Joe Whitten Blog : Theology, Rants, Photography, Politics, Denver, Colorado

Recently I came across an article about this guy somewhere and decided to do some research on what he is about. I’m going to tell you upfront I don’t like the guy. I think he is an endless bag of hot air. His thoughts are like molecules in a bag of hot gas, bouncing around, colliding, and never really solidifying. I read the first chapter of “The Power of Now”. I really feel that is enough to critique his writings. If I bite into a burrito and taste spoiled meat, I don’t keep chewing hoping I will eventually get to something that is edible and nourishing; I throw the burrito in the trash. If the first chapter of a book makes no sense, the remaining chapters are not likely to either.

In the second paragraph of the book, Tolle demonstrates what happens when you turn your mind off by referring to the story in the first paragraph as a parable. A parable is a story with a moral or religious lesson. There is no moral or religious lesson in that story. It’s quite certainly not true and it’s not really meaningful. But since thinking is too much of a bother for people like Tolle, perhaps the meaning of words is not relevant to his nonsense teachings. I’m guessing that he used the word parable to draw an inference to biblical teachings giving his book a deeper spiritual meaning in the mind of the reader.

Being is the eternal, ever-present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.

Eternal means always existing, no beginning or ending. None of us are eternal. Again, Tolle demonstrates his lack of language skill and, in this case, his lack of a grasp on reality. Maybe this statement makes sense to some, but I’m convinced it is just nonsense. Anyone willing to accept that Tolle possesses some higher form of intellect may read this and feel intimidated by not being able to grasp its meaning. If you fall in that category, I’m here to tell you, that statement is nonsense so stop pondering it and read something with real meaning – like the Bible. If you think you are one of the few who is able to grasp it, then I would say you are likely just a psuedo-intellectual, numb-minded fool; the same type that thinks a 20X10 foot empty canvas is a valid minimalist expression of meaningful art.

But don’t seek to grasp it with your mind. Don’t try to understand it. You can know it only when the mind is still. When you are present, when your attention is fully and intensely in the Now, Being can be felt, but it can never be understood mentally.

Perhaps Tolle is incapable of understanding things mentally. I am not. I hope anyone reading this is also able to understand mentally. Tolle is trying to tell us that we are incapable of thinking and that our thoughts are meaningless and worthless. I’m saying that Tolle is incapable of any type of higher thinking and no one should take his “teachings” seriously.

Do you believe that the cause of your unhappiness is thinking too much? Do you think that turning your thoughts off and shutting down your mind will make you happier? Well, it has long been said that ignorance is bliss. Maybe if you are unaware that you are starving to death, you will die happy. Perhaps forgetting your bills and just ignoring the lack of light in your home when the electricity is turned off will not bother you; after all, you have shut your mind down so you don’t need to read. If you are an average U.S. citizen though, you will not be able to tolerate the lack of television for long. Of course viewing hours and hours of tv is about as mindless as life gets, but you have to think somewhere along the way so you can make enough money to buy the tv – unless you feel better stealing one.

People across the planet have already begun shutting down their minds and allowing themselves to be led. Maybe Tolle is just confirming what it is that many want to hear.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

Some of you who still read may recognize that phrase. For the remainder, look to 2 Timothy 4:3 in the Bible or email Tolle and ask him; he quotes (or misquotes) the book it came from quite often. What Tolle is teaching you is not sound or inspired. It’s just stupid. Thinking is possibly the greatest ability we humans have. Tolle wouldn’t be able to distribute his nonsense all over the world if some thinking man had not invented the printing press and others had not expanded that invention to create the incredible ability we all have today to communicate on a global scale almost instantly.

If you turn your mind off every time you face a stressful challenge then you will never develop the ability to deal with life. I enjoy facing the challenges of life even though I do get frustrated sometimes. Your mind is like a muscle. Use it and it grows stronger. Ignore it and take the easy way out and it grows weak.

Emptying your mind of thought invites elements you may not want to enter your psyche and influence you in ways that you will not be aware of. I’m sure there are many extremists in the world who would be very happy to know that people across the U.S. were turning their minds off for several hours each day.

I might post more about this man’s nonsense later. Right now, several thoughts are racing around in my head so I think I will be a slave to the thinking that helps keep my mind alive and not asleep as the minds of any followers of Tolle are sure to eventually become.

jw

When questioned about abortion, Obama recently replied that the decision was above his pay grade. What? What kind of answer is that? It’s the type of uncommitted answer that people give when they don’t want their true beliefs to be known. I think that If Obama knew without doubt that the majority of the voting public were apposed to abortion his answer would have been different. Obama claims to be a Christian, a man who believes the word of God. If we cannot be sure when life begins then shouldn’t we make the choice that assures we are not murdering babies? Anyone who thinks that partial birth abortion is not murder is totally detached from any sense of morality and reality. I don’t want a president who claims to be a man of faith but refuses to take a stand. I don’t want a man who claims to be a Christian, but puts man’s law above God’s law. Forget the religious aspect; Obama is a hypocrite. He will say anything to further his own cause. God does not make allowances for people to go against His will because they are running for or hold public office.

While the U.S. is facing a financial meltdown of historic proportions, Obama has decided to focus on his own cause and continue campaigning instead of doing the job he was elected to do in the senate. Is shirking commitments in favor of furthering one’s own personal interests a quality that makes a person a good leader. If foreign warships are heading toward the coasts of this country in 2012 will Obama be too preoccupied with his re-election campaign to remain in Washington and command our military?

Obama’s campaign recently seems intensely focused on criticizing others and offering little of his own plans. During the debate it looked as if he won the argument about corporations paying very little in taxes by using loopholes. But geeeee, did i just not hear his solution to the problem or did he in fact not offer one. Although McCain was partially wrong, he was more correct than Obama. It is important to keep corporations and factories in the mainland to prevent the loss of jobs. Obama just used the moment to make himself appear more savvy than McCain. As usual though, he offered no real solution.

Some quick research into Obama’s lineage reveals that he is more white than black and that is he more Arabic than African. All of that is fine and has no weight in his qualifications. What’s wrong is that he has created the illusion that he is this country’s first black (inference being African-American) presidential candidate. Again, he is using deception to increase his appeal.

I believe also that Obama has voted “present” a few too many times in the senate. He seems to have issues taking a stand.

Obama is very good at telling us what is wrong and stating that when he is president all will be different. But tell me, what exactly does he intend to do about anything? Being fast on the draw and hitting your opponent with a sharp criticism may seem really cool to some but it’s not a skill that will help him run this country. And personally, I think that Putin could kick Obama’s butt in 30 seconds or less and given that Putin probably does not take kindly to Obama’s type of liberal “I’m smarter than you” responses I don’t want Obama leading this country.

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