The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle)
The Power of Pop Mysticism
[My 2-star Amazon review (December 15, 2012) of “The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment” by Eckhart Tolle.]
“The Power of Now” is a cool title, but it doesn’t belong on the cover of this book, which has virtually nothing to say about the true Power, or Light-energy, stemming from the Now, the Divine Presence. If Eckhart Tolle were anything more than a superficial pop mystic, he’d equate the power of Now with Hindu Shakti, the Buddhist Sambhogakaya, and the Christian Holy Spirit, and explain how this radiant continuum of Light-energy literally en-Light-ens a disciple.
Virtually every time Tolle opens his mouth and says anything, out comes poppycock. Aside from his message to “be here now,” which is common to many mystical traditions, he seems incapable of any of what J. Krishnamurti calls “real intelligence.” Moreover, some of the messages that Tolle spreads are not just stupid, but also potentially destructive.
Tolle’s most negative message concerns the human mind. According to Tolle, man’s egoic mind is not capable of creativity, and even worse, that it is insane and destructive and pollutes the planet. Given Tolle’s bizarrely apocalyptic mentality, I would say that he’s guilty of projection.
Tolle’s modus operandi is empty, hysterical rhetoric. He seems incapable of dealing in specifics. What, exactly, is the major (mind-caused) problem threatening the existence of the planet today? Is it global warming? Communism? Capitalism? Radical Islam? Tolle doesn’t say. And he doesn’t inform us at to what kind of sociopolitical system his NOW World Order will implement.
Tolle claims that women, because of menses and their collective pain-body, are more spiritually evolved than men and will be the vanguard of the NOW Age movement. Balderdash. The Buddha said exactly the opposite about women, and Jesus skipped on female apostles. I’ve yet to read or listen to a female guru capable of profound, technical Dharma instruction. Men are at the forefront of most every major sociopolitical or spiritual movement, not women. If, as Tolle claims, a collective pain-body leads to spiritual evolvement, then why aren’t African-Americans at the leading edge of New Age spirituality?
Tolle claims that “your cells stop aging when you live in the Now. Pure hogwash. Tolle. I did a research study of arguably the most prominent spiritual gurus in the twentieth- century, and their average age of death was 70. Here’s the data, with the age of death in parentheses: Sri Aurobindo (78); Sri Chinmoy (76); Adi Da (Franklin Jones) (69); Georg Gurdjieff (73); J. Krishnamurti (90); Murshid Samuel Lewis (74); Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) (58); Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (84); Ramana Maharshi (70); Swami Muktananada (74); H.W.L. Poonja (Papaji) (86); Swami Ramdas (79); Ramakrishna (50); Suzuki Roshi (66); Swami Satchidananda (87); Swami Sivananda (75); Chogyam Trungpa (49); Swami Vishnudevananda (65); Swami Vivekananda (39); Paramahansa Yogananda (59).
Tolle likens ducks and cats to Zen masters who live mindlessly in the Now. Again, utter nonsense. I studied duck behavior for several years, and they hold grudges, habitually harass certain other ducks, and regularly sexually rape their fellow ducks. And every cat I’ve ever had was a fraidy cat, and none a Zen master. Tolle mistakenly conflates pre-rational mindlessness with trans-rational Mind-fullness.
Tolle says emotions can be trusted more than thought. Terrible advice! Emotions are not tools of cognition; they only tell you how you feel about something. For example, if you’re on a diet and confronted with ice cream and cake, do you go with your craving emotion to indulge, or obey you rational mind and desist from the super-fattening treat?
Tolle states that the” inner body” is the direct spiritual link to Being (or God). Again, wrong. Focusing your attention on your animating presence or invisible “inner,” or subtle, etheric body cannot take you directly into spiritual Being? The dimension of human existence through which humans partake of the Absolute” isn’t, as Tolle asserts, the prana-maya-kosha (or life-force sheath). Rather, it is the ananda-maya-kosha (or bliss sheath, which is a synonym for Shakti, Ananda, the Sambhogakaya, and the Holy Spirit, none of which Tolle acknowledges.
Because this is a book review and not a book, I’ll cut my critique of The Power of Now short. But if you’re interested in a more thorough consideration and critique of Eckhart Tolle’s teachings, you might want to check out the book I’ve written on the subject: “Beyond the Power of Now.”
