What Exactly is Personal Development?

Personal development is the process of self-enhancement that can occur individually or under the guidance of a mentor, teacher or personal development coach. The field of personal development is ancient and history reveals that it is an ongoing area of research and understanding as each generation faces new challenges an opportunities. There are a variety of online and in-person learning programs, training programs, books, audios, and videos. Each of which share different perspectives, tools, techniques, and methods to enhance ones personal development. The key premise behind personal development is intentionality: the intent to change ones circumstances or effectiveness based upon specific, measurable criteria. In most activities this affects an individuals health, wealth, relationships and spirituality. To begin with, there must be an initial intake using specific criteria to establish where you are currently and this is contrasted with ones desired outcomes. This process reveals the missing resources that the individual must personally develop. The resulting objectives, goals and benchmarks can be used as milestones that demonstrate progress upon a persons personal development path. Both failures and successes upon this development path provide a feedback system in real time. A personal development coach helps the coachee to effectively evaluate the feedback and make adjustments accordingly so as to stay on track.

It is generally assumed that personal development mixed with psychology when Alfred Adler and Carl Jung made their respective impacts upon psychology. Alfred Adler is recorded as one of the first psychologists to not limit psychology to just analysis that focused upon past childhood circumstances or unconscious drives as derived from the Freudian psychotherapy model. Adler also defined the concept of lifestyle, which is a persons overall approach to life including how they face problems, their self-image and general attitude toward life. Carl Jung brought to psychology the notion of the process of individuation. This is the individuals drive to experience a sense of wholeness and internal balance. Later, Daniel Levinson developed a model of seven life stages that has come to be known as the lifecycle. Within the lifecycle, each individual is unconciously influenced by the aspirations of an ideal life; the Dream.

David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University, Albert Bandura has revealed through his research that personal development is an effective approach to goal achievement because of the internal resources it creates within the individual. One of the primary resources each individual who proactively begins a self-directed personal development path or personal development coaching is self-confidence. Self-confidence, according to Bandura, is an important predictive quality supporting individual success because within the individual it: creates the context of anticipated success; it allows for controlled risks and challenging goals; it encourages continued attempts in the face of failure; and it empowers one to control non-beneficial emotions.

The educational researcher in the field of student affairs, Arthur Chickering, outlined seven import points of personal development that should be experienced by university students:

The application of personal development within academia can be seen in the following disciplines:

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs reveals self-actualization at the top of the pyramid, signifying a human beings desire to be more and be everything that an individual has the capacity to become. It is interesting to think that Maslow estimated only a small percentage of the population were actually concerned with self-actualization, individuation and personal development. The remainder of the population would be solely interested in the lower levels such as financial security and personal needs being met. With the growth and globalization of the worlds economy, it becomes less the responsibility of corporations to ensure the personal development of their employees and more so the responsibility of the employee to ensure she or he is well suited for a position. Peter Drucker stated the following in the Harvard Business Review (source):

We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: if youve got ambition and smarts, you can rise to the top of your chosen profession, regardless of where you started out. But with opportunity comes responsibility. Companies today arent managing their employees careers; knowledge workers must, effectively, be their own chief executive officers. Its up to you to carve out your place, to know when to change course, and to keep yourself engaged and productive during a work life that may span some 50 years.

It can be generalized that corporate personal development programs can be divided into two categories: employee benefits and development strategies. The purpose behind employee benefits personal development coaching programs is to enhance motivation, create employee loyalty and improve job satisfaction. Such personal development programs focus upon: time management, work and life balance, stress management, leadership, and the personal discovery that can occur in sports, martial arts, NLP coaching, hypnosis, personal finance, yoga, meditation, etc. Regarding development strategies, these often overlap with professional development goals. Often programs are created or consultants and personal development trainers brought in to enhance productivity, inspire innovation or motivate employees to enhance the quality of their work. The overall interests benefit the employees but more so benefit the long term development goals of the organization. In this sense, it is a win-win scenario because the company can look at enhancing one or all of the following factors: increase performance, reduce costs, or increase revenues. While the employees receive training and resources to better ensure job stability and enhance performance.

Excerpt from:
Personal Development Coaching | Personal Development Plan ...

week of November 8, 2015

Each one of us has a unique pattern for evolving our spiritual passion and power as we co-create life with our Source. All aspects of our being play their essential part physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We may ascend the evolutionary spiral by tapping into the vital healing forces that sustain and support us.

- Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith

Today I lift my vibration, expand my horizons and set myself free!

God is the unfailing, unlimited source of my supply! I believe and I receive!

I am a global citizen anchoring peace and oneness everywhere I go!

Revelations of health and wholeness vitalize my body temple!

