Saturday, September 24, 2011

Eckhart Tolle: Freedom from the Ego

Eckhart Tolle
". . . (T)hinking without awareness is the main dilemma of human existence."
-- Eckhart Tolle --
Being free of the smaller self, free of ego, is the transformational goal of all the world's great wisdom traditions. In self-forgetting we awaken to the divinity within each of us, indeed, to the divinity that infuses, pervades and supports all we see. We become whole and realize that we are part of the Whole, rather than isolated individuals.

How is such a transformation of the psyche to be achieved, however? Best-selling author, Eckhart Tolle, a spiritual teacher of no small repute, emphasizes that the key to overcoming the limitations of the ego lies in our present moment awareness.

"All that is required to become free of the ego," he notes, "is to be aware of it, since awareness and ego are incompatible. Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment. This is why we may also call it Presence. The ultimate purpose of human existence, which is to say, your purpose, is to bring that power into this world. And this is also why becoming free of the ego cannot be made into a goal to be attained at some point in the future. Only Presence can free you of the ego, and you can only be present Now, not yesterday or tomorrow. Only Presence can undo the past in you and thus transform your state of consciousness."

With Oprah, co-hosts of "A New Earth"
web seminar. (Available here.)
"Spiritual realization," he continues, "is to see clearly what I perceive, experience, think, or feel is ultimately not who I am, that I cannot find myself in all those things that continuously pass away. The Buddha," he points out, "was probably the first human being to see this clearly, and so anata (no self) became one of the central points of his teaching. And when Jesus said, "Deny thyself," what he meant was: Negate (and thus undo) the illusion of self. If the self - ego - were truly who I am, it would be absurd to deny it."

[Tolle, "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose," pp. 78-79.]



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I know a new student who found Eckhart Tolle while in prison (he is 32 years old). I took advantage of his incarceration and need for reading material to send him some of Eckhart Tolle's books. He became ravenous for spiritual reading material. I sent him Power versus Force by Dr. David Hawkins. In all I sent him 18 spiritual books of this nature. He read them all twice some three times. His attitude and vibration changed completely over a four month period. Now he has been moved to a new facility for a while where there are no books allowed to be sent from outside and they would not let him take the ones he had. I have been typing 10 pages at a time (the maximum number allowed) just so that he would have something inspiring to read. What I think would inspire him even more than books now would be a spiritual community. If any of you are willing to be a pen pal with him I know he would be thrilled. His address is as follows: Thank you,Oldsoul

Dana Flogstad
R5G11 DOC 359739
PO Box 900
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