The Meister of Eck
I spent the other night hanging out with Eckhart Tolle. Yep, just me and the big Eckinator. The meister of Eck. Yessirree.. me, him…. and one or two (thousand) others. Okay, so we weren’t technically alone but let’s not get all pedantic about it. Geeze Louise. Anyway, I know there was some kind of cosmic connection between us. Not so sure that he felt it but…
Who?
For those of you who haven’t heard of the big E, he is considered (by some) to be one of the world’s foremost authorities on all things spiritual and philosophical – although I know he would never describe himself as such. While he has been around for years, the last year has seen him catapulted to global attention thanks to the endorsement of the most famous woman on the planet and one of his biggest fans; Oprah Winfrey. And it’s fair to say that the Miss O. tick of approval ain’t gonna hurt your cause or damage your brand any!
A Different Kind of Smart
It’s also fair to say that E.T. is smart. A genius perhaps. And not smart in a regular Mensa kind of way, just breath-takingly insightful, aware, gifted and different – in my humble opinion of course. In fact, he’s too different for some. Although he has an academic background (of sorts), his teaching and philosophy is about as academic as cheesecake. That is, not at all. I like that. A little academia; good. Too much; annoying. Much of his teaching turns conventional thinking on it’s head. In fact, he’s not really a big fan of thinking; he believes that it (often) gets in the way of awareness, consciousness and inner peace.
I won’t endeavour to condense two hours of teaching into one post, but I will share a couple of things that resonated with me.
1. Not everything needs to ‘make sense’ or fit into a box. We love putting stuff in boxes don’t we? We love to label and categorise things. We live in a world that, on many levels, is pre-occupied with the three-dimensional. If we can’t see it, touch it, hold, it, measure it, photograph it, test it, examine it or chop it up, then it can’t be real. Spiritual and philosophical stuff freaks (some) people out because it does not fit comfortably (and we love being comfortable) into their scientific framework, their humanistic thinking or their current level of understanding. And rather than say that (1) they don’t know (2) they don’t really understand or (3) they are not open to considering another way of looking at things, they will often resort to calling the messenger a ‘crackpot’ and the message ‘mumbo-jumbo’. For many people, things that don’t ‘make sense’ – within the realm of their logic, understanding, education, beliefs and experience – are to be avoided and/or criticised – no matter how much they don’t really know about those things. Science, logic and analytical thinking serve a purpose – to a point – and then they get in the way. Sometimes we need to un-learn before we can learn and sometimes logic and reason are simply synonyms for fear and ignorance. Some very logical and reasonable people are also very miserable and restricted because they never allow themselves to venture beyond the very limited space that is, their mind. Some of the most amazing truths, lessons and gifts lie beyond logic, beyond science and beyond the boundaries of our fearful and indoctrinated thinking. And that’s coming from a scientist!
2. We are not our thoughts. Most of us associate so strongly with our thoughts that we become them. Tolle teaches that thinking ‘happens’ despite us. Our thoughts are not us, just as our body is not us. Discovering that we are not our thoughts and that our thoughts don’t necessarily need to shape, create or even influence our reality can be completely liberating. Having an awareness of our thoughts (good or bad) – without being lost in them or trapped by them – is indicative of a shift consciousness; some might say, the beginning of enlightenment. Then the question becomes “who am I beyond my thoughts, beyond my body, beyond my reputation, beyond my credentials, beyond my achievements and beyond my ego”? Explore that question openly, honestly and humbly and you’ll probably experience more than a little discomfort. What if you’re not who you thought you were? Or who others told you, you are? Open that door, and a whole new world awaits.
Enjoy your day.
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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
I do believe that you are what you think, If you think you will fail…you will. However I do tend to put things in boxes as well, something that I have been slowly unlearning. Have a great day
TinaQ
I remember a little exercise you got us to do at RYL Sydney. Talk to a person you don’t know for 2 minutes and find out as much as you can about them. What did we tell the other person? Where we lived, what job we do, what kind of stuff we like doing. But then you come out with a gem: “what we do, where we live, the interests we pursue is not who we are…” Shit. So, who am I then? And how do I discover myself? That, Harps, is the million dollar question that only I have the answer to. A journey of self-discovery is what I’m on now. It’s amazing. Thank you for opening some doors for me and helping me find the answers. Thank you also for recommending I read Tolle’s The Power of Now and A New Earth. That reminds me – I need to get my head back into them and get in touch with living in the NOW. What I had read a couple of months ago was fabulous. He’s such a gifted writer. Now, now, dont get all precious. I love what you write too and you have an amazing ability to capture your audience in the palm of your hand.
