A Recap on Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth"
I just turned the last page of Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth, a book that has taken me nearly four months to read. It’s that intense you guys. I had to pause every other page and let the words sort of marinade, simmer and cook up a new level of consciousness.
There are two books that have completely changed the direction of my life. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, which I read on the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh and answered my most sought-after questions; Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I going?
And now this, A New Earth by Eckart Tolle, which answered a question that has been giving me anxiety for over five years; What’s my purpose?
I actually picked up this book back in 2016 when I first embarked on my path of awakening. I couldn’t get past the first chapter. I didn’t know what the hell this man was talking about. For the longest time I refused to pick up another book from Eckhart because I straight up thought he was weird.
HA! I wish I could insert emojis in my blog post to express in detail the ridiculous lengths the ego will go to to keep you from evolving.
How can you not love him in lavender?!?
After reading A New Earth I now hold Eckart in the same high regards as my other spiritual teachers. His book and words had such a profound affect on me and how I will live out the remainder of my days.
The book touches on:
Ego: what is it and how to dissolve it
Presence/Now: how to live in the Now and how this can single-handedly solve all of your problems
Your Purpose: If you’re paying attention, you will figure out what your life’s purpose is
I can’t even begin to break down the complexities of this book, but I will share with you a few of my favorite quotes that literally left me with tears pouring straight into my wide open mouth.
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness.”
This reminds me of another favorite quote of mine: “Everything that happens to me is the best possible thing that can happen to me” - Chris Prentiss, author of Zen and the Art of Happiness.
Eckart refers to God here as Life, which I just absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE. It’s so hard to describe something formless with form (language), and the word God has been tainted and abused that most people are simply turned off by the word. I also don’t love the word universe. I don’t hate it, but it’s just been beaten to death by millennial white girls.
The word Life to describe the inner and outer energy that is constantly loving on you, protecting and guiding you really resonated with me.
“‘But I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what it means to be myself.’ If you can be absolutely comfortable with not knowing who you are, then what’s left is who you are - the Being behind the human, a field of pure potentiality rather than something that is already defined.’”
When you start to awaken you start to question everything, down to who you are. It’s common to experience a sort of identity crisis. The layers you’ve been carrying around to define yourself begin to shed and you’re left not knowing who you even are anymore.
I struggled with this for so long. It’s the ego that so desperately wants that label, wants to be boxed in and defined. But who we truly are can not be defined. We have to be comfortable with not knowing who we are, with not defining it, so that we’re left with who we really are - Being.
“If you are content with being nobody in particular, content not to stand out, you align yourself with the power of the universe. What looks like weakness to the ego is in fact the only true strength.”
You don’t need to prove to anybody that you’re somebody. In a world where everyone seems to be chasing insta fame, can you just imagine being content with being nobody?! Content not standing out? Happiness doesn’t lie in hitting 10k followers. Happiness lies in not giving a fuck.
“The ego could be defined simply in this way: a dysfunctional relationship with the present moment.”
This is very similar to Buddha’s teachings on craving and aversion. According to Buddha, the basic cause of suffering is "the attachment to the desire to have (craving) and the desire not to have (aversion)".
This is what Eckhart is basically saying above. When we’re not accepting the present moment as the perfect moment, when we resist what is happening (aversion) or desire another outcome (craving) we suffer, the ego suffers, and essentially we’re having a dysfunctional relationship with the present moment. Don’t resist. Don’t crave. Simply accept and be in the Now.
“But what if I’m in a situation I hate, being abused, miserable? Do I simply just accept?!” No. You leave. Trust that Life brought you that situation to help you evolve. And read this book for a better understanding on how to handle those situations.
“Many people who are going through the early stages of the awakening process are no longer certain what their outer purpose is. What drives the world no longer drives them. Seeing the madness of our civilization so clearly, they may feel somewhat alienated from the culture around them. Some feel that they inhabit a no-man’s-land between two worlds. They are no longer run by ego, yet the arising awareness has not yet become fully integrated into their lives. Inner and outer purpose have not yet merged.”
This is where I was. Until I read A New Earth. What Eckhart did here is put into words what my soul was trying to express. He goes on to explain every human being has two purposes:
An inner purpose, which is the primary purpose and an outer purpose, which is the secondary purpose. The majority of people are doing this whole purpose thing backwards, putting all of their energy on the outer purpose, reaching and grabbing from the outside in…when what we really need to be doing is spreading from the inside out.
We all share the same inner purpose, to awaken, live in the Now, and have a loving, healthy relationship with Life. When we focus on fulling our inner purpose, the outer purpose will wondrously fall into place.
“We could say that the totality - Life - wants the sapling to become a tree, but the sapling doesn’t see itself as separate from life and so wants nothing for itself. It is one with what Life wants. That’s why it isn’t worried or stressed. And if it has to die prematurely, it dies with ease. It is as surrendered in death as it is in life.”
Alright, that one’s pretty deep. The ultimate life of surrender can be defined in these few words:
It is as surrendered in death as it is in life.
#Lifegoals right there.
“Don’t let a mad world tell you that success is anything other than a successful present moment.”
The. Freakin. End.
Have you read A New Earth? What are your thoughts? Please share in the comments below!
P.S: I highly recommend listening to Oprah’s Supersoul Conversations podcast on Apple Pocasts. She just finished a 10-week series with Eckhart, highlighting a chapter of the book each week. Listening to him speak the message takes the AHA moments to another level. Enjoy!
