Karen Mayo is an artist from Melbourne, Australia, who has completed a Mastersdegree in Art in Public Space, and who is currently studying to be a secondary school artsteacher at the University of Melbourne. This is the story behind the picture she took forour photography contest, and how she has been inspired by Eckharts work. []

Here is a spiritual practice that will bring empowerment and creative expansion intoyour life. Make a list of a number of everyday routine activities that you performfrequently. Include activities that you may consider uninteresting, boring, tedious,irritating, or stressful. But dont include anything that you hate or detest doing. Thats acase either for acceptance or for []

One of the remarkable things about Eckharts teachings is that each time I listen to atalk, whether I have heard it several times or for the first time, there is a freshness.There is a vibrant aliveness behind the words that brings my awareness back to thepresent moment. I was reminded of this recently when I []

Eckhart says, Even a stone, and more easily a flower or a bird, could show you the wayback to God, to the Source, to yourself. When you look at it or hold it and let it bewithout imposing a word of mental label on it, a sense of awe, of wonder, arises withinyou.Its essence silently []

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February | 2015 | news - Eckhart Tolle

The author of The Power of Now reveals the things that keep us continually frazzledand how to remove them from our lives. Peace is one of the most important human experiences. If you don't have peace, then you're not able to appreciate whatever else you do have. In fact, you may not even be able to recognize the good in your life because you have not recognized the good in yourselfyet. Here are a few things that may be getting your way: 1. You Mistake Peace for Unconsciousness Sometimes people feel peaceful when they become very tired. Others think that peace is what you feel after having a few drinks or taking drugs. (People use these substances, because they long for inner stillness and quiet.) Being half asleep or desensitized by drugs or a few glasses of wine can keep you from feeling your anxiety, fear, anger, resentment or worry. But this relief only lasts a short time. That turmoil is still therebecause peace is not unconsciousness. Peace is not being asleep or being numb. It's the opposite. It's a state of heightened aliveness, when we become more conscious rather than less, and this requires an awareness of the kinds of thoughts that habitually go through your mind. 2. You Mistake Peace for Happiness Many people think of happiness as a goal, something you're working toward that will eventually make you feel good or at peace with your life. To me, however, happiness is usually associated with a high that occurs when something nice happens. You feel happy when you get the job or find a $100 bill on the street. You feel happy leaving for vacation. But very often the vacation doesn't turn out the way it's supposed to, or it comes to an end, or while on that vacation you only think about the problems you're going to find when you come back home. In all of these cases, the happiness is temporary. After a while it subsides, and then, quite often, you'll even feel suddenly low. Because happiness isn't peace.

Happiness is actually quite superficial, whereas peace is deeper. Peace is immune to the polarities of life: the highs and lows, the hots and colds, the so-called goods and so-called bads. This is why peace is so crucial. Nobody goes through life without encountering all these experiences, inspiring or upsetting. When someone close to you dies or you have a health problem or you lose our possessions, you probably can't feel happy. Nobody could. But do you need to feel in absolute despair? Do you need to feel devastated? If you are at peace and connected with that deeper level in you, those kind of emotional extremes don't occur. You'll have a calm that is not affected by whatever happens in the world, because you have an acceptance and understanding of whatever happens in the world.

Next: Are you looking the right way?

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Eckhart Tolle: Why You Aren't At Peace Right Now - oprah.com

Question: Is it possible to have a friendship with the ego? Or a friendship between the false I and the real I? ET: The ego, in the way I use the term, isnt really the ego if you recognize it. In other words, if the ego is operating in you, you wont even know it. []

Question: Im 34 years old and have a good job and a good home; Im married to awonderful man. I have bad anxiety, and I have no idea what I want from my life. I havelow self-esteem and I get defensive easily. Im rarely content or grateful. My thinking is sonegative. I need approval from []

There are many accounts of people who experienced that emerging new dimension ofconsciousness as a result of tragic loss at some point in their lives. Some lost all of theirpossessions, others their children or spouse, their social position, reputation, or physicalabilities. In some cases, through disaster or war, they lost all of these simultaneouslyand found []

