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Mar 08, 2008

Michelle rated it:

Okay so I had high expectations for this book. Normally I don't really go for Oprah selections but I heard so many great things about it plus I am totally into new agey type things, I thought it would be right up my alley.

My problem with this book was twofold. First, a lot of the ideas weren't new to me. Living in the present (you are not walking across the room to get a book, you are walking across the room), not letting your ego attach itself to things (that is not "my car" More...

5 comments like (34 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2008

Lain rated it:

I opened this book, hoping to find something inspiring, eye-opening, and life-changing. Instead, it appears to be filled with the same old New Age babble about self-actualization and "each being the part of the one." It's not that I disagree -- it's just that I don't think there's anything particularly new or different. The same old, same old about non-judgment, embracing all things, blah blah blah. Call me crazy, but I think I've read this about 100 times before in every issue of New More...

7 comments like (16 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2010

Madeline rated it:

ok, i'm about half way through. first thing i notice is this guy is pretty long-winded. it took him 127 pages to tell me that the ego is the source of all the earths problems. Anything you feel or think or say comes from the ego. and thats a bad thing. we all need to be "enlighted" and gain "awareness" of our "presence."

heres a nice quote from the book: "Enlightened collectives will fulfill an important function in the arising of the new conscious More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Mar 13, 2008

Liz E rated it:

Oprahmercial. Well if you can over look that aspect I highly recommend this book. Tolle's penmanship allows difficult philosophical, psychological principles to come together simplified. This book simplifies complex notions of western approaches with an eastern point of view on metaphysics. I think it is a helpful tool for those cynical about the current state of humanity. I also believe it could be a great entry book into Eastern philosophy. He seems to Americanize complex metaphysical approach More...

3 comments like (18 people liked it)

Apr 21, 2008

Carrie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2008

Michael rated it:

Practically: spot-on treatment of the ego as problem source. Lots of advice that would be beneficial for most people.

Philosophically: not rigorous, despite an implicit claim to be the next step following the path from Descartes through Sartre. Equivocal vocabulary lets him subtly draw questionable logical connections. Some metaphysical foundations are implicitly assumed. Notably missing is any treatment of ethics, or much in the way of implications at all. All in all, I am probably giv More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2010

Jenell rated it:

In A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Eckhart Tolle simply and beautifully employs spiritual parables from many traditions to distill and illuminate the One truth to which they point: God in me; me in God. Form (the material world) is interpenetrated by nothingness (space, quantum possibilities, consciousness, spirit, God). If so many cultures can agree that we, as form, are permeated with spirit, why do we experience so much separation and suffering?

Tolle states that More...

10 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2008

Sarah rated it:

I think that because I have what I feel is a strong faith, this book just didn't make a big impression. I feel like a lot of the ego stuff he was talking about is basically morals and values, of which if you already have a high regard for and were taught about them, then a new awakening to being good is sort of insulting.
Anyone can be mindful for an instant, staying mindful, though, can be the work of a lifetime. I feel like Tolle has reduced himself to a shell of a person with no ego, no More...

4 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 27, 2008

Brittany rated it:

This book is completely awful. Don't feed in to the Oprah hype. It's abstract and somewhat hard to follow, even for me, a third year law student. Not entertaining at all. There are some tidbits of useful information, but if your mother taught you anything, you probably have already heard the useful parts. There are also a lot of contradictions in Tolle's writing/thought process. Don't go on the message boards on Oprah's website because the people on there are crazy nutjobs and can't provide any More...

12 comments like (9 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2010

Rogier rated it:

This is a wonderful and very helpful book. Coming from a ACIM vantage point, it takes a little bit to adjust to his terminology, because Tolle uses words in a different way. His Consciousness is ACIM's Spirit and Mind, and ACIM's consciousness (and the thoughts you think you think) is Tolle's "thoughts." Likewise ACIM's "guilt" equates to Tolle's pain body, so in a way it's simply the "wrong mind." His biblical " New Earth" is the Course's " Real Worl More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Alicia added it

This book is so amazing, I had to read it slow so I would absorb it all. It moved me to tears many times, so I had to stop a lot! I have not read The Power of Now, but this one really resonated with me and current challenges in personal and planetary transformation. I loved how he snuck in bits from major religions and explained their universal relevance outside the context of their religious context. The personal examples are quite illustrative & help ground the book's meaning.

