A bit more about the misconceptions that Eckhart Tolle spreads:
Tolle used to suffer from severe anxiety and depression. One day he had a moment of especially deep crisis. He was ready to end his life. He kept thinking (I'm paraphrasing): "I can't live with myself anymore." But then, he suddenly wondered: "Who is this self that can't live with myself? Do I have two selves?" For the first time he questioned his identification with the psychological self, and saw that this self is just a story in the mind. That psychological self-story is itself observed by formless awareness which has no story whatsoever. He recognized that the latter is the "real" self.
Somehow this insight was so deep that he managed to let go of most of his identification with the psychological self all at once. The fact that his psychological crisis was so intense may have been what made this possible. In most people on the spiritual path, this process takes a long time (the process of seeing through the relatively illusory nature of the psychological self and recognizing the underlying formless awareness).
When identification with the psychological self has been let go of to a large extent, this results in a significant reduction in thoughts revolving around this psychological self. These thoughts probably comprise around 80% of an ordinary person's thoughts.
So after his shift, Eckhart Tolle noticed that he had much less thoughts than before. His mind had become much more peaceful.
Tolle had no training or education about the process of spiritual awakening. It just happened to him, and it happened so fast that he wasn't able to discern or understand much about what actually happened. He mainly just noticed that he stopped thinking so much and that he felt peaceful.
Tolle was already a language teacher when he was 19 years old. So he had an inclination to teach. Naturally he tried to teach others about his amazing shift from a tormented mind to a peaceful mind. But how could he teach this? All he really knew was that he now had less thoughts and was more peaceful. So he concluded that in order to become peaceful, you have to think less. He concluded that the mind is the source of trouble.
This is a misguided teaching. The reduction in thought was an effect, not the cause of his shift. It's like teaching a starving child that if you want to stop being hungry, you have to poop more :)
So don't put to much value in anything Eckhart Tolle says, especially when you notice that it makes you more confused.
Tolle used to suffer from severe anxiety and depression. One day he had a moment of especially deep crisis. He was ready to end his life. He kept thinking (I'm paraphrasing): "I can't live with myself anymore." But then, he suddenly wondered: "Who is this self that can't live with myself? Do I have two selves?" For the first time he questioned his identification with the psychological self, and saw that this self is just a story in the mind. That psychological self-story is itself observed by formless awareness which has no story whatsoever. He recognized that the latter is the "real" self.
Somehow this insight was so deep that he managed to let go of most of his identification with the psychological self all at once. The fact that his psychological crisis was so intense may have been what made this possible. In most people on the spiritual path, this process takes a long time (the process of seeing through the relatively illusory nature of the psychological self and recognizing the underlying formless awareness).
When identification with the psychological self has been let go of to a large extent, this results in a significant reduction in thoughts revolving around this psychological self. These thoughts probably comprise around 80% of an ordinary person's thoughts.
So after his shift, Eckhart Tolle noticed that he had much less thoughts than before. His mind had become much more peaceful.
Tolle had no training or education about the process of spiritual awakening. It just happened to him, and it happened so fast that he wasn't able to discern or understand much about what actually happened. He mainly just noticed that he stopped thinking so much and that he felt peaceful.
Tolle was already a language teacher when he was 19 years old. So he had an inclination to teach. Naturally he tried to teach others about his amazing shift from a tormented mind to a peaceful mind. But how could he teach this? All he really knew was that he now had less thoughts and was more peaceful. So he concluded that in order to become peaceful, you have to think less. He concluded that the mind is the source of trouble.
This is a misguided teaching. The reduction in thought was an effect, not the cause of his shift. It's like teaching a starving child that if you want to stop being hungry, you have to poop more :)
So don't put to much value in anything Eckhart Tolle says, especially when you notice that it makes you more confused.