The mind exists in a state of not enough and so is always greedy for more. When youare identified with mind, you get bored and restless very easily. Boredom means themind is hungry for more stimulus, more food for thought, and its hunger is not beingsatisfied. When you feel bored, you can satisfy the minds []

You cannot see space, of course, nor can you hear, touch, taste, or smell it, so how doyou even know it exists? This logical-sounding question already contains a fundamentalerror. The essence of space is no-thingness, so it doesnt exist in the normal sense ofthe word. Only thingsformsexist. Even calling it space can be misleading because []

What is a negative emotion? An emotion that is toxic to the body and interferes with itsbalance and harmonious functioning. Fear, anxiety, anger, bearing a grudge, sadness,hatred or intense dislike, jealousy, envyall disrupt the energy flow through the body,affect the heart, the immune system, digestion, production of hormones, and so on. Even mainstream medicine, although []

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Eckhart Tolle | news

EckhartTolleTV is an Internet subscription service that uses technology to bring the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and Kim Eng to the world. Each month brings us a new issue (similar to a magazine subscription) containing teachings from both Eckhart and Kim, and released on the first of the month. Each issue features an exclusive new 60-90 minute talk delivered by Eckhart, a live meditation by Eckhart, and Eckhart answering questions from members. Each issue also includes exclusive content from Kim Eng, in the form of answers to questions and guided practices that complement the teachings of Eckhart Tolle.

Among the various forms of content described above, your subscription allows you to access the material in a manner that fits your lifestyle. As Eckhart Tolle TV is delivered via the Internet, you can view the content online at your convenience. You can also download the content, including the talks, live meditations, Q&A videos, and material from Kim. The downloads provide the ultimate in flexibility, as you can use the downloaded files to create your own customized CD or DVD, or take the teachings with you on your smart phone or other mobile device.

Each month, Eckhart delivers a live meditation. This meditation is streamed to your computer, as it happens, through the Internet. It occurs one Sunday a month, at 1:00pm Pacific Time. The meditation itself lasts between 30 and 45 minutes and is a wonderful way to reconnect with Eckhart's teachings and the peaceful state that is found in the Now.

At the core of Eckhart Tolle TV is Eckhart's "Private Seminar." This talk is a new and original teaching by Eckhart and lasts 60-90 minutes. Some previous issues have been titled "The Manifestation Question," "The Mountain and the Valley," "Living From the Depths of Presence,," "Meditation," "Eckhart on Emerson," and "The Tao Te Ching."

Kim Eng is a regular contributor to Eckhart Tolle TV. Kim has designed her own teaching modality, which is aimed at the transformation of consciousness through the integration of spirit, mind, and body. Kim also answers questions from the Eckhart Tolle TV Community. Through Kims contributions to each issue and through her Presence through Movement teachings, she helps us to connect to presence as we move through the forms of everyday life.

The online community is a peer-based group that connects through the Internet. This community brings together people from all over the world (over 130 countries). In this forum, people have the ability to discuss the teachings and post new and relevant topics for exchange and reflection.

The topics within the forum cover many areas from support for the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and Kim Eng to more light natured discussions about life and experiences. Some say that this forum has helped them evolve from an egoic state of living to a more peaceful and present state of being.

You have an opportunity to see Eckhart at the recording sessions we hold during the year to film the content that is on Eckhart Tolle TV. This is done before an intimate studio audience, and is only open to those that are members of Eckhart Tolle TV. The recording is typically done over two days and takes place in a theatre/studio environment.

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Eckhart Tolle Now | Learn More

Origem: Wikipdia, a enciclopdia livre.

Eckhart Tolle, pseudnimo de Ulrich Leonard Tolle (Lnen, 16 de fevereiro de 1948) um escritor e conferencista alemo, residente atualmente em Vancouver no Canad, conhecido como autor de best sellers sobre iluminao espiritual. Seu livro mais conhecido O Poder do Agora.

