Eckhart Tolle

Because this guy is so famous, I picked up one of his pieces and started reading it today.

Watch the thinker, and all will be revealed? Does his stuff actually bring anyone to self realization? Given that he became enlightened without this technique, does he believe this is the guidance to share with others?

JL

PS I'm not disagreeing with him either, but honestly curious if "reading about it" helps anyone

[iamthat]

I don't know if anyone has attained Self-realisation through Eckhart Tolle's teachings.

But I picked up my copy of Practicing the Power of Now and opened it at random, and lo, it was all about watching the thinker, as referred to by JL.

Watching the thinker (my brief summary):

Listen to the voice in your head without judgement.
Become aware of yourself as the watcher of the thinking.
Feel yourself as the conscious witness of your thinking.
By not identifying with the mind, we no longer energise the mind.
This is the beginning of the end of involuntary and compulsive thinking.
As thought subsides you experience a gap in the mental stream between thoughts.
Resting in the gap, the gaps between thoughts become longer.
The nature of the space between thoughts is stillness and peace.
This is the beginning of the felt oneness with Being, the natural state.
With practice the stillness and peace deepen,and the joy of Being arises within.

Alternatively just become intensely conscious of the Now.

This all seems to be good stuff, and anyone who applies it should benefit.

Peace.

Originally Posted by iamthat

Watching the thinker (my brief summary):

Listen to the voice in your head without judgement.
Become aware of yourself as the watcher of the thinking.
Feel yourself as the conscious witness of your thinking.
By not identifying with the mind, we no longer energise the mind.
This is the beginning of the end of involuntary and compulsive thinking.
As thought subsides you experience a gap in the mental stream between thoughts.
Resting in the gap, the gaps between thoughts become longer.
The nature of the space between thoughts is stillness and peace.
This is the beginning of the felt oneness with Being, the natural state.
With practice the stillness and peace deepen,and the joy of Being arises within.

Alternatively just become intensely conscious of the Now.

This all seems to be good stuff, and anyone who applies it should benefit.

Peace.

Thanks iamthat; wonder if people can really "do" this without the physical strength of sitting meditation.

Not saying that he's wrong, but if it were so easy to teach people ways of truth, awakening wouldn't be as "rare as many say it is.

A question for you

Resting in "the gap" - what about sensations/these also need to be released, do they not? He only talks about thoughts...why?

JL

[JosephineB]

He is a sign post and a good one.

[sky]

ET as do many others can stir up something inside that was already there but lying dormant...

[lomax]

I believe his books are a gift to humanity.

Observe the thinker,means to realize that you are the one who thinks,and not the thinker.
Just take the last syllable of the word thinker(er),and realize where it points.

[ocean breeze]

Heard of him but never really got to read any of his books. Seems interesting. Maybe one day i'll give it a try. I guess the only way to know if anything works is to see for yourself and be honest with the results.

[django]

I don't believe Tolle is enlightened, though he might have stumbled upon this 'awakening' business that is so prevalent nowadays. And listening to him speak is some sort of refined torture.

Psychologists don't like him because they get to deal with the mess he makes in peoples lives when they try to be in the present as Tolle tells them and ignore abuses in their past.

[sky]

Originally Posted by django

I don't believe Tolle is enlightened, though he might have stumbled upon this 'awakening' business that is so prevalent nowadays. And listening to him speak is some sort of refined torture.

Psychologists don't like him because they get to deal with the mess he makes in peoples lives when they try to be in the present as Tolle tells them and ignore abuses in their past.

If you read The Power of Now, Tolle says that unless we face and heal the pain of our past, we will be forced to live it again and again. He also mentions Therapeutic treatments in his Teachings so he's not anti therapy at all. Maybe people should read his Teachings before they make assumptions. He teaches not to dwell in the past which is correct but never to ignore it....

Originally Posted by django

Psychologists don't like him because they get to deal with the mess he makes in peoples lives when they try to be in the present as Tolle tells them and ignore abuses in their past.

I don't think he is telling people to ignore their past, but is pointing out that there is only the now.

I haven't finished his book; I was just curious as to whether anyone can actually have deep awakening through reading things like this.

Experientially, not understanding.

JL