Many people believe Eckhart's concept of the Pain Body is his main contribution to spiritual thought. Other's disagree.
Some psychologists think the Pain Body concept is misleading & downright dangerous for the mildly to severely mentally ill. Yet, Eckhart openly talks about feeling suicidal at age 9 & then again in his 20s, in part because of his parents' constant arguing.
He once again reassured this week's audience that a dense or heavy Pain Body can be a passport to dropping the ego, compared to a life that is not so burdened.
He points out the obvious about the chronic discord in family, love, political, national, cultural, & religious relationships, and describes all of this as the Pain Body. The body of pain that humans endure because they are lost -- lost in thought and not enjoying the Power of Now.
The ability of the Tolle Teachings team to answer questions from a world audience that may or may not be familiar with Eckhart's esoteric terms was quite striking, as the personal stories of their suffering was intermixed with the stories of strangers calling from Australia to Denmark.
We find out in this webcast that Oprah's beloved dog died on the morning of the second webcast & that Eckhart lost his ego and Pain Body on the same night. Is all of this true?
Showing posts with label Chapter 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chapter 5. Show all posts
Monday, August 25, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Oprah-Eckhart is only for Midlifers? Well, "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"
When Tom Ewell had his midlife crisis with Marilyn Monroe in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, he was 35 years old. That's because life-expectancy was much lower back then. Now mid-lifers are age 40 & up!
Those of us who are children of the 60's expected the Oprah-Eckhart predominant demographic to be 45 and older.
Instead, teenagers as young as 13 have called into the show along with a lot of folks in their 20's & 30's with careers & young kids. We were wondering if the Harpo Production team that preps and screens every call-in was skewing the numbers by cherry-picking younger callers to make it appear that this material appeals to a broader demographic.
Not so! In a thread on the Oprah message boards called "POLL; If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" over 3,000 volunteered their age.
Only 2% are in their 70's -- even though retirement and grown children make them the perfect spiritual seeker candidate. Only 5% are in their 60's, the official Baby Boomers born after WWII. 31% are in their 50's -- the largest and most expected segment. Yet, 2% more of the Oprah-Eckhart students are in their 30's (26%) than are in their 40's (24%) with a shocking 11% studying the book while in their formative 20's.
For those of us who are now retiring from the job market & looking forward to more grandchildren, this is good news indeed for the prospects of the next generations!
You'll see this in all the segments, including the most recent, Chapter 5.
Those of us who are children of the 60's expected the Oprah-Eckhart predominant demographic to be 45 and older.
Instead, teenagers as young as 13 have called into the show along with a lot of folks in their 20's & 30's with careers & young kids. We were wondering if the Harpo Production team that preps and screens every call-in was skewing the numbers by cherry-picking younger callers to make it appear that this material appeals to a broader demographic.
Not so! In a thread on the Oprah message boards called "POLL; If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" over 3,000 volunteered their age.
Only 2% are in their 70's -- even though retirement and grown children make them the perfect spiritual seeker candidate. Only 5% are in their 60's, the official Baby Boomers born after WWII. 31% are in their 50's -- the largest and most expected segment. Yet, 2% more of the Oprah-Eckhart students are in their 30's (26%) than are in their 40's (24%) with a shocking 11% studying the book while in their formative 20's.
For those of us who are now retiring from the job market & looking forward to more grandchildren, this is good news indeed for the prospects of the next generations!
You'll see this in all the segments, including the most recent, Chapter 5.
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Pain Body: Love It or Leave It
As we discussed on Monday, some psychologists think the Pain Body concept is misleading & downright dangerous for the mildly to severely mentally ill. Yet, Eckhart openly talks about feeling suicidal at age 9 & then again in his 20s, in part because of his parents' constant arguing.
He once again reassured this week's audience that a dense or heavy Pain Body can be a passport to dropping the ego, compared to a life that is not so burdened.
He points out the obvious about the chronic discord in family, love, political, national, cultural, & religious relationships, and describes all of this as the Pain Body. The body of pain that humans endure because they are lost -- lost in thought and not enjoying the Power of Now.
The ability of the Eckhart-Oprah team to answer questions from a world audience that may or may not be familiar with Eckhart's esoteric terms was quite striking, as the personal stories of their suffering was intermixed with the stories of strangers calling from Australia to Denmark.
We find out in this webcast that Oprah's beloved dog died on the morning of the second webcast & that Eckhart lost his ego and Pain Body on the same night. Is all of this true?
He once again reassured this week's audience that a dense or heavy Pain Body can be a passport to dropping the ego, compared to a life that is not so burdened.
He points out the obvious about the chronic discord in family, love, political, national, cultural, & religious relationships, and describes all of this as the Pain Body. The body of pain that humans endure because they are lost -- lost in thought and not enjoying the Power of Now.
The ability of the Eckhart-Oprah team to answer questions from a world audience that may or may not be familiar with Eckhart's esoteric terms was quite striking, as the personal stories of their suffering was intermixed with the stories of strangers calling from Australia to Denmark.
We find out in this webcast that Oprah's beloved dog died on the morning of the second webcast & that Eckhart lost his ego and Pain Body on the same night. Is all of this true?
Why is it that more people aren't questioning this book?
One of the longest threads on Oprah's message boards is the one titled "Why is it that more people aren't questioning this book?" Interestingly, here at Tolle Teachings, we have received a lot of feedback from licensed psychotherapists who seem to be upset with Eckhart's teachings from a number of perspectives.
One is that the notion of egolessness may be a worthwhile goal for those whose egos are well-developed, but not for those with deeply troubled childhoods that caused their egos to suffer from arrested development. In the latter case, this kind of advice might have catastrophic consequences. Eckhart himself achieved self-realization during a period of extreme suicidal ideation. Should he have had a psychotherapist turn him in to a suicide help-line or should he have been left alone as he was & achieved enlightenment?
This week Eckhart will be talking about the Pain Body, which many spiritual commentators consider his most significant contribution to "New Thought". Yet, one psychotherapist wrote to us & said that she thought the notion was "demonic". She says the Pain Body concept suggests the planet is swathed in some kind of dark cloak from which we can not arise – a depressing prospect she would not share with her patients.
We'll see what Oprah & Eckhart have to say about the Pain Body as this is the topic for this week's webcast- one that Oprah has said there is much excitement about.
One is that the notion of egolessness may be a worthwhile goal for those whose egos are well-developed, but not for those with deeply troubled childhoods that caused their egos to suffer from arrested development. In the latter case, this kind of advice might have catastrophic consequences. Eckhart himself achieved self-realization during a period of extreme suicidal ideation. Should he have had a psychotherapist turn him in to a suicide help-line or should he have been left alone as he was & achieved enlightenment?
This week Eckhart will be talking about the Pain Body, which many spiritual commentators consider his most significant contribution to "New Thought". Yet, one psychotherapist wrote to us & said that she thought the notion was "demonic". She says the Pain Body concept suggests the planet is swathed in some kind of dark cloak from which we can not arise – a depressing prospect she would not share with her patients.
We'll see what Oprah & Eckhart have to say about the Pain Body as this is the topic for this week's webcast- one that Oprah has said there is much excitement about.
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