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Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, Pg70 wrote:
You won’t find absolute truth if you look for it where it cannot be found: in doctrines, ideologies, sets of rules, or stories. What do all of these have in common? They are made up of thought. Thought can at best point to the truth, but it never is the truth. That’s why the Buddhists say “The finger pointing to the moon is not the moon.” All religions are equally false and equally true, depending on how you use them. You can use them in the service of the ego, or you can use them in the service of the Truth. If you believe only your religion is the Truth, you are using it in the service of the ego. Used in such a way, religion becomes ideology and creates an illusory sense of superiority as well as division and conflict between people. In the service of the Truth, religious teachings represent signposts or maps left behind by awakened humans to assist you in spiritual awakening, that is to say, in becoming free of identification with form.
Can the Truth be put into words? Yes, but the words are, of course, not it. They only point to it.I was listening to this as an audio book. I did a lot of driving the last couple days. This part of the book really jumped out at me as a deep and concise way of viewing a lot of the concerns people voice here about the Church. It is a very Stage-5-ish kind of perspective.
This is how the ideas in the LDS Church can be true while not being true.
Thanks for sharing this. Those ideas resonate with me. Can you tell me more about Eckhart Tolle? In my neck of the woods he is seen as the anti-christ which having now read this quote I can see why he might be seen as such. Do you recommend reading his work? Would you also define Joseph Smith as an “awakened human”? Sorry, thoughts just keep coming… This idea of absolute truth. It is something I struggle to define for myself. Is anyone aware of what LDS would define as absolute truth. I know that LDS around me are horrified when someone says they don’t believe in absolute truth but I have no idea what they themselves would define as such.
canadiangirl wrote:Would you also define Joseph Smith as an “awakened human”?
Yes. I personally believe he was, at times. But … that doesn’t mean that the things he taught are the Truth, they only point towards some truth if you can use them in a meaningful way. So calling him an “awakened human” does not set off a chain of logic where everything he said or did is the absolute truth.
You would really need to read Eckhart Tolle’s book to get what he really means by this. If you identify your ego with the teachings, you miss the purpose of the sign post.
canadiangirl wrote:Can you tell me more about Eckhart Tolle? In my neck of the woods he is seen as the anti-christ which having now read this quote I can see why he might be seen as such. Do you recommend reading his work?
I recommend his works. They are worth reading, as much as anything else.
I would sum up his ideas as taking Buddhism and hammering it into a modern, western shape. It’s like Buddhism explained through contemporary psychology and western philosophy.
People who are really entrenched in their favorite denominations are not going to like his thoughts
😈 He is not unkind to religion, but he definitely does not put much stock in it.canadiangirl wrote:This idea of absolute truth. It is something I struggle to define for myself. Is anyone aware of what LDS would define as absolute truth.
Again, you would have to read his books to really understand what he means by “Truth.” It isn’t a set of beliefs, doctrines or stories (in his description). He also goes to great pains to differentiate between true facts and “Truth.” It mostly has to do with your ego and your attachment to your thoughts. Tolle says that YOU are truth, the YOU that is not your thoughts, the you that can see your thoughts.
I like the LDS temple teaching that “Truth” (Cap T) is like a circle that encompasses all things that are true, valuable and divine. So the answer … it isn’t really an answer.
Brian Johnston wrote:I recommend his works. They are worth reading
I second this… I am a fan of Eckhart Tolle. His writing is very deep… I find sometimes that I have to re-read a page two or three times before I can absorb what he is saying, but once I “get it” I feel as if I have re-discovered a truth that I somehow already knew on some deeper level. (am I making any sense?)
canadiangirl wrote:In my neck of the woods he is seen as the anti-christ
Yep… I know many who share this opinion.
😮 I am grateful that I have the ability to think for myself, and explore concepts outside of the “bubble of thought” that I was raised in!The synchronicity was too much for me to ignore so I bought his book,”A New Earth”. I’ll let you know what I think. Regarding the synchronicity, I just read Carol Lynn Pearson’s “Consider the Butterflies” in which she describes the little coincidences in life that guide her life. Yesterday I listened to John Dehlin’s podcast of his presentation at Sunstone “Navagating a LDS Faith Crisis” and he quoted Tolle and today Brian so……. Thanks for the comments. I look forward to learning more.
My impressions of Eckhart Tolle are: 1. He knows what he is talking about. In other words, he is a Master teacher, not a Disciple teacher.
2. He has found a way to teach that works for many of us modern Westerners. In other words, it is less likely with his teaching that you will feel hopelessly lost, and more likely that you will have a strong reaction to it.
3. The most gladsome message he gives (and Krishnamurti said the same thing), is that the simple act of seeing clearly the madness (or what Krishnamurti calls the disorder) weakens the madness or brings order. That’s all it takes.
Talk about synchronicity! I have “A New Earth” (borrowed from the library) beside my bed, which I am reading for the second time straight through. I recently noticed I am happier on the weeks I do some devotional reading from it. That, to me, is a good personal marker for personal scripture.
I was watching some Eckhart Tolle videos on Youtube last night. I thought it was fascinating to watch the five part series that juxtaposes Tolle and Krishnamurti talking about the same thing (“Instances of Now”). Krishnamurti isn’t quite as accessible, but when you put them together they make a good odd pair, I think.
I think once you’ve read Eckhart Tolle, it is easy to understand the source of the opposition he receives.
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