Oprah's Pick: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (We Have the eBook Edition)
I admit, I have never gotten the whole Eckhart Tolle thing.
A friend of mine thrust The Power of Now on me as a "gotta read" book. I tried to read it. I really, really tried! But after fifty or so pages I gave it up in disgust. Not only is there nothing new in what he has to say, but he is pedantic and even worse, boring. The guy is an awful writer; and yes, I know that English is his second language.
When I finally confessed to my friend that I couldn't make myself read any more she insisted on loaning me the audio version.
The next morning I decide to give it a try. Listening to books is one of my favorite to pass time on the treadmill, so what the hell. I promised myself to listen to at least a half hour and to try to keep an open mind. It was with great resolve, that I got on the treadmill, placed the CD in the player and plugged in my head phones.
After fifteen minutes of listening to some guy tell me what I should do with a really bad Arnold-like accent I wanted to scream. Fifteen minutes later I wanted to pull my hair out and shriek!
At the end of a half hour I was done!! In kindness to those around me, I restrained my self, stifled the shriek and settled on throwing the headphones to the ground.
As luck would have it the real Arnold was on the overhead TV talking about "Cal-ee-for-nee-ah." Sometimes you have to admit, it is just not your day!
These types of books and spiritual teachers set my teeth on edge anyway. The only way I know to learn how to "live a day at a time" is to practice doing it. Reading about how to do it, talking about how you should do it and chasing the latest guru won't do it.
I am not sure that Oprah and Tolle have much to say that applies to most of us. Oprah has found her life purpose: a popular talk show host and philanthropist. Tolle has found his: making money trafficing off people's quest for a better life.
You can bet, come Monday night I will be otherwise occupied!
3 comments:
I'm so glad you shared. I thought "it was just me..."
I agree with you. I do find Oprah a bit much. (My Favorite Things? Gimme a break.) But I'm to the point where I'll try anything. I even decided to blog aboutit to hold myself accountable. mynewearth@blogspot.com. I hope Oprah knows what she's talking about.
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.
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