) Wait a minute. If we become AWARE that we are thinking...then what is that part that is observing...that can make that assessment? If thinking equals Being, then we wouldn't realize we're "thinking' in the first place! We'd be like a dreamer "who doesn't know he is dreaming".

Tolle asserts that this awareness outside of thinking is our TRUE Being, the part that is "I Am"--a dimension of consciousness that, unfortunately, is often discovered at the point of tragic loss or hitting a "limit-situation". It's an inexplicable peace that descends, a sacred sense of Presence. Could this be the "peace that passes all understanding" that St. Paul talked about in the New Testament?

The reason it takes a "tragedy" for some to wake up is because a disidentification from form has occurred. In other words, let's say a person experiences a house fire and loses everything--but ends up experiencing a sense of peace...a feeling "It's OK, and it will be OK". Or what about those who experience illness, death of a loved one, disfigurement, or debilitation? When these ones experience an all-pervasive Presence, a "Being prior to all forms, all identifications", an individual, through direct experience (not thought), realizes 'Wait a minute...I am NOT my thoughts...(or possessions)'.

So what does this mean to you, dear reader? Well, if you are not your thoughts--then who ARE you? Why is it that some people become bitter or resentful after tragedy...but others become wise, compassionate and loving? How many unexamined thoughts do you have bouncing through your head--thoughts that have been handed down to you through parents, religion and the media that influence every move you make? What if THOUGHTS, and their resulting emotions, are the source of your suffering?

What if the true "you" is not your body? Not your bank account? Not your title? Not your actions, reputation or accomplishments? Then, who ARE you?

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose will introduce you to the "you" that's always been with you, the part connected to the peace of God, a higher Presence and joy unspeakable. In addition to Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie, the spiritual truths of Eckhart Tolle have changed my life (and continue to do so when I "remember" who I really am). Time and time again, when I "suffer", I can trace it to my "stinkin' thinkin'". (And just so you don't think I've lived a charmed life absent of difficulties, I've experienced widowhood at age 25, post traumatic stress syndrome, poverty, general anxiety disorder and a son diagnosed with Autism at age 3, among other trying circumstances.)

Do you hate your body? Get this book. Are you plagued with thoughts that you're not "enough"? Get this book. Do you fear that if you lose something precious (money, spouse, youth, vigor, job, etc.) that your life will be "over"? Get this book. Is your attachment to "stuff" and striving to live up to the expectations of others wearing you out? Get this book. Do you want to heal from painful emotions and negative states of being? Get this book.

Do you want to experience peace that passes all understanding? Get this book.

I'll leave you with a quote from A New Earth:

"'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth', writes the biblical prophet. The foundation for a new earth is a new heaven--the awakened consciousness. The earth--external reality--is only its outer reflection. The arising of a new heaven and by implication a new earth are not future events that are going to make us free. Nothing is GOING to make us free because only the present moment can make us free. Thus realization is the awakening...So the new heaven, the awakened consciousness, is not a future state to be achieved...What did Jesus tell his disciples? 'Heaven is right here in the midst of you'."

Janet Boyer, author of Back in Time Tarot (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)

399 out of 486 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/13/05

A Slightly Different Style But Still Great Stuff!

OK. After reconsidering I've taken the clowns reference out of my review. But I must say that I am still somewhat distressed that Eckhart's former "friends" would rush to get their reviews - not of the book but of Eckhart's "character" flaws! - onto Amazon on the first couple of days of the release of his new book. As for Eckhart's attitude towards women all I can go by is what he has written in his books and spoken in his recorded seminars. He seems like a very gentle soul and very favorable toward women and women's rights. And must Eckhart apologize for being born a male and an only child? As for the criticism of his term "pain-body" - Eckhart uses this term as an excellent metaphor for the anger and frustration that everyone (including children) feels from time to time. It should not be compared or confused with the old occult notion of the ethereal body. I am half-way through "A New Earth." Admittedly nothing Eckhart EVER does will be "better" than "The Power of Now." Rather, "A New Earth" is a restatement and amplification of all that has come before. In his new book Eckhart writes with a more forceful and detailed style which I find I am thoroughly enjoying. I've read and appreciated all the others (Krishnamurti, Ken Wilber, Osho, A Course in Miracles, Chopra, etc.). But I always come back to Eckhart. No one else comes close to the simple and profound spiritual truth of his work. I highly reccomend "A New Earth"!

