I don't understand where Tolle's sense of urgency comes from. He says,
The dysfunction of the egoic mind... is for the first time threatening the survival of the planet...but it may come from his belief that,
[and] humanity is faced with a stark choice: evolve or die.
human life and human consciousness are intrinsically one with the life of the planetand yet,
if the structures of the human mind remain unchanged, we will always end up re-creating fundamentally the same world, the same evils, the same dysfunction.So I guess I'm at a loss to where the urgency is. Although evils are wrong and we should change that when we can, where is the urgency? Hopefully he will elaborate in his later chapters.
A short part I find amusing is when he says,
we are coming to the end not only of mythologies but also of ideologies and belief systems.Which is ironic coming from a man with an ideology.
It is in this section that he helps define for us what this awakening looks like, it is,
the transcendence of thought, the newfound ability of rising above thought. ... You no longer derive you identity, your sense of who you are, from the incessant stream of thinking..."I think, therefore I am, is completely out of the picture now. Being enlightened/awakened/saved is little more than an awareness of your meta-self. The self outside your thoughts and without thoughts. Pah! I like my thoughts. My thoughts are rather entertaining to myself and I think I'd be lonely without them (as anyone who knows me well, knows that I talk to myself quite often, mostly because no one else will *chuckle*)
Anyway, this entire chapter ends with Tolle's interpretation of Heaven;
heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness. This is the esoteric meaning of the work, and this is also its meaning in the teachings of Jesus. Earth, on the other hand, is the out manifestation in form. ... "A new heaven" is the emergence of the transformed state of human consciousness, and "a new earth" is its reflection in the physical realmIf it is the esoteric meaning of the word, how is this fundamental truth then at the core of all religions? And how did Tolle get his hands on it? And when was it Jesus' meaning? Anyway,
Although Heaven is not a physical location, it is also not in the inner realm of consciousness. Heaven is the residing place of God in the spiritual realm. The new heaven and new earth are yet to come, and humanity cannot bring it about. Bringing that about is the work of God.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. - 2 Peter 3:10-13Also, the two are very different places,
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God - 1 Corinthians 15:50 andThe old must pass away before the new comes in. God must bring that about. Tolle's heaven is one that is emerging and that humans can achieve. This is not Biblical, this is not Christian.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. - Revelations 21:1
And thus, I finish the first chapter. Hurrah! To end, I'd like to link you to this review done on the book. It's just the one article though. Not section by section as I have done... probably needlessly. *shrug* But I enjoy it.
4 comments:
Comment: So I guess I'm at a loss to where the urgency is. Although evils are wrong and we should change that when we can, where is the urgency?
Response: Everyone can feel the atmospheric tension in the air. It is building and increasing more and more quickly. Our ego-minds have electro-magnetic properties. Thoughts that have similar electro-magnetic characteristics group together (like attracts like) into thought-forms that take on a life of their own. These have been increasing in number and strength for thousands of years of human civilization. If strong enough they can actually control human behavior. This is what I believe Tolle is referring to. Powerful thought-forms that are group ego-minds. Their grip can only be broken when individual ego-minds are diminished which eliminates their source of food and nourishment. Tolle (and others) believe we are coming to a critical point in the development of these group ego-minds and their negative influence on us and the planet.
Comment: I think, therefore I am, is completely out of the picture now. Being enlightened/awakened/saved is little more than an awareness of your meta-self. The self outside your thoughts and without thoughts. Pah! I like my thoughts. My thoughts are rather entertaining to myself and I think I'd be lonely without them (as anyone who knows me well, knows that I talk to myself quite often, mostly because no one else will *chuckle*)
Response: True. "I think therefore I am" is seeing ourselves as the ego-self or ego-mind. One can only speak of being lonely without thoughts when one hasn't experienced pure awareness or consciousness without thoughts ... except as they are needed and arise naturally and then recede into silence. When one experiences this it becomes immediately apparent that this is consciousness as it was intended and that we are living in a kind of illness with our ego-self and its dependence on thoughts for survival.