My authentic aliveness inspires me to claim my true identity!

I am a descended master here to reveal heaven on earth!

Gratefully I give my gifts and live these words of truth! And so it is! Amen!

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Excerpt from:
Agape Live - Agape International Spiritual Center

Joan Chittister, O.S.B., spoke at the annual James W. White Lecture April 20, 2011 in Shove Chapel at The Colorado College. A Benedictine nun, Chittister is an internationally known author and speaker on subjects such as contemporary spirituality, peace, justice and human rights.

In her presentation, entitled God and the Evolutionary Mind: The God Who Beckons, Chittister will discuss her current thinking on contemporary spirituality and how it relates to both international and national peace and justice issues.

The J.W. White Lectureship Committee of First Congregational Church (UCC) Colorado Springs has sought for several years to schedule Joan Chittister, O.S.B., to deliver the annual endowed lecture that began in honor of former FCC lead minister Jim White upon his retirement. Her appearance was in cooperation with The Colorado College Paul Sheffer for Catholic Studies.

Her presentation, titled "God and the Evolutionary Mind: The God Who Beckons," focused on how to integrate one's spirituality with peace and justice issues.

Chittister, a Benedictine nun, is the author of more than 40 books and writes a monthly column, "Where I Stand," for The National Catholic Reporter. She is founder and executive director of Benetvision , a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality, located in Erie, PA. She is co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organization of the United Nations, facilitating a worldwide network of women peace builders, particularly in Israel and Palestine.

See the article here:
God and the Evolutionary Mind: The God Who Beckons ...

Review

"Having traveled a path himself from atheist to young earth creationist to evolutionary creationist, Denis Lamoureux has thought deeply about the intersection of the truths of the Book of Nature and the Book of the Bible. In this remarkable and courageous analysis, he describes how he has found compelling harmony between these worldviews. Though certain literal interpretations of Genesis are rendered untenable, open-minded believers will emerge with their faith refined in the fire of rigorous but loving intellectual argument." -Francis Collins, Director, Human Genome Project, author of The Language of God (2006) "Here is a book that takes both science and Scripture seriously. In this fascinating guide to Biblical interpretation, Denis Lamoureux argues that the Bible doesn't lie even if the episodes in the first eleven chapters of Genesis never happened. As with a good detective story, it's no fair here to peek at the end without first considering the clues." -Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and History of Science, Harvard University, author of God's Universe (2006) "Denis Lamoureux is a person of faith and of intellectual integrity. His holistic and integrated view of science and Christian theology springs from both his broad academic training and his deeply held evangelical faith. This book is notable for the manner in which it forthrightly and unflinchingly addresses difficult issues at the interface of science and theology. In doing so, it remains faithful to the authority of scripture, the historical testimony of the church, and the observed record of Creation's history. Denis Lamoureux joins an increasingly long list of evangelical scholars who have shown the the divisive 'warfare' of evolution and Christian faith to be without justification." -Keith Miller, Research Assistant Professor of Geology, Kansas State University, editor of Perspectives on an Evolving Creation (2003) "Lamoureux seeks to move the public debate on origins beyond the two simplistic choices of either 'evolution' or 'creation.' His passion for deep Christian faith and commitment to Scripture and integrity in science render his bold and provocative synthesis worthy of consideration." -Randy Isaac, Executive Director, American Scientific Affiliation "What a magnificent understanding of God's creatively sustaining presence reaching far beyond stereotypical received views on evolution and Christianity! This well-informed case, with teeth, defends the compatible and inclusive relationship between revelation and the findings of natural science while exposing false-choice barriers, albeit sincerely erected, between evolution and religious faith." -Thaddeus J. Trenn, President, Canadian Science and Christian Affiliation 'Lamoureux's book reflects years of study in what is a well-argued and insightful book that eschews simplistic answers.' Stephen Lloyd, Origins, No 55, November 2011 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Denis O. Lamoureux is Associate Professor of Science and Religion at St. Joseph's College, part of the University of Alberta. He holds three doctoral degrees--in dentistry, theology, and biology. He coauthored, with Philip E. Johnson, Darwinism Defeated? The Johnson-Lamoureux Debate on Biological Origins (1999). Lamoureux is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation, a member of the Executive Council of the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation, and a member of the Evangelical Theological Society.

Originally posted here:
Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution ...

Dr. Marc Gafni is a visionary thinker, social activist, passionate philosopher, and author of ten books, including the award-winning Your Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment, the two-volume Radical Kabbalah, the recently published Self in Integral Evolutionary Mysticism: Two Models and Why They Matter and Tears: Reclaiming Ritual, Integral Religion, and Rosh Hashana.