296 out of 343 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 4/2/08

Simple but Not Easy

This book really speaks to me. My mind is so busy that sometimes I absentmindedly arrive at a place and then ask myself what I wanted to do here. Within a few moments my mind goes through a number of different thoughts forgetting about the reason that directed me to a certain place. And this is why this book is so helpful. Eckhart Tolle provides simple solution to people like me. The solution is simple but in no way it is easy! The solution is getting rid of the noise in the head and focusing on the present moment and the one single activity that you are undertaking in this moment.

In a way this book is -- to a certain degree -- a rehash of the author's previous work titled "The Power of Now." However, if you have already read The Power of Now I still suggest getting "A New Earth" as there is still a great amount of new material. In a way in both books Tolle deals with the same subject matter, but in my opinion he is doing a much better job explaining the subject in this book. The author's soft-spoken manner permeates the whole work and makes it an easy and relaxed reading.

A big part of the book is devoted to identifying the many faces of (and dealing with) the "EGO" ("the voice in the head that pretends to be you") which is the culprit of our mental suffering that author calls "The Pain-Body" ("the emotions that are the body's reaction to what the voice in the head is saying"). Tolle suggests ways for breaking free of the Pain-Body and finding who you really are.

Unhappiness and negativity are everywhere around us. Surprisingly they are felt more deeply in the affluent western world, as we are more deeply identified with forms and trapped in our egos. The joy of being, the only true happiness, cannot come to us from anywhere, we can only experience it from the formless dimension within us after we allow the diminishment of the ego.

This book is not to be read like a novel. I suggest reading it slowly - just a few pages at a time, and practicing the author's suggestions. In the realm of spirituality no-one of us will probably have the same experience, but I dare say that the deeper you get into it the more powerful the experience will be. The secret is getting to the awareness outside of thinking, to the awareness of true being. Get the book and try it out. It might also speak to you.

Other recommended readings:
Power of Now
The Secret
Can We Live 150 Year?

228 out of 256 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 12/15/05

Saving Our Species From Extinction

Reading the other reviews of this extraordinary work, I see folks commenting on Eckhart Tolle's character, how much ego he has, how much money he makes, whether the ego is good or bad, etc. This is missing the entire point of A New Earth and The Power Of Now because these are observations of the mind.

We are clearly living in an insane world. As Eckhart says, we killed 100 million members of our own species just in the 20th century; we are busy destroying the ability of the planet we live on to support human life; murder, rape and hate blare at us every night from the TV; the government pays farmers not to grow food while children starve to death.

There is only one problem and there is only one solution for that problem and Eckhart has more lucidly presented this than any author I have ever read. The answers we crave CANNOT be found through thought. They can only be found in the stillness, in the present moment. What matters is this: will we take this message and use it in our own lives? Or not?

There is all kinds of evidence that species of animals and plants have suddenly taken a quantum leap up the evolutionary ladder. There is a 'critical mass' that is reached when enough members of a species adopt a new way of being. At that point, the rest of the biological group is brought along and the numbers required to bring this about aren't really that high. There is no doubt that we humans are on a course that will ultimately end in our extinction if there are not fundamental changes.

The solution lies in each one of us taking responsibility for our own consciousness. We have countless opportunities every day to practice living in the Now, just as Eckhart teaches. When I don't want to cook dinner, or wash the dishes, or weed the garden, or mop the floor, I can resentfully do these activities - or I can use them as opportunities to practice. My life is filled with increasing bliss and ecstasy. I constantly focus on JOY, just as he teaches. Instead of grumbling, I seek the joy in every mundane chore and, just as he says, the power of spirit flows into what I am doing.

Of the billions of people on this planet, only a relative handful of us will have the privilege of reading Eckhart Tolle's two awesome books. If you 'grok' what he is saying, then practice, practice, practice. If enough of us evolve spiritually, one of these days we will all evolve into beings that we can't even imagine right now. This is the greatest contribution we can ever make.

Personally, I have been reading spiritual books for 30+ years. I knew even as a small child that something fundamental was missing in my life, but I couldn't seek it because I didn't know what to look for. Now my heart is now full and I am at peace most of the time - and when I'm not, I know what the problem is and I know how to restore the peace. I am living in a heaven on earth! Thank you, Eckhart Tolle.

217 out of 253 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/13/05

WOW oh WOW

I really like how this new book is written even though most of what he covers was presented in The Power of Now. It's a more flowing narrative and easy to grasp with good examples. I enjoyed it immensely. This information is so accessible; I would rate this as THE most important book of the decade. It is my all time favorite.