Comment: Although Heaven is not a physical location, it is also not in the inner realm of consciousness. Heaven is the residing place of God in the spiritual realm. The new heaven and new earth are yet to come, and humanity cannot bring it about. Bringing that about is the work of God.
Response: Not entirely true. The kingdom of heaven is within, as Jesus said. True that humanity does not bring about the "new earth", but we play a part in dying to the old self and letting the will of God bring about the new earth without our interference.
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God [1 Corinthians 15:50]
True. Tolle is not stating that the "new earth" is heaven or the kingdom of God. Quite the opposite. The original earth was a field of manifestation (Eden) in which we were to work with the plan of God. We deviated from that plan following our self-will (ego) rather than the plan (will) of God. The new earth would be (if I understand Tolle) a return to the original "Eden" (not heaven) as it was known.
Comment: The old must pass away before the new comes in. God must bring that about. Tolle's heaven is one that is emerging and that humans can achieve. This is not Biblical, this is not Christian.
Response: True. The old self (ego-self) must pass away before we can be reborn by the spirit. Again, Tolle is referring to a resultant "new earth" and not heaven. Also, it is not entirely something that we "achieve", but more of a "getting out of the way" (dying to the ego-self) so that Christ can work in us. It may not be entirely Biblical (which has be altered, edited, and modified and has many meanings) but it is (in my opinion) Christian.
The kingdom of heaven is within, as Jesus said.
You have already revealed that you believe the Bible to be full of errors and so I wonder that you put much stock into this particular verse here; you have now used it twice. I responded the first time by bringing up the context of Luke 17 and showing that it otherwise means Jesus is saying the Kingdom of God is within their midst. Meaning that Jesus himself is bringing forth the Kingdom - not that it is within our selves. Even the footnotes for the NIV read "or among."
So with that in mind, I do entirely disagree that we have any spark of good in us. I have already brought the Bible verse I believe to be relevant in the previous topic, so it would be superfluous to redo it, because you can read it for yourself.
As for the new heaven and earth that God will bring about, I maybe did not make myself clear. What I mean is that they are completely different places. They are not this heaven and earth, they are not a result of our consciousness, or our dying to sin. They are not brought about by anything we do, such as dying to sin. They are brought about at God's timing, by His power and will, glory and might. They are His doing, and His alone. It is not a field of manifestation. I stand by what I originally said and respectfully disagree with you.
I also disagree with what you're said about thought and it's properties. But maybe that's already obvious by my OP.
Comment: Jesus is saying the Kingdom of God is within their midst. Meaning that Jesus himself is bringing forth the Kingdom.
Response: Fine ... you can use "midst" in the translation if you like. It doesn't matter. I'm not sure where you are getting the meaning to be that he is bringing forth the Kingdom. Read carefully "... nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." He is saying "you can't visually see it, but it is here amongst you." This is the same as saying it is within. It is both within and without and in our midst because the Kingdom of God is vibrating at a different level. It's there, but we can't see it with our gross perceptions.
Also, some passages of the Bible have remained intact and correct, but many have been edited, changed, modified and ... added. If you are going to use the Bible as a cornerstone of your faith then you (or anyone else doing the same) need to study very deeply the origins and problematic history of the Bible as a book. I can't go into it in detail in this blog, but there are scholars who spend their entire professional life doing this type of work and it is worth reading their research. Some are orthodox Christians and some are not, but they've published fascinating studies on this topic that are all but ignored by those that read and use the Bible.
Comment: I stand by what I originally said and respectfully disagree with you.
Response: I'm still not sure what you mean in this paragraph, but ... we can probably agree to disagree. :-)
Comment: I also disagree with what you're said about thought and it's properties.
Response: I understand. Like I said though, it would be very difficult to understand what Tolle or I are speaking about on this particular item if one has not experienced it. Once it is experienced then it is very clear.
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