Book Review: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle

The bestselling book by one of the 21st century’s most innovative and exciting spiritual thinkers
 With his bestselling spiritual guide The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle inspired millions of readers to discover the freedom and joy of a life lived "in the now." In A New Earth, Tolle expands on these powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger, jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence.
A New Earth was an Oprah Book Club pick and reads as a traditional narrative, offering anecdotes and philosophies in a way that is accessible to all. Illuminating, enlightening, and uplifting, A New Earth is a profoundly spiritual manifesto for a better way of life—and for building a better world.

I am a self-development junkie. I also LOVE Danielle Laporte so when she mentioned this book in her book I put it on hold at the library right way.

I like to think that certain books show up when you need them most in life and when you are ready to hear the message. Like there is some Grand Librarian in the sky that plans and doles out just the right book for everyone. This book was an eye opener for me. I have read the reviews on GoodReads making fun of this book but hear me out. I have been trying for a long time to force some changes in my life. Most I did ok but some it seems that I am hell bent on sabotaging myself. In A NEW EARTH, it discusses how our ego gets in the way. We think that the ego is US when it is not really. In order to move forward in life and goals, we need to get beyond the ego. Now there are a million books out there that will tell you the same thing. This book actually shows you how to do it. Like I have heard and read about Zen but I never really understood it. After reading this book, I understand that it is the real true us beyond our egos. I know how woo-woo that sounds, but it is true. I am still working on transcending my ego. It is not as easy as he makes it sound, but it is worth a shot.

The other fascinating thing he talks about in this book is the pain-body. When I first started on that section I was all like OOOKKKKK maybe this is a tad too far but after reading I thought about it, slept on it and decided he has a lot of valid points. I mean we have all seen the angry people band together and to kick each other and all of that so maybe we do attract people with the same pain-body as ourselves. He also mentions that the pain body needs the pain to feed off of so if you starve it then it will…dimmish. At least that is what I think he said. It gets a little woo woo around here so don’t quote me on it.

This is not a book for everyone and even Eckhart Tolle himself says that at the beginning of the book. Tolle says that people who have already “awakened” will get the most out of it. He also says that if you are not yet awakened it will sound like mumbo jumbo. I am not at all sure about that. I like to think other people understand and like this book but if you read the reviews on GoodReads you can see that is not the case.