Eckhart Tolle: A New Earth

I was re-reading Eckhart Tolle’s book this weekend, and there was a passage that really stood out to me.

The three predominant states of egoic relationships are: wanting, thwarted wanting (anger, resentment, blaming, complaining), and indifference.

When he refers to “ego” he refers to the thoughts in our head that highjack who we really are. We are the one listening to our thoughts. The thoughts are conditioned by the structures and forms of life, culture, the world. We tell ourselves stories about being right or being victims, but really, we don’t have to relive these past stories endlessly (which is the dysfunction of life). Instead we should recognize that these structures are self-sustaining, and so is the ego (as a byproduct of these structures). When threatened, they fight back. That which we resist, persists.

Anyway, what struck me was just how much those three states represent the 3 main stages of Fowler that we talk about:

Stage 3 is like Tolle’s “wanting” state. We seek approval from a structure.

Stage 4 is like Tolle’s “thwarted” state. We recognize that we aren’t going to get what we want, so we feel anger, resentment, we blame, we complain.

Stage 5 is like Tolle’s “indifference” state. We stop caring. We marginalize the source of our pain by considering it irrelevant.

Tolle would say all of these are still the egoic mind taking charge. We are still letting forms and structures override who we really are. Whether we are wanting or thwarted in it or indifferent to it, we are still unaware that those structures are self-sustaining and that we are greater than they are and have potential that transcends them.

I agree with most of the part in bold, except the indifference state. My state of indifference is one of not caring about the shoulds of the church anymore, except to the extent that affects the achievement of my own goals. And these goals are not the same as the church’s expression of such goals.

So, I don’t care that the church tells me I’m a bad priesthood holder because I’m unwilling to take on time consuming callings, or hold a TR. I am indifferent to their opinions now, and comfortable in my own skin. I see that as healthy, and it acknowledges that those structures (assuming he means the church structure) are self-sustaining. And to me, they are still relevent in society, and to my family, but they are irrelevant to my behavior unless I buy into them.

Not sure if I understand the indifferent correctly — but this is what I think you meant when you described the self-sustaining structures

Well, I’m not the Zen Master Echkart Tolle is. When my meditation app said I had achieved Level 2, I immediately thought “Ha ha! Suck it, Level One Losers!!”

I think when he says “indifferent” he means that studied indifference of someone who does feel hurt or disappointed, but then just moves on, but the structures are still a source of pain if we think about them.

Maybe I am still a Level One Loser, though, who just spent enough time to power up to Level 2 on a stupid phone app. That’s one possibility.

You just need to google for the cheat codes.

I think when he says “indifferent” he means that studied indifference of someone who does feel hurt or disappointed, but then just moves on, but the structures are still a source of pain if we think about them.

There is some of that in me when I hear about the conscription model of service at work in our Ward, or hear ANYONE subject to injustice in just about any context,

But hearing people go black and white in their thinking, bear testimony about things I don’t believe, or perpetuate cultural norms I don’t believe anymore, I’m indifferent without angst. I guess there is healthy indifference and unhealthy indifference.