Depois de se formar pela Universidade de Londres, tornou-se pesquisador e supervisor da Universidade de Cambridge.[1] Tolle conta que, aos 29 anos, depois de vrios episdios depressivos, passou por uma profunda transformao espiritual, dissolveu sua antiga identidade e mudou o curso de sua vida de forma radical. Os anos seguintes foram dedicados ao entendimento, integrao e aprofundamento desta transformao, que marcou o incio de uma intensa jornada interior.[1] Em seu livro, O Poder do Agora, relata as respostas obtidas atravs dessa busca, explicando que, quando nos alinhamos ao momento presente, uma nova percepo da realidade surge, muito mais pura, profunda, poderosa.

Seu ltimo bestseller foi "A New Earth" conhecido tambem por "O Despertar de uma Nova Conscincia". Eckhart Tolle no est vinculado a qualquer religio mas utiliza-se dos ensinamentos do zen budismo, sufismo (do poeta Rumi), hindusmo (Advaita Vednta), dos escritos de Mestre Eckhart e da Bblia. [2] Alcanou maior notoriedade em 2008, ao participar, durante trs meses, do programa da apresentadora norte-americana Oprah Winfrey, para explicar seus livros.

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Eckhart Tolle Wikipdia, a enciclopdia livre

Eckhart is a spiritual teacher and author who was born in Germany and educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge. At the age of 29, a profound inner transformation radically changed the course of his life. The next few years were devoted to understanding, integrating and deepening that transformation, which marked the beginning of an intense inward journey. Later, he began to work in London with individuals and small groups as a counselor and spiritual teacher. Since 1995 he has lived in Vancouver, Canada. Eckhart Tolle is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Power of Now (translated into 33 languages) and the highly acclaimed follow-up A New Earth, which are widely regarded as two of the most influential spiritual books of our time.

Eckharts profound yet simple teachings have already helped countless people throughout the world find inner peace and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of the teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego-based state of consciousness. This is a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for the ending of violence on our planet.

Eckhart is a sought-after public speaker and teaches and travels extensively throughout the world. Many of his talks, intensives and retreats are published on CD and DVD. Most of the teachings are given in English, but occasionally Eckhart also gives talks in German and Spanish. Eckhart is also a pioneer in using technology to disseminate his teachings. Through EckhartTolleTV.com, he gives monthly talks, live meditations and answers questions from viewers. In addition to The Power of Now and A New Earth, Eckhart has written a book designed for meditative reading entitled Stillness Speaks. A book consisting of selections from The Power of Now is also available, entitled Practicing the Power of Now.

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Eckhart Tolle Now | About - Eckhart

Eckhart Tolle is author of the New York Times #1 best seller The Power of Now and the highly acclaimed follow-up A New Earth, which are widely regarded as two of the most influential spiritual books of our time. He is also a pioneer in using technology to disseminate his teachings. Through EckhartTolleTV.com, he gives monthly talks, live meditations, and answers questions from viewers.

Not aligned with any particular religion or tradition, Tolle excludes none. His profound yet simple teachings have already helped countless people throughout the world find inner peace and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of his teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. An essential aspect of this awakening is transcending our ego-based state of consciousness, a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for ending violence on our planet.

Eckhart was born in Germany and educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge. At the age of 29, a profound spiritual transformation virtually dissolved his old identity and radically changed the course of his life. The next few years were devoted to understanding, integrating, and deepening that transformation, which marked the beginning of an intense inward journey. Later, he began to work with individuals and groups as a counselor and spiritual teacher.

Widely recognized as one of the most original and inspiring spiritual teachers of the modern age, he now travels and teaches throughout the world.

I keep Eckharts book at my bedside. I think its essential spiritual teaching. Its one of the most valuable books Ive ever read. Oprah Winfrey, Oprah.com

I would do anything to be anywhere in the vicinity of Eckhart Tolle. Jim Carrey, actor

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Eckhart Tolle | Omega

To the uninitiated, Eckhart Tolle might be mistaken for a nature photographer. His personaa soft German-accented voice, a boyish visage, his love of vestsdoesnt exactly scream, guru! Yet Tolle is one of the worlds most popular spiritual teachers and a literary powerhouse whose best-selling books The Power of Now and A New Earth have influenced millions.

