-006_Fear—Insecurity.htm The Egoic Self Fear—Insecurity One of the psychological insights of Eckhart's teachings pertains to the nature of ego, which he describes as identification with the mind. To be identified with the mind, says Eckhart, is to be disconnected with one's deeper self and one's true power. Therefore, the mind-identified ego always feels vulnerable and insecure; it experiences constant threat and lives in perpetual fear. Thus, practically everyone lives in a state of fear that varies in degree from being ill at ease to experiencing acute anxiety. It is after coming across Eckhart's teaching about the ubiquitous nature of fear that I have come to realize more adequate

Self-Seeking Another characteristic of the egoic consciousness, which spiritual aspirants are often unaware of, is a seeking for what is basically personal satisfaction or fulfillment. In ordinary life this takes the form of desire for different things. However, Eckhart points our that seeking is part of the egoic consciousness, and so one must cease to be a seeker if one is to live a truly spiritual life. As the Mother said to an aspirant who asked her about yoga: 15 The Mother. Question; and Answers '57- '58. CWM. Vol.9pp.22.23 What do you want the Yoga for? To get power? To attain to peace and calm? To serve humanity? None of these motives is sufficie

5 The Teachings of Eckhart Tolle and Sri Aurobindo1—Some Comparisons Ego, Self, and Being Eckhart Tolle alludes to a Zen Master who, when asked about Buddhism, summed up its essence in four words: "No self, no problems." The self, Buddhism teaches, is an illusion and the cause of all suffering. Eckhart, too, regards the illusion of self as the "core error" of the ordinary consciousness and begins the majority of his talks with themes dealing with the nature of the ordinary consciousness and the problematic self. The Buddhist view of Reality as Non-Being or Void (Shunya), devoid of self, also is foun

Appendix II The Three Instruments of the Teacher Teaching, example, influence—these are the three instruments of the Guru. But the wise Teacher will not seek to impose himself or his opinions on the passive acceptance of the receptive mind; he will throw in only what is productive and sure as a seed which will grow under the divine fostering within. He will seek to awaken much more than to instruct; he will aim at the growth of the faculties and the experiences by a natural process and free expansion. He will give a method as an aid, as a utilizable device, not as an imperative formula or a fixed routine. And he will be on his guard agains

Preface Originally this book was meant to share the thoughts of a seeker with those who, like him, feel drawn to the teachings of Eckhart Tolle. So, the first draft of the manuscript was written with a view to presenting Eckhart's teaching from the perspective of Sri Aurobindo's yoga, of which the writer has been a practitioner for over five decades. Eckhart, who graciously read the manuscript and expressed his appreciation for it, suggested that I make a comparison between his teaching and that of Sri Aurobindo. I had generally desisted from making such a comparison—even though pair of me was inclined to do so—in view of what Eckhart has said in the Introduction to his book The Powe

The Paradox of Enlightenment and Time All spiritual teachings contain paradoxes because any mental formulation of a truth can convey only one perspective of the truth, the opposite perspective being also valid, thus leading to an apparent contradiction. As the Mother says: There are innumerable facets. There are innumerable points of view. One can say the most contradictory things without being inconsistent or contradicting oneself. Everything depends on the way you look at it. And even once we have seen everything, from all the points of view accessible to us, around the central Truth, we will still have had only a very small glimpse—the Truth

-004_Publisher^s Note.htm Publisher's Note We are greatly privileged to publish this book, which blends scholarship with true humility that is characteristic of a genuinely spiritual person, under the Editions India imprint of Stone Hill Foundation Publishing. Since we started working with the author, Dr. A. S. Dalal, on the manuscript of this book five years ago (then in a different form and with a different focus), we have been very impressed by his sincerity, scholarship, and equanimity. The first draft of this book had to be reframed after nearly three years of work partly as the author sought input on it from Eckhart, and mainly becau

No Problems in the Now A revelatory teaching Eckhart often reiterates is that there are never any problems in the Now. This teaching, which is apt to be puzzling to many people, may be understood in the light of two different meanings of the Now. The one obvious meaning of the Now is the present moment. The egoic consciousness, which finds it extremely difficult to live in the present moment and anticipates, most of the time, the next moment or the future, rends to flee from the present moment all the more when something "goes wrong" and life presents a "problem." The mind instinctively projects what is perceived as a problem into the future and imagines

Mind and the Spiritual Life There are similarities as well as differences in the perspectives of Eckhart and Sri Aurobindo regarding the role of mind in the spiritual life. To Eckhart, mind, from the spiritual viewpoint, is the absence of consciousness. To be identified with mind is to be unconscious; it is to be not present. The one aim of the spiritual life is to liberate oneself from the unconscious state of identification with mind. Eckhart does concede that mind is a form of intelligence or consciousness; it is only a tiny aspect of the vast Intelligence that operates in the universe. Mind, Eckhart says, is a wonderful tool for practical purposes, but in sp

Note on Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo was born in Calcutta on August 15, 1872. At the age of seven he was taken to England for his education. There, he studied at St. Paul's School, London, and at King's College, Cambridge. Returning to India in 1893, he worked for the next thirteen years in the Princely State of Baroda in the service of the Maharaja and as a professor in the state's college. In 1906, Sri Aurobindo quit his post in Baroda and went to Calcutta where he became one of the leaders of the Indian nationalist movement. As editor of the newspaper Bande Mataram, he boldly put forward the idea of complete independence from Britain. Arrested three times fo