A New Earth

Introduction

Purposeful living is a phenomenon not common to most people. Often, persons are trying hard to understand their lives and determine the direction in which their lives are headed. They are confused about who they are and what they are meant to do. Most people are not inspired to approach life with optimism, let alone tackle everyday challenges.

Eckhart Tolle – the author of A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose – has offered a solution to this issue. In his book, he has approached the issue with much detail and clarity. This paper seeks to study how the content of this work relates to the real world.

Discussion

Tolle focuses on a discussion about the ego. When consciousness is based on the ego, individuals reduce personal happiness, and conflict and suffering in the world increases. The world, therefore, becomes a worse place to live in.  Attachment to the ego causes dysfunction within us. This results into unhappiness, jealousy and anger. If people acquire a new state of consciousness, they will have a fulfilling sense of purpose. Tolle has offered his audience a spiritual manifesto that is uplifting and illuminating. It can only lead to fulfillment of living. He claims that the book was meant to help individuals live a better life through awakening them and bringing about shifts in consciousness.

The enthusiasm in Tolle’s descriptions of the future, where there is less conflict and raw desire but more compassion and enjoyment, is felt throughout this book. When we relate this optimism to the present world, we can conclude that the future will be by far different from today, where there is much competition to acquire status, wealth and influence. These things are thought to be a must for an ideal life. In an effort to achieve them, people end up hurting their egos. They overlook more fulfilling aspects of life such as harmonious relationships with others and service to society. The final result has been work-related frustrations, broken relationships and individualistic living.

Persons are trapped in thinking, making them acquire certain identities that create pessimism about life. As a consequence, there is a human suffering. For example, people are more cynical of others today than they were in previous years. They do not do activities together, trust others or extend a hand when need be. Furthermore, the sense of identity causes conflict with the self and with others. Tolle suggests individuals should put more into thinking about the present moment. In addition, people do not easily let go past painful experiences. This leads to recurring pain. Identifying the source of any pain is a step in the renewal. For example, persons should stop identifying themselves with failure, bad luck, and anger, among other things. They ought to adhere to this quote, ‘’Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.”

The interpretation of Tolle’s idea on what the Bible says about “a new heaven and a new earth” is that the heaven refers to an internal sphere of consciousness. He claims that life on earth and collective human consciousness are essentially connected. Our thoughts and memories make us have a deceptive sense of self. The ego is reinforced by a collective effort to outdo others. Various inferiority complexes make people have this destructive ego. What lies at the root of our behavior is an absolute identification with emotion and thought, i.e. the ego. In the process of self realization, people need to establish inner purpose, as well as the outer purpose, know about space of consciousness and objects of consciousness. They will be happier when they distinguish between their dreams and themselves. This will enable them know who they really are. As a result, they will realize their inner purpose.

Perhaps the most outstanding idea by Tolle is that people need to be satisfied with what they do. They may not be essentially happy with what they are doing. However, they have to accept it.  One of his effectively used quotes is, “Life is the dancer and you are the dance.” Taking responsibility starts with acceptance, and this leads to action as opposed to stagnation. People also need to enjoy what they do. This makes the present a central part of life. Consequently, persons will not postpone their happiness, which is believed to color the future. Finally, they have to be enthusiastic. It is an outcome of deeper enjoyment in the present and helps achieve a final goal without stress.

Conclusion

Most people are confused about who they are and what they are meant to do. Tolle’s main purpose of writing his book was to awaken individuals and bring about shifts in consciousness. When consciousness is based on the ego, persons have reduced personal happiness while conflict and suffering increases. There are three pillars to successful living: acceptance, enthusiasm and enjoyment.

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