5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Apr 14, 2008

Martha rated it:

What is so powerful about this book is not that there is much new material here. We’ve all heard about how the ego keeps us chained to our judgements, fears, and desires. The difference is in how the author explains his points. Finally, we understand! Wouldn’t you love it if all the stuff you’ve read about enlightenment suddenly became crystal clear? (I see you all nodding!) This is it.

Throughout the entire book, he reiterates the same points. He does not offer ‘instructions’. Here’ More...

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Mar 13, 2010

Trudy rated it:

This is a follow up to Tolle's The Power of Now. I read this one first, and got a lot more out of it. This is a book about how what we tell ourselves about our world (experiences, relationships, events) becomes our world, for good or bad. It also gives practical advice (if you're willing to hang in there) about how to transform your thinking so as to improve your life and truly live in the Now. Tolle pulls from every religious system out there, and introduces new (to me) perspectives on biblic More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 09, 2008

Liz rated it:

I just finished and I can't rate this book. Reading it a second time seems like the most logical step in order to give an accurate rating.

It's a hard book to read. At least it was for me. A lot of content went in one ear and out the other. Not that I wasn't reading but I wasn't able to grasp everything. The first time through, a lot of the book seemed repetitive. Like Tolle had to tell us, the reader, over and over again the same thing in order for us to understand what he was sayin More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2010

Benjamin rated it:

I had very high hopes for this book but I have to honestly say I didn't even finish it because it was so ridiculous. First of all, there was nothing in this book that I haven't heard before. Secondly (I feel a little bad about bringing religion into this but...) if he is going to quote from the teachings of Jesus he'd do a lot better to not put his own spin on what he said. I have to say that as a Christian I was slightly taken aback by some of the ways he interpreted Bible passages. There ar More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2008

Mary rated it:

This is basically The Landmark Forum in book form. I'm very curious about the relationship between Tolle and Landmark Education, but I haven't been able to find any info on that so far. I suspect that I find this book so powerful because I've done The Landmark Forum. I suspect it might be a little too theoretical to have much practical impact on my real life if I didn't have that background and training. Read this book if you've ever considered doing the Forum to get a little taste of what t More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2011

Venus rated it:

In certain cases, you may need to protect yourself or someone else
from being harmed by another, but beware of making it your mission to
“eradicate evil,” as you are likely to turn into the very thing you are fighting
against. Fighting unconsciousness will draw you into unconsciousness
yourself. Unconsciousness, dysfunctional egoic behavior, can never be
defeated by attacking it. Even if you defeat your opponent, the
unconsciousness will simply have moved into you, or the More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2008

Marissa rated it:

Wow. This is a life changing book. My only criticism is that Tolle is a theorist and so doesn't give many applicable examples of how to use the theories in real life. This I've had to do on my own. But this book is well worth the read. Here's the rub: you can read it and do nothing or you can read it and try to alter your way of thinking. When will someone write a book that makes people's lives change that doesn't take work??? :)

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2010

Bell rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2008

Cheryl rated it:

5 stars! Uplifting and inspiring!

Having Oprah Winfrey say, "Your book is my book club pick" epitomizes a leap in success. It's certainly the dream of almost every author I know. For one Canadian author it's a dream come true. Vancouver-based author and spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle must feel like he's riding a wave. His book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose is Oprah's 61st choice for her book club. Oprah is hugely responsible for Tolle's earlier rise in fame More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 04, 2008

Laurie rated it:

Loved this book. It has changed how I look at life.
I read a lot of "self-help", "spiritual insight" books and this is one of the best I have ever read. I just finished it and I want to read it again. His writing is very easy to understand --clear and simple and he shares insights that you can use in your life immediately. IT is chock full of fascinating insights on every page.

