How could I not write about Oprah and Eckhart Tolle's book club discussion of A New Earth? It is all about why and how to "be the change" - my favorite topic of conversation. Call me a geek, this must be what football fans feel like when their favorite team is in the super bowl, but my excitement lasts for 10 weeks.
I first read A New Earth three years ago and I am reading it again now. If you are not one of the millions of people participating, let me fill you in: you can sign up on Oprah.com to join the worlds largest on-line book club. For 10 weeks, Mondays at 9pm EST, Oprah and Eckhart Tolle are discussing A New Earth one chapter per week. Supplemental exercises and worksheets are provided for each chapter and if you cannot watch live, you can watch on demand starting the next day. I subscribed as a podcast through iTunes, so it automatically shows up in my library each week, a choice of audio only or video. The whole experience is an impressive use of technology and is very thoughtfully and thoroughly executed.
I'm already a little behind, but my plan is to summarize each week as it relates to the subject of being. So here is week one:
A New Earth's main purpose is to "bring about a shift in consciousness." Overall, the book asserts that as a species humans have been creating primarily from the level of our egos, a dysfunctional behavior that "if continued unchecked, can only result in their own destruction." The good news is, the remedy is within each one of us, if we will allow ourselves to be (Hallelujah!) which Tolle describes as "realizing a dimension within yourself that is infinitely more vast than thought."
More good news is that it won't take years to undo years of conditioned behavior. We need to find, in each day, ways to access the power that is only available in the present moment. Tolle offered some concrete suggestions for getting started such as :
1. Ask yourself the question "Am I still breathing?" The moment you become aware of your own breath you enter presence.
2. Perform mundane tasks consciously. For example, when you wash your hands, focus on how it feels and smells. Using sense perceptions in this way brings you into the present moment.
3. As much as possible ask yourself "What is my relationship with the present moment?"
It's been said many times in many different ways - all we ever have is the present moment. Since we spend so much energy focused on the past or the future, it's hard to grasp that statement, but Tolle said it in a way that made sense to me. He said we need to "become friendly" with the present moment because if we're not, then we're not friendly with life. And if we're not friendly with life, life cannot support us.
Perhaps the boldest statement he made during week one was that the Old Testament quote "be still and know that I am God" contained "the entire wisdom of religion in those few words." Wow, I need to think about that for a while. My favorite thing that he said was "you don't need a definition of what sacred is, because sacred is who you are."
The session ended with a "vital question" for all of us: "Am I ready to be still?"
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