He holds his doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University, and received rabbinic certification from the chief rabbinate in Israel, as well private rabbinic ordination. He teaches on the cutting edge of philosophy in the West, helping to evolve a new 'dharma,' or meta-theory of Integral meaning that is helping to re-shape key pivoting points in consciousness and culture.

He has been a guest editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of integral spirituality, and a faculty member of JFK University. He is the co-founder, together with Ken Wilber, of The Center for Integral Wisdom, a leading activist think tank dedicated to articulating a practical politics of love, and to catalyzing an emergent personal and global vision of ethics, Eros and meaning.

Together with author and social innovator Barbara Marx Hubbard, he is working on a series of new works revolving around Evolutionary Spirituality. He is the Integral Wisdom Scholar in Residence at the Agape International Spiritual Center (Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, president).

As co-initiator in 2014 of the Success 3.0 Summit with John Mackey of Whole Foods Market and entrepreneur Kate Maloney, Gafni is known for his visionary work on evolving a post-dogmatic shared language of meaning and success, rooted in the entrepreneurial values of Wake Up, Grow Up, Show Up and Outrageous Love. The Success 3.0 Summit's method and movement is to bring together key thought leaders and change-agents to collaboratively evolve a bold new Integral vision of Success. The event hosted key business and thought leaders including, Tony Hsieh (CEO, Zappos Inc), Arianna Huffington (Editor in Chief, Huffington Post), Alanis Morissette (Singer/Songwriter & Activist), Blake Mycoskie (Founder, TOMS Shoes), Barbara Marx Hubbard (Author, Social Innovator, Evolutionary Thought Leader), Michael Franti (Lead Vocalist of Spearhead & Activist), Casey Sheahan (former CEO, Patagonia), Lynne Twist (Global Activist & Author), Adam Bellow (Vice President, Harper Collins), Ben Jealous (former President & CEO of the NAACP), DJ Spooky (Composer, Musician & National Geographic Emerging Explorer), Tom Chi (Innovator & Founder, Google Glass), Jack Canfield (Author, Chicken Soup for the Soul), and many others.

Known for his rare combination of brilliant mind and overflowing heart, Gafni is a leading public intellectual impacting the source code of global culture, and has been called a trail-blazing visionary in opening up new possibilities for love, Eros and relationship. He has led international spiritual movements and learning communities, as well as created and hosted for several seasons a popular national Israeli television program on culture, meaning, and spirit on Israels leading network.

Over the past 30 years, Dr. Gafni has developed educational programs and workshops rooted in traditional wisdom and yet fully adapted to the needs of the contemporary world.

Gafni is well known for his love of Integral Theory and its profound importance. As an expression of that importance, he has engaged with Ken Wilber over the last twelve years in dozens of discussions designed to clarify and evolve key dimensions of Integral Theory in relation to Unique Self, World Spirituality, Prayer and the Second Person of God, Evil, Eros and the the Future of Love and Relationship.

Wilber, in his introduction to the Your Unique Self book, called Unique Self "a new chapter in Integral Theory."

Similarly JITP devoted an entire issue to Unique Self with the leading article by Gafni entitled "The Evolutionary Emergent of Unique Self: A New Chapter in Integral Theory".

Sean Esbjrn-Hargens in his preface to Radical Kabbalah has already noted Gafni's important contributions to Integral theory.

It is worth adding that Gafni has contributed to evolving Integral theory in terms of emergent understandings of what he has called "the democratization of enlightenment," a second tier theory of moral obligation, a second tier realization of prayer, of what he has called World Spirituality, Evolutionary Eros, Integral Sexuality, Conscious Entrepreneurship, Theodicy, and the beginning of an Integral theory of Unique Self.

[Click here for Dr. Marc Gafni's in-depth autobiography...]

[For more about Marc visit the Center for Integral Wisdom website...]

Barbara Marx Hubbard, Founder of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution, about Marc Gafni and the Center for Integral Wisdom:

Marc Gafni is a rising star attracting us toward a future of outrageous love, creativity, wisdom and pleasure as our Unique Selves. He is paving the way for a new psychology and spirituality for evolving humanity to fulfill our enormous potential. He has incorporated the 13.8 billion year Evolutionary Impulse of Creation directly in the heart of humanity as our motivation to love, to grow to become our Unique Selves, the future human. It is a joy to work with Marc. He combines kindness, humor, great erudition and a passionate desire to draw us together in a movement for positive self and social actualization. He is inspiring us to change the "source code of success" as winning over one another, to the new source code of co-creating and co-evolving with one another for the good, the true and the beautiful. He radiates the joy of "joining genius to co-create."

