Name Change

Sat  Mar 15, 2008  1:24 am

Dan writes:

"Since you leveled the original charges, as proxy for the defendant, I'll choose the weapon. It should be the easiest to dispense with so let's start with the most superficial of the charges you leveled."

JJ:

Charges? You make it sound like I'm charging Tolle with some crime. I wasn't even planning on any more discussion of the name change for I never saw it as any big deal and not worthy of being raised to the level of a charge.

Dan:

"Here is a partial list of charges you made against the man personally:

"1a. That his real name is Ulrich.
1b. That he changed it.
1c. That he re-named himself after the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart; 'Eckhart's real name was Ulrich, but changed it to Eckhart after the medieval mystic.'

" http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Keysters/message/34216 "

JJ:

These were not charges but I was just relating what I had read on the Internet from a couple sources. You say references on the Internet could be wrong. Yes, of course, so can today's newspaper but this type of data in such wide circulation is most probably correct. You would think he would have corrected this and it would appear somewhere on the Internet if it was incorrect. After all his alleged given name of Ulrich is on Wikipedia in several countries and this must have come to his attention. If this happened to me I would inform Wikipedia immediately and make sure the correct information was posted somewhere to be found.

Dan:

"2. That he changed his name specifically to sound more mysterious; 'I'm always a little suspicious about the lack of glamour behind someone who changes his name to sound more mysterious.'"

JJ:

I didn't say he changed his name to sound more mysterious but as you correctly quoted I said "I'm always a little suspicious about the lack of glamour behind someone who changes his name to sound more mysterious."

In other words, anyone who changes his name to sound more mysterious arouses my suspicion of glamour.

It is most probably (but not 100 percent conclusive) that he changed his name to be the same as the mysterious mystic to project that same mysterious aura himself. This probability makes me "suspicious" of glamour but being suspicious is much different that stating something as an ironclad pronunciation.

Here are some references to his name change from the Internet. Yes, they could all be wrong and Tolle is so unconcerned that he does not post a correction -- but this is not likely.

"Eckhart Tolle was born in 1948 in Germany as Ulrich Tolle. He also spent time living in Spain and went on to study at Cambridge university and the University of London in the United Kingdom.

"It has been reported that the German born author changed his name from Ulrich to Eckhart because of the German philosopher Meister Eckhart."

http://www.quotemonk.com/authors/eckhart-tolle/biography.htm

"He now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada the name change from Ulrich to Eckhart seems to be a reference to German mystic Meister Eckhart."

http://www.soulcurrymagazine.com/sc/present-moment-is-the-key.html

German site:

"Die von ihm selbst vollzogene Namensänderung von Ulrich auf Eckhart ist nach Ansicht einiger eine Anspielung auf den deutschen Mystiker Meister Eckhart."

Translation:

"He changed his name from Ulrich to Eckhart, according to some, an allusion to the German mystic Meister Eckhart."

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle

"(3) Tolle changed his first name from 'Ulrich' to 'Eckhart', apparently post-enlightenment, as an allusion to the mystic Meister Eckhart. If the basis of enlightenment is having no identity, why change your name, which shows a concern with identity?"

http://my.opera.com/quentinscrisp/blog/?startidx=60

"At the age of 29, he experienced a spiritual transformation that marked the beginning of an intense inward journey and the beginning of his function as a counselor and spiritual teacher. He now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The name change from Ulrich to Eckhart seems to be a reference to German mystic Meister Eckhart."

http://www.last.fm/music/Eckhart+Tolle

"Eckhart Tolle (born Germany, 1948 as Ulrich Tolle) is a contemporary spiritual teacher and writer on spirituality. Eckhart Tolle is not aligned with any particular religion or tradition."

http://www.bookjive.com/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle

I found this guy's insight interesting:

"Last fall I was staying with friends in Seattle while I was exploring Gurdjieff oriented groups. My friend asked if I would listen to the Eckhart Tolle recorded workshop and tell her what I thought. My first response was that I didn't trust anyone who claimed spontaneous enlightenment (went down that road before) and who had a book on the bestseller list. My opinion has not changed much since reading his two books.

"Eckhart Tolle, (born Ulrich Tolle) claims that at age 29 he experienced a spiritual transformation (enlightenment) that dissolved his old identity. He then spent the next several years without a job, with no relationships just living in the here and now, (was he independently wealthy, did he live on the street, or what?) Many people approached him and asked him how he came to be the way he was and he realized that he must become a spiritual teacher. So he continued his studies and spoke with a number of spiritual sources and developed his system for transformation.

"So he magically awakened, put on a happy face and went around proclaiming "I'm here, it's now, I'm free, I'm free (thank you Mark for that one). He writes a book, gives some talks and off we go, global spiritual awakening.

"There are a lot of good ideas in the books, he is very intelligent and articulate, he draws from many traditional sources and he is very entertaining in a humorous sort of way.

"The problem is that he does not name his spiritual sources, does not give credit to the disciplines that he has borrowed from and creates the illusion that his system is the result of his awakening (divinely inspired?).

"Since his system is relatively simplistic (anyone remember Baba Ram Das and Be Here Now?) it makes great spiritual pabulum for the masses. Easy reading books, funny charming workshops, a formatory system that has mass appeal (it's one of Oprah's favorite reads) and what do you get? Lot's of money coming in.

"Then bright, well read, articulate people come along, (like unoanimo), marry up Eckhart Tolle's spiritual brew with Gurdjieffian brew (or any other esoteric brew) and you come out with quite a tasty porridge.

"If one system is good then two must be better so let's mix them together and see what we get.

"So the questions I have for Mr. Tolle, first of all why change your name, because you are a fan of Meister Eckhart and it sounds more spiritual teacher like? And secondly why not give credit to the sources you are using instead of implying they were thought up by you? One clearly plagerized exercise is the body sensation meditation that is used in many traditions, Zen, Yoga, Buddhist mindfulness training, Gurdjieff work groups, etc. It may be a great meditative technique but he didn't invent it."

http://animamrecro.wordpress.com/2007/04/28/the-fellowship-of-friends-discussion-part-8/

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