The subject matter for Chapter 6 was "Breaking Free of the Pain Body" & yet a caller from Dubai got into a meaningless dialogue with Tolle about whether she should wait for her boyfriend to commit.
So even though it looks like the Oprah-Eckhart team kind of jumped the groove they had so powerfully settled into there still were some jewels in the media desert. Oprah kicked off the show with a beautiful reading from Eckhart's tiny tome Stillness Speaks.
Despite the thousands of e-mails of protesting Protestants, Eckhart gave a beautiful description of Jesus on the Cross symbolizing humanity's limitations & deep sufferings. He then contrasted that with just the cross symbol by itself symbolizing the Divine. He went on to say that being trapped in Ego = Evil and that another word for Satan is Ego.
Many viewers will agree, but I fear that the fundamentalists have been given even more cannon-fodder. With Sarah Palin the presumptive Republican Vice-Presidential nominee portrayed in the press as "an anti-abortion, pro-creationism, death penalty diva" raised in the Pentecostal Church, fundamentalism has a new entree to confront Oprah's endorsement of Barack Obama. More on that as the story develops.
Showing posts with label ego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ego. Show all posts
Monday, September 1, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Chapter 5 - The Pain Body
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?
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?
Monday, August 18, 2008
Complete acceptance is vital
Chapter 4 prepares us for next week's pain body discussion by telling us how to relate to those who are not on a spiritual path.
Eckhart says this begins with an attitude of acceptance. We allow others to be where they are and we refrain from trying to change them or telling them what they should believe. He reminds us that when you react, you actually reinforce the patterns of others and put yourself into conflict with them. It is the ego that judges and relates from superiority (or inferiority). All conflict arises from the ego.
Eckhart reminds us that complete acceptance is vital.
Eckhart says this begins with an attitude of acceptance. We allow others to be where they are and we refrain from trying to change them or telling them what they should believe. He reminds us that when you react, you actually reinforce the patterns of others and put yourself into conflict with them. It is the ego that judges and relates from superiority (or inferiority). All conflict arises from the ego.
Eckhart reminds us that complete acceptance is vital.
Monday, August 11, 2008
I can see my ego working!
Chapter 3 of this webcast is all about the ego. There is a very funny video about a participant named "Bill" who goes on and on about “I can see my ego working!”
Bill, who describes himself as a "53 year old "mid-lifer", raved about the class on the afternoon Oprah TV show. Later in the day this segment was rebroadcast in the half-hour preview of the webcast, and then "Skyper" Bill was the first questioner/commenter when the evening's webcast #3 went live.
Skype is a major player in bringing live interaction to this series of webcasts. They are receiving major praise from Oprah. Oprah loves Skype!
I think she has done a lot to promote Skype as a viable interactive format, even though technically the quality is seriously compromised even compared to the low-bandwidth version of the webcast itself.
Bill, who describes himself as a "53 year old "mid-lifer", raved about the class on the afternoon Oprah TV show. Later in the day this segment was rebroadcast in the half-hour preview of the webcast, and then "Skyper" Bill was the first questioner/commenter when the evening's webcast #3 went live.
Skype is a major player in bringing live interaction to this series of webcasts. They are receiving major praise from Oprah. Oprah loves Skype!
I think she has done a lot to promote Skype as a viable interactive format, even though technically the quality is seriously compromised even compared to the low-bandwidth version of the webcast itself.
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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