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Fans of Eckhart Tolle’s last bestseller, The Power of Now, have been waiting eight long years for the follow up, and now their patience has been amply rewarded. A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose is a phenomenal book, written with real warmth, humor and a huge amount of insight. If you’re a newcomer to Tolle’s work then by all means, start with this one – A New Earth stands on its own merits, and is guaranteed to win the author a wide new readership. A New Earth is, very simply, one of the best offerings in the field of personal growth and spirituality to come out in years. No matter how near or how far you are along your own spiritual path, you can benefit (and save some steps!) from reading this book. Like his last book, this one is all about finding more joy and purpose in your life right now, and who doesn’t need that? The key to more joy and purpose is by living in the present moment. Rather, “being” in the present moment. How do you do that? According to Mr. Tolle, it comes by a slow dismantling of the ego, and it’s endless attachment to the world of “form”. Many authors have written about the desirability of living “in the Now,” but few have laid out such a clear, concise method for doing so as Eckhart Tolle has. This book is really trans”form”ational on several levels! Indeed, one gets the feeling that Mr. Tolle has spent the last several years wisely and well. A New Earth offers one insight after another that one can only imagine must be the product of endless hours, days and months thinking, experiencing, (Being?), getting tripped up, and starting over again. He gives us concrete examples, anecdotes, tips from his years of counseling and, best of all, he details some of the signposts of progress as well as the common pitfalls. As for the “Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose” part of the title – that is, in fact, our purpose – to grow in consciousness by being in the present moment. This is the next wave of evolution that will lead to “A New Earth.” But if you are thinking more along the lines of “I’m unhappy in my current job, but I can’t figure out what I really want to do,” then don’t despair – Tolle gives plenty of solid advice for how to tie in what he calls your primary purpose (consciousness) with what he calls your secondary purpose (what kind of rewarding work you want to do). Recognizing and dismantling the various aspects of our ego can be a long, hard, and sometimes painful process, so it would be fair to ask, why do it at all? Perhaps because the only thing that is harder and more painful is the way we are living right now. Or, that in our attachment to “forms,” – material things, emotions, old thoughts, the need to feel superior, etc., we are manifesting a world that is hostile, chaotic, polluted and depressing. “Being present” is as simple as not allowing the ego’s games to drag you into either the past or the future – “consciousness” is as simple as recognizing the ego’s attempts for what they are: an endless effort to make you unhappy, dissatisfied, anxious, angry, afraid, and more. For this clarity and conciseness, thank Mr. Tolle. The author deals with potentially heavy issues with a wonderful, light touch. His descriptions of the ego’s ploys are spot on, and his suggestions for countering these ploys and growing in awareness are practical and clear. But best of all is the news that this new awareness – this evolutionary growth in consciousness – is already happening. And because it’s now in the collective conscious, those of us who are catching up get to “ride the wave,” so to speak, building on the momentum of those who have gone before us, like Mr. Tolle. That also means that if we start doing the work now, we don’t necessarily have to “wipe out” and learn the hard way. If building or manifesting A New Earth becomes a purposeful, joyful experience, it will be because of people like Eckhart Tolle. Cheryl Shainmark
"In A NEW EARTH, once again Eckhart Tolle leads us through uncharted spiritual territory, blazing a path sure to expand our vision and guide us to a place within, named . . . . Home. Master Eckhart touches the deepest longing of our soul . . . . and we are forever changed." Rev Carolyn Craft
For one who experienced a transformation of my whole being as I read Eckhart’s first book, The Power of Now, some years ago, a transformation which was the greatest gift of my life, I awaited his new book A NEW EARTH: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose with eager expectation, yet wondering what more Eckhart have to say to us beyond the transforming message of The Power of Now. Eckhart has a unique gift of presence in his words
which resound so gently in all hearts that long and yearn for a ‘new’ way
of living lightly and joyfully on the surface of our earth. His message
is one of those messages which are ‘ever ancient, ever new’,
but our hearts must be ready to receive the new song which dances
on every page, in every word of his book A
NEW EARTH: Awakening to
Your Life’s Purpose. He once again goes beyond differences of culture, beliefs and gender to the heart of the ‘Kingdom within’ and once there we can, as it were, look out at our own dysfunctional ego and gently smile at the games he shows we played in trying to keep it alive and well for all to see. He does not condemn our ‘role playing’ but gently helps us to understand that we don’t need to play roles in life but just ‘be’ who we are at the deepest level of our being. The most precious words in A NEW EARTH: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose for me were, “You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge” (p.13). For one who has spent a lifetime trying to be good but always found herself flat on her face again, this message, I believe, is the key to “the fundamental change in consciousness” which unlocks the chains we have bound around ourselves, and in doing, so blocked true spiritual awakening. As a seeker of the God whom I love I have read hundreds of books written by spiritual masters throughout the ages. I have pondered over their messages and gleaned much from them but I can truly say that it is Eckhart’s message in A NEW EARTH: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose which has brought forth from within me that ‘fundamental change in consciousness and opened up to me a new way of living, no longer with anxiety, no longer with the feeling of ‘I’m worthless and useless so what is the use!’, a feeling of ‘never making it!’, no longer in the future and for the future, but in the beautiful gift of the sacrament of the Present Moment which is so much part of my faith tradition but I failed to understand its true meaning until I read Eckhart’s books. How rare it is to find an author who is also a prophet. Whose writings are alive and speak directly to the heart. We tend to think of prophets as gifts of the past but if the ear of our heart is ready to listen to the words he speaks and know that they are true then indeed we will have A NEW EARTH, found deep within ourselves, which will bubble over the surface of our small planet so that together, through our awakening, we will truly bring about A NEW EARTH. |
