With Oprah putting so much attention and importance on the book, it sky-rocketed in popularity and became an international phenomenon, a best seller, twice over, and in turn, has had a profound effect upon the consciousness of the planet.
Did any of you who are listening tonight, happen to have participated in any of these web events with Eckhart Tolle and Oprah Winfrey? If you did, I am sure you found it to be a profound experience. If you didn't you can still do so by visiting Oprah Winfrey's web site, which we will have linked to our the notes from this call found in our Conference Call section of our web site.
Dan is the one who was instrumental in making the suggestion that we devote an entire call to this great book, and he did so for a number of reasons. So Dan, would you explain to our listening audience tonight, why you think "A New Earth" is so important at this time?
DAN'S RESEARCH INTO THE HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS SCALE Our research discovered the below Human Consciousness Scale (HCS) on September 14th 2008. It shows both the average human consciousness and the maximum human consciousness over the next few coming years. What is most remarkable is the dramatic jump in consciousness that takes place between now (2008) and the end of 2012. Most notable is the 10 point jump in the last two weeks of 2012. It took almost ten years to move 7 points up (between 1998 and 2008), so to make a 10 point leap in two weeks is a significant jump!
Note: the maximum consciousness plateaus at 175 and remains there for the foreseeable future (not shown on the graph). The average human consciousness begins to plateau after reaching 96 and makes incremental improvements to achieve a rating of 102 another ten years later.
Name...............................................Reading............................Date taken
Humans 10 yrs ago (9/1998)................43...................................9/13/2008
Human 9/2008......................................50...................................9/13/2008
Humans on 12/22/2012........................86...................................9/13/2008
Humans on 1/1/2013............................96...................................9/13/2008
Humans on 1/1/2022..........................102...................................9/13/2008
Human Max (9/14/08)........................149...................................9/14/2008
Human Max (12/23/2012)..................175...................................9/14/2008
Human Max (1/1/2013)......................175...................................9/14/2008
Human Max (1/1/2013)......................175...................................9/14/2008
So let's start off with a short audio clip from Eckhart Tolle explaining his purpose for writing "A New Earth" in the first place.
Eckhart Tolle explains the title "A New Earth" audio/video clip:
Another Eckhart Tolle clip worth listening to is entitled, "Enlightenment" from his Eckhart Tolle.com web site.
Enlightenment is defined as follows: "enlightenment | en?l?tnm?nt | noun
1) the action of enlightening or the state of being enlightened : Robbie looked to me for enlightenment.
– the action or state of attaining or having attained spiritual knowledge or insight, in particular (in Buddhism) that awareness which frees a person from the cycle of rebirth.
2) ( the Enlightenment) a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith."
It is interesting to note that the people who are mentioned within this definition, such as Rene Descartes, Sir Isaac Newton, Immanuel Kant,Voltaire,Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Galileo,John Locke, and Adam Smith, all have contributed greatly to the awakening of consciousness on the planet. And more often than not, who did they have to do battle in order to get out the awakening knowledge and wisdom they had accumulated? The Vatican, or the Catholic Church, time and time again!
ECKHART TOLLE QUOTES: "To end the misery that has afflicted the human condition for thousands of years, you have to start with yourself and take responsibility for your inner state at any given moment. That means now."
"...sometimes letting go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on."
"Internal and external are ultimately one. When you no longer perceive the world as hostile, there is no more fear, and when there is no more fear, you think, speak and act differently. Love and compassion arise, and they affect the world."
"Those who have not found their true wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being and the deep, unshakable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth. They are looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love, while they have a treasure within that not only includes all those things but is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer."
"Fear arises through identification with form, whether it be a material possession, a physical body, a social role, a self-image, a thought, or an emotion. It arises through unawareness of the formless inner dimension of consciousness or spirit, which is the essence of who you are. You are trapped in object consciousness, unaware of the dimension of inner space which alone is true freedom."
"Your mind is an instrument, a tool. It is there to be used for a specific task, and when the task is completed, you lay it down. As it is, I would say about 80 to 90 percent of most people's thinking is not only repetitive and useless, but because of its dysfunctional and often negative nature, much of it is also harmful. Observe your mind and you will find this to be true. It causes a serious leakage of vital energy."
"All cravings are the mind seeking salvation or fulfillment in external things and in the future as a substitute for the joy of Being. As long as I am my mind, I am those cravings, those needs, wants, attachments, and aversions, and apart from them there is no "I" except as a mere possibility, an unfulfilled potential, a seed that has not yet sprouted."
"Is suffering really necessary? Yes and no. If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you, no humility, no compassion."
"Once you have made peace with the present moment, see what happens, what you can do or choose to do, or rather what life does through you. There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness: One with Life. Being one with life is being one with Now. You then realize that you don't live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer and you are the dance."
"Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment"
"Instead of asking 'what do I want from life?,' a more powerful question is, "what does life want from me?"