"Blessed are the poor in spirit," Jesus said," for theirs will be the kingdom of heaven." What does "poor in spirit" mean? No inner baggage, no identifications. Not with things, nor with any mental concepts that have a sense of self in them. And what is the "kingdom of heaven"? The simple but profound joy of Being that is there when you let go of identifications and so become "poor in spirit."
This is a complete reversal of what Jesus is actually saying. What does poor in spirit mean? If I say to you, "gee, you look like you're poor in spirit" what would I mean? I have always understood poor in spirit to mean someone who has inner baggage, who is struggling and feeling lowly.
The other beatitudes are for the mourning, meek, hungry, thirsty, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers and those persecuted for righteousness' sake. These beatitudes cannot be paraphased as "blessed are those who have got it right, because they're terrific and don't need any further help." But this is how Tolle's first beatitude can be paraphrased! Jesus' beautitudes go more along the lines of "blessed are those who are suffering because of me, because in me they will find peace and justice."
This is a prime example of how Tolle regularly takes one verse and distorts it to fit his purpose, without looking at the context. But then, he has such a low opinion of it, given it's written by men who distorted the "truth" as they wrote. Given he places no authority in the Bible, why does he even quote it?
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