* Eckhart, if you’re reading this – I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it to your Brisbane workshop tonight (Thurs).
Jules (Brisbane – for one more week… then Hello Melbourne)
You lucky duck Craig
That would have been an amazing 2 hours.
The Power of Now is a great read; one of my favourites.
Applying the principles in the book require a measure of trust in the fact that it actually works. Being consistent in the application is quite another thing, but when you experience the awareness, it’s like being someone else and the lingering feeling is a bit like an alcohol buzz and a whole lot cheaper too.
Well that’s my experience anyway.
Perhaps you may relate to it more in terms of cheesecake huh?
Alan
Hi Craig,
Hmmm, I think I need to get my Tolle books off the shelf and read them!!! My goal before the end of 2009 is to have the 5 Tolle books I have by the end of the year….!
Glad you enjoyed the night.
Have an awesome day and a sensational weekend
Hugs
Chelle xxx
Hi Craig,
I, too, had the good fortune to hear Tolle when he came to my city over a month ago. One thing he said, which reminds me of your recent post “Listening,” is that (and I hope I get it right) what is being said isn’t important it’s being the space (being present) for it that is important. So what this lady was saying to you wasn’t important; your being the space for her to say it was important.
BTW, he did actually say “isn’t important” and it should be taken in the context of Tolle’s teachings.
Glad to hear you enjoyed his talk also!
I hadn’t heard of ET (other than the little Alien of Spielberg fame) until this post – and I like his thinking, from what you condense it down to, that is.
Having an open mind is a fantastic thing but I often find that when one is alone with one’s own deep and dark personality, their true self, that it is a bloody hard place to be because most of us do not live the way we want to. Most of us conform to what the “norm” is and even when we don’t, if we look deep down we really are. A perfect example of this was when I was a student in Otago and there was a whole faction of students that had dreadlocks, smoked pot, studied philosophy and listened to “alternative” music. They liked to think of themselves as “alternative”. But shock horror, if they actually sat down and had a deep dark look at themselves they would realise that they were following a trend too, fitting an image to a set of unwritten rules. I was probably more “alternative” by wearing my Target t-shirt and wearing my hair in a pony tail and listening to Fleetwood Mac with a bottle of beer in my hand.
Ramblings meant with all intentions of portraying that I think it is a good thing to delve deep but I think I lot of us are too scared to go there and discover our real selves because putting our real self out there for the world to critique is a gutsy thing for anyone.
Jules2/Jewels
Hey Craig ! I haven’t read E.T.’s books but had heard of him through the meditation nights we attend as well as from your writings. I hadn’t even heard that he was going to be in Melbourne until a couple of days before the event when it was already too late to book tickets, so when I saw that tickets could be obtained at the door, I was determined to be there. All I can say is… I’m sooo glad I went. I can’t begin to describe the atmosphere in that hall, but I definitely took something away with me that night and have now ordered The Power of Now and A New Earth in audio book form. I think I’ll absorb more that way than by reading them. Can’t wait to get them !!
{{HUG}} Tina
Hi Craig,
The “Not everything needs to “make sense”" bit resonated with me today. I went out last Saturday night with a mate and a bunch of ww ladies that I didn’t know. While they were discussing the “badness” of all the food on the menu(weight loss wise) my mate Joanne piped up with the advice she had recently heard from our hotel concierge(also a personal trainer) that ‘sometimes the odd high calorie meal can help your weight loss’.
A couple of the ladies at our table nearly fell off their chairs, the eye rolling went round the table like a Mexican wave, the ‘tut tut’s could be heard in Mexico. It was a bloodbath. Of course, social butterfly that I am, NOT, I cracked up laughing, not at Joanne, but at the response she got from everyone else.
I’m not commenting on whether the info is good or bad, personally I like the idea, a lot of body builders use systems that include some higher calorie meals (not junk, just more carbs) to boost their metabolism, but the reaction at our table was soooooo strong. It made me think about how “brain-washed” we all are with our little pet ideas.
