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Eckhart Tolle:  A New Earth

This is one of my favorite books.  Eckhart does a wonderful job explaining what is happening inside me that I just had to share my thoughts and insights.


Tolle defines the ego as "identification with form".  Form in this case, means any kind of form, such as, a thought form, your physical body, or even physical objects that you consider "yours" or "mine" and therefore part of your identity.

When you are completely identified with form, you take everything personally...

...I saw an excellent example of a person that was completely identified with form the other day while driving home from work.

...First a driver in the left lane slowly attempted to change lanes without looking to see if there was another car there already...turns out there was...

...The man that was there had to avoid him and in doing so almost hit another car in the right lane...no one hit anyone...

...but the driver in the middle lane took great offense in this...and went into a rage.  He drove through the signal, and blocked the way of the offensive driver...who was able to get by the raging man on the right side...(I was watching with curious interest hoping I didn't catch any rage!)

...The raging man threw a bottle of Armour All at the offensive driver as he drove by...but the bottle didn't hit it's target...then the raging man got out of this car to pick up his Armour All and then drove away.

Ok, so the offensive driver is guilty of inattentive driving...but it was not a personal attack on the raging man...he was merely inattentive...which is something most people are guilty of quite often while driving.

The man that raged was totally identified with form...he KNOWs he IS his body, driving in HIS CAR...his car is extension of HIM or part of who is is...it's reality in his mind has identified a possession as part of his being...so naturally an attack on his car, is like attacking his body, which is attacking him personally.

Tolle says that when he identify with form of any kind we are unconscious.

Well, you are probably saying...ok...so if I am not my body and my things, and my thoughts and my past...that the heck am I Mr. Smarty Conscious guy??!?

Well, I think you (and me and everyone else) are the awareness, or presence, or stillness that allows you to think, and have sense perceptions...that is who you are...you have thoughts, emotions, stuff, and a body...but those things ARE NOT you.


The pain body is a made up idea by Eckhart...I really like it.  Sure it's a made up idea of entity that doesn't actually exist...but it is a clever way to think about how people act unconsciously.

If you have a moment check out this video that talks about the pain body a little bit:




“Any negative emotion that is not fully faced and seen for what it is in
the moment it arises does not completely dissolve. … The energy field of old but still very-much alive emotion that lives in almost every human being is the pain-body” (p. 141–142)

Think of the pain body as an entity that lives in your body...It is not always active for most people, but when it activates it completely takes over your reactions to events in your external experience.

The pain body is partly made up of your own personal old pain energy trapped in your body.  Is is also partly made of of shared pain energy that is shared by all humans.

When a the pain body sees an opportunity to feed itself on pain being caused or endured...it will activate.  It doesn't just love pain (to give and get pain) is also can feed on any negative low-frequency emotional vibration...fear, anger, worry, doubt, guilt, and kind of negative energy.

Take a moment today, and see if you see an example of pain bodies in "active mode" like my raging driver...it is easier to see a pain body in another person than it is in yourself...

When your own pain body activates, you are going to have to learn to catch it before it can take over.  Feel the emotion and learn to bring awareness and just become still and stop doing or talking or thinking and just watch the emotion...don't listen to story or the other person or the memory

...just get in touch with your inner body and try to feel the pain body trying to wake up...

...with practice you can learn to catch it before it does damage...another good idea is to take a walk or go somewhere and do 5 minutes of stretching or yoga or something to release the built up emotional energy...let it out or you will just be dealing with it again.

"What really matters is not what function you fulfill in this world, but whether you identify with your function to such an extent that it takes you over and becomes a role that you play. When you play roles you are unconscious. When you catch yourself playing a role, that recognition creates a space between you and the role" (p. 90)

We all play many many roles...the roles are NOT us...but we tend to identify with the role that we play...

...I am a Retired USAF Master Sergeant

...I am a doctor

...I am a loser

...etc

When in truth you those are functions that you perform mostly in an unconsciouss way.

I have gotten better at just being me and not identifying with my functions...in my past I remember being a completely different person depending on the function that I was performer and the situation that I was in...

