The fact is that the person itself is the product of identifcation. The “person” as such does not exist. It is a concept. Though this concept is useful for daily living, but it must be remembered that this “person” (I, You, he etc) does not actually exist. It is same as equators and other lines assumed on the face of earth. These line are useful concepts, but do NOT actually exist on the face of earth. Same as boundries between states of a country–these exist as a concept on map–and very useful concept, but again no such boundry can be found on the face of earth.

Similarly it must be understood that concept of I, You, He etc are concepts–which are required and are useful for daily living–but no such person as I, You or he exists in actuality.

And all this identification, creation of a concept etc are again not done by any person. These thing also just happen as per divine will–like rain, thuderstorm, snowfall. No person is sitting who is causing all these things.

These concepts, thoughts, feelings etc are happening as divine plan and divne himself is looking at all these concepts and has choosen to forget that all these things are created by divine.

And then Divine chooses to remember his true nature in “some body”– it is called enlightenment. But there is no “person” to get enlightened.

That’s how divine game is going on. LILA– it is called.

Find out who is looking at all these concepts, thoughs, feelings etc?

We all need to bear witness to the pain body and the inner most strength exists within us. Pain body will subside once we bring ourselves to the light.

“[Eckhart Tolle’s] thesis that ‘mind identification’ serves as the source for all strife in the world stands squarely at odds with reason as man’s only means of knowing and his method of survival.”

First what is Reason?

Here’s a quote, “Reason is man’s tool of understanding. It is the method of identifying entities through one’s senses. It is the means of integrating those perceptions into concepts, gaining knowledge through this integration, integrating that knowledge into the rest of one’s knowledge, and evaluating and manipulating ideas and facts. It is organized. It is systematic and purposeful.
Knowledge is knowledge about reality. Its base is perception, and its method is reason. We gain knowledge through observing reality.”

I personally, find is difficult at work to be in a state of mindfulness or self-observation throughout the day, because it means concentrating on matters of the present moment, whereas, at work, you have to think rational. You have to think, think, think, or the business suffers.

If you lived in a state of poverty and there is an opportunity down the road where you can get out of it, sufficiently providing for your immediate family. Tell me, would you remain in a state of mindfulness and contentment, or would you worry that if you don’t provide for your self, you and your family will suffer, thus, you need to catch the opportunity or else it is taken from you.

That is using your mental tool of Reason!

My worry is, Tolle’s recommendations of constant mindfulness and awareness of here and now, slows down thinking so much that reasoning is also slowed down

I think there needs to be a balance:

A time to meditate and rest, and,

A time to think, think, think, and act

Peace

In essences there is no such thing as “mind.” It is merely our mistaking the activity of the brain and nervous system for an entity called we identify as “me.”

I hope that helps the discussion.

First, a little background: I am familiar with about half of Eckhart Tolle’s writings and lectures, having listened to them as audiobooks. He makes it clear that attainment of the state of consciousness that he has experienced requires the cessation of thinking. The person needs only to be aware of being aware – and that’s it. Unfortunately, even for many who sincerely pursue that goal, the thinking process is too addictive and seductive to let go. And the mind, which is the source of the problem, is not going to remind you of that. We can experience that for ourselves. Repeatedly, here and there in his talks, Tolle points out, with humor, the irony of that condition within some members of his audience. After his stating succinctly that you cannot intellectualize the process of reaching enlightenment, some one will plead, to paraphrase him, “But I need to know a little more.” or “Wait, I have a question”.

That human craving for an abundance of information and analysis comes to mind when I read the many words, the interpretations, the verbal give and take, the ongoing threads of discourse that fill the websites devoted to the subject of self-realization. I wonder if there are seekers out there who will spend their days reading and conjecturing, forever looking for that one additional piece of information that will set them free. Tolle would probably say, “Stop reading and start paying attention to everything around you.” The cynics reading this will ask, “Well then, why doesn’t Tolle stop writing books?”

In fairness, those words, such as found here, can provide the reader with the authenticity they need, and put them on the right path. But these explanations are only pointers. How many pointers do you need?

You write “An hour of meditation a day won’t help a highly stressed executive with deadlines to meet.”

I couldn’t disagree more. Plenty of CEOs have found that meditation can, indeed, help one cope with the demands of a stressful job.

As Tolle observes, not everyone has to be “dragged, kicking and screaming” into “the Kingdom of heaven” (i.e., mindful presence in day to day life).

Those who commit themselves to cultivating greater presence and mindfulness very often see dividends in terms of greater peace, equanimity, and effectiveness in coping with the stresses of day-to-day life.

I know I do.

Joshua

Nice website. I am very fond of Eckhart Tolle and have learned a lot from him. I currently feel that there is no teacher around from whom I have benefitted as much as I have, from Tolle. He is a genius.

I agree with you totally. The headache intensifies if a person resists it, complains against it mentally. If he slips into silence and watches the headache, it will dissolve in no time, but only if he does not expect it to dissolve.

You write “On a temporary basis, this might mean that you stop “thinking” for a short while, so you can devote more attention to simply observing what’s going on. You can come back to thinking later, when your thoughts will be much more clear and incisive, because they’re not clouded by mind identification.”

Well, I feel it is not easy to just stop thinking. Incessant thinking is the root cause of all human problems, like Tolle himself says.
Thinking may recede into the background or fade away, giving way to stillness, as a person grows calmer and calmer, but the pace of modern life does not allow a person to stay calm. An hour of meditation a day won’t help a highly stressed executive with deadlines to meet. I doubt he will be able to meditate at all, if his boss is breathing down his throat.

I would say ‘forced into stillness’ works better. Tolle himself was forced into stillness, if you remember the introduction to the book POWER OF NOW, the part in which Tolle explains how he found awakening.

Tibetian buddhism books explain concepts like ‘wrathful compassion’ and ‘crazy wisdom’ in which buddhist gods/godesses/dakinis use ‘compassionate non-violent violence’ to ‘force’ a spiritually evolved person (that they choose to guide) into stillness.

When I say ‘compassionate non-violent violence’ I mean it in a metaphysical sense. The buddhist gods/goddesses/dakinis’ approach is violent and non-violent, both at the same time.
(I am not buddhist by the way, and not trying to give you buddhist teachings etc!)

regards,
Vikram