A clear message for our timesOctober 17, 2008 I feel Eckhart Tolle has his finger completely on the pulse. It so clearly argued, and the best part is ; put it into practice and it works. How could it not.
Erm!September 16, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I found this too wordy and deep for a simple soul such as myself however I did as advised on the Oprah site and sat with 2 marker pens in different colours to underline that which I understood and that which I didn't. Needless to say one colour got a heck of a bashing!!
I've given it 3 stars though because I did actually get some really good bits out of it which I jotted down on the spare blank pages at the back (in my own words so I would understand later) and for that it was worth reading/buying.
What I am most chuffed about however is reading a review by Paul Chipperfield (lower down) recommending Cheri Huber's book which as he said is much kinder to us mere mortals and he is sooooo right!! Cheri Huber writes in a way I can understand and access reasonably easily - challenging still but achievably so!
Nice one mate!
There are better books out thereSeptember 3, 2008 2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Reading this pretentious, sensationalistic, overblown book makes me want to dry-heave and at times a little sick actually came out my mouth from its eye-watering, vomit-inducting passages like.....
'By the end of the century, the number of people who died a violent death at the hand of their fellow humans would rise to more than one hundred million... we only need to watch the daily news on television to realise that the madness has not abated, that it is continuing into the twenty-first century. Another aspect of the collective dysfunction of the human mind is unprecedented violence that humans are inflicting on other life-forms and the planet itself.. blah blah'
You get the message. We are doommmmeeeeddd!!! Having to wade through scaremongering sensationalistic crap like that is annoying to say the least. The style of writing is like reading sheet from The Sun.
I did give it two stars because there is something behind this book. The concepts are drawn from Hinduism and particularly about understanding the ego, self, self-realisation and self-awareness. I guess the good thing is that at least it does get the message across to the new age masses. But personally, I would go straight to the source from where the author get these ideas from... The Bhagavad Gita, The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, books by Swami Vivekananda etc etc.
super bookSeptember 2, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great one for the spiritual sceptics , stick with it there is something for everyone in here . Personally reccomended to a few friends something in here for everyone but if your reading it you probably dont need it , if your in doubt go check out the "is that so" chapter at the book store
A big ego writes about egoAugust 12, 2008 20 out of 26 found this review helpful
I was given this by someone who saw Oprah raving about it and bought two copies in a state of excitement. I thought that the first three pages were quite good then was extremely disappointed as the rest went no further than to rehash Buddhism. My overriding concern is Tolle's continual denigration of the ego and his attempts to persuade us that if we could just annihilate any sense of being an individual or having individual thoughts or preferences we could all acheive permanent bliss. In fact, if we all followed this advice we would all coagulate in one big splurge of mush as no one would be allowed a personality at all. This kind of spirituality feels very uncomfortable. I have always believed that the ego is a misunderstood beast and gets very bad press in New Age circles. We each represent a shard of God, here to express and experience our uniqueness and to evolve the whole while understanding we are part of the whole to which we will return following death. In addition, Tolle's regurgitated and extreme trashing of the ego is incongruent given that he benefits from the proceeds from a whole range of products, from calendars to cards, emblazoned with his name. No ego there then! This book feels like a quick attempt to jump on the coat tails of his previous book and, for me, offers nothing new. I am sure this will do very well for the Eckhart Tolle franchise but am concerned about the cost to anybody who adopts this philosophy without understanding that 'God' the Universe or whatever you believe in gave us the ego for a reason. It enables you to find who you are and what you stand for. There is nothing inherently spiritual about voluntary self anhihilation. Even the Dala Lama left Tibet rather than adopting a stance of staying put and being 'meek' in the presence of danger. It isn't a New Earth it is a rehash and it doesn't say what it says on the tin 'awakening to your life purpose' should read 'putting your life purpose to sleep as it doesn't exist.'
