Eckhart Tolle

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Eckhart Tolle (2010)

Eckhart Tolle (born Ulrich Leonard Tolle on February 16, 1948 in Lünen ) is a spiritual teacher and bestselling author of spiritual books. He is originally from Germany and lives in Vancouver , Canada . One of his most famous works is Jetzt! The power of the present. A 1997 Guide to Spiritual Awakening ( The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment ) in which Tolle emphasizes the importance of mindful living in the present and that too many thoughts about the past or future should be avoided.

Life

Eckhart Tolle was born in Germany, but from the age of 13 he spent his further youth with his father in Spain. At 19 he moved to England. According to his own statements, he graduated from the University of London and worked in research and supervision at the University of Cambridge .

At the age of 29, he says he experienced a sudden and radical spiritual awakening. From that moment on he felt called to be a spiritual teacher.

Eckhart Tolle said the following about his name change: In a dream he saw a pile of books with the name Eckhart. As he did so, he felt that he had written these books, although at the time he did not even think about writing a book. Some time after the dream he met a psychic, a person who claims to have extrasensory perceptions . This called him Eckhart. When he asked why she called him that, she replied that she hadn't even thought about it. He then had himself called Eckhart, because his old name had too many old memories, his sad ego. Many also consider the name change to be an allusion to the German mystic Meister Eckhart .

Fonts and themes

He has published four books so far. That, also known as number one in the first best-seller list of the New York Times was to be found, living in the now. Teachings, exercises and meditations from 'The Power of Now' from 2002 have been translated into 30 languages.

In his books, Tolle uses images and mystical statements from various traditions such as Christian mysticism , Sufism or Buddhism to describe the path he proposes to achieve inner freedom. Eckhart Tolle has traveled to various countries around the world and taught there.

Teaching

According to his own statements, Tolle does not feel obliged to any tradition or any teaching in the sense of a worldview. Implicit parallels in his view and teaching, which he almost exclusively uses methodical instruction to achieve, he sees above all in Advaita Vedanta , Daoism or Zen Buddhism , since he postulates a person's psychological development potential.

He describes the following key terms as characteristic of his thinking:

  • His / the unmanifest / the formless: the plane of ultimate reality, the essence, the true nature, the divine. The opposite pole to the level of form and time, the level of the manifest.
  • Unconsciousness: a mind-dominated state of mind in which the person is blind to the deeper dimension of being. Access to the level of the “formless” is only possible beyond thinking.
  • Ego / Identity: The sum of all characteristics of a person from which the mind constructs a self-image. Identity in the constructivist sense arises when a person identifies with specific characteristics (appearance, professional status, belonging to a nation or religious community). These characteristics are, as it were, the raw material that the mind assembles into a compact ego. Tolle, on the other hand, understands identity to be self-knowledge as the formless.
  • Life situation: an excerpt from a personal biography that manifests itself over time. An individual part of life history from which the unconscious mind constructs an "ego".
  • Pain body: the sum of biographical suffering that condenses into a negative, quasi-autonomous energy field. The dissolution of the pain body happens when a person breaks his identification with the pain body.

In an interview with John Parker he explains this among other things. He has listened to various teachers who have helped him understand his own condition. Initially there was Ajahn Sumedho , a Buddhist abbot. He spent some time in London with Barry Long . The teachers Krishnamurti and Ramana Maharshi were especially important . He feels that the work he is doing is a coming together of the "doctrinal stream" of Krishnamurti and Ramana Maharshi.

Works

Books

Films and audio documents

  • Now! The power of the present. Kamphausen, Bielefeld 2008, ISBN 978-3-93349-671-3 (as a reading by the author on 8 CDs).
  • The transformation of consciousness. (As DVD or video).
  • Freedom from thoughts. (As DVD or video).
  • Gateway to the now. CD The three techniques for higher awareness.
  • Freedom from thoughts. Kamphausen, Bielefeld 2015, ISBN 978-3-95883-050-9 (3 audio CDs of the lecture in Fürstenfeldbruck on May 9).
  • It's always now! Kamphausen, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-89901-741-0 (5 audio CDs of the lectures in Zurich and Bern on May 11 and 15).
  • Find the silence in you Kamphausen, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-89901-968-1 (6 audio CDs).
  • Life from the fullness of being , Kamphausen, Bielefeld 2008, ISBN 978-3-89901-133-3 (1 DVD video or 2 audio CDs of the lecture in Berlin on September 15, 2007).
  • A new earth: A leap in consciousness instead of self-destruction (as a reading by the author on 9 CDs).
  • Discover your purpose in life , Kamphausen, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-89901-206-4 (1 DVD of a lecture in California, 2008 with German subtitles).
  • Living in the now - but how? Part 1 and 2 , Kamphausen, Bielefeld 2010, 1 DVD video ( ISBN 978-3-89901-384-9 ) or 2 audio CDs ( ISBN 978-3-89901-431-0 ) of the lectures in Karlsruhe (26 October 2010) and 1 DVD video ( ISBN 978-3-89901-385-6 ) or 2 audio CDs ( ISBN 978-3-89901-432-7 ) in Hanover (October 28, 2010).
  • Why it is important to be different: The legendary dialogue with Wayne W. Dyer , 1 DVD video with German soundtrack and book about the conversation in Hawaii (October 29, 2011).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Beate Rottgardt: America's guru comes from Lünen.  In: Ruhr Nachrichten , May 27, 2008.
  2. Now !: the power of the present (Google Books)
  3. NonDualiteit: Interview met Eckhart Tolle - deel September 1, 17, 2013, accessed on February 22, 2017 .
  4. ^ E. Tolle, Sri Aurobindo, German edition, 1st edition 2012, p. 81
  5. Excerpt from an interview by Eckhart Tolle with John Parker (English)
  6. YouTube: Eckhart Tolle and his Aussie Mate