203 out of 262 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/15/05

Why this is such a brilliant book:

Within about 5 minutes of opening this book (at the pain-body chapter) I was in ecstasy. Why? I already know all this stuff. I even teach it. What is it about Eckhart and his writing style that is so unusual?

I first read the Power of Now when it came out. I dismissed it as another fairly good book, but not such a big deal. In retrospect, I didn't really want it to be as good, or him to be as successful, as it was and he was. Some kind of sibling rivalry.

Then I went through something in my life that was so difficult that I found myself grabbing the book off the shelf, and taking it everywhere with me for quite a while. The only other book that I suddenly "knew" I MUST read was Byron Katie's book Loving What Is, toward which I had projected a similar kind of attitude. Now these two books were my saving grace, not just because of what they say, but because of the authenticity of the voice of the people saying it.

There is something about Eckhart that is very powerful and beautiful -- at least when you are looking for a connection to higher consciousness. I have found this book to be very clear and in many ways better than The Power of Now, because it goes into greater detail about the emotional ramifications of both enlightenment and identification with the ego, and also explains and unravels the pain-body more deeply. Most books about enlightenment consider all this just something to transcend, which makes the whole process very dualistic.

So I would say, if you liked the first book read this one now.

I was also shocked to see the personal attacks on this review list. Once I started reading the book it began to seem funny. He talks about how we project our pain-bodies all the time, and there is a story (the one about the restaurant) that is very relevant here.

Hope this helps

174 out of 243 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 11/17/06

Awakening Start's Now

I was somewhat unfamiliar with Eckhart Tolle before initially reading this book a few months ago. I had heard of his book "The Power of Now," and I had listened to a bit of it on CD in a friend's car. However, I didn't feel that I thoroughly understood the subject he was discussing. At this point though, I did know his name and a little about his life's work.

I was in the airport in Los Angeles and I had a few moments before making my way to the gate to catch a flight. I always take a book and a magazine or two with me whenever I fly, as I find it's a great opportunity for me to catch up on the infinite pile that's always within arm's reach of my bed. I don't recall exactly what I was reading at the moment, but I do recall that I was thoroughly engaged in reading something that I was at the time, enjoying. Since I had these few minutes before making my way to the gate, I went to the bookstore in the terminal and browsed through all of the latest editions to come on the market.

As I was browsing, I noticed a rather striking orange cover with a large "Eckhart Tolle" on it. Since I had recently become familiar with his previous book, I decided to pick it up and read a few pages. At once, I was thoroughly engrossed.

I put the book back on the shelf, and decided since I had a book with me to finish reading, when I got home I would get on Amazon.com and order Eckhart's latest book to read at some point in the future.

I started walking to my gate but I kept feeling a "tug at my sleeve" to go back and buy that book and read it on my short trip to San Francisco. I got to my gate and I pulled the book I was reading out of my briefcase, opened it to the dog-eared page where I previously left off and began to read on. For some peculiar, compelling reason, I couldn't get Tolle's new book out of my head. I was overwhelmed by a feeling that I really should go back to the bookstore and by that book. After a few moments of this, I said to myself "I must have that book now!" So, I rushed back to the bookstore, bought the book, and began reading it at once.

After I settled in on my short flight from LAX to San Francisco, I began reading again, and I got to page six, in the first chapter, where Eckhart says:

"This book is about you. It will change your state of consciousness or it will be meaningless. It can only awaken those who are ready. Not everyone is ready yet, but many are, and with each person who awakens, the momentum in the collective consciousness grows, and it becomes easier for others. If you don't know what awakening means, read on. Only by awakening can you know the true meaning of the word. A glimpse is enough to initiate the awakening process, which is irreversible. For some, that glimpse will come while reading this book. For many others who may not even have realized it, the process has already begun."

Wow.

I was so taken by this paragraph and by the overwhelming feeling to go back to that bookstore and purchase this book-I knew this was going to resonate with me deeply.

I've now read the book twice and also bought it on CD and listen to it quite frequently.

This is a book that will change your life.

159 out of 223 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 8/18/07

I feel enlightened

This book is about how we can attain enlightenment.

According to the author, not everyone is ready to be enlightened, but many are, and with each person who awakens, the momentum in the collective consciousness grows, and it becomes easier for others. An enlightened being is consciousness that has become conscious of itself (p. 182).