Born in Germany, educated at the universities of London and Cambridge, and now a resident of Vancouver, Canada, Tolle writes and lectures on the evolution of human consciousness. His work synthesizes many world views and spiritual teachings, including those of Buddhism, the New Testament, the Bhagavad Gita, and the German mystic Bo Yin Raall delivered with wry, gentle insights.

Tolle has embraced new technology to connect with others, airing videos and live feeds of his lectures and guided meditations on his web channel, Eckhart Tolle TV. In June, he plans to be in San Francisco, where hell record new material to share. S&H Editor-in-Chief Karen Bouris spoke with Tolle recently about how we can best deal with daily human challengesboth personal and collectiveand transform them into opportunities.

Why are people so focused on this notionof enlightenment?

If people are focused on enlightenmentor whatever word they are using to describe self-realization or awakeningat least theyve realized that the answer does not lie in external things. They have realized that the answer lies within rather than in obtaining more possessions, or achieving this or that, or changing the world out there. So its a good thing. Its a transitional stage from the normal state of consciousness, where all the solutions and problems are seen as external, to realizing that whatever we experience as our external reality is a reflection of our inner state of consciousness.

Its true that the people who are looking for enlightenment are a minority. In ordinary human existence, people want to find the ideal partner, acquire more things, gain power, or acquire a better body. And in ordinary consciousness, you look to those things for salvation, fulfillment, and happiness. As youre beginning to awaken, you realize its not there. But even for those who are beginning to awaken, the old mind patternthe deeply ingrained pattern that always looks to the future for fulfillment and salvationstill tends to operate.

So, even when we are searching, we are stilllooking toward the future?

Yes. This mind pattern assumes that the future is going to be more important than the present. It ignores the present moment, does not honor it, and does not give it its due. I have met people who have been spiritual seekers for 20 years, have read hundreds of books, attended workshops, gone to ashrams in Indiaand they are getting frustrated, asking, When am I going to get it? When am I going to get enlightened?

The actual experience of awakening can only be in the present moment. The future does not exist, because nobody has ever experienced it. You can only ever experience a present moment. The future is a mental projection that you are having in the present moment. Im not talking about the practical aspects of the future, like booking a flight or planning what you want to do this year, but the psychological future. Thats where we can get trapped. If you are always focused on the future, you miss the reality of life, which is the present moment.

When people get very old, there isnt much future left, so they tend to focus mainly on the past. But they are still not in the present moment. Life is now.

How do you catch yourself from drifting into the past or the future, maybe even avoiding the present moment?

Whenever you get drawn back into the mind and into the future, youll notice it because usually you dont feel so good anymore. You become upset, discontented, irritated, depressed. It means you lost the present moment, you lost the vertical dimension, and you lost awareness of yourself as consciousness. [Youre back to being] a mind-created person with this limited personal history and a mind- created little me, the ego. Its never satisfied for long.

You can only break through to a deeper level of ones self in the vertical dimension of the present moment. Thats regardless of the circumstances of your life. So many people say, Oh, if I had more free time, if I didnt have to worry about my finances, or I didnt have this or that, I could dedicate all my life to spiritual awakening. Wouldnt that be great?

Yes, the idea of the monk sitting peacefully on themountaintop.

It would not be great, because its through the very challenges of daily life that you become more motivated to awaken. You can actually use whatever the circumstances are, and instead of working against them, see if you can align yourself with the present moment internally.

When people talk of being present, though, there is this idea theyll only encounter good, positive feelings. Can you talk about observing presence, as you call it, in the face of negative feelings or situations?

Its important to bring awareness into whatever arises in the present moment. Negative feelings arise, and negative is not a moral judgment; it just means it doesnt feel good.

