Over the past couple weeks my spiritual growth has been on point and I felt on top of the world... what a set up...
Last week I ran off to NYC cause I felt like it. It was a great time, but that’s besides the point. On my way to pick up my mom from PA (she was at her cousin’s house while I was in NYC), I had a bit of a traumatic experience and I really haven’t been the same since... I was following this slow driving heifer on a single lane road when I decided to pass him (in the dotted area). I didn’t realize that a huge truck going in the opposite direction was a lot closer than it appeared at first... long story short I’m happy I’m in the physical condition that I am (although I do need to go to the gym).
Ever since that moment I’ve been moping around cause I felt inept in the worst way. I almost felt as if though I wasn’t worthy of living after making such a stupid mistake which could have thrown away my life so easily. All of it because of some impatience.
After a good talk with one of my buddies I realized that I that I was doing myself a disfavor beyond belief. “Duh” I’m sure some of you are saying, but it’s very hard to pull yourself out of these situations when you don’t detach yourself and look at the situation from a different perspective. I needed to detach my self from that and let it go but I was so caught up on the fact that I could have died that I forgot to live the present that God gave me. Now this is very ironic because if we go back to the original situation it was exactly the same case then... Anyways, I will be in a class room from 8am to 5 pm tomorrow so I’m gonna hit the sack.
Here is a clip of Ekhart Tolle that I feel is very relevant. He is the author of The Power of Now, if I know you, I probably mentioned this book to you. His voice is creeperiffic but look beyond it. Just don’t do acid.
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2 comments:
Whoa. That's interesting. I'm glad you're okay.
Akbar, Thank you for the Eckhart video. I have always wanted to know more about Eckhart Tolle considering I have noticed his growing popularity amongst Americans(thanks to Oprah) and a good half dozen of my friends. As far as the video was concerned, I found nothing wrong with it, infact his explaination of drug induced visions was accurate(as it is merely a momentary and fleeting opening of the doors of perception and rarely have a lasting effect on the individual as real visions do).
Anyways, since you really like Tolle, my own thoughts and concerns on him might help you situate his books and his teachings in proper context. Tolle first of all is not an authentic spiritual master, but is of a growing trend of "new age" spiritual teachers that seek to disseminate "self help wisdom" to a otherwise inwardly empty american public. Tolle is different from all the other new age teachers only in so far as he is not mired with controversies(sexual or monetary) and his organization is not a non profit(as of what we know). Anyways, most of his spirituality is a dilly dally picking of Vedantin Hindu Mysticism, Zen and ZaZen Buddhism, Christian Mysticism of the German flavor, and anything else that he could get his hands on that helped him. The problem is that he has never emphasized the need for people to choose a religious form and doctrine before embarking on the path, and has openly advocated a free for all "way of wisdom" devoid of any injunctions and regulations and based on the common mis-assumption that one can solve all problems through a self-psychological cleansing without a spiritual guide, a religion, or even the divine grace. When in reality spirituality is of a realm far higher than the psyche, and if he does infact believe this, he does not make it a principle concern for his students. All of this the deviancies and falls that can result from this new agism can simply be avoided by simply being a good muslim or by ascribing to an authentic religious spirituality that is not a product of Jungian psychology or whatever stuff has appeared recently.
He does have seem to have been influenced by a lot of authentic mystics that have changed the way I see the world, including Meister Eckart(whom he took the name after), Ramana Maharshi, Rumi, and Shankara, but he also quotes other new age iconoclasts like Krishnamurti and seems to have been influenced by him a lot. So take what is good from Eckhart Tolle and don't become an ardent follower, and try to infact prefer more traditional books on spirituality to his self help books.
Dawood
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