artspolitics

I’m reading this book because Oprah told me to, but I don’t get it. I love self-help books, don’t get me wrong. From laid-back PBS mainstay Wayne Dyer to the grandiose promises of Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, I love books that help me get centered and become a better version of myself. However, with this book, I can’t get past the fancy language to understand what Tolle’s talking about.

I’m reading a lot about ego-based fear, the fear that comes from being self-centered, thinking about ”me, myself, and I”. Tolle suggests becoming unattached to things, which I understand, but the part about words not being important is what I don’t get. ” Words reduce reality to something the human mind can grasp,which isn’t very much”. I don’t get how a writer like him can say words aren’t important. 

As another self-help writer, Iyanla Vanzant wrote, ” The written and spoken word determines what we do in life and how we do it.” Words obviously  are very important. Maybe I need to watch Tolle’s classes with Oprah online, because I kind of get what he’s saying, but he needs a simpler way to say it.  I guess he’s saying to stop being so focused on material things and the ego. Back to my favorite self-help writer Iyanla Vanzant, ”We are all connected to the One Life through the Divine Spirit of the One Mind. There is no separation among human beings.”

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