The difference between being aware and being unaware of the negative feelings is that when theres a lack of awareness, then you get completely taken over by those negative feelings. Theres no inner space anymore, and you think, say, and do things that are controlled by that negative energy inside you.

Often it happens that people get taken over by that temporarily, and then when they become a little bit more conscious again, they say, Oh, how could I have done that? or, How could I have said that?

So the difference is, when the same thing happens again and you become irritated, you become angry, whatever it isreactive in some waysad or depressed, theres an awareness that this is happening to you. You have the observing presence in the background thats more who you are rather than the emotion. You are still there as it happens.

Can you give an example of an observing presence?

Lets say youre in a long line at the supermarket or the airport. The line isnt moving and youre getting irritated and angry. If youre present with it, you may realize its not the line thats causing you to be angry. Its your mind, whatever your mind is telling you. And the emotions are your bodys reactions to your thoughts about the situation. Thats a very important realization, because now an element of choice comes in. You see that it just makes your life unpleasant to be feeling those thingsthe irritation and anger serve no purpose. It doesnt change the situation. And now you have the choice of letting go of those thoughts, to experiment to see what the situation is like when you dont attach these thoughts to it. Youre in the same situation, totally free of negativity.

What about dealing with other people? Isnt that harder?

You have a lot of power and freedom to become free internally from external conditions. That includes other people and whatever they do and how they behave. They no longer have the power to determine your inner state of consciousness.

If you meet a person whos rude to you, for example, your thoughts automatically are, You shouldnt behave like that! But of course, these thoughts conflict with reality, because the person is behaving like that. [When you are observing,] youre able to let go of those thoughts. Youve realized the fallacy of internally arguing with what is. And you can simply be with what is in any given situation.

How should we look at global challengesthings like climate changefrom this place of awareness? Is it a response of my ego, for example, to think that I have a responsibility to help save the planet?

Personal challenges can sometimes be quite big, whether theyre challenges with health, finances, or relationships. Yet sometimes those personal ones are actually connected to the larger challenges in the collective.

We need to save the planet, of course. Yes, its true that we need to save the planet. But lets not fall into the erroneous thinking that all the solutions are out there somewhere. Because most of the problemsviolence, pollution, war, terrorismall those things have their origin in human consciousness or unconsciousness. So your primary responsibility is not doing anything outside of you; your primary responsibility is your own state of consciousness. And once that is achieved, then whatever you do and whomever you come into contact with, and even many people you dont come into direct contact with, get affected by your state of consciousness.

If you dont take responsibility for your state of consciousness, and you believe all the solutions are out there, then you fall into errors like they did with communism, for example. The initial motivation for communism was actually idealistic; it was good. The proponents said, Theres so much injustice in the worldthere are people who are exploiting millions of others, which was true. They wanted to create a society that was more just and fair and do away with personal property. It all sounded wonderful, but what they had neglected was there was no change in their state of consciousness. And once they got into power, they re-created the same evils. What they ended up with was as bad as, if not worse than, what they had fought against. So many revolutions have ended up like that. Initially people had good intentions, but good intentions are not enough if you bring your old state of consciousness to them.

So if you have awareness, then you can beginto engage in awakened doing?

Yes. Awakened doing is when you dont create suffering anymore for othersor for yourselfby your own actions. It also implies that your primary intention, the focus of your attention, is on the doing in the present moment, rather than the result that you want to achieve through it. Joy flows into what you do, rather than stress. Stressful energy arises when you think some future moment is more important than the present moment, and the doing becomes only a means to an end. Many people look always to the end of the workday, or the end of the week, or the next vacation or a better job. Millions of people live in almost continual stress because they are not aligned with the present moment.

In some of your books, you mention the imbalance between the male and the female energy. Can you talk more about this?

Yes. Male energy doesnt necessarily mean men, and female energy doesnt necessarily mean confined to women. But male energy resonates more with doing, and the female energy resonates more with being. The world is out of balance because it is focused primarily on the doing, and there is a loss of the awareness of being. This is when stress and negativity arise: when people try to get things done and they no longer are centered within that aware space of being. You cannot feel your being anymore; you cannot feel the consciousness behind all the doing. So many women these days have internalized the imbalance and are also out of touch with being more focused on doing.