There are some very interesting concepts in this book, and I had to reread it twice to really appreciate them. Here are some of the concepts:

Words reduce the reality to something the human mind can grasp. Language consists of five basic sounds produced by the vocal cords. They are the vowels a, e, i, o, u. The other sounds are consonants produced by air pressure: s, f, g, and so forth. Do you believe some combination of such basic sounds could ever explain who you are, or the ultimate purpose of the universe, or even what a tree or stone is in its depth?

The way in which you speak to the chairman of the company may be different in subtle ways to how you speak to the janitor. How you speak to a child may be different to how you speak to an adult. Why is that? You are playing roles. You are not yourself, neither with the chairman nor with the janitor or the child. When you walk into a store, a restaurant, the bank, the post office, you may find yourself slipping into pre-established social roles. So you are not relating with that person at all, but who you think you are is relating to who you think the other person is and vice versa. It is therefore not surprising there is so much conflict in relationships. There is no true relationship (p. 94).

Kasan, a Zen teacher and monk, was to officiate at a funeral of a famous nobleman. As he stood there waiting for the governor of the province and other lords and ladies to arrive, he noticed that the palms of his hands were sweaty. The next day he called his disciples together and confessed he was not yet ready to be a true teacher. He explained to them that he still lacked the sameness of bearing before all human beings, whether beggar or king. He was still unable to look through social roles and conceptual identities and see the sameness of being in every human. He then left and became the pupil of another master. He returned to his former disciples eight years later, enlightened (p. 94-95).

"If you think you are so enlightened," Ram Dass said, "go and spend a week with your parents." The relationship with your parents is the primordial relationship that sets the tone for all subsequent relationships. The more shared past there is in a relationship, the more present you need to be; otherwise, you will be forced to relive the past again and again (p. 100-101).

By making peace with the present moment you become at peace. The present moment is the field on which the game of life happens. It cannot happen anywhere else. Once you have made peace with the present moment, you become one with life. Being one with life is being one with Now. You then realize that you don't live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer, and you are the dance (p. 115).

If there is such a thing as "my life," it follows that I and life are two separate things. If I and life are two, if I am separate from life, then I am separate from all things, all beings, all people. But how could I be separate from life? What "I" could there be apart from life, apart from Being? It is utterly impossible. So there is no such thing as "my life," and I don't have a life. I am life. I and life are one. So how could I lose my life? How can I lose something that I don't have in the first place? How can I lose something that I Am? It is impossible. We are therefore eternal (p. 127-128).

The inability and unwillingness of the human mind to let go of the past is illustrated in the story of two Zen monks, Tanzan and Ekido, who were walking along a country road that had become extremely muddy after heavy rains. Near a village, they came upon a young woman who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and carried her to the other side. The monks walked on in silence. Five hours later, as they were approaching the lodging temple, Ekido couldn't restrain himself any longer. "Why did you carry that girl across the road?" he asked. "We monks are not supposed to do things like that." "I put the girl down hours ago," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?" Now imagine what life would be like for someone who lived like Ekido all the time, unwilling to let go internally of situations. What a heavy burden of past he would carry around with him in his mind (p. 139).

It may be shocking when you realize for the first time that there is something within you that periodically seeks emotional negativity, seeks unhappiness. Once the unhappiness has taken you over, not only do you not want an end to it, but you want to make others just as miserable as you are in order to feed on their negative emotional reactions (p. 145).

Women are more in touch with their inner body and have greater openness and sensitivity toward other life-forms, and are more attuned to the natural world. If the balance between male and female energies had not been destroyed on our planet, we would not have declared war on nature, and we would not be so completely alienated from our Being. During a three-hundred-year period between three and five million women were tortured and killed by the "Holy Inquisition," initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to suppress heresy. The sacred feminine was declared demonic. Other cultures and religions, such as Judaism, Islam, and even Buddhism, also suppressed the female dimension, although in a less violent way. Women's status was reduced to being child bearers and men's property. Males who deny the feminine even within themselves are now ruining the world (p. 155-156).