...sort of like a mild version of sciztophrenia...and much more common and acceptable...

When we think we ARE are roles and functions, then we think that a person with a more elevated role...boss, manager, big shot...is better than a janitor, bus boy, taxi driver etc...

...we are all human being (or I like being human)...regardless of what roles we play.

This video is about relationships...but he does talk about roles





There are three modes of awakened doing: acceptance,
enjoyment and enthusiasm.  

“Each one represents a certain vibrational frequency of consciousness.
You need to be vigilant to make sure that one of them operates whenever you are engaged in doing anything at all—from the most simple task to the most complex. If you are not in the state of either acceptance, enjoyment, or enthusiasm, look closely and you will find that you are creating suffering for yourself and others” (p. 295).

Let's look at each mode...


  “Whatever you cannot enjoy doing, you can at least accept that this is what you have to do.  Acceptance means: For now, this is what this situation, this moment, requires me to do, and so I do it willingly. ... Performing an action in the state of acceptance means you are at peace while you do it. ... If you can neither enjoy nor bring acceptance to what you do—stop. Otherwise, you are not taking responsibility for the only thing you can really take responsibility for, which also happens to be one thing that really matters: your state of consciousness” (p. 296).

Acceptance for me, is sometimes the best I can hope to do when I am doing something that I don't enjoy, but still must do...

...traffic in L.A. is an wonderful example...I work everyday with folks that complain about the traffic...

...they think I am crazy when I tell them I enjoy the quiet time alone...on the freeway trying to get home in bumper bumper slow moving traffic...

...why not accept it or even enjoy it?  One can sit and look around...pay attention to driving and still enjoy the quiet tranquility...it quiet nice...

...I should move traffic down to the next mode!

The first level of awakened doing is acceptance, so if you can't enjoy driving in traffic you can learn to accept it.

Right now, my work is rather slow, so there is quiet a bit of down time.  I need to find things to do, this sometimes makes for a long day...

...Aha!  I have found something that I don't like to accept...boredom.

To curb this, I get up and walk around and look for someone to help, or at least take a break and maybe just move my body, go outside, have a water cooler chat, doesn't really matter...just need to change whatever it is I am doing...or better yet...

...take a minute or two to shift my awareness to my breath and reconnect to stillness...and accept now "AS IS".

In A New Earth, Tolle suggest you make a list and:

“Include activities that you may consider uninteresting, boring, tedious,  irritating, or stressful.  But don’t include anything that you hate or detest doing. That’s a case either for acceptance or for stopping what you do. The list may include traveling to and from work, buying groceries, doing your laundry, or anything that you find tedious or stressful in your daily work. Then, when-
ever you are engaged in those activities, let them be a vehicle for alertness. Be absolutely present in what you do and sense the alert, alive stillness within you in the background of the activity” (p. 299).


Once you have learned to accept doing things on such as list, if you can learn to bring awareness to them...you may find enjoyment in those activities...like me enjoying freeway traffic!

The second level of Awakened Doing is Enjoyment...

...granted you still have choices...there will be things that you don't completely enjoy doing...

...the first question to ask yourself is "Must I do this?" and if you must then you will need to bring awareness and stillness into the activity and learn to accept it...

...you might answer "no, I don't really need to do this" and so you can stop doing it and do something else...

...there is nothing wrong with consciously saying no to an activity...

A great example from my life was at a Christmas party this year...I wanted to be at the party, but the house was very noisy with children and people chatting...

I left the house because it was quiet outside.

At this party, I didn't drive and my wife and her girlfriends were having a really great time, so I had to stay...it took me a little while to accept this, because I was also tired...eventually I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie.

In this situation, if I would have had the option of leaving I would have left...but since I didn't, I took steps to accept the situation...by getting away from the noise and eventually taking a little snooze, I was able to accept the situation.

I did enjoy some of this party, it was just a little too loud for my taste and I would have preferred to have left a little bit earlier...

...I had a wonderful time talking to some new people and playing with the children.