Both society as a whole and individual humans needto find some kind of inner balance between the ability to be still and the ability to do. Personally, Im more in the feminine realm than in the male realm. Im much more drawn to being than doing. Every human needs to look within to find some kind of balance. In the famous symbol of the yin and yang, the two sides are embracing each other. But in the middle of the white side there is a black spot, and in the middle of the black side there is a white spot. Even within the stillness, there needs to be the dynamic quality of doing so that you dont go to sleep. And when youre doing, there needs to be a stillness at the center. Otherwise youll lose yourself in the doing.

Its sounds so simple, the idea of balancing presenceand stillness. So why does it feel hard?

The difficulty is the shift from the old consciousness to the new, because the old consciousness still has a momentum behind it. When we step out of the old consciousness, yes, the transition may be difficult, but the more we embody and live through the new consciousness, life actually gets easier for us. It doesnt mean that there wont be any more challenges; the challenges will continue to come, but youll find youre more capable of meeting the challenges when you arent creating the negativity around them. S&H

One Perfect Sentence

You may remember the book The Road Less Traveled. The first sentence of that book is Life is difficult. I think its the best beginning of any book Ive read, says Tolle, referring to the 1978 classic by M. Scott Peck, a psychiatrist who blended theology and science in the study of human behavior. He says once you accept the fact that life is difficult, its not really difficult anymore. Its only when you think it shouldnt be, that it makes it very hard. Were here, were meant to be challenged by life, and that is part of the how consciousness evolves.

Tolle asks us to imagine a world where we could all choose our own life circumstances. Everyone would say, I want love. I want to have absolute financial security. I would like to have perfect health. I would like to have a wonderful and happy relationship with no conflict, children who are no problem. A good job, a fulfilling job. But if you actually had that ideal life, he says, it would not contribute to your awakening. Its the very things that we dont want that provide the motivation for becoming more conscious.

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Eckhart Tolle: The Easier Path | Spirituality & Health Magazine

Overview

Oprah and Eckhart Tolle's 10-week series "A New Earth" premieres Sunday, March 23 at 12 p.m. ET/PT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network

The bestselling book by one of the 21st centurys most innovative and exciting spiritual thinkers

With his bestselling spiritual guide The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle inspired millions of readers to discover the freedom and joy of a life lived "in the now." In A New Earth, Tolle expands on these powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger, jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence.

A New Earth was an Oprah Book Club pick and reads as a traditional narrative, offering anecdotes and philosophies in a way that is accessible to all. Illuminating, enlightening, and uplifting, A New Earth is a profoundly spiritual manifesto for a better way of lifeand for building a better world.

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Publishers Weekly

According to Tolle, who assumes the role of narrator as well, humans are on the verge of creating a new world by a personal transformation that shifts our attention away from our ever-expanding egos. This idea is well realized through Tolle's remarkably well-paced narration. Naturally, the author understands his material so thoroughly that he is able to convey it in an enjoyable manner, but Tolle's gentle tone and dialect begs his audience's attention simply through its straightforward approach. Something about this reading just seems profoundly important, whether one agrees with the material or not, and listeners' attention is sure to be captured within seconds of listening to Tolle's take on the universe in which we live. Originally released in 2005, both book and audiobook were reissued when Oprah Winfrey chose the title for her book club this year. A Penguin paperback. (Feb.)

Library Journal

The Flowering of Human Consciousness

Evocation

Earth, 114 million years ago, one morning just after sunrise: The first flower ever to appear on the planet opens up to receive the rays of the sun. Prior to this momentous event that heralds an evolutionary transformation in the life of plants, the planet had already been covered in vegetation for millions of years. The first flower probably did not survive for long, and flowers must have remained rare and isolated phenomena, since conditions were most likely not yet favorable for a widespread flowering to occur. One day, however, a critical threshold was reached, and suddenly there would have been an explosion of color and scent all over the planetif a perceiving consciousness had been there to witness it.