I very much enjoy working with Marc and Daniel Schmachtenberger on a course to be offered through the Center from Integral Wisdom, "Becoming a Future Human," on exploring with him sacred texts, (as I am publishing a new book: Evolutionary Testament of Co-Creation: The Promise Will Be Kept-- an evolutionary perspective on the Gospels, Acts and Epistles), and co-conceiving with him and others some remarkable initiatives that have the possibility of truly serving the world. I look forward to working with Marc and others at the Center for Integral Wisdom. For me, as a life long advocate of the world view of Conscious Evolution it is like home coming within an evolutionary family.

Barbara Marx Hubbard, Founder of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution

Sally Kempton introducing Marc Gafni on the Integral Spiritual Experience 2 - The Future of Love:

Marc's prayerful commitment is to participate in and help to catalyze the articulation of a shared global framework of meaning and responsibility--which is the urgent need and great planetary adventure of our time. Such a framework honors the singularity of every great wisdom tradition, even as it identifies the underlying depth structures and unique contributions of each. When taken together, these begin to articulate an authentic users guide to the universe. The Center for Integral Wisdom is the great renaissance project of our time, inviting outrageous love in response to outrageous pain, audaciously and lovingly demanding that each of us step up to being All In For All Life.

The Center for Integral Wisdom is engaged in a series of "source code evolving" landmark projects in the areas of Conscious Capitalism & Entrepreneurship, Unique Self, Eros, World Spirituality, Gender, Relationship, Medicine, Education and Psychology. We believe that these projects will help to unfold--for the first time in the post-modern era--a shared vision of meaning: an authentic world philosophy based on Integral Unique Self principles.

Our work in the world is focused in several areas: leading-edge scholarship, books & white papers, large scale virtual courses and public events, and other projects which are collectively re-shaping key pivoting points in consciousness and culture.

Marc's favorite quote:

There is nothing more whole than a broken heart.

Marc's favorite "little-known" book:

Ecclesiastes: Written by King Solomon chalk full of stunning advice on life, relationships and business.

Also Available: Marc Gafni's Intellectual Biography

Additional Information: Marc Gafni Facts

Testimonials about Marc>>>

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Dr. Marc Gafnis Biography | Marc Gafni

An engagement with the spiritual dimensions of life has always been an essential component of health and wellbeing. In modern times, the role of spirituality and religion in medicine encompasses such practices as the use of meditation and prayer in healing, pastoral counseling, evoking forgiveness and compassion, engaging the mystery of death in end of life care, and the search for meaning in illness for patients and families as well as the health professionals who work with them. Integrative medicine emphasizes the importance of bringing spirituality into the healing process.

Many Americans rely on prayer and spirituality for the benefit of health, said Stephen E. Straus, MD, former Director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Indeed, a 2004 survey of more than 31,000 adults conducted by researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics and NCCAM found that prayer was the most commonly used practice among all the approaches mentioned in the survey.

While there are challenges in conducting quantifiable scientific research on the effects of practices as unquantifiable as prayer, recent research has begun to shed light on the role of spirituality in health. There is already some preliminary evidence for a connection between prayer and related practices and health outcomes, noted Catherine Stoney, PhD, an NCCAM Program Officer in the Division of Extramural Research and Training. For example, weve seen some evidence that religious affiliation and religious practices are associated with health and mortalityin other words, with better health and longer life. Such connections may involve immune function, cardiovascular function, and/or other physiological changes.

The primary reason to focus on the role of prayer in healing is not to prove its effectiveness, suggested Larry Dossey, MD, an expert on the role of both consciousness and prayer in health. The best reason goes deeper. Prayer says something incalculably important about who we are and what our destiny may be.

It is in this realm that pastoral care has been so helpful. Institutions like The Healthcare Chaplaincy in New York bring together clergy from a variety of faiths to work with those in need. Pastoral care sometimes consists of last rites, and sometimes simply words of comfort before a chemotherapy session or helping someone to forgive or be forgiven. The loss of health creates one of many grieving experiences. Each person responds in the uniqueness of his or her spirituality. The resources of family, friends, faith and social groups are very important in providing a compassionate and loving presence, says Roger Boss, Staff Chaplain at St. Johns Hospital and Clinics, Springfield, Missouri. Faith and hope are the greatest assets of the patient. Listening is the greatest asset of the caregiver.

Because addressing spiritual issues can make such a difference in an individuals experience of illness and often in health outcomes as well weaving spirituality into medical education has become a priority among integrative medicine leaders. Today two-thirds of the nations 125 medical schools now include courses on spirituality and faith, up from just three in 1992.

