I dabbled a bit in the Oprah cultural phenomenon around Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth. I gave up a little too quickly when the technology didn’t quite work during the first installment of the Oprah/Tolle Webcasts. I also didn’t really grok the first chapter of A New Earth. So, the following entry comes from a place of not totally understanding Tolle’s philosophy.
In the May O magazine, Oprah interviews Tolle and asks, in part:
> We live in a world where most people believe they are their story. … If you are not your story, then who are you?
Tolle, who believes humans possess a dimension deeper than the thoughts inside them and that they need to be more aware of the present moment, responds, in part:
> You cannot deny, of course that these events [that make up people’s stories] exist; one’s personal history has its place, and it needs to be honored. It’s not problematic unless you get totally lost in that dimension. … If you’re totally identified with these thoughts in your head, then you’re trapped in your past history. …Are you more than your past history?
I’m quite ambivalent about these concepts. I have come to believe that we are our stories. On the other hand, getting lost in and totally identifying with past stories, I agree, can be quite unhealthy. I have gone through difficult periods in which I have been far too lost in painful stories of the past.
Since I am not yet in a place where I can be fully aware of the present moment, I suppose I prefer the idea of creating new stories to replace unhealthy past ones, and future stories to guide and inspire the time to come. I wonder what a “present moment” story would be like?