Much later those delicate and fragrant beings we call flowers would come to play an essential part in the evolution of consciousness of another species. Humans would increasingly be drawn to and fascinated by them. As the consciousness of human beings developed, flowers were most likely the first thing they came to value that had no utilitarian purpose for them, that is to say, was not linked in some way to survival. They provided inspiration to countless artists, poets, and mystics. Jesus tells us to contemplate the flowers and learn from them how to live. The Buddha is said to have given a "silent sermon" once during which he held up a flower and gazed at it. After a while, one of those present, a monk called Mahakasyapa, began to smile. He is said to have been the only one who had understood the sermon. According to legend, that smile (that is to say, realization) was handed down by twenty-eight successive masters and much later became the origin of Zen.

Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature. The first recognition of beauty was one of the most significant events in the evolution of human consciousness. The feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to that recognition. Without our fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves. Flowers, more fleeting, more ethereal, and more delicate than the plants out of which they emerged, would become like messengers from another realm, like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless. They not only had a scent that was delicate and pleasing to humans, but also brought a fragrance from the realm of spirit. Using the word "enlightenment" in a wider sense than the conventionally accepted one, we could look upon flowers as the enlightenment of plants.

Any life-form in any realmmineral, vegetable, animal, or humancan be said to undergo "enlightenment." It is, however, an extremely rare occurrence since it is more than an evolutionary progression: It also implies a discontinuity in its development, a leap to an entirely different level of Being and, most importantly, a lessening of materiality.

What could be heavier and more impenetrable than a rock, the densest of all forms? And yet some rocks undergo a change in their molecular structure, turn into crystals, and so become transparent to the light. Some carbons, under inconceivable heat and pressure, turn into diamonds, and some heavy minerals into other precious stones.

Most crawling reptilians, the most earthbound of all creatures, have remained unchanged for millions of years. Some, however, grew feathers and wings and turned into birds, thus defying the force of gravity that had held them for so long. They didn't become better at crawling or walking, but transcended crawling and walking entirely.

Since time immemorial, flowers, crystals, precious stones, and birds have held special significance for the human spirit. Like all life-forms, they are, of course, temporary manifestations of the underlying one Life, one Consciousness. Their special significance and the reason why humans feel such fascination for and affinity with them can be attributed to their ethereal quality.

Once there is a certain degree of Presence, of still and alert attention in human beings' perceptions, they can sense that there is more there than the mere physical existence of that form, without knowing that this is the reason why he or she is drawn toward it, feels an affinity with it. Because of its ethereal nature, its form obscures the indwelling spirit to a lesser degree than is the case with other life-forms. The exception to this are all newborn life-formsbabies, puppies, kittens, lambs, and so on. They are fragile, delicate, not yet firmly established in materiality. An innocence, sweetness and beauty that are not of this world still shine through them. They delight even relatively insensitive humans.

So when you are alert and contemplate a flower, crystal, or bird without naming it mentally, it becomes a window for you into the formless. There is an inner opening, however slight, into the realm of spirit. This is why these three "en-lightened" life-forms have played such an important part in the evolution of human consciousness since ancient times; why, for example, the jewel in the lotus flower is a central symbol of Buddhism and a white bird, the dove, signifies the Holy Spirit in Christianity. They have been preparing the ground for a more profound shift in planetary consciousness that is destined to take place in the human species. This is the spiritual awakening that we are beginning to witness now.

The Purpose of This Book

Is humanity ready for a transformation of consciousness, an inner flowering so radical and profound that compared to it the flowering of plants, no matter how beautiful, is only a pale reflection? Can human beings lose the density of their conditioned mind structures and become like crystals or precious stones, so to speak, transparent to the light of consciousness? Can they defy the gravitational pull of materialism and materiality and rise above identification with form that keeps the ego in place and condemns them to imprisonment within their own personality?