Thinking isolates a situation or event and calls it good or bad, as if it had a separate existence. Through excessive reliance on thinking, reality becomes fragmented. This fragmentation is an illusion, but it seems very real when you are trapped in it. And yet the universe is an indivisible whole in which all things are interconnected, in which nothing exists in isolation. This is illustrated in the story of a wise man who won an expensive car in a lottery. His family and friends were very happy for him and came to celebrate. They said, 'You are so lucky." The man smiled and said, "Maybe." For a few weeks he enjoyed driving the car. Then one day a drunken driver crashed into his new car at an Intersection and he ended up in the hospital, with multiple injuries. His family and friends came to see him and said, "That was really unfortunate." Again the man smiled and said, "Maybe." While he was still in the hospital, there was a Iandslide and his house fell into the sea. Again his friends came the next day and said, "Weren't you lucky to have been here in hospital." Again he said, "Maybe."The wise man's "maybe" signifies a refusal to judge anything that happens. Instead of judging what is, he accepts it and so enters into conscious alignment with the higher order. He knows that it is impossible for the mind to understand what place or purpose a seemingly random event has in the tapestry of the whole. But there are no random events, nor are there events or things that exist by and for themselves, in isolation. The atoms that make up your body were once forged inside stars, and the causes of even the smallest event are virtually infinite and connected with the whole in incomprehensible ways. If you wanted to trace back the cause of any event, you would have to go back all the way to the beginning of creation. The cosmos is not chaotic. The very word cosmos means order (p. 196-198).

J. Krishnamurti, the great Indian spiritual teacher said at one of his talks in the later part of his life, "Do you want to know my secret?" Everyone became very alert. Many people in the audience had been coming to listen to him for twenty or thirty years and still failed to grasp the essence of his teaching. Finally, after all these years, the master would give them the key to understanding. "This is my secret," he said. "I don't mind what happens." This implies that internally I am in alignment with what happens. To be in alignment with what `is' means to be in a relationship of inner nonresistance with what happens (p. 198-199).

The Zen Master Hakuin lived in a town in Japan. He was held in high regard and many people came to him for spiritual teaching. One day the teenage daughter of his next-door neighbor became pregnant. When being questioned by her angry parents as to the identity of the father, she finally told them that he was Hakuin. In great anger the parents rushed over to Hakuin and told him with much anger that their daughter had confessed that he was the father. All he replied was, "Is that so?" News of the scandal spread. The Master lost his reputation. This did not trouble him. Nobody came to see him anymore. He remained unmoved. When the child was born, the parents brought the baby to Hakuin. "You are the father, so you look after him." The Master took loving care of the child. A year later, the mother remorsefully confessed to her parents that the real father of the child was the young man who worked at the butcher shop. In great distress they went to see Hakuin to apologize and ask for forgiveness. "We are really sorry. We have come to take the baby back. Our daughter confessed that you are not the father." "Is that so?" is all he would say as he handed the baby over to them. The Master responds to falsehood and truth, bad news and good news, in exactly the same way: "Is that so?" To him there is only this moment, and this moment is as it is, and so he does not become a participant in human drama. He is so completely at one with what happens that what happens has no power over him. Only if you resist what happens are you at the mercy of what happens, and the world will determine your happiness and unhappiness (p. 200).

When someone criticizes you or calls you names, instead of immediately defending yourself--do nothing. Allow the self-image to remain diminished and become alert to what that feels like deep inside you. For a few seconds, it may feel uncomfortable, as if you had shrunk in size. Then you may sense an inner spaciousness that feels intensely alive. You haven't been diminished at all. In fact, you have expanded. You realize that through becoming "less," you become more. This is what Jesus means when he says, "Deny yourself" or "Turn the other cheek." (p. 215).

If you are content with being nobody in particular, content not to stand out, you align yourself with the power of the universe. Instead of trying to be a mountain, teaches the ancient Tao Te Ching, "Be the valley of the universe." In this way "all things will come to you." Similarly, Jesus, in one of his parables, teaches that "When you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place so that when your host comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher. Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (p. 216).

According to a Sufi story there lived a king in a Middle Eastern land who was continuously torn between happiness and despondency. The slightest thing would cause him great upset or provoke an intense reaction, and his happiness would quickly turn into disappointment and despair. A time came when the king finally got tired of himself and of life, and he began to seek a way out. He sent for a wise man who lived in his kingdom and who was reputed to be enlightened. When the wise man came, the king said to him, "I want to be like you. Can you give me something that will bring balance, serenity and wisdom into my life? I will pay any price you ask." The wise man said, "I may be able to help you. But the price is so great that your entire kingdom would not be sufficient payment for it. Therefore it will be a gift to you if you will honor it." The king gave his assurances, and the wise man left. A few weeks later, he returned and handed the king an ornate box carved in jade. The king opened the box and found a simple gold ring inside. Some letters were inscribed on the ring. The inscription read: This, too, shall pass. "What is the meaning of this?" asked the king. The wise man said, "Wear this ring always. Whatever happens, before you call it good or bad, touch this ring and read the inscription. That way you will always be at peace." (p. 224).

