Eckhart Tolle (/ˈɛkɑːrt ˈtɒlə/ EK-art TOL-ə; German: [ˈɛkhaʁt ˈtɔlə]; born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, 16 February 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher[1][2] and self-help author.
His teachings draw from traditions such as Zen Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism, and Hinduism, although he remains unaffiliated with any religion.
[1] Ulrich Leonard Tölle was born in Lünen, a small town north of Dortmund in the Ruhr region of Germany in 1948.
[3][4][5] In 1961 he moved to Spain to live with his father, where he "refused all forms of formal education between the ages of 13 and 22, preferring instead to pursue his own creative and philosophical interests".
I didn't know at the time that what really happened was the mind-made self, with its heaviness, its problems, that lives between the unsatisfying past and the fearful future, collapsed.
[2] He stopped studying for his doctorate, and for a period of about two years after this he spent much of his time sitting, "in a state of deep bliss," on park benches in Russell Square, Central London, "watching the world go by."
[18] In 2008, Tolle partnered with Winfrey to produce a series of webinars,[17] each one focusing on a chapter from his books, with discussions, silent meditations, and questions from viewers via Skype.
[23] In 2003, Andrea Sachs characterized The Power of Now as "awash in spiritual mumbo-jumbo",[24] while in 2008, an article in The New York Times stated that Tolle is "not identified with any religion, but uses teachings from Zen Buddhism, Sufism, Hinduism, and the Bible".
New Age writer William Bloom wrote that "Tolle is offering a very contemporary synthesis of Eastern spiritual teaching, which is normally so clothed in arcane language that it is incomprehensible", thereby providing "a valuable perspective on Western culture".
[4] Publisher Judith Kendra says, "The ideas [that Tolle is] talking about have been in existence for thousands of years in both Eastern texts and with the great Western mystics, but he's able to make them understandable".
James Robinson in The Observer in 2008 called his writings "a mix of pseudo-science, New Age philosophy, and teaching borrowed from established religions".
[3] Sara Nelson, the editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly, said Tolle's writings had been successful due to surging public interest in self-help books.
[4] It cited Andrew Ryder, a theologian at All Hallows College in Dublin, who wrote "While he may not use the language of traditional Christian spirituality, Tolle is very much concerned that, as we make our way through the ordinary events of the day, we keep in touch with the deepest source of our being.
"[4] Stafford Betty, scholar of religion at California State University, Bakersfield, finds common ground between Tolle's worldview and that of Christian mystics.
[26] Roman Catholic priest and theologian Richard Rohr credits Tolle for helping to reintroduce ancient Christian mysticism to modern Christians: "Tolle is, in fact, rather brilliantly bringing to our awareness the older tradition...both the ground and the process for breaking through to the theological contemplation of God, and acquired contemplation of Jesus, the Gospels, and all spiritual things.