[Buddha-l] Eckhart Tolle

[Vaj]

Richard:

Thanks for your response.

On Jan 9, 2006, at 12:48 PM, Richard P. Hayes wrote:

> What, in your opinion, makes Eckhart Tolle's teachings dangerous?

Potentially diverting people from what should be the fastest way to  
realization to something else, some-other potentially false path.

It's one thing to claim to transmit the non-dual state 'satsang- 
style' it's quite another to actually be able to do it and guide  
people to remain in that state. A large part of this is not merely  
transmitting a state, it's getting to the point where you are ready  
and capable of containing that state--then, if you don't "get it"  
right away--and most IME do NOT--provide methods for removing  
obstacles so you can. For those who CAN contain the non-dual state,  
they will need to know experientially how to remain in that state.  
Hopefully the have correct View and not a false View.

  What gets me is his lack of personal "here's the sadhana I used to  
get there". This is often ignored. Many of the prominent realizers in  
Advaita Vedanta got there through a tantric sadhana (e.g. Kali  
sadhana). You'll often see something like this, esp. in the  
Shankaracharya tradition where the tantric Sri Vidya tradition is  
married together with Adavaita Vedanta.

Another issue is simply claiming "I'm enlightened". One thinks of the  
50 Demonic States which often are some state of awareness mistaken  
for stable enlightenment. What does that do to the student when  
someone claims enlightenment? Is it a positive or negative dynamic  
that ensues? Can it cause negative emotions like jealousy in other  
practitioners? Can it cause them to be worshipped?

> He
> does not at all claim to be teaching Advaita Vedanta or rdzogs- 
> chen, so
> he can hardly be said to distorting them. He claims only to have had a
> severe depression from which he recovered instantaneously by asking a
> series of questions that enabled him to see that the self was a
> construct. Plenty of other traditions have taught similar things,  
> but it
> does not follow from that that he is distorting them. He simply  
> offers a
> refreshing and accessible practice that is wonderfully free of  
> dogma and
> institutional trappings. What is dangerous in that?

I'm glad for him. How does he cause suffering to cease in his  
students? What qualifies him to even teach?


> Surely you know better than to judge the quality of a teacher by the
> inadequacies of his or her disciples. That some of Tolle's students
> can't explain non-dualism to your or my satisfaction hardly suggests
> that Tolle's teachings themselves are poorly delivered, let alone that
> they are dangerous.

Time is precious--if that is what someone want to spend their time  
on, that is certainly up to them. I do not see a teaching in Tolle  
(or many of the Neo-advaita crowd) that represent full non-dual  
teachings. For example if the Fruit of Advaita Vedanta is Videha- 
mukti, does Tolle's "path" lead to that? What DOES it lead to?

In many, many ways the path that has the most potential for abuse is  
the non-dual path because a charismatic person, with a sharp, keen  
mind and mouth can talk the talk quite convincingly. But can they  
walk the walk? Or have they?

If we are going to relieve peoples suffering we must possess the  
tools to genuinely do that. I do not see that in this movement.

I do feel this is a topic worthy of close investigation, discussion  
and debate among both practitioners and scholars.

Sincerely,

Steve Feite
Bucksport, Maine

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