eckhart tolle

i've been scanning the internet for an article that could articulate what i am feeling. i read an article bashing A New Earth pretty good. people seem to think that because oprah is rich, she must not mean well? i've never understood that. this article insinuates that tolle has no real education and is a quack. i started to feel anger because people tend to believe insinuations. but then, i became present, as tolle teaches. i'm not really mad. it's just unfortunate that so many judge without knowing...i began to think, who really cares where tolle comes from, or how much money he and oprah make, right? who cares if he is insane. if you get something out of his writings, let that be enough.

i was reminded of a story my mom told me about a friend. her friend donated a large amount of money to a church over a period of time. it turned out that the preacher was a crook and all that money was stolen by him...my mom was horrified for her friend. but her friend said her part was done. she did what she thought was right. that's all that she could do and being angry wouldn't change a damn thing...i heard that story about 15 years ago and it still sticks with me.

i don't know anything about scientology other than there's a large population where my father used to live in clearwater, fl. i didn't care much for tom cruise's comments about depression, etc. but i'm not fooled into believing that's all there is to his faith. and, why does oprah's connection to mr. cruise and others give any indication of the validity of A New Earth, anyway? it simply does not.

i was in a book club which read the davinci code. one of the members refused to read it because of her religious beliefs. i understood that it might offend her (if she forgot that it was meant as fiction), but how would she know for sure if she didn't read it? and wouldn't she make the most educated debate with knowledge of the book? i don't know. maybe that's apples and oranges.

in any case, i hope people read A New Earth and take from it what helps them. i simply don't believe that a person could read it with an open mind and not benefit. but maybe that's my judgment talking :)

peace and love,
courtney