Eckhart Tolle
I like the way Eckhart Tolle explains why life becomes a nightmare when we limit the boundaries of who we are to the confines of our mind and body. Here is an insightful excerpt from his book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.
FROM DESCARTES’ ERROR TO SARTRE’S INSIGHT
The seventeenth-century philosopher Descartes, regarded as the founder of modern philosophy, gave expression to this primary error [of the illusion of separateness] with his famous dictum (which he saw as primary truth): “I think, therefore I am.” This was the answer he found to the question “Is there anything I can know with absolute certainty?” He realized that the fact that he was always thinking was beyond doubt, and so he equated thinking with Being, that is to say, identity—I am—with thinking. Instead of the ultimate truth, he had found the root of the ego, but he didn’t know that.
It took almost three hundred years before another famous philosopher saw something in that statement that Descartes, as well as everybody else, had overlooked. His name was Jean-Paul Sartre. He looked at Descartes’ statement ” I think, therefore I am” very deeply and suddenly realized, in his own words, “The consciousness that says ‘I am’ is not the consciousness that thinks.”
What did he mean by that? When you are aware that you are thinking, that awareness is not part of thinking. It is a different dimension of consciousness. And it is that awareness that says “I am.” If there were nothing but thought in you, you wouldn’t even know you are thinking. You would be like a dreamer who doesn’t know he is dreaming. You would be as identified with every thought as the dreamer is with every image in the dream.
Many people still live like that, like sleepwalkers, trapped in old dysfunctional mindsets that continuously recreate the same nightmarish reality. When you know you are dreaming, you are awake within the dream. another dimension of consciousness has come in.
The implication of Sartre’s insight is profound, but he himself was still too identified with thinking to realize the full significance of what he had discovered: an emerging new dimension of consciousness.
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 Through God’s Eyes: Finding Peace and Purpose in a Troubled World, a comprehensive guide to living a spiritual life. Who will benefit from reading it?
Anyone who is on a spiritual path, or wants to start one
Anyone who loves life, or wants to learn how to
Anyone who is happy, or wants to be happier
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Here is a two-minute video introduction to Through God’s Eyes.
Want to learn more about Through God’s Eyes? Here is a free 40-page PDF sampler from the book that includes:
• an overview of the book
• the complete table of contents
• the Foreword by Caroline Myss
• my Introduction
• chapter excerpts
• a sample end-of-chapter story
• endorsements from authors and thought leaders
Just click on the link below to download your free PDF sampler!
THROUGH GOD’S EYES PDF SAMPLER
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Phil is also 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 order 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.
