I purchased recently a copy of the New York Times best seller A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (New York: Penguin Group, 2006) by the self-described “contemporary spiritual teacher” Eckhart Tolle. Tolle was plucked out the realm of relative obscurity by Oprah Winfrey, who after reading his earlier works recognized a kindred spirit and promoted his writing and teaching through the power of her celebrity and vast resources. He now travels extensively sharing his insights with audiences around the world. The current work is a self-defined culmination of his accumulated wisdom on religion, philosophy, and “Truth.” The result however is merely a contextualization in post-modern language of eastern religion and philosophy with a sliver of Christian language and concepts for western palates. One should consider Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth as a commentary, with Campbell leaning more toward a “modernistic” “rationalistic” “intellectual” “elitist” audience wrapped in the philosophical modernism of two decades hence, while Eckhart has more in tune with the desire of reaching the masses within the paradigm of the current post-modern cultural milieu of spirituality without the benefit of “belonging” to any group or tied to any norm. The same audience who liked Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code or even Angels and Demons would be very at home with Tolle’s approach in this work – thus its popularity.

I will be unable to bring in this short essay a complete review of the work. As it is so far, I have filled up three pages of critique on a legal scratch pad and I have only really completely digested ten pages (although I have read the complete text). One of the ways that the Lord is leading me in my ministry is to have informational seminars in which I will critique various works in apology for the Christian faith. Being a philosophy and religion instructor at a local community college, I hope and pray that I will have an audience that is interested in a intellectual exercise in which Jesus will be glorified. I am currently working on researching the various positions and putting together a seminar from the material contained in Lee Strobel’s “The Case for the Real Jesus” to be unveiled this fall. I also understand that I will gain further inroads in the local community in which I serve if simultaneously I interact with the “spirit of the age.” The revival of eastern philosophy and religion can no longer be ignored by the Christian church – and in extension, Southern Baptists. Thus my interest in this latest work that seems to have captivated an audience of a certain large segment in our culture.

Hinduism itself claims that it is not a “static” religion. It is not regulated to norms, boundaries, or any authorities. It says it is ever evolving, like humanity is ever evolving. While many adherents are tied to a more traditional, or even “orthodox” variants of this religion, the simple fact is it has evolved from it’s origins of 3,500 years past. With the motto “there are many paths to God,” the current modern variant (often referred to by various commentators as “New Age”) is attempting with some success to reach audiences in the 21^st century. Unlike many current Christians and Southern Baptists who lack the vocabulary or even the desire to reach the post-modern culture, modern Hinduism has no such problem. As Christians and Baptists there are some of us who often hesitate and sometimes display a willful unwillingness to address the current culture “where they are” because of “tradition,” all the while at the same time trying to keep to the Truth and validity of Scripture. Modern Hinduism knows no such constraints. Taking with it parts of an earlier revival of Hinduism (Buddhism – specifically the transcendental variation known as “Zen”), other popular eastern philosophies such as the Chinese Tao, with the addition of the language of psycho-analytic psychology gaining support from both Freud and Jung, Hinduism has adapted itself to the current cultural paradigm of both pseudo-science within a metaphysical functionalism. It can both speak to the culture (in which it has many shared “truths” such as “tolerance”) while at the same time transform itself away from what some would consider it’s most virulent “orthodox” doctrines such as “caste” (what Tolle would consider one of the many “misinterpretations” that have polluted the “True” faith). Thus we have, in my opinion, the greatest challenge to the Christian faith in a century – a religion which has no constraints in speaking to the current culture in their language, as well as willing to adapt to the zeitgeist of the culture at a whim, all the while keeping to a few articles of faith that have been consistent throughout its existence. This is the religion of the Anti-Christ to come – a conglomeration of all religions into one synthetic synergistic faith with the tenets of Hinduism at its core. This faith, if called upon, can truly be at home in the pew of any church, synagogue, or worship center in the world. In fact, some believers in this synthetic Hinduism could very well be in our pews this coming Sunday. If you do not think this is possible, think again. A big proponent of Joseph Campbell was none other than Bill Moyers, graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.

What I have done is given you a basic overview of the work in the above introductory paragraphs. Where Tolle takes the reader is into a primer of basic Hinduism, using modern feel good language to be appealing to those who are searching for meaning and “enlightenment” without the baggage of both modern life (materialism) and the various misinterpretations of “ancient religions.” Tolle pulls no punches. He shares with his audience this salient morsel: “This book’s main purpose. . . [is] to bring about a shift in consciousness, that is to say awaken…This book is about you. It will change your state of consciousness or it will be meaningless. It can only awaken those who are ready” (6,7). Everybody I know likes a good mystery, and everybody is seeking for a greater “enlightenment.” Tolle wets the appetite of the initiate, using a well honed argument used by every would be salesman on earth: “get on board, or the train is going to leave ya” as well as “only the intelligent and ready will really understand.” Who would want to be left behind except those who are so backward that they “are not ready” yet? …like orthodox, evangelical Christians? And in the coming new world,what exactly happens to those who “are not ready”for the next evolutionary leap in humankind’s development?