Some of my favorite points are:

1. The pain-body--a "psychic p More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Mar 01, 2008

Babs rated it:

Initially, I had trouble getting into the book. In my mind, the first couple dozen pages seemed written in pig latin. I put the book down for a few days and upon resuming, gems as noted below started jumping off the pages.

"When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world". ~Eckhart Tolle

"...the voice in the head, perhaps in the very moment it complains about som More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

May 18, 2008

Lindsey rated it:

The first chapter put me off with proclamations like this:

"This book is about you. It will change your state of consciousness...It can only awaken those who are ready...for some, that glimpse will come while reading this book...for others...through reading "The Power of Now" [also by Eckhart Tolle, by the way] or some other spiritually alive and therefore transformational book" (p. 7)

And then Tolle goes on to talk about how we have to let go of our eg More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2010

Jaime rated it:

so far...
i'm disappointed.
i feel its language is too simple...
it's hardly holding my attention, but i'm waiting
and waiting for it to bite me.

2/12/08:
i was wrong: this book rocks.
for many years now i have been examining
this exact approach to life
and tolle's genius is that he uses language in a way
that most (i hope) can relate to.
releasing egotistical impulse is a major KEY to joy.

consider rel More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2008

Carrie rated it:

I loved the way the 'A New Earth' brings light to how we can get past our ego-based conciousness to really experience happiness. One of my favorite quotes was on page 134, "Although the body is very intelligent, it cannot tell the difference between an actual situation and a thought. It reacts to every thought as if it were a reality..." Another favorite is on pg. 141, "Nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now; and if the past cannot prevent More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2008

Mark rated it:

Oprah told me to read this. I probably wouldn't have picked it if she hadn't, and in fact I never read Tolle's bestseller, The Power of Now. That said, this book resonates with some of my core beliefs, and I really like the way Tolle expounds on these principles, clarifying them and reinforcing them in my mind. They are

a) The amount of consciousness, freedom, and fulfillment available in life is inversely proportional to ego.

b) Living in the Now is key (It's been put to More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 17, 2009

Emily rated it:

I saw this book at the library, and picked it up to see what the hype was all about. It's one of those books that you might feel a tad embarrassed to be seeing on the train, however, any haters in your midst don't know what they're missing. The book starts out with the fairly audacious premise that humanity's base state is "egoic insanity", and it's clear that we have to evolve into more conscious beings or die. It reminded me a lot of the cognitive-behavioral branch of psychology a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 27, 2009

Miranda rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. I don't necessarily agree with his religious beliefs, but the way he describes the ego in such a simple way, had a profound effect on how I viewed myself and life in general. It was uplifting in a way that struck deep to my core. I swear after I read parts of it I truly could appreciate and see God's design and intricacies by living "in the now" and not in the past or in the future. I think this book could be interpreted in many different ways, but for me it More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 23, 2010

Mark rated it:

This book challenged me. It took me a while to get used to the authors launguage and terms. I nearly closed it for good because of my unfamiliarity with what I first took for esoteric, buddhist-like language that didn't mean anything to me. I hung on and was rewarded! In the end it was worth it. Ultimately, Tolle points out (sometimes painfully) the central role our ego plays in nearly everything we do. Our egoic tendancies are the principle stumbling block to "concsiousness." A More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 24, 2010

MsLarkin rated it:

6/9/10: academic year almost done. time to recenter, and refocus. perhaps this book from dad will help.

6/10/10: almost done with the first CD. here are some thoughts i am considering (Tolle would probably balk at me thinking, as thoughts are a form of ego):

-his discussion about words not completely encompassing the objects they reference is identical to Sassure's notion of the sign/signified. also brings up Benjamin's idea of translation.

-I concept formation More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

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