When you become aware of the fleetingness of every situation, your attachment to them lessens. Being detached does not mean that you cannot enjoy the good that the world has to offer. In fact, you enjoy it more. You can enjoy the pleasures of the world while they last without fear of loss or anxiety about the future. When you are detached, you gain a higher vantage point from which to view the events in your life instead of being trapped inside them (p. 225).

People, in their restless search for something significant to happen to them, continuously miss the insignificant, which may not be insignificant at all. The philosopher Nietzsche, in a rare moment of deep stillness, wrote, "For happiness, how little suffices for happiness! The least thing precisely, the gentlest thing, the lightest thing, a lizard's rustling, a breath, a wisk, an eye glance--little maketh up the best happiness. Be still." (p. 235).

A Zen Master was walking in silence with one of his disciples along a mountain trail. When they came to an ancient cedar tree, they sat down under it for a simple meal of some rice and vegetables. After the meal, the disciple, a young monk who had not yet found the key to the mystery of Zen, broke the silence by asking the Master, "Master, how do I enter Zen?" He was, of course, inquiring how to enter the state of consciousness which is Zen. The Master remained silent. Almost five minutes passed while the disciple waited for an answer. He was about to ask another question when the Master suddenly spoke. "Do you hear the sound of that mountain stream?" The disciple had not been aware of any mountain stream. He had been too busy thinking about the meaning of Zen. Now, as he began to listen for the sound, his noisy mind subsided. At first he heard nothing. Then, his thinking gave way to heightened alertness, and suddenly he did hear the hardly perceptible murmur of a squall stream in the far distance. "Yes, I can hear it now," he said. The Master raised his finger and said, "Enter Zen from there." The disciple was stunned. It was his first satori--a flash of enlightenment. He knew what Zen was without knowing what it was that he knew! They continued on their journey in silence. The disciple was amazed at the aliveness of the world around him. He experienced everything as if for the first time. Gradually however, he started thinking again. The alert stillness became covered up again by mental noise, and before long he had another question. "Master," he said, "I have been thinking. What would you have said if I hadn't been able to hear the mountain stream?" The Master stopped, looked at him, raised his finger and said, "Enter Zen from there." (p. 236-238).

The apparent solidity of matter is an illusion created by our senses. The physical body, for example, is 99.99 % empty space. This is how vast the space is between the atoms compared to their size, and there is as much space again within each atom. In many ways, our body is a microcosmic version of outer space. To give you an idea of how vast the space is between celestial bodies, consider this: Light traveling at a constant speed of 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second takes just over one second to travel between the earth and the moon; light from the sun takes about eight minutes to reach the earth. Light from Proxima Centauri, which is the sun that is closest to our own sun, travels for 4.5 years before it reaches the earth. Light from the galaxy closest to our own, the Andromeda Galaxy, takes 2.4 million years to reach us. Isn't it amazing that your body is just as spacious as the universe? So your physical body, which is form, reveals itself as essentially formless when you go deeper into it. It becomes a doorway into inner space. Although inner space has no form, it is intensely alive. That "empty space" is life in its fullness, the unmanifested Source out of which all manifestation flows. The traditional word for that Source is God (p. 251).

43 out of 49 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/18/05

The Proof is in the Pudding

I have been a life-long spiritual seeker (one of those seekers/never-finders that Eckhart refers to - rightly). This book is absolutely marvelous and stunningly practical. I find Eckhart's orientation toward spiritual teachings to be refreshingly direct and free of traditional dogma, yet touching on all the perennial threads that are the underpinnings of all spiritual teachings. I have great respect for his ability to approach ideas and concepts that are effectively ineffable and communicate them well and with a gentle and encouraging invitation to try them out for yourselves.

And that is where I find his teachings have the greatest strength and potential to improve immediate, personal, and eventually collective, lives - by trying out the teachings and practices that he suggests.

In particular, I am very grateful for the emphasis he places on the power of watching and witnessing our own thoughts - and how that small, but profound act can begin to permit us to view our thoughts and life-patterns in a different way. This, to me, is a deeply liberating concept.

Read his books, or better, buy some of his audio works. I found them to be more powerful because some quality came through the voice that doesn't on the printed page.

There is goodness to be had here.

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