The Pakistani Spectator

Book Review

Name Of The Book: A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life’s Purpose.
Auther: Eckhart Tolle…

Number 1 Best seller on “The New York Best Seller” for many weeks

Overview

The overall purpose of Eckhart’s book is freedom from emotional pain, freedom from suffering.

Eckharts prescription for the end of suffering is dis-identification with form and then because of that dis-identification, being able to allow what is to be as it already is. Once we know who we are not, we can stop hating the present moment, and feel directly the abundant life that we already are.

For those with a Christian background, this is the same thing that Jesus said was the absolutely most important thing in the scriptures - No idolatry, and once we are free of idolatry, we can forgive (allow) and love our neighbor as ourself instead of judging, condemning and fighting with our neighbor.

For those of us having trouble forgiving watch in this post for how unconscious idolatry works, which is what prevents us from forgiving.

So, the magic decoder ring from Eckhart to Christianity is dis-identification with form = No Idolatry, and allowing = forgiving. Now = the narrow gate. Past and Future = The wide gate.

Why do we suffer?

Most human beings are not conscious of why we suffer. Most operate under the mistaken belief (illusion) that we suffer because of something that happened or might happen to us. “The world did it to me.” “He did this to me, or she did this to me,” or “this bad thing happened to me, and so I am suffering.” So, the illusion is that the world makes me suffer.

The reality is that we produce our own suffering because of our internal reaction to what happened or what might happen. This story illustrates the point.

One time a woman was walking down the street, and she saw a man pounding his head against a concrete wall. So, she asked him “How’s it going?” He said, “fine, except I have a terrible headache.” So, she asked him “Why do you think you have a terrible headache?” He answered, “Well, I think it is because of these imperfections, these bumps in the concrete wall. Once I get them pounded out, I’m pretty sure my headache will be gone.”

We think that the imperfections (the bumps) in the world caused our emotional pain (our headache), but actually it was our reaction to the bumps (pounding our head against the wall) that produced the suffering.

There is a second illusion in the story about the bumps in the wall. The first is that the world caused our suffering. The second is the unconscious belief that “I am the suffering.” When we react and hate what is, the mind in us produces the suffering thought.

It also produces a second thought that we believe in, which is that there is a “me” in the thought about suffering. Actually, we are not in the suffering. The suffering thought and emotion is in us, but is not us. The suffering is just a thought or an emotion. It is not actually who we really are. So, that is the second mistaken belief (illusion), that there is a “me” in the thought or emotion about suffering. That “me” in the thought form is the identification with form, is the idolatry.

How are we to be free of suffering?

Eckhart says not to use a formula or technique to reach a state of not suffering, but I have summarized his guidance into a little bit of a “formula.”

1) Observe “events in the world” and the thoughts and emotions that are occurring within us. For watching our thoughts, we can pretend like we have a flashlight that is shining on the thoughts. Basically spend time watching the thoughts as they are trying to get a better now later.

The thoughts have a lot of pulling power. They say “pay attention to me,” and they tend to want to pull the flashlight into the mindstream and carry it down the river of thought. The purpose of this step is to keep the flashlight out of the river. And if we notice that the flashlight got swept down the river, it is not a problem, just start watching the thoughts again.

2) Allow whatever we see in the light of the flashlight to be there without condemning it. Condemnation is more thinking, and is the resistance that is producing the suffering in us. So, the point of this step is to allow whatever we are observing in our thinking to be there without condemning it. We imagine that condemning the thinking, will fix the thinking, but actually condemning the thinking energizes it and makes the suffering worse. Can we allow ourselves to fully inhabit the step that we are in instead of demanding that the end of the journey already be reached? So observing and allowing don’t have any “trying to get” in them.

3) Don’t totally believe the thoughts that are within us. Thoughts are just a very temporary, shallow, Polaroid instant snapshot of reality. Reality is infinitely deep. Thoughts are just a perspective of reality. The mind in us might throw up the thought that “everything is terrible.” Well we don’t have to totally believe that thought. From one perspective, “everything is terrible.” From another perspective “everything is fine.” So by not totally believing every thought that the mind throws up, we start to feel some freedom from the torture of the mind.

4) Dis-identify from form. This is the key step to freedom from suffering. When we say to ourselves “I am suffering,” very often we believe that “I am in the suffering.” This is not true. We are not in the suffering. The suffering thoughts, and emotions are in us. We are the awareness (the flashlight) within which all forms (physical forms and thought forms) are born and die.

This is a key, key realization. The Buddha said the self is not in the form, the form is in the self. This is why Jesus said that the absolute most important instruction in the scriptures is No Idolatry.

The problem with thinking that there is a “me” in the body or in the opinion, is that when the body or the opinion start to dissolve the mind believes that “we” are dying. No, our Polaroid snapshot of reality is getting burned a little bit. Let it get burned. Turn the other cheek. We are not being burned, it is just the mind made mental picture that is being burned. So, get out of the self, before the self dies, and realize that there is no death. Then we have abundant life in this eternal moment.