Attention to spirituality is also important for health care providers themselves. Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, Founder and Director of The Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (ISHI), established a program, Finding Meaning in Medicine, to help physicians embrace the original values and impulse for service that led them into the healing arts. Medicine is a practice and a spiritual path, Remen said. Remembering this deep meaning is what keeps us from burning out, is what keeps us alive. We must always remember that we serve life not because it is broken, but because it is holy.

Similarly, the Inner Life Renewal Program at the University of Minnesotas Center for Spirituality and Healing helps health care professionals rediscover their purpose, spirit and lifes work as healers.

Through its commitment to return the soul to medicine, integrative medicine will continue to develop innovative and meaningful ways to address the fundamental connection between mind, body, and spirit in health and healing.

Original post:
Spirituality and Religion in Health Care - The Bravewell ...

via UTAOT,

New research from Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, has shown that it is possible for some information to be inherited biologically through chemical changes that occur in DNA. During the tests they learned that that mice can pass on learned information about traumatic or stressful experiences in this case a fear of the smell of cherry blossom to subsequent generations.

According to the Telegraph, Dr Brian Dias, from the department of psychiatry at Emory University, said: From a translational perspective, our results allow us to appreciate how the experiences of a parent, before even conceiving offspring, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations.

Such a phenomenon may contribute to the etiology and potential intergenerational transmission of risk for neuropsychiatric disorders such as phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

This suggests that experiences are somehow transferred from the brain into the genome, allowing them to be passed on to later generations.

The researchers now hope to carry out further work to understand how the information comes to be stored on the DNA in the first place. They also want to explore whether similar effects can be seen in the genes of humans.

Professor Marcus Pembrey, a paediatric geneticist at University College London, said the work providedcompelling evidence for the biological transmission of memory.

He added: It addresses constitutional fearfulness that is highly relevant to phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders, plus the controversial subject of transmission of the memory of ancestral experience down the generations.

It is high time public health researchers took human trans-generational responses seriously.

I suspect we will not understand the rise in neuropsychiatric disorders or obesity, diabetes and metabolic disruptions generally without taking a multi-generational approach.

Professor Wolf Reik, head of epigenetics at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, said, however, further work was needed before such results could be applied to humans.

He said: These types of results are encouraging as they suggest that transgenerational inheritance exists and is mediated by epigenetics, but more careful mechanistic study of animal models is needed before extrapolating such findings to humans.

May our DNA also carry spiritual and cosmic memories passed down in genes from our ancestors?

Research link-http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v17/n1/full/nn.3594.html

Related article: How Can We Change Our DNA Right NOW!

Gregg Prescott, M.S. Editor, In5D.com

The end of the article asks, May our DNA also carry spiritual and cosmic memories passed down in genes from our ancestors? In this writers opinion, yes. Not only is it possible that our DNA contain past life memories, but the entire genetic lineage of each and every one of us, including lives on other planets, galaxies, and/or universes. This is evidenced by numerous past live regressions from people who have experienced previous lives on other planets, universes, and galaxies.

It also seems apparent that some of these past lives can be tapped into through the dream state. For example, I once had a dream where I was a scientist in charge of the genetic manipulation of animals and insects in the last days of Atlantis. I remember seeing some of the hideous creations I made and telling myself, We cant let this happen again. It was as if I was cognizant of being in the present moment, yet completely aware of my Atlantean past life as well. As it turns out, were letting this happen again through Monsantos genetic manipulations.

Let us know what you think about the possibility of cosmic memories being passed down through your DNA lineage and of youve ever had dreams of a past life. Comment below!

Tags: Atlantis, dna, memories, Memories Can Be Passed Down Through DNA, Scientific Breakthrough, Scientific Breakthrough - Memories Can Be Passed Down Through DNA

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Scientific Breakthrough Memories Can Be Passed Down ...

One of my favorite moments on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday came when Oprah asked the poet Mark Nepo what he considers sacred. When he replied, "Conversations like this are sacred to me," Oprah said, "They're so sacred to me I created a whole show to have them!"

In 2008 Oprah and the spiritual teacher and author Eckhart Tolle held a number of those conversations as part of their Web series Oprah & Eckhart Tolle: A New Earth. Now they're bringing those episodes to television for the first time, Sundays at noon on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network. Since my new book Thrive is concerned with many of the same questions, I asked Tolle about the series, why this is a conversation we as a society need to have now, and the moment he knew he needed to change his life. Here's our conversation.

There's a great deal of common ground between your work and Oprah's: You share belief that by looking at our inner world, we can better equip ourselves to improve our outer world and the lives of those around us. Why did you decide to join forces with Oprah for this series, and how did it come together?

