Eckhart Tolle
It’s a pothole on the spiritual path that is easy to fall into: “Now that I’m awakened, I’m a better person than people who are living unconsciously.”
Umm, no. Doesn’t work that way. The more you grow spiritually, the more humble you become. If you feel superior to “non-spiritual” people—and let’s be honest, most of us fall into that pothole at least briefly at the start of our journey—then your ego is still calling the shots.
I like how Eckhart Tolle explains how the ego hijacks our spiritual journey so cunningly that we are oblivious to its control. Here is an excerpt from his book, A New Earth:
Many people don’t realize until they are on their deathbed and everything external falls away that no thing ever had anything to do with who they are. In the proximity of death, the whole concept of ownership stands revealed as ultimately meaningless. In the last moments of their life, they then also realize that while they were looking throughout their lives for a more complete sense of self, what they were really looking for, their Being, had actually always already been there, but had been largely obscured by their identification with things, which ultimately means identification with their mind.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus said, “for theirs will be the kingdom of heaven.” What does “poor in spirit” mean? No more baggage, no identifications. Not with things, nor with any mental concepts that have a sense of self in them. And what is the “kingdom of heaven?” The simple but profound joy of Being that is there when you let go of identifications and so become “poor in spirit.”
This is why renouncing all possessions has been an ancient spiritual practice in both East and West. Renunciation of possessions, however, will not automatically free you of the ego. It will attempt to ensure its survival by finding something else to identify with, for example, a mental image of yourself as someone who has transcended all interest in material possessions and is therefore superior, is more spiritual than others. There are people who have renounced all possessions but have a bigger ego than some millionaires. If you take away one kind of identification, the ego will quickly find another. It ultimately doesn’t mind what it identifies with as long as it has an identity. Anticonsumerism or antiprivate ownership would be another thought form, another mental position, that can replace identification with possessions. Through it you could make yourself right and others wrong. [M]aking yourself right and others wrong is one of the principal egoic mind patterns, one of the main forms of unconsciousness. In other words, the content of the ego may change; the mind structure that keeps it alive does not.
HERE ARE MY POSTS FEATURING ECKHART TOLLE:
ECKHART TOLLE ON BECOMING THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
ECKHART TOLLE ON ALLEVIATING THE SUFFERING OF THE WORLD
ECKHART TOLLE ON THE CIRCULAR TRAP OF CONSUMERISM
ECKHART TOLLE ON CONSCIOUS PARENTING
ECKHART TOLLE: AWAKE IN THE DREAM
ARE SPIRITUAL PEOPLE BETTER THAN OTHERS? NOT SO MUCH.
DO NOT LET ANYONE TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE
WHEN THE SPIRIT IS READY, THE TEACHER APPEARS
MASTERS CONTINUE TO WALK THE EARTH
THERE IS GREATNESS WITHIN YOU!
EVERY CUBIC INCH OF SPACE IS A MIRACLE
BE PRESENT, BE POWERFUL, BE TIMELESS!
ABOUT PHIL BOLSTA
Phil is the author of Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything, a collection of 45 inspiring, life-changing stories from prominent people he interviewed, including Joan Borysenko, Deepak Chopra, geneticist Dr. Francis Collins, acclaimed sportswriter Frank Deford, Dr. Larry Dossey, Wayne Dyer, Dan Millman, Caroline Myss, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, Dr. Bernie Siegel, James Van Praagh, singer Billy Vera, Doreen Virtue, Neale Donald Walsch, and bassist Victor Wooten.
Here is a three-minute video that introduces you to Phil and his book. Click here to buy Sixty Seconds. Click here to ask Phil to add you to his e-mail list for updates on his blog and books.
Reading this book is like spending a few minutes face to face with each of the contributors and listening to their personal stories. Click here to read unsolicited testimonials from readers. Learn more by visiting the official Sixty Seconds website.
Sixty Seconds was one of three finalists in the General Interest/How-To category at the 12th annual Visionary Awards presented by COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources) in Denver on June 27, 2009.
Tags: Eckhart Tolle, ego, spiritual supiority
May 13, 2009 at 9:08 PM
I loved this entry. It reminded me of a cartoon I saw years ago. A shaft of sunlight falls on a congregation member as the collection basket is passed. The man sitting behind him whispers to his wife, “I wonder how much HE gave?”
For a little while, I imagined that sunbeam falling on my shoulders.
When the embarrasment passed, I had a good laugh!
May 13, 2009 at 9:09 PM
Good story, Deb. I think you’d agree that it’s a milestone of maturity when we realize that the sunbeam falls on us all equally.
May 16, 2009 at 5:03 AM
Thank you, Phil…I love this story. Greater responsibility for forgiveness, compassion, and understanding to peace; that we are truly under the laws of God; keeps us humble and in a better place to remain disciplined. Under the law, not above it.
Truly,
Catherine Nagle
May 16, 2009 at 5:54 AM
Thank you, Catherine. Yes, too many of us feel entitled. We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intent. Humility is the highest calling.