Now I never expected these ladies to jump up and embrace the idea that goes against everything ww has told them for (in some cases) years and years, but maybe just hearing it out might have been an idea. NO WAY! This information does not compute. I have no box to fit this into. This does not fit in with the other ideas I KNOW are right.
It was really funny at the time. I think Joanne would have got less reaction if she’d gone round the table and personally insulted every person there. Testing the limits of our fear and ignorance are obviously the biggest insults available to modern man, now there’s some information a girl can have some fun with.
Just thought I’d share…
Love your work! ET’s too perfect for me, I like my gurus to embrace failure regularly, like me…LOL
Have a lovely weekend.
Cheers,
Jo
Well, I don’t make sense most of the time but now I’m going to joyfully throw out all the ill-fitting boxes I try to shove myself in! Thanks, Eckhart Harper!
Ange – hope you’re reading this. Here are the details for our next GKR Karate Tournament:
April 5 at Peninsula Leisure Centre, Blackwall Road, Woy Woy (Central Coast).
Competition starts from 9am and will go all day (probably until about 5pm or maybe later). At the last few, the open division (black belts) has been held last, but there’s no guarantee of that.
Have a great weekend, all.
Suz (Sydney)
Oooh….my head hurts!
Thanks TinaQ – a lot of us are what we think – but the good thing is, we don’t need to be.
Cheers..
I don’t get precious too often Jules; only when someone steals my cheesecake. ( )
Love your take on it Alan..
Yeah, I’m probably a little more cheesecake-ish about it.
Cheers
Cheers Chelle x
Thanks for dropping in Laurie ( )
You make a valid point Jules2 –
You were probably a trend setter with your beer and pony tail…
( )
Hold on Tina – it’s a wild ride…
( )
Funny story Jo Wallflower – thanks for saying hi ( )
Sorry ’bout that Ian
Hey, Jo .. just to add to your friend’s theory, I can tell you that it actually DOES work. For me, anyway. I reached a bit of a plateau within about 3kg of my goal weight. Decided to have a rest week with my training and also topped that with a binge-y weekend that included cheesecake, mudcake, pizza and other naughty stuff, and lo and behold, off came another couple of kgs! Just like that – and in that same week. Bizarre. I’m not trying to label it .. am now just willing to keep changing things up and accepting that sometimes there’s just no rhyme nor reason behind outcomes. Gotta love this weird and wonderful world we live in!
You might be interested to look at the bodytrim system for weight loss – advocates exactly what you have spoken about with regards to shaking up the metabolism and keeping it guessing. One free day a week to eat whatever you like and the rest of week low carb, high protein. Works a treat! Lisag (Mackay, Qld)
I was just going to ask if anyone knew if Eckhart had a blog.
I found this (thanks Google):
http://www.eckharttolle.com/eckharttolle
Click on ‘community’:
“The groups listed follow Eckhart’s recommended Silent Group format. The group may begin with ten to twenty minutes of silence (silent meditation), 1 to 1 1/2 hours of an Eckhart Tolle audio or visual recording, ending with ten to twenty minutes of silence (silent meditation). It’s best not to engage in discussion, as it tends to stimulate the mind and ego.”
No discussion allowed? That concept would mess with my head. Initially.
Craig, could you register as a Local Group Facilitator? We could meet at Harper’s… We could all sit in the boxing ring or lay on a weight bench… At the conclusion of the meeting we could have a slice of cheesecake in silence
Dear Craig
I have been reading the Big E since I saw him on Oprah and have great difficulty getting my head around what he says. I want to believe as it will make life much easier but I get so caught up in day to day thinking, deciding, choices, his teaching all goes out the window. Would love it if you covered his stuff a bit more as your readings stick in my mind for some reason, favourite of course is “suck it up princess”
Yours faithfully
Princess
the real genius will be the one who takes Tolle’s stuff and simplifies it to the degree that it is readable.
Personally I believe that when you take too long to make your point you are preaching instead of teaching….
Smile, it looks really good on you!
Curious about who inspired Eckhart Tolle’s A NEW EARTH? Want to know more about getting rid of the ego and being you? Check out Paulette Renee Broqueville’s book UNRAVELING YOUR PAST TO GET INTO THE PRESENT copyright 1998, 2002. Her blog Eckhart Tolle Made Simple Class explains a lot. See the blog, order books and read part of her books at http://www.broqueville.com . Also receive her notices of new blogs on twitter.com/soulandego