Author and journalist Richard Abanes has written a book responding to Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" and "exposing" his teachings as... What?
Well, from the press release on PRWeb, his book "A New Earth, An Old Deception" he effectively refutes several of his own interpretations of Mr. Tolle's teachings. Unfortunately (IMHO) he has them all wrong.
Here are a few of the things purported to be debunked:
Who or what is God--and is God separate from us?
Does Tolle accurately interpret the Bible?
Is everyone essentially "One" with all that exists?
Is evil real, or do we only perceive it as real?
Are all religions equally false/true and do they all teach a single core Truth?
Is suffering just an illusion of our mind?
Quite frankly my own Christian faith neither wants nor desires for Mr Abanes to expose anything about what Eckhart Tolle teaches. If he does not find the content to be helpful to his own spiritual journey, he is free to move on.
In my experience, this kind of closed minded critique is really unnecessary for those able to reason for them- selves. I cannot say that I agree with all that Mr Tolle holds to be true, but have found much to be instructive and quite useful. None of this has been any kind of threat to my Christianity.
Evidently a response to Mr. Tolle was deemed necessary (or perhaps profitable) due to the huge sales of "A New Earth" as well as "The Power of Now". And no, I have no more of a problem with Mr. Abanes making money from his books than I do with Eckhart Tolle getting his royalties. Perhaps next time Richard Abanes could earn his offering something of his own, instead of just panning a work that at least attempts to assist people with their own spiritual journeys.
Read the PRWeb Press Release HERE and then make up your own mind on his works merits.
Observations On Internal Application There has been so much response to my last post that perhaps more needs to be said about the internal application side of personal development.
So much about true growth hinges on understanding that this journey is at heart a solitary one. The path that leads to a truly satisfying and rewarding existence can not be dependent upon other's cooperation, aid or complicity.
Likewise, our search for enlightenment must encompass all aspects of ourselves. One of the reasons I have enjoyed reading Dr. Teri Speed's book (see the sidebar) is her attempt to grapple with bringing the three aspects of ourselves together in a unifying whole. Mind, body and spirit...
Like Dr. Speed, I am at heart a Christian, but I expand my knowledge of this existence beyond my (extensive) study of the bible as well. What this means to me is that as more information comes to me in my search it must fit into a certain framework of beliefs.
Does this mean that my faith is rigid and inflexible?
Not at all! It simply means that frequently as something reveals itself to be newfound truth to me, that if it seems to be in conflict with something within that framework of beliefs held that it must be resolved...
Sometimes this comes about easier than others. In some cases, it comes about as fuller understanding of already held concepts become more fully formed. Other times it will turn out that my previous understanding of some scripture was of a more all encompassing principle than a further study of more biblical texts would support.
The point here is that for anything to be a useful tool of instruction in this life, it needs to be dynamic in nature allowing for the kinds of everchanging circumstances that this life provides so abundantly.
Expect your horizons to expand beyond your wildest dreams, and you will have just begun to grasp what you can expect from an extended journey of self exploration.
Bringing together the three previously mentioned aspectsof our natures (spirit, mind and body) is no small thing, and thus cannot be limited to any single author or teacher. Lately Eckhart Tolle has become quite prominent, and rightly so as he has quite a lot to offer in our search, but even he cannot be our sole source of growth. Soon I will be doing some work online with Dr. Speed and look forward to learning more of her concepts as well.
However it is vital not to allow ourselves to become centered on any one individual. To do so would bring us out of balance, and therefore threatening our progress.
Grappling with the issues regarding the nature of human existence is an amazingly rewarding experience that can expand our understanding and experience in ways that will stretch all aspects of life, if we manage to juggle this aspect of balancing our existing belief structures and keeping our perspective on those that we are learning from.
