The you that you think of as you (and that thinks of you as you, and so on) is not you, it’s just the character that the underlying truth of you is dreaming into brief existence. Enlightenment isn’t in the character, it’s in the underlying truth. Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a dream character, of course, unless it’s your goal to wake up, in which case the dream character must be ruthlessly annihilated. If your desire is to experience transcendental bliss or supreme love or altered states of consciousness or awakened kundalini, or to quality for heaven, or to liberate all sentient beings, or simply to become the best dang person you can be, then rejoice!, you’re in the right place: the dream state, the dualistic universe. However, if your interest is to cut the crap and figure out what’s true, then you’re in the wrong place and you’ve got a very messy fight ahead and there’s no point in pretending otherwise.
But beauty, real beauty, ends where intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of a face. The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are! Except, of course, in the Church. But then in the Church they don’t think. A bishop keeps on saying at the age of eighty what he was told to say when he was a boy of eighteen, and as a natural consequence he always looks absolutely delightful.
Intelligent practice always deals with just one thing: the fear at the base of human existence, the fear that I am not. And of course I am not, but the last thing I want to know is that.
Q: Since all is pre-ordained, is our self-realization also pre-ordained? Or are we free there at least?
A: Destiny refers only to name and shape. Since you are neither body nor mind, destiny has no control over you. You are completely free. The cup is conditioned by its shape, material, use and so on. But the space within the cup is free. It happens to be in the cup only when viewed in connection with the cup. Otherwise, it is just space. As long as there is a body, you appear to be embodied. Without the body you are not disembodied — you just are.
So the most important thing to realize is this: Your life has an inner purpose and an outer purpose. Inner purpose concerns Being and is primary. Outer purpose concerns doing and is secondary…. Your inner purpose is to awaken. It is as simple as that. You share that purpose with every other person on the planet – because it is the purpose of humanity. Your inner purpose is an essential part of the purpose of the whole, the universe and its emerging intelligence.
Buddhism stands unique in the history of human thought in denying the existence of a Soul, Self or Atman. According to the teachings of the Buddha, the idea of self is an imaginary, false belief which has no corresponding reality, and it produces harmful thoughts of ‘me’ and ‘mine’, selfish desire, craving, attachment, hatred, ill-will, conceit, pride, egoism, and other defilements, impurities and problems. It is the source of all troubles in the world from personal conflicts to wars between nations. In short, to this false view can be traced all the evil in the world.
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on April 23rd, 2008 at 4:07 am
“I” will be glad when and if “I” can get my meds adjusted right. Because my ability to do any kind of deep thinking and medication seems so far away. “I” am glad your back. Hope you had a restful retreat. My blog is using up quite a bit of my energy keeping it going.
on April 26th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on the webinar and Tolle…
Michelle Vandepas’s last blog post..Living Your Life’s Purpose with Abundance!
on April 27th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
@Michelle Me, too! I will have to sit and ponder it all a bit. Eckhart is so humble and Oprah is so…. not humble, but useful and a nice contrast to Eckhart’s quiet demeanor. I’ll add this one to my growing list of draft articles!
on April 28th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I have recently bought his new book “A New Earth-Awakening To Your Life’s Purpose”, and was blown away by the powerful message in the book. I realized that he is also the author of the familiar book “The Power of Now” which I have not read. So I bought it too.
When the student is ready, the teacher appears. I have a copy of “You’ll See It When You Believe It” by Dr Dyer Wayne in my bookshelf for many years. It sits there for years without being read, because I couldn’t fully grasp the essence of the words when I first bought it. Five years after, on one fine day when I was at the edge of depression, I picked up the book again and found a surge of refreshing power that comes with the words. That time I knew I was ready.
Cheers,
Jordan Cheng
Jordan Cheng’s last blog post..The Success Secrets of Michael Jordan
on April 28th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
@Jordan Glad to hear that Eckhart is working for you. Have you been watching him and Oprah? Good stuff. Funny, I love listening to Eckhart more than reading his books. A New Earth is good, though.
on May 14th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Ive read eckhart tolles book, and he, among other fake spiritual teachers, say that the way to overcome negativity and suffering, is to directly confront it, mentally. all this would do however is to give a nervous breakdown (a spiritual practice, not unheard of in egypt) and not a sense of cessation.
traditional tibetan buddhism states that one should seek shelter from harm, and seek a path that feels benificial to the mind.
eckhart tolle has some great points and nice thoughts, but his overall stance on confronting suffering emotionally on a spiritual level, is nothing more than pure self destruction.
eckhart tolle, the black monk, who teaches out of longhorn, scotland.
dont make me laugh
on May 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
@John Thanks for your comment. I’m not sure I agree with your assessment of Eckhart Tolle’s approach. He is not so much asking you to confront your suffering but to look at it, see it for what it is. There is a bit of a challenge implied, but it is a challenge to see the emptiness in the suffering. There are many parallels between his teachings and Buddhism, by the way.
Also, I wouldn’t be so certain that his approach is pure self destruction. His method has merits. I would agree that his approach is not fully fleshed out in his books, but it can be followed if one is interested.
Finally, all spirituality has its negative points, to be certain. Some people do have a nervous breakdown, but that applies to every form of spirituality. Catholic monks, Tibetan Buddhists, Hindus, all have looked within and been faced with the darkness of their minds. Some have been scared to death by what they see and experience great psychological discomfort. It happens. And the only thing to do is to be compassionate. Spirituality is, at times, not easy.
Thanks again for your comments.
on May 28th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
I am so greatful to Eckhart Tolle and Oprah for turning me onto Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and her beautiful book “”My Stroke of Insight”". Her story is amazing and her gift to all of us is a book purchase away I’m happy to say.
Dr Taylor was a Harvard brain scientist when she had a stroke at age 37. What was amazing was that her left brain was shut down by the stroke – where language and thinking occur – but her right brain was fully functioning. She experienced bliss and nirvana and the way she writes about it (or talks about it in her now famous TED talk) is incredible.
What I took away from Dr. Taylor’s book above all, and why I recommend it so highly, is that you don’t have to have a stroke or take drugs to find the deep inner peace that she talks about. Her book explains how. “”I want what she’s having”", and thanks to this wonderful book, I can! Thank you Dr. Taylor, and thank you Eckhart and Oprah.
on May 29th, 2008 at 11:13 am
@Stella I’ve yet to see Dr. Taylor on Oprah.com. I’ve heard that her story is an amazing one. Thanks for the recommendation. I must check it out sometime soon. Glad to have you here and leaving comments.