It all started when Oprah chose A New Earth as one of her book club selections. I got a message from my office that Oprah wanted to talk to me. At the time I was at our little island vacation home when Oprah called and told me that she had chosen A New Earth to be her book club selection, which was wonderful news. Then she said, "There's something else: I don't just want to have this book as my book club selection; I also want to do a teaching seminar with you on the Web, and we can do that over a 10-week period to bring the teaching to all those people who chose to tune in." I was amazed. I didn't even realize that such a thing was possible.

I said to Oprah, "Have you ever done this before?" She said, "No, this is completely new," and then I immediately heard myself say, "Yes, I'll do it." That's how it started. It was, for both of us, and for millions of other people, a wonderful experience and a way to use the new technology to bring greater consciousness to the planet and to humans on a very large scale. That's how it started, and it acquired its own momentum, as things do. By now it has been viewed over 40 million times.

Now, for the first time, it's on television, because when we first did it, it was only accessible on the Web. Now it will be reaching even more people, and there are people now who were not ready at the time, because to be able to understand and become transformed through a spiritual teaching, there needs to be a point of readiness. Not every human has reached that point of inner readiness. Sometimes it takes time and more suffering before people become ready to awaken. So the series is reaching people now who perhaps it could not reach then.

In your book A New Earth, and in the new series with Oprah that's based on the book, you made a compelling case for the need to be more present in our lives. Is there something about this particular moment that makes that message more important and urgent?

To become present in one's daily life is the arising of what may be called a different state of consciousness or a shift in consciousness. Everybody can verify that for themselves by noticing the difference between what it feels like when you are completely identified with every thought that comes into your head and what it feels like when you are present. When you are present, there is clarity, inner peace and a sense of aliveness, which is so different from the mind-identified state. When you are completely identified with thinking, you are also reactive. This is a dysfunctional, negative state that creates a lot of conflict.

Collectively, we are at a point where the old -- I call it the old, dysfunctional, egoic state of consciousness -- has become extremely dangerous. We can go back 100 years ago, which is 1914, when World War I started, and that was the first time humans fully realized how insane warfare was because of all the advances in technology that had happened by that time. Millions upon millions of people died in World War I from chemical warfare, tanks, poison gas, machine guns and all the other clever inventions of the egoic mind. That was the first time we realized the magnitude of the dysfunction in the collective consciousness, as it became amplified by the advances in science and technology.

We have reached a point now where if there's no shift in consciousness away from the dysfunctional, egoic state that generates all that insanity, then humans would most likely destroy themselves, or at least bring about a complete collapse of civilization. We have arrived at a point of great danger, collectively, but danger also means great opportunity for change. There's a fundamental universal truth, and that is humans do not change until they reach a point of crisis. That applies not only to individuals, but it also applies to humanity as a whole. It's only when we reach a state of crisis, the suffering that it produces creates the impetus behind the shift in consciousness. This is the point that we have reached now, and we've been moving towards this for the past 100 years. This is why so many people are now ready to undergo that shift.

So this is a very important moment in human history, where there is a possibility of almost a quantum leap in human consciousness. There's also the possibility, of course, that humans are not going to make it, that the shift won't happen, in which case there would be a regression in human evolution that could throw us back several thousand years. Hopefully, that's not going to happen, but it could happen, and even that would not be ultimately tragic, because I believe that consciousness is destined to grow and flower on this planet. I'm fairly confident that it is happening already, but we must not underestimate the gravitational pull, so to speak, of the old, dysfunctional consciousness that is still here and operates, as you can see when you watch the daily news. Most things you see on the daily news are reflections of the old, dysfunctional consciousness, or, rather, unconsciousness. We have reached a very interesting point in human evolution. It's quite amazing to be alive at this time.

Was there a moment in your own life -- a wakeup call or a personal turning point -- that showed you the importance of presence, focus and stillness?

Yes, there was a moment when the unhappiness in me became almost unbearable. I was depressed and anxious most of the time. This is what we've just been talking about now, the deep crisis that precedes a change in consciousness. I experienced that in my own life. I briefly describe it in the introduction to The Power of Now. I couldn't live with myself any longer, and so I considered suicide. I had considered suicide quite a few times in my life. At that point, suddenly something happened within me. I didn't understand what it was, because it happened spontaneously. It was only later I realized that what happened inside me was the arising of presence.

It was spontaneous. Nobody had told me that there's such thing as presence; it just happened. I disidentified from the thinking mind, the voice in the head that, in my case, as it is in many people's lives, was quite negative and self-destructive. I stepped out of the stream of thinking, and what arose inside me was presence or awareness, and suddenly I found this inner peace, and this happened as a result of extreme depression and anxiety. So I reached a crisis point in my life, and then, spontaneously, this shift in consciousness happened. This could be called a spontaneous healing at a very deep level, because the only true healing is a change in consciousness.

