Remember the lasting symbols of the sixties? Beatle mania? “Free love”? The peace sign? Maharishi Yogi?
The New Age revolution seemed to fade away, didn’t it? But instead it was spreading its hidden roots across America. Now its mysticism and sexual “freedom” are back in full bloom! And countless ex-hippies — who cut their hair and joined mainstream America — are reviving Eastern meditation, yogic “breathing” and other pathways to “collective consciousness.”
This “awakening” is a natural part of the postmodern rejection of truth. Neither facts, logical thinking, nor Biblical faith are relevant to the new spirituality. So it’s not surprising that Eckhart Tolle, celebrated author of A New Earth, dismisses them all as “form” or “ego”: distracting “attachments” that block awareness of human Divinity and oneness with “God.”
Tolle’s teaching is anything but new. One of his sources of inspiration was the 13th century “father of German mysticism,†Meister Eckhart, who wrote, “He who would be serene and pure needs but one thing, detachment.” It’s interesting that Tolle did “let go” of any attachment to his original first name, Ulrich. He changed it to Eckhart.
To validate his message, Eckhart Tolle reinterprets history. Notice how he blends Eastern and Western mysticism — praising Zen as well as the Kabbalah:
“The greatest achievement of humanity is… the recognition of its own dysfunction, its own madness. In the distant past, this recognition already came to a few individuals. A man called Gautama Siddhartha, who lived 2,600 years ago in India, was perhaps the first who saw it with absolute clarity. Later, the title Buddha was conferred upon him. Buddha means ‘the awakened one.'”
“…religions, to a large extent, became divisive rather than unifying forces. … They became ideologies, belief systems people could identify with and so use them to enhance their false sense of self. Through them, they could make themselves ‘right’ and others ‘wrong’…”
“…movements developed within all major religions that represented not only a rediscovery, but in some cases an intensification of the light of the original teaching. This is how Gnosticism and mysticism came into existence in early and medieval Christianity, Sufism in the Islamic religion, Hasidism and Kabbala in Judaism, Advaita Vedanta in Hinduism, Zen… in Buddhism….
“Only a small minority of people had access to them. Their numbers were never large enough to have any significant impact on the deep collective unconsciousness of the majority.”
Since the spiritual climate has changed, “enlightened” prophets expect the current awakening to reach a critical mass that will usher all of humanity (except uncompromising resisters) into the New Earth — a physical manifestation of the New Heaven (which has nothing in common with the Biblical heaven). Detached from “form,” all will know their identity as “I AM,” or universal “Consciousness.”
Of course, if you’re more comfortable with God’s Word than with occult experiences, you won’t share in this awakening. You can’t stand with one foot in each camp.To read this entire article and for endnote material, click here.
