If you’re attracted to both these teachings you may be having trouble seeing how they fit together…
On the one hand Eckhart Tolle teaches that the source of all your troubles is your own ego. You’re lost in thought. You lack awareness or consciousness of your true, essential nature.
This is in line with the majority of spiritual teaching…
On the other hand, Abraham-Hicks and The Secret teach “You can have whatever you want.” “The universe is abundant.” “Place your order by putting yourself in the vibration of already having it, and it will be yours.”
At first it seems as though the two teachings are so different that there’s no reconciling them. One seems altruistic and the other, kind of selfish…
But in fact, the two teachings can be reconciled and both Jesus and Buddha taught that both these things are true.
In other words, we are both creative beings, who create primarily with thought and our essential nature is love — or the “one-life” that is the source of everything.
After all, if you think about it, nothing happens in life without it first happening as a thought. Or as Einstein put it “Nothing happens until something moves.” A great line.
So why doesn’t Eckhart Tolle also tell us how to get what we want?
Well, since the main problem really is the ego, and since we’re all creating anyway, the question is “Are you creating from the ego level, or from a higher level of awareness?” “Are you creating consciously, deliberately, or randomly?”
That’s very important as you can imagine. Spiritual teachings don’t deny that we have to create in this life. Nothing happens until something moves. They are just saying that the important thing is your state of consciousness.
The current state of the world is caused by ego consciousness, and the end result isn’t, by and large, very pretty — many, many problems and much suffering.
So, “Seek first the kingdom of God,” — deal with your ego, but also be aware that you create your life by what you think. Both are true.
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Hi Karin,
Maybe the confusion comes from the difficulty of using words to describe what’s going on.
If you read carefully each teaching, each contains the other in a small way. The focus is different in each. E.T. Talks about creating abundance by appreciating the abundance already in your life, noticing the abundance of nature etc. (hence changing your vibration).
Abraham says you don’t need to correct your thinking in any particular area if you are pure “allowing” (allow the highest vibration).
In a higher consciousness the sense of self shifts and yet the words we use remain the same. We might say “I wrote this” although the understanding might be “the writing happened through me.”
That’s why an elightened person does not take personal credit for anything — there is no person to take the credit.
Even though the crux of E.T’s teaching is removal of the ego, he talks about empowered action. Action empowered by life. I guess you could also call that “flow.”
So I think maybe we agree. Perhaps your use of I refers only to the ego sense?
The “true self” is so blissful that sages report difficulty in actually functioning in this world. I think it was Ramakrishna who kept praying that God allow him attention on the mundane things. I think E.T. could relate to that.
Perhaps at that level, there still needs to be a reminant of desire still left (perhaps to help others) to even function in this life.
E.T. reports that the blissful states gradually subsided and then he could function more normally. Or perhaps he gradually learned to keep that “vibration” but still function in life.
Buddhism teaches that once enlightenment is reached, the cycles of birth and death ends which would tie in with the inability of sages to funtion at a mundane level.
Abraham teaches that what manifests is a response to your vibration and E.T. teaches that there is bliss the other side of the ego. The highest vibration is Love and bliss. So surely that would manifest its like?
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I don’t agree with everything you say. I see it differently.
You say:
“Spiritual teachings don’t deny that we have to create in this life. Nothing happens until something moves. They are just saying that the important thing is your state of consciousness.”
For me it is like this:
Spiritual teachings don’t say that you have to create. Life is creating by itself, just stay out of the way (the ego). You don’t have to do anything.
Everything is moving all the time, by itself. You don’t have to make it move.
If you are in a high state of consciousness, good things are creating by itself and you are just observing what is creating.
You just go with the flow.
The question is are you creating consciously (from your higher self) or deliberately (from you ego)?
You can’t create randomly because of the Law of Attraction.
Either you let go of the ego like Eckhart is saying or you use it to get to the now.
I think that if you create in the way Abraham speaks about you are using you ego to get to the now. When you get to the core of what you want and know that you already have it you are in the higher state of consciousness, you are in the now.
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Hi Anthony,
Yes definitely :-) Very simple eh? But not easy. If fact probably the greatest achievement for a human is to “recieve,” to let go of the ego.
Each teaching is contained in the other in a small way. The focus of each teaching is different, that’s all.
Get this quote from Abraham;
“You don’t have to clean up your vibration relative to anything, if you can just not think about it any more. That’s why we teach meditation. It’s easier to teach you to have no thought than to have pure positive thought. When you quiet your mind you stop thought; when you stop thought you stop resistance; when you stop resistance–then you are in a state of allowing.”
This is the essence of spirituality but this Abraham message is contained within what I consider to be distracting elements. I only noticed this and pulled it out because that’s my experience. I see it, I get it.
In my view and experience… meditation is the most powerful process for spiritual change.
Thinking about spirituality and improving your mental concept of what it is does very little.
But I guess “there’s a time to surf and a time to wax your board.” I think do only a little waxing and a lot of surfing :-)
Thanks for your comment!
Mike
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Great great conclusion.
I read The secret and I’m reading New earth.
I also felt they are compatible.
TOLLE mentionned that if we were in a state of inner-resistance ( also called negativity ) the universe will not be on our side and life will not be helpful which is basically the main idea of The secret.
Negativity and all of the related feelings ruins you.. blocks life as Tolle says : If the shutters were closed the sunlight cannot come in. Even he mentionned that it affects the body’s basic function and with stress, it’s the cause of many illnesses.
Both readings give examples about Jesus and Buddha and they never distant us from praying.
Live the present moment, shift youself by thinking positive thoughts because anyway it’s stronger than negative ones, and stop thoughts that come to justify your unhappiness because in fact, they are creating it.
Finally, It has been stated and proven that it takes more muscles to frown than to smile.. go the simple best way.. be happy and smile/feel the peace and receive :)
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Enjoyed reading your post about Tolle vs the secret. Your post shed light on the confusing issue of ego and going after your light path, thanks for sharing :-)
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