Re: Eckhart Tolle

Tue  Mar 11, 2008  7:03 pm

Speaking of Eckhart Tolle, Ruth wrote:

"He uses a lot of words to describe things which could be said much more in simple terms. Intellectuals will probably be more attracted to his books."

In response to Ruth's comments, Dan wrote:

"You know, it's funny that that should be the case considering he is telling folks to stop the mental monkey chatter. His methods of becoming 'present' in the now or 'awakening' are so simple that even a child could try them however.

"The only way I know to evaluate his methods is to try them myself and since I cannot see anything that could be the slightest bit harmful, or even questionable, I'm going to check 'em out for myself.

"The output of his methods seem very similar to Patanjali's regarding the 'Chitta' and 'midifications of the mind-stuff' except put into modern real world terms so that it is not all mystical, mumbo-jumbo-ish and hard to follow. As I said, a child could understand and practice them.

"The 'intellectual' words are just there for folks that like to think too much like me, Tolle himself says not only is all that intellectualism not necessary, it can be a hurdle for folks.

"I know I find myself so interested in the knowledge and learning that I lack a little in the actual practice department. Finally, here is a spiritual practice (in terms of meditation, etc.) that makes sense to me on a mental level as well."

Ruth:

"Do any of his books ever mention Spirit and Soul, or only ever consciousness?"

To the above, JJ responded with:

Dan, it looks like you are reading one of his books and me another so I may not be able to comment intelligently on some of your comments. I will say this. If you feel on a soul level an identification of an experience he describes it is most likely a similar one.

I finally figured out in the "New Heaven" book that he does mention the emotional body, but just calls it the "pain body." While it is true the emotional body is a source of pain, that is not its destiny. As the disciple assumes control of his lower bodies pain will be the furthermost thing from its description. Instead of pain, it will be a source of happiness and tranquility.

I certainly would not describe my present emotional body as a "pain body" for it gives me much pleasure and support.

Eckhart Tolle considered suicide when he was younger and this was undoubtedly because of a painful emotional experience that he has not yet transcended. In fact the audio I am listening to is read by him and he sounds somewhat like he is still in emotional pain.

I think this is part of the reason his books are selling so well. Emotional pain is so common that one who identifies with it and an take the masses a step forward is widely accepted.

In a follow-up post, Dan quotes JJ from the text above:

"I finally figured out in the 'New Heaven' book that he does mention the emotional body, but just calls it the 'pain body.'"

Dan then writes:

"I don't think so, he talks about the emotions more and it should become more clear as you continue to read it but I think the best equivalent to his 'pain-body' in your (or other esoteric) writings would be The Dweller.

"He speaks of the 'pain-body' as being a thought form of negative energies in very similar terms as you and DK [Dwjhal Khul] do, I posted some of his stuff on it the other day but it was quite lengthy so you may have missed it."

Then in a separate post, JJ responded with:

Thanks for this along with the quotes you gave. Sometimes I miss the nuances when listening to the audio.

Yes, sometimes when he talks about the "pain body" it sounds like The Dweller, and other times like the "reactive body" from Scientology.

I don't see many signs that he has read DK so he probably has a sense of The Dweller but describes it differently and throws in the "reactive body" in the mix.

The "pain body" would be an appropriate name for the "reactive body" of Scientology. Perhaps John C would like to tell us more about it.

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