With apologies to those who already know who Eckhart Tolle is, and for the benefit of those who have not heard of Eckhart Tolle yet, here’s a quick summary: Eckhart Tolle is a motivational teacher of German origin and lives in Canada. Today, at the age of 61, Tolle is one of the Western world’s most respected spiritual luminaries, and through working with Oprah Winfrey – thanks to the 10-week live ‘webinar’ that Oprah conducted with him – has propelled his notoriety with the masses immensely. 

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Eckhart Tolle has had 4 books published so far, of which The Power of Now became a New York Times bestseller and was translated into 33 languages. And his most recent book, A New Earth: Awakening to Life’s Purpose, has also topped the NYT bestsellers list. What’s more, Oprah has selected A New Earth to be part of Oprah’s Book Club, calling it one of her best books.

The two most popular books have a basic theme. The Power of Now points to focus on the present moment. In A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle delves deeper into the structure of the human ego and how it distracts us from the present experience around us. According to Eckhart Tolle, the increasing influence of the human ego is the cause of all our inner and outer conflicts. And so, it is only by examining and restraining the ego that men and women will begin to go beyond it and gain spiritual enlightening.

Changing life

One reason for the enormous popularity for The Power of Now could be that it offers, not only advice but solutions. One tremendously accessible basis in the book was that of ‘being the watcher of your mind’. By doing this Eckhart Tolle leads the reader to be aware of his or her mind in order to analyze how negative thoughts from the past and fear of the future often take over the present. But, according to Eckhart Tolle, judging yourself is all part of ego identity and the only escape from that is to identify with the present moment. This also encompasses getting rid of emotional baggage that you may have been carrying around since childhood. 

Books and beyond

It seems appropriate that Tolle has put so much down in his books, because books have always influenced him, In an interview available online, he says, “First I picked up a copy of the New Testament almost by accident… and reading the words of Jesus and feeling the essence and power behind those words… So that was an incredible realization, just reading and understanding ‘beyond mind’ the deeper meaning of those words… Then came the Bhagavad Gita, I also had an immediate, deep understanding of and an incredible love for such a divine work. The Tao Te Ching: also an immediate understanding… I knew the translator had misunderstood, and knew what the real meaning was although I do not know any Chinese… Then I also started reading on Buddhism and immediately understood the essence of Buddhism… I have a great love for the teaching of the Buddha, a teaching of such power and sublime simplicity.” Given such influences, is it any wonder that Tolle can influence your life with his books?