So, when we are suffering, if we are able to observe the suffering thoughts and emotions so that we are conscious instead of unconscious of the mind “trying to get” a better now later, and allow them to be there, and realize that we don’t have to totally believe every thought, and practice dis-identifying from the suffering, then we are free of the torture of the mind. We can walk in peace of mind. The mind no longer needs to be in a state of hating the present moment, trying to make the impermanent permanent, defending our opinion, fighting against other opinions, etc.

5) Feeling the Inner Body. One very helpful practice is to feel the inner body as we sit or as we go throughout our day. We can use some of the flashlight to notice the inner body and use the rest of our attention on the forms that are in the world.

What does it mean to feel the inner body? If we hold out our hands and close our eyes, can we feel whether or not our hands are still there? Eckhart describes this in his book. Observe that the mind will throw up the thought that “this feeling the inner body is totally useless.” We don’t have to believe that thought.

We can go ahead feel the inner body anyway, and notice whether the inner energy of the body is turbulent or peaceful. The inner energy of the body rests in a “no need, totally peaceful state.”

Now observe any condemning thoughts that may be in our mind, as they “try to get” a better now later. Are they turbulent or peaceful? So, when we inhabit the inner body, we are inhabiting peace, and all thoughts and actions that emerge from the inner energy of the body, emerge from the no need state, and will be pure of egoic goals. Feeling the inner body means feeling the aliveness that we are, and anchors us in presence.

6) Consciousness birthing into form. Dis-identifying from form and allowing the present moment to be as it is doesn’t mean that presence doesn’t act through the thoughts and behaviors in us. It just means that we no longer think that there is a “me” in any of the forms that are “doing” things. So we don’t do anything, and all that is done is done by presence. Presence walks, thinks, talks.

Jesus said this. I do nothing, and all that I do, God does through me. I am in the father and the father is in me. St Paul also expressed this, saying it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives through me. How can we tell the difference between egoic and non-egoic “doing, or thinking?” Is there a “me” in the doing, in the thinking, in the opinion, or are we focused on this step and allowing life to live through us?

Trips and Traps on the Spiritual Path

Here are some bumps in the road that I have run into as I have worked with Eckharts books and CD lectures. Basically all of these represent a form disguised resistance.

a) Deep loss. Sometimes, when we experience a deep loss, such as the death of a loved one, or the loss of our health, we may not be able to accept the loss. So, when this happens we missed our first chance at salvation, but fortunately, we have a second chance of salvation.

Our second chance at salvation is to accept the resistance and suffering that are in us as. We didn’t accept the “loss,” so that resistance is producing suffering in us, but can we accept that pain in us? The most natural thing in the world is to push the pain away, but that only energizes it and produces more resistance, more pain.

So, we embrace it. We feel it fully, we don’t deny it, we don’t avoid it, we don’t pretend like it is not there. And, a miraculous thing happens. The pain is still there, but it loses its grip over us. It is in us, but no longer is us. As we embrace it, the pain is dwarfed by the size of the peace that is within us. And we are free.

b) I’m no good at practicing presence. Very often we will notice that we are lost in thinking. The flashlight has been swept down the river. The mind in us loves to point out that “we are a failure at practicing presence.” However, the reality is that noticing that we are lost in thinking is a huge success, because we had to be aware to notice that we were lost. So, noticing that we are lost in the mindstream is a success not a failure.

c) I am practicing presence, to get rid of the pain body. Trying to get rid of the pain body is a subtle form of resistance, which will energize the pain body and create more pain body. Observe the pain body, allow it to be there, feel it fully, embrace it, and dis-identify from it. It is not going to be gone immediately. But we can use that pain to transmute the pain into consciousness. Demanding that the painbody be gone is a recipe for more painbody.

d) I am trying to stop thinking. Trying to stop thinking is more thinking. Dis-identify from the form that the mind is trying to protect. Notice and allow the trying to get thinking, without condemning it. Condemnation is more thinking. When there is no “me” in the form, the mind will allow itself to relax on its own. It doesn’t need to think when there is no “me” in a form that the mind thinks needs protection. Presence can still use the mind to think, but after dis-identifying from form, the mind no longer believes that it needs to think.

e) Is all thinking egoic thinking? When we dis-identify from form, and are fully present in the now, and allow what is to be, consciousness may birth lots of beautiful thoughts into form. These are not egoic, if there is no “me” in the thoughts. These thoughts are powerful and peaceful, and will energize this step, and won’t have any need that a future result already be here.

f) If I accept what is, nothing will ever get “fixed.” This is a common misconception regarding surrendering into the now. Once we accept what is, we no longer “need” things to be fixed. But we are then free to allow consciousness to flow through form and “fix” things, or not. Dip the “problem” into our inner stillness, into the inner energy of the body, and then allow the one thing that is appropriate for the situation to flow out into form.

