Hi Inquisitives!

I've been a fan of spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle's principles for awhile, and have often had discussions about them with other group members. Some felt there may be a good amount of interest in them, and suggested we have a meetup for it. So here goes!

First, I want to be very clear that we want to hear all the varying opinions/questions people have, so I strongly encourage expressing dissenting views. You DO NOT have to like, or have even previously heard of Tolle to come. If you can't stand Tolle, or think his teachings are a crock, feel free to be heard. The main thing is to be interested in learning more, and/or have opinions you wish to express.

Some of the main principles of Tolle's teachings is that human suffering is the result of our egos. However, he defines ego somewhat differently than its common usage; he says it's anything that we derive a self-image from (our job, religion, nationality, etc.) which is outside of the essence of who we are. He feels over-identifying with these images, which is what egos do, is dysfunctional by nature, because when those images are attacked (as in someone saying something bad about your religion, nationality, etc.), we react as if we are being attacked, which isn't actually true, but we respond in kind.

Tolle also feels egos make it harder to have real, healthy relationships with others because we're often relating to our concept of who that person/group is, instead of genuinely noticing who/how they actually are. One example may be if a police officer with a pre-conceived notion of what a perpetrator is like arrives at a scene, he may make all kinds of errors, and miss much of what's actually happening because he's interacting with the notions he has instead of the actual people involved.

Tolle also says a key aspect of human nature which is dysfunctional is a pre-occupation with past and future, instead of living in and appreciating the present moment. He says life is now, and there's never a moment of life which has been, or will not be now, and that past and future don't actually exist, except as conceptualizations. So even if one's "living in the past", or "living for the future", they're doing that in the present moment, or now. He feels there's a difference between using "clock time", which is a necessary part of living, and over-emphasizing conceptual time, which results in us often being in such a hurry to get to the next, "better" moment, and when that comes, invariably finding dissatisfaction with it, and then wanting to get to another, never ending, next and "better" moment.

As long as people have interests in/opinions about the topic, I feel they can get something out of this meetup. However, you'll get more out of it the more familiar you are with these principles, and to do that, I suggest these resources:

1. The book A New Earth. This may be the most well known of Tolle's books, and provides a good, overall view of these teachings.

2. The Oprah-Tolle webcast series. Winfrey is a big proponent of Tolle's teachings. Together, they did ten 1.5 hour webcasts, one for each chapter of A New Earth. During them, Tolle and Winfrey discussed the concepts, and viewers could call in with questions they had. You can download them FREE here: http://www.oprah.com/... I HIGHLY recommend them; I think in some ways they may be even more informative than the book because of the give and take between the viewers and Tolle and Winfrey; dialogue often illustrates things better than monologue.

3. Youtube. If you just search for Eckhart Tolle you will get many talks, interviews, etc. It's a good way to see a wide variety of his material throughout the years.

4. The book The Power Of Now. This was Tolle's first well-known book. It's another good showcasing of these principles. Unlike A New Earth, it's presented in a question and answer format, and in my opinion is a little more abstract. It's worth getting if you have the time.

So there it is. Again, I can't emphasize enough that we want to have a good conversation with EVERYONE, whether they find these principles very useful or completely ridiculous. Personally, I've found that using them has made a definitive improvement in my general quality of life, but I've talked with people who don't understand/believe in them at all. Everyone's different, and everyone's welcome. See you there!...Elliot

P.S. If anyone has questions/opinions and wants to express/discuss them before the meetup, feel free to call me, [masked], or email [masked] (though my emails do get backed up sometimes). I don't mind at all; I like this type of stuff ☺.