Oprah, Eckhart Tolle and Religion

I was delightfully surprised by both Eckhart Tolle and Oprah! . . . If you haven't heard yet, Oprah is conducting a 10 week webinar with the now famous spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle. I decided to check it out because I've followed Eckhart's teaching from early on when he published his first book. My delight was kindled by the feeling that both Eckhart and Oprah seemed to make a shift and meet somewhere in the "middle". When I had seen Eckhart before, he seemed to lean toward the ethereal side and Oprah has always seemed a bit on the material side. The scenario where Oprah and people asked him questions seemed to bring him down to earth and it was nice to see that more personal part of Eckhart . On the other hand I have never seen Oprah expressing her deeper, more "spiritual" experiences like this. I highly recommend that you go to http://Oprah.com and watch the 90 minute in depth video. Let me know what you think!

Because of the vast number of people Oprah can reach, (over half a million watched the live event) there were all kinds of people drawn into an experience they may never have opened to. This is cool . . . but it was bound to ruffle some feathers. The first thing I noticed was a lot of fundamental leaning Christians having problems with Eckhart's teaching, or perhaps it was with coming to grips with their own shallow grasp of what Yeshua (Jesus) really taught. Many people in the forum are expressing problems with guilt or with their fellow Christians chastising them or saying Eckhart is "satanic". WOW, but it does not surprise me.

I went through the same type of reaction in my life when I started pursuing meditation and reading the Course In Miracles about 12 years ago. People from the church I attended resisted and reacted in a strong way. I also had to deal with guilt and my entire belief system just decended into chaos for a while. This is the same phenomena that happened to Eckhart Tolle only his ego and belief system completely dissolved in a very rapid flash. Consequently he stumbled around in a daze for 7 years. My beliefs were let go more slowly.

Religious belief systems exist because ego's need something to "wrap" around in order to create an identity. When we have created a strong identity, and we feel our belief system is going to save us or keep us safe, we have a great recipe for defensiveness and reaction. Fundamentalism around the earth in whatever form demonstrates this reality. See it for what it is. There is great truth in all religion and the teachings of Yeshua which Eckhart Tolle often uses as an example. Learn to let go of your beliefs and open up to allowing Life, God, Reality or the Oneness to speak to you directly. Circumvent your mind and it's thought systems by focusing your attention and resonating with the feeling realm. . . and take it one precious moment at a time. You may find that you don't really need a thought system to be happy and Whole.

For people who are struggling with their religion, stay tuned to this blog and look for posts in the "Religion & Spirituality" category. I will be sharing in greater detail about the transition from belief to Knowing and how to transcend religious belief systems. (like Yeshua did