A New Earth is An Old Path

First of all, no, I have not read the entire book, that is A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. But I spent an hour in Barnes and Noble perusing and taking notes from it and I have watched a few of Oprah’s get togethers discussing its teachings.

Second, it is pure bull. Okay, not pure. The Enemy is not stupid. He takes truth, good honest human nature, even Biblical truth and adds just enough of a twist to it to make it a lie, but a subtle one. A New Earth is full of lies, yet subtle ones.

Eckhart’s philosophy as I understand it, is based on your ego versus the real you, the authentic you. Your ego is unenlightened and pretty much makes you mean, irritated, stressed, etc. Like when I snap at Noah or John, well that is my ego run wild. I am being simplistic because that is the only way I understand. The real you is the AWAKENED CONSCIOUSNESS. This is the enlightened part of you that takes a moment and realizes your thoughts and behavior are not the real you and therefore, not the best you. That’s like when I realize I was a jerk to my son and husband.

Here’s a quote off page 8, A New Earth:

“When you recognize the unconsciousness in you, that which makes the recognition possible is the arising consciousness IS awakening. You cannot fight the ego and win, just as you cannot fight against darkness. The light of consciousness is all that is necessary. You are that light.”

Do you see the subtle truth that is turned into a big fat whopping lie? Yes, I have a carnal nature, a sinful self. Tolle calls it the ego. Everybody deals with the “darkness” within ourselves that chooses to be mean or habitually is mean. And then Tolle says you can’t fight it and win. True. Who can conquer sin? Not me. Not you. In fact, Romans 3:23 makes it clear none of us can. We all have fallen and are falling and will fall short.

A couple of truths. Okay, Eckhart. You aren’t using Christian terms, necessarily, but you have a good point.

Look at this point:

Pg. 13 “You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge.”

There it is. A big ole, boldface whopper. See, Eckhart Tolle is saying that the REAL YOU awakens by recognizing the ego’s workings. If you are recognizing your “bad self” then you are conquering it. Being aware is the key. Being aware allows that goodness to come forth.

This is not a new thought. Anyone who has been through a 12 step program knows that admitting you have a problem and knowing you are powerless over it can recognize where Tolle is headed. But there endeth the comparison. Even in 12 steps, you need a HIGHER POWER. Some addicts choose God, Jesus and some choose their group. I knew a man whose higher power was his dead dog. No kidding.

But to Eckhart Tolle, the higher power is the authentic self WITHIN YOU. Once again, like The Secret and other philosophies, A New Earth tells us that LOOKING WITHIN is the absolute Key to living life abundantly.

I disagree. This is a lie. The only way to conquer my carnality, my sinful self is to allow GOD, Christ and the Holy Spirit to do their thing within me. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die: but if BY THE SPIRIT you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

I cannot conquer my own sinful self. I can’t do it. It’s like saying to me, Robbie you have a bad heart valve, so in order to fix it, cut yourself open and go to work. What? Again, maybe a simplistic analogy, but my point is I need a surgeon.

How do we have an abundant life?

Jesus, Jesus he’s our man. If He can't do it, we’re all going to hell.

That’s my and John’s favorite cheer. :0)

Jesus died on the cross to deal with our “egos.” Sorry, Eckhart, but looking within may work for you right now, but you are missing the big picture. You and I cannot be perfect. You and I might have enough inner resolve to grit our teeth and be enlightened to our bad habits, but you and I need to recognize that our battle goes beyond this into a SPIRITUAL world. And for that we need spiritual weapons that only come from THE WORD OF GOD and the Holy Spirit.

So, that’s my two cents. Oprah keeps searching. She keeps saying there are many paths to God and it seems she keeps advocating a new one each few months. Wouldn’t it be cool if Christ showed her His path, the true path?

I knew I was suppose to post this because I woke up and had absolutely NOTHING to blog about. I took the boy and neighbor’s boys to school in the snow (That’s right - it is snowing in April – yeesh!) and came home with still nothing to blog about. I went to read my friend Jan’s blog and she posted a 9-minute video on The New Earth and the Spirit said clearly, “Blog about you read and believe.” So, there it is. If you want to visit Jan’s blog go to my blog list and click on Jan's blog or go to www.janparrish.blogspot.com.