[My 2-star Amazon review (December 15, 2012) of “The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment” by Eckhart Tolle.]
“The Power of Now” is a cool title, but it doesn’t belong on the cover of this book, which has virtually nothing to say about the true Power, or Light-energy, stemming from the Now, the Divine Presence. If Eckhart Tolle were anything more than a superficial pop mystic, he’d equate the power of Now with Hindu Shakti, the Buddhist Sambhogakaya, and the Christian Holy Spirit, and explain how this radiant continuum of Light-energy literally en-Light-ens a disciple.
Virtually every time Tolle opens his mouth and says anything, out comes poppycock. Aside from his message to “be here now,” which is common to many mystical traditions, he seems incapable of any of what J. Krishnamurti calls “real intelligence.” Moreover, some of the messages that Tolle spreads are not just stupid, but also potentially destructive.
Tolle’s most negative message concerns the human mind. According to Tolle, man’s egoic mind is not capable of creativity, and even worse, that it is insane and destructive and pollutes the planet. Given Tolle’s bizarrely apocalyptic mentality, I would say that he’s guilty of projection.
Tolle’s modus operandi is empty, hysterical rhetoric. He seems incapable of dealing in specifics. What, exactly, is the major (mind-caused) problem threatening the existence of the planet today? Is it global warming? Communism? Capitalism? Radical Islam? Tolle doesn’t say. And he doesn’t inform us at to what kind of sociopolitical system his NOW World Order will implement.
Tolle claims that women, because of menses and their collective pain-body, are more spiritually evolved than men and will be the vanguard of the NOW Age movement. Balderdash. The Buddha said exactly the opposite about women, and Jesus skipped on female apostles. I’ve yet to read or listen to a female guru capable of profound, technical Dharma instruction. Men are at the forefront of most every major sociopolitical or spiritual movement, not women. If, as Tolle claims, a collective pain-body leads to spiritual evolvement, then why aren’t African-Americans at the leading edge of New Age spirituality?
Tolle claims that “your cells stop aging when you live in the Now. Pure hogwash. Tolle. I did a research study of arguably the most prominent spiritual gurus in the twentieth- century, and their average age of death was 70. Here’s the data, with the age of death in parentheses: Sri Aurobindo (78); Sri Chinmoy (76); Adi Da (Franklin Jones) (69); Georg Gurdjieff (73); J. Krishnamurti (90); Murshid Samuel Lewis (74); Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) (58); Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (84); Ramana Maharshi (70); Swami Muktananada (74); H.W.L. Poonja (Papaji) (86); Swami Ramdas (79); Ramakrishna (50); Suzuki Roshi (66); Swami Satchidananda (87); Swami Sivananda (75); Chogyam Trungpa (49); Swami Vishnudevananda (65); Swami Vivekananda (39); Paramahansa Yogananda (59).
Tolle likens ducks and cats to Zen masters who live mindlessly in the Now. Again, utter nonsense. I studied duck behavior for several years, and they hold grudges, habitually harass certain other ducks, and regularly sexually rape their fellow ducks. And every cat I’ve ever had was a fraidy cat, and none a Zen master. Tolle mistakenly conflates pre-rational mindlessness with trans-rational Mind-fullness.
Tolle says emotions can be trusted more than thought. Terrible advice! Emotions are not tools of cognition; they only tell you how you feel about something. For example, if you’re on a diet and confronted with ice cream and cake, do you go with your craving emotion to indulge, or obey you rational mind and desist from the super-fattening treat?
Tolle states that the” inner body” is the direct spiritual link to Being (or God). Again, wrong. Focusing your attention on your animating presence or invisible “inner,” or subtle, etheric body cannot take you directly into spiritual Being? The dimension of human existence through which humans partake of the Absolute” isn’t, as Tolle asserts, the prana-maya-kosha (or life-force sheath). Rather, it is the ananda-maya-kosha (or bliss sheath, which is a synonym for Shakti, Ananda, the Sambhogakaya, and the Holy Spirit, none of which Tolle acknowledges.
Because this is a book review and not a book, I’ll cut my critique of The Power of Now short. But if you’re interested in a more thorough consideration and critique of Eckhart Tolle’s teachings, you might want to check out the book I’ve written on the subject: “Beyond the Power of Now.”