The possibility of such a transformation has been the central message of the great wisdom teachings of humankind. The messengersBuddha, jesus, and others, not all of them knownwere humanity's early flowers. They were precursors, rare and precious beings. A widespread flowering was not yet possible at that time, and their message became largely misunderstood and often greatly distorted. It certainly did not transform human behavior, except in a small minority of people.

Is humanity more ready now than at the time of those early teachers? Why should this be so? What can you do, if anything, to bring about or accelerate this inner shift? What is it that characterizes the old egoic state of consciousness recognized? These and other essential questions will be addressed in this book. More important, this book itself is a transformational device that has come out of the arising new consciousness. The ideas and concepts presented here may be important, but they are secondary. They are no more than signposts pointing toward awakening. As you read, a shift takes place within you.

This book's main purpose is not to add new information or beliefs to your mind or to try to convince you of anything, but to bring about a shift in consciousness, that is to say, to awaken. In that sense, this book is not "interesting." Interesting means you can keep your distance, play around with ideas and concepts in your mind, agree or disagree. This book is about you. It will change your state of consciousness or it will be meaningless. It can only awaken those who are ready. Not everyone is ready yet, but many are, and with each person who awakens, the momentum in the collective consciousness grows, and it becomes easier for others. If you don't know what awakening means, read on. Only by awakening can you know the true meaning of that word. A glimpse is enough to initiate the awakening process, which is irreversible. For some, that glimpse will come while reading this book. For many others who may not even have realized it, the process has already begun. This book will help them recognize it. For some, it may have begun through loss or suffering; for others, through coming into contact with a spiritual teacher or teaching, through reading The Power of Now or some other spiritually alive and therefore transformational bookor any combination of the above. If the awakening process has begun in you, the reading of this book will accelerate and intensify it.

An essential part of the awakening is the recognition of the unawakened you, the ego as it thinks, speaks, and acts, as well as the recognition of the collectively conditioned mental processes that perpetuate the unawakened state. That is why this book shows the main aspects of the ego and how they operate in the individual as well as in the collective. This is important for two related reasons: The first is that unless you know the basic mechanics behind the workings of the ego, you won't recognize it, and it will trick you into identifying with it again and again. This means it takes you over, an imposter pretending to be you. The second reason is that the act of recognition itself is one of the ways in which awakening happens. When you recognize the unconsciousness in you, that which makes the recognition possible is the arising consciousness, is awakening. You cannot fight against darkness. The light of consciousness is all that is necessary. You are that light.

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A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart ...

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At age 30, Eckhart Tolle went from suicidal thoughts to spiritual awakening, literally overnight. Can you tell us the story of his life-changing epiphany?

Eckhart, according to his own description, was an unhappy, neurotic, confused intellectual and his background was of that generation of Germans who are carrying around a lot of the karma of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany.

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He describes in his book an evening where he was ready to take his life. He said to himself, 'I can't live with myself anymore.' And then suddenly there was a kind of realization: Are there two of me here? There's the self that's so miserable that I can't live with, but what is the "I" that is observing this self?

It was a spontaneous process of what in the Advaita Vedanta tradition in India is called "self-inquiry." In other words, the question turned back on itself: Who am I? Who is this "I" that can't live with this self? And this produced a spontaneous form of self-inquiry that led very quickly to a kind of ego-death, where his personality died, his self as he had known it for 30 years, had died.

And he went into kind of a swoon, he describes it in the book as kind of what people describe in near-death experiences -- you know, going down through the tunnel, and so on. And then he woke up in the morning in a state of thoughtless awareness and happiness that never left him. And that was essentially his epiphany. It was a spontaneous death of the conditioned self, of the personality, of the ego.

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Upon waking he didn't know what had happened to him, because he had no background in spiritual work at all. He was a kind of strict rationalist, you know, a research scholar in Cambridge in England. According to his own description he had no points of reference for understanding his own enlightenment. All he knew was that he was happy.

How did he describe his state upon waking?

An interview with Dr. Gunther Weil

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The Power of Eckhart Tolle - Beliefnet.com