[This is an excerpt from my book Beyond the Power of Now: A Guide to, and Beyond, Eckhart Tolle's Teachings.]
Eckhart Tolle is hardly an original thinker, and much of his spiritual teaching is derived from the late J. Krishnamurti. Like many of the simplistic New Age and Advaita Vedanta gurus on the scene nowadays, Tolle loves to emphasize the Krishnamurti maxim that “all effort [or resistance] is the avoidance of what is.” Thus, Tolle’s Dharma “mantra,” in effect, is: “surrender to (or accept) what is.” But this mantra has multiple problems, which I will touch upon.
First, the hypocrisy of those, including Krishnamurti himself, who push it. If you listen to gurus like Tolle and Krishnamurti—and I used to regularly participate in Krishnamurti groups—you soon realize that they are filled with the same kinds of resistance, or judgments, as the rest of us. Whether it’s the insane political system, the conventional religious establishment, or whatnot, they constantly rail at the all-pervading madness in the world. There is nothing wrong with this—I do the same thing myself—but please don’t push complete acceptance of what is if you’ve got a closet full of axes to grind.
Second, the foundational spiritual practice—that of conscious presence—involves resistance (to unconsciousness). In other words, being present to what arises is a discipline that demands an integral counter-unconsciousness effort. Exclusive of this context of integral presence, effortlessness, or non-resistance, does not translate into the Benediction, the descent of divine Blessing Power. Put another way, wholistic (or holy) spiritual practice is a dialectic, involving effort (the practice of presence) and effortlessness (the practice of absence). And integrating these two poles results in the flow of Grace from above. True surrender to what is is not the mental acceptance of life conditions; it is utterly letting go and accepting, or receiving, the Flow from above. “Going with the flow” does not mean that you no longer resist or criticize aspects of conditional existence; it simply means that you rest in the Current from above and confront life from a Spirit-empowered position.
In Krishnamurti’s Notebook, a revealing journal of Krishnamurti’s spiritual experiences, there is a single recurring theme: the Benediction. Krishnamurti repeatedly uses the term “Benediction” to describe his mystical experiences of the sacred “Other.” But Tolle never mentions the Benediction, the spiritual Grace that blesses disciples of the Divine. For Tolle, spiritual life is essentially about silence and stillness, not the power emanating from (what Krishnamurti calls) the “Highest.” Non-resistance is the means to create an inner vacuum that allows the “Plenum,” the Spirit-full power of Now, to penetrate a devotee. But for Tolle, discussion of this Plenum, this Benediction, is seemingly verboten.
Eckhart Tolle, J. Krishnamurti, and What Is
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Questioner: How can the absolute be the result of a process?
Nisargadatta: You are right, the relative cannot result in the absolute. But the relative can block the absolute, just as the non-churning of the cream may prevent butter from separating.
How is pointing something out e.g. corruption in society to be construed as “all effort (or resistance)”? Your statement and argument doesn’t make any sense. Calling something out (the voice of intelligence) and pushing back against it are two completely different things are they not? No visible axes to grind here. What is seen through your polemic writing is the need to correct what are considered significant minds to somehow elevate your own credibility. Envy? But reading books and accumulating knowledge (like anything else) is like a perverse sort of hoarding but where the hoarder is gratified through gross open display. Who couldn’t read a few books (other peoples ideas) on say, kundalini (whatever that is) and then open up shop? This is exploitation not the love of truth.
Tolle rails against the ‘insanity in modern society,” and, in response, pushes a sort of “evolutionary activism,” because he does not accept the status quo. In contrast, Sri Aurobindo, who was very politically active before he became spiritual, dropped out of political discourse, and recommended other yogis do the same.
http://www.integralworld.net/scofield6.html
“a discipline that demands an integral counter-unconsciousness effort.” This is what “ego” loves to do i.e. point out a problem and solve it. Like a knife trying to pick itself up and stab itself. The creation of, and sustainer of the prison of time and thought (which is knowledge) is best left alone and seen for what it is – an illusion.
Time and thought aren’t an illusion; they are a self-evident phenomenal reality. Seeing something, and mentally telling yourself it is illusion hardly amounts to serious sadhana. Great effort and struggle are involved in becoming Enlightened, and this amount to “counter-egoic effort.” Zen practitioners practice for hours, even days on end. So do Theravada monks. Neo-Advaita Vedantans push a mere shift in consciousness — but some of them, such as Jeff Foster, eventually realize their folly.
“Time and thought aren’t an illusion” I didn’t state that they were. They are the prison and the keeper. Their creation, ego is the illusion. The point again is that any effort of ego, observer, thinker (including of course telling yourself or mantra) based on any knowledge to “counter” is still within the prison and is utterly futile leading to a stupefied brain that manifests illusions of “enlightenment” or visions and sensations. These will be recognisable to the practitioner because they are known (e.g. ancient traditions) . Nothing new in human history has been created this way. Can the mind simply look (the discipline) at its anxiety and demand to become and actively do nothing? It may then begin to tell its own story and be the light to itself.
Effortlessness alone does not work as a sadhana — and no one has become Enlightened by “practicing” just it. It works in conjunction with a consciousness practice (such as Mindfulness, Self-enquiry, or Plugged-in Presence), and conductivity of the Spirit-current. Good luck with your “effortlessness” practice. I’ve been there and “done it,” and my Electrical Spiritual Paradigm (ESP) explains why it alone doesn’t work
Going through the above comments by Anonymous and Yianni can see that they have a deeper understanding than the author Ron Gardner-who thinks that he has understood TRUTH. Anybody who declares ‘I am Englightened’ is deceiving himself/herself. We can’t use the measurements of our ordinary experiential reality to talk about methods and ways to TRUTH. As Krishnamurti said something to the effect ‘TRUTH is a pathless land-one cannot say this path or method or system is the way to TRUTH’ . Just because one has tried out so many systems and come out with a new system that one is a Guru. Be very wary of the delusions and illusions one goes through. Be very, very careful in trying to understand Krishnamurti or Ramana or Nisargadatta. You have to go deeply-don’t take it on the surface or cursorily. ONLY FACTS COUNT-NOT THEORIES OR CONCEPTS. FIND OUT THE FACT(S) FIRST-YOUR PROBLEM!
Krishnamurti himself was not fully Enlightened. He was a profound mystic with profound insights who regularly had profound spiritual experiences–but he never cut the Heart-knot, as did Ramana Maharshi. Likewise, I don’t buy Nisargadatta as being fully Enlightened. I call it as I see it, and readers are free to accept or reject my views.
Hi, really appreciated your take on the madness. Thanks!
You’re welcome.
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Tell us, dear beloved, if silence and stillness are absent, how is one to sense the power emanating from the Highest?
Blessings
Of course, there must be silence, stillness, and self-emptying in order for one to be a fit vehicle for receiving Divine Power.