All other forms of healing, although they may be helpful and beneficial, are ultimately temporary and relatively superficial. This deep healing happened to me without a conceptual understanding, and that's an interesting thing, because it's not that I suddenly understood everything. I didn't understand conceptually what happened, so the shift in consciousness does not happen on the conceptual level. For most people it is helpful to come into contact with a teaching, to read a spiritual book or to listen to a spiritual talk. Those are conceptual pointers, and they can be helpful, but presence itself has nothing to do with concepts in your mind; it's going beyond thinking. You realize that there are basically two dimensions inside of you.

One of those two dimensions is thinking, which is where your identity as a person lies. The other dimension is consciousness itself, which is a where you are connected with something vast that goes far beyond who you are as a person. It is where you are connected to the universal intelligence itself that underlies the entire universe. This happened to me as a result of suffering, so there is a redeeming feature to suffering, because suffering can bring about that shift, and until a certain point in an individual's evolution is reached, suffering is inevitable and fulfills a necessary function, without which the shift would not take place. Humanity as a whole has already suffered enormously. Most of history is a history of dreadful suffering, much of it self-inflicted through violence and continuous conflict.

Because humanity has already gone through acute suffering, there are many people alive now who are actually at a point of readiness. They don't need to suffer that much more, because now we benefit from the past collective human suffering.

The ego is central to your work and the series -- how to understand it, talk about it and ultimately transcend it. How can we begin to free ourselves from our own egos?

In A New Earth I dealt in more detail with the ego and the various ways in which it manifests. I recommend that people read those chapters, but here I'd just like to mention that on the most basic level ego means complete identification with the thinking mind. In the egoic state, your sense of self, your identity, is derived from your thinking mind -- in other words, what your mind tells you about yourself: the storyline of you, the memories, the expectations, all the thoughts that go through your head continuously and the emotions that reflect those thoughts. All those things make up your sense of self. This mind-made sense of self is a mental image, and you live through that mental image. This mental image is the ego.

How you can free yourself from the ego is by realizing that there is another dimension of consciousness in you. That dimension is in everybody, but if you're completely identified with every thought that comes into you head, then you continuously overlook that there is that dimension of stillness and spaciousness inside you. Thought can be so seductive and hypnotic that it absorbs your attention totally, so you become your thoughts. When you become your thoughts, that is the ego. To realize that you are not your thoughts is when you begin to awaken spiritually.

For example, when your mind is very critical of yourself or other people, frequently complaining or berating yourself or creating anxiety by worrying about what might go wrong in the future, this creates a lot of unhappiness. Then you reach a point where you ask yourself, "What is at the root of this unhappiness I feel all the time?" And then you may be amazed to realize that in most cases when you are unhappy, you're not unhappy because of something that's happening in your life; you're unhappy because of what your mind is telling you about it. It's not a situation or an event that makes you unhappy but your mental commentary about it, the voice in your head. When you realize that, that's when you begin to disidentify from the voice in your head. The disidentification from thinking is the arising of presence. Then you realize that there is a sense of conscious presence behind your thoughts, and that this conscious presence is who you are. The thoughts happen within that presence, so thoughts come and go.

I like to give the analogy of the sky. The sky also has two dimensions: There are clouds, and there is the empty, blue sky. In this analogy the clouds are your thoughts, and they continuously drift past. And for many people there are so many clouds that their inner sky is continuously overcast. They don't realize that beyond the clouds is a vast, blue sky -- luminous vastness. But then a moment comes when there is a break in the clouds, a gap between two thoughts, and you realize, "Oh, the clouds are there, but I am that spacious vastness that is beyond the clouds." That means you're beginning to be free of the ego. Then your sense of identity is the feeling of your own presence. This is the realization that the essence of who you are is consciousness. Consciousness can be compared to space. It enables everything to be. We could put it like this: You are not what happens; you are the space in which it happens. That space is consciousness.

Thoughts are fine when you don't confuse them with who you are, and then thoughts are not a problem. Thinking is a wonderful tool to create things in this world. It only becomes problematic and a source of suffering when you confuse thinking with who you are. When you no longer confuse thinking with who you are, you begin to be free of the ego. It doesn't mean that you don't periodically fall back, because awakening is gradual.

The rest is here:
A Conversation With Eckhart Tolle | Arianna Huffington

Sometimes I envision the spiritual landscape as an ecosystem in which teachers occupy varying niches. When one passes away, another moves in to fill the niche. I see Eckhart Tolle filling the niche left by Jiddu Krishnamurti: that of world-travelling teacher trying to spread the message of a new way of living to as many people as possible. Like Krishnamurti, I think Eckhart Tolle will be with us for many years.