Ironically we are better able to deal with a situation when we don’t demand a great result than when we do. This is what it means to seek ye first the kingdom of God (acceptance and peace) and his righteousness, and all these things (great results) shall be added unto you.

We focus on this step with all of our attention, and our quality in that step gives us a good chance at great results. So, ironically not needing great results leads to great results. However, remember that no story of “me” will ever turn out “great” at the level of form, because all forms are impermanent.

g) I need to get enlightenment. When we “try to get” enlightenment, we are “trying to get” a better now later. We are “trying to get” a “not trying to get” state of mind. That is still “trying to get.” But observing what is, and allowing everything to be as it is, don’t contain any “trying to get.”

h) Enlightenment should be more peaceful than this. When we drop all resistance and experience a beautiful peaceful transcendence, and the next day we might wake up with a little bit of resistance, and we sometimes demand that today be just as beautiful that experience we remember from yesterday. This is a disguised form of resistance. Can we accept today’s non-peace? Can we accept fully our state of “non-enlightenment?” Can we just stop trying? What is here when we totally stop trying? Life, Aliveness, Being. So, we don’t have to be surprised when we find very subtle forms of resistance within us.

i) I refuse to be happy until I have dropped all resistance. We can have many layers of unconscious resistance in us. A very few people like Eckhart, because of the incredible intensity of their suffering, have dropped all layers of identification with form, and resistance all at once. This deep surrender is available to everyone right now.

However, from my observation, most people are not aware of all of the layers of unconscious resistance that we still have in us. So, we drop all resistance that we are aware of, and live in profound peace. However, as forms dissolve our resistance and suffering will show us another layer of unconscious identification with form.

At that point we can dis-identify and surrender that resistance, and we are back to peace, and enjoying all the benefits of “enlightenment.” even thought we have not yet dropped every scrap of unconscious identification with form within us. So by practicing full acceptance in this moment we have already completed the journey.

j) My friend is telling me that I am going to burn in hell, because I don’t agree with their religious opinion. It is very common for individuals on a spiritual path to confuse their opinion about reality with reality, and to identify with their opinion. This is a classic case of idolatry.

Instead of quoting Jesus, how do we obey Jesus? When asked what is the most important thing, Jesus said to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. And secondly, to love our neighbor as ourself. So the very most important thing is No Idolatry. No false gods. Once we drop the idolatry, then God’s love is no longer blocked from flowing through us to love our neighbor.

Unlike Jesus, some Christians claim that the most important thing is to have the right opinion about Jesus. But having the right opinion about Jesus isn’t what saves us. It is actually obeying Jesus that saves us (see Matthew 7). And the key to obeying Jesus is to understand unconscious idolatry, to recognize how to die to that idolatry (Eckhart calls it dis-identify with form - Paul says “it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives through me”). Dying to idolatry means recognizing how to surrender the false gods, and let love (spirit) live through us.

Some Christians may have made their own opinion about Jesus, God, and the Bible into their god. This is basically idolatry, and the unconscious declaration that “I am my own creator.” So ironically, some Christian’s prescription for salvation is 100% opposite of what it means to obey Jesus. Their prescription means going deeper into form identity (flesh identity), into idolatry, rather than surrendering it. And the result of that idolatry is that any disagreements with the opinion feel like it is an attack on the “me” in the opinion.

Paul says the same thing when he says that knowing all the right opinions, and doing all the right things won’t do a bit of good if we don’t allow love to flow through us. And unconscious idolatry will prevent us from loving our neighbor, because we will care more about defending our opinion, our false god, than allowing God’s love to flow to the neighbor.

This is also the heart of the meaning of the good Samaritan story. The foreigner with the “wrong” religion, fulfilled God’s will by not letting idolatry block love, while the professional and non-professional priests with the “right” religion did not.

Sometimes debating religious opinions can be pointless once the debaters have unconsciously identified with their opinion. All logic will be blocked by the screen of mind. However, the thing that will penetrate right through the veil of mind into the heart of the person is Love, tenderness, kindness, mercy, peace, and compassion.

So, logic will not work with our dear friend that is telling us we are going to burn in hell, but love and kindness will.

k) I need certainty about surviving tomorrow to be at peace now. No we don’t. The thought that we need survival is in us but, is not us. We are the awareness of the thought, not the thought. Ironically when we demand certainty about surviving tomorrow, we reduce the chance of this form surviving because we introduce the poison of suffering into the body.

When we don’t believe in the “need” for certainty about survival, we relax and fully inhabit the most important step now, and ironically end up with a better chance for a “good” result. Sometimes if we pretend like we only have one minute left to live, it is easier rather than harder to feel the peace and aliveness that we already are, since we no longer have a “future” to worry about.

Conclusion

Peace to you all my dear friends. We are walking together into the heart of love and peace.

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