The most important of all Hindu doctrines is taught in this primer. It is a concept called Sat-Chit-Ananda or “Being-Awareness-Bliss.” We each have “God” inside (Atman) that is seeking to be known or “awakened.” What is keeping us in discovering our true selves is Maya or “an illusion” or as Tolle re-interprets this as “the delusion.” Most traditional Western philosophies (for that matter Biblical revelation) says that what we see in every day life is “real”; that is, the natural world has materiality and is governed by physical laws of existence. Biblical revelation further defines that humanity, unlike the other creatures of creation are made “in the image of God” – that we are both Body and Soul (Spirit). The world around us exists, even though in a state that has been poisoned by the fall of humanity from a finite past. Humanity has lost the capability to commune with God (God who though being Spirit is not the creation, but above it, both transcendent and immanent) because as the result of the fall that which could communicate with the Creator was destroyed because of sin – the human spirit. Only by the act of an outside force – Jesus Christ the Savior of the World – can the destruction which was caused by the fall be reconciled where we will become a “New Creature” by which the Holy Spirit “recreates” the human spirit within us, by which He will come and live within, “the treasure found in earthen vessels.” The concept of Maya however says that only the reality of what Tolle describes as the “…underlying one Life, one Consciousness” (which to the orthodox Hindu is called “Brahman”) is “real” – the rest is just a delusion. There really is no materiality, for it really does not exist. It is a figment of our imagination, a test for us to know and discover what is “real” – thus the true purpose of our life.  Because the vast intelligence of humanity is moving and working and putting all of our energies and focus (technology and materialism) in the Maya that is not real , greater and greater calamity toward all elements of the Brahman (which includes both the animate plants and animals as well as the inanimate rocks and stones – a concept known as pantheism or “god is in everything”) have perpetuated themselves in ever-increasing intensity in the last few hundred years. Yet the cosmic feeling now that many have (including the humble Tolle) is that a new evolutionary period of “enlightenment” is fast approaching, placing us in the crux of a new earth, a new consciousness. His book is about the initiate discovering that they are (he uses quite a few references as himself as I AM or “Being” and encourages the reader to do the same), who they are (“Atman is Brahman” or “self is God” said so in not so many words, but meaning the same thing), so that humanity can discover its true purpose which is “freedom of and from the ego” or “Bliss” so that the new earth and cosmic consciousness can come in its fullness.

Many contemporary words are used in this work to describe the ancient Hindu beliefs in the current vernacular. But do not be mistaken; this is Hinduism “dressed up” and contextualized for palatability. Because Tolle is addressing a predominantly Judeo-Christian culture, he uses words and systems of thought that most people within this culture who have had any smattering of biblical truth would understand and relate to. Most of the quotations Tolle utilizes in his work is the Biblical text- probably what he grew up with – re-defined with proofed texts to settle his point of view. In example, “original sin” has been redefined into meaning the “dysfunction” of the Maya. “Heaven” is a “state of being” (Nirvana or transcendence) rather than a real place with real people and a distinct God in a state of both individuality and community. Jesus was just one of “many flowers” in the antiquity of human history who had a smattering of the “truth”– only now is “Truth” being understood by people like Tolle. Of course Jesus finds Himself third among the greats of truth seekers and their impact on the world of “Truth” – behind Gautama Siddhartha (the Buddha) and Lao Tzu (Taoism).

I really could go on and on for there really is no end to the disseminating of this text. In summary, what Tolle describes as “dysfunctions” are what the Bible describes as “vain imaginations” of which his are a part – a violation of the Second Commandment which states, “Do not have any other gods before Me.” The great lie of Hinduism is that from the Garden of Eden men and women have attempted to be their own god (a story that Tolle conveniently leaves out in his many Biblical quotations) – thus we have on the Indian sub-continent the faith of Hinduism with 350 million gods and goddesses, with more arriving daily. The gospel of Hinduism emphasized by the ancient story of Krishna is this: “all are the incarnation of God.” The Biblical revelation, The Gospel, states that there has been only one incarnation of God: the only begotten son, Jesus Christ who is both God and man, The “Christ” and The “Lord.” Many people, like Oprah, cling to Tolle’s philosophy of spirituality and life because they do not desire the inconvenience or “intolerance” of living a “holy” life with constructions like duties and laws and norms that would change their fallen behavior (items like avoiding adultery, abstaining from fornication, “only One God” and other intolerant ideas such as these). Yet Tolle confides that if they would only awaken out of their sleep from the “delusion,” they would behold a world of cosmic consciousness – unity with the One and All of which everything is a part – that they indeed are a god and God, governed by their own independence and conscience until the day they are One with the All. No one really needs to change on the inside according to Tolle’s view – in fact his belief demands that what is inside is what needs to “come out;” a place that the Biblical revelation describes as corrupt and unable to seek God without help. Tolle suggests help will only come through an “ego-less” humanity – the ego-self submitting to the “True” self-within, a concept that eerily sounds like guided imagery and more than likely is. The Bible describes the inner spirit being as being re-created and awakened by Christ alone, and then submits itself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who is “the Way the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” – another quote that Tolle conveniently leaves out. Tolle truly shows us a distinct difference between Biblical reality and his own illusion – we either submit to Christ the true King of the Universe whose “New World” is coming, or to a “doctrine of demons” which describes that everything is “God” by which humanity “serves the creature rather than the creator.”

These are but just a few of the morsels contained in this craze that will stretch us to reach a world that needs the message of true hope, true peace, and true enlightenment. May we be up to the task, and may the Holy Spirit who is both a Person and God give us His direction and go before us with His Truth – for the truth is we cannot do it by ourselves for we are hopelessly inadequate without Him. For we really do need to preach the Good News to people like Tolle.

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