A look through Eckharttolle.com reveals an organization devoted to making money: $25 for an audio download of "Know that I Am", card decks, calendars, music, a bewildering array of cd and dvd boxed sets, and his books -- The Power of Now, Stillness Speaks, A New Earth, and Milton's Secret (a children's book which I have not read). Coming soon: EckhartTolle TV with loads of Eckhart Tolle goodies for subscribers. The site does have a few YouTube excerpts for free, and a small selection of articles.

The preceeding paragraphic prelude reveals my main concern about Tolle -- the profiteering! A 2009 Australian two-day retreat costs $685 (USD); nets you three hours a day of Eckhart lecturing, an hour-long introduction Friday evening, plus two hours of "movement meditation" with his girlfriend. Accomodations and meals are extra and you better not try to record the lecture.

Yet almost no one seems to be taking Eckhart to task on his profiteering. Instead, they excuse it by pointing to his penniless past and how he never set out to make money. His big paychecks are simply payoff for his good work. How much money does one person need? I'm certain he could retire comfortably from the profits off of the best-selling The Power of Now.

So here I am, harping on money-making, again. Why? Because I still maintain that anyone who has truly seen through the illusion of the world and mind, would not be interested in profiting from helping his fellow-man. Yet my feeling, when I read his material, is that Tolle has seen through the illusion. I can't explain my conflicting reaction. My advice is to avoid the organization: don't become a Tolle worshipper; don't buy the calendars.... Instead, read The Power of Now, Stillness Speaks, and A New Earth, then practice his suggestions with all your heart. They may not take you all the way, but will carry you a long way down the interior road toward our True Self.

Here are some key quotes from A New Earth:

Eckart Tolle is wildly popular, though I'm baffled by that as his message is generally quite confrontational. At the beginning of A New Earth he states, "The 'normal' state of mind of most human beings contains a strong element of what we might call dysfunction or even madness." In one of his recorded lectures, he tells the audience that their life is nothing more than the space between two dates on a tombstone... and the audience laughs. It seems everyone thinks Tolle is talking about the clueless fool in the seat next to them. Perhaps Tolle's demure personality causes some of this reaction. In a way, it's hard to take him seriously -- he's so softspoken, so relaxed. He could hold a gun to your head and you couldn't imagine him pulling the trigger.

A final note: when the day comes to move deeper than Eckhart's current teaching, look especially to Nisargadatta's Consciousness and the Absolute. There you will find the next step.

I'll leave you with an excerpt from The Awakening West where Tolle describes the moment of his realization:

...for many years I lived in a state of great fear and continuous fluctuation between states of depression and high anxiety. This was to the point of becoming almost unbearable. One night I woke up in the middle of the night, as I had many times before, in a state of even more intense dread and fear. The mind had lots of reasons why I was feeling fearful, and yet that state was continuous no matter what my external situation was. It became so unbearable that suddenly the thought occurred to me, "I cannot live with myself any longer." That thought was the trigger for a transformation. The thought kept repeating itself many times in my head and then suddenly there was a stepping back from the thought and a looking at the thought. I asked, "Who is the 'I' and who is the self that I cannot live with?"

In Zen they have koans and it's almost as if a koan spontaneously appeared in my mind. A koan's purpose is to destroy conceptual thinking because it has no answer on a conceptual level. So, I asked, "Who is the self that I cannot live with? Are there one or two? If I cannot live with my self, who is that self?" And then, beyond thought, there was a recognition of the "unhappy me," as I later called it, as being something completely non-substantial and fictional. Then consciousness withdrew completely from identification with that "unhappy me." At that moment the whole structure of the "unhappy me" and its pain collapsed because the withdrawal of identification was so complete. What was left was simply beingness or presence. There was still a moment of fear. It felt like being drawn into a hole within myself, a vast whirlpool, and a realization arose in my chest, "Resist nothing." That was the key. Then resistance was relinquished and I don't know what happened after that.

Here's a relatively unknown, but comprehensive site that includes several interviews of Tolle: Eckhart Tolle: a fan site

A thoughtful Satsang Report from a Eckhart lecture courtesy of Sarlo's site (scroll down the page for the Eckhart review).

To get a feel for the criticism of Eckhart Tolle, visit this Guruphiliac page or this humorous essay on Sarlo's site. Also, here is a YouTube video where a reporter gives a half-hearted attempt to question Eckhart about his money-making activities:

Here is Oprah talking with Eckhart on SoulSeries. I like this very informal interview. Most YouTube video of Eckhart is him on stage.

An entertaining interview of Eckhart on Canadian tv:

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Last Update: October 9, 2015

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Eckhart Tolle: spiritual teacher