Eckhart, Oprah.... And A Giraffe

There's been a lot of publicity, but just in case you hadn't heard, Oprah Winfrey is talking to Eckhart Tolle about his book A New Earth in a series of ten live interactive webcasts on Monday evenings. Each of the webcasts will focus on a different chapter of the book. You can sign up to participate here.

The first of these webcasts took place last week and is now available to download here. The project seems to have been very well planned. There's even a handy reckoner here to work out when the webcast will take place in your particular time zone. It works out at 6pm US Pacific time, 9pm US Eastern time, and 2am here in the UK (where the downloading option is proving rather popular).

Apparently half a million people watched the first webcast live, so it looks like the project will bring this kind of teaching to unprecedented numbers. I know it's shamefully frivolous of me, but I can't help wondering if Eckhart's trademark beige sweaters will become the must-have fashion accessory of 2008.

I have to say that I found the first webcast compulsive listening. Oprah Winfrey's contributions brought an interesting new perspective to Eckhart's teaching and the webcast may be of particular interest to those who are unsure about how to integrate spiritual teachings with existing Christian beliefs. Do let me know what you think...

And finally... What was that about a giraffe, you may be asking? Well, we've recently touched on IQ tests here on the blog and some of you expressed a bit of skepticism, so I though you might appreciate an antidote to such tests. Here's a link to a test of... well, something or other. I think you'll enjoy it. Take the giraffe test here! And if you'd like to let me know how you get on, I'll be happy to hear from you...

Comments

[Sue Ann Edwards]

Geehaa, I'm with the 90% that got them all wrong! I do so love company!

As I was unpacking books recently, I ran across a book I had ordered from a clearing house and really had never sat down to read. I had skimmed it, realizing it affirmed everything I was then currently experiencing or had experienced. What tickled me was that it was an Eckhart Tolle book.

Maybe if I read it I might understand more about 'where' you're coming from?

rofl

I see my pump being primed...

[Simon]

Which book was it, I wonder?

[Simon]

(I got them all wrong too. Apparently our friend Peter, who just turned thirteen, got them all right.)

[Sally]

Failed the giraffe test completely Simon (bit late in the day for joined up thinking I feel!)
But I've got my Eckhart sweater already!
So great to see the message getting out there in such a big way. 3.5 million copies of A New Earth have been shipped it says on the website.
I will be restarting the Leeds Stillness Group on 31st March and have already had enquiries from new people interested in joining us to share Eckhart's teachings. Been so involved in the e mail contacts I haven't actually listened to the whole webcast!!
Maybe tomorrow?
Sally

[AngelBaby]

Yes, I am right there with everyone else, I failed the test. I need to go back to preschool!

I watched the all of the first class, I thought it was really good. I am so glad that this is getting out to so many people.

I have something for you on my site.

Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby

[mergingpoint]

What better way could be to test if we can see things as it is.
50% right..looks like still retaining the ability
"The Power of Now" was a very useful and insightful book that i have read.

[Mr Zip]

OK, I got two right. I'd have got three, but I can't swim, so would never have tried to swim across, crocodiles or no.

[Sue Ann Edwards]

...'the power of now'...I bought it for a nickel.

I certainly DO understand the Principals of it...rofl.

[Sue Ann Edwards]

"Each moment is a Present"

[Mark]

Thanks for the heads up on this. I look forward to listening to the re-broadcast.
I love the test, had done it a few years ago. Great ice breaker or to simply show people how they think.

[Simon]

Sally - Knowing you, I suspect your Eckhart sweater is beige with a hint of turquoise!

I hope to be there on the 31st... and it occurs to me that a link to your Eckhart contacts site in my next post might be timely.

[Simon]

Thanks for those latest awards, Angelbaby! I'll see you in kindergarten...

[Simon]

Well done in the test, mergingpoint! And your comment about seeing things as they are makes me suspect that Eckhart Tolle might also do quite well...

[Simon]

Swimmer or not, you're neck and neck in the lead, Mr Zip. I wonder if your experience as a cartoonist helps? It seems to me there's a certain 'cartoon logic' about the giraffe test.

[Simon]

Sue Ann - At that price, it seems that the book was also a 'Present'! 'The Power Of Now' is Eckhart's classic book, though Sally reckons that 'A New Earth' (as discussed in the present series of webcasts) is his best. I really like 'Practicing The Power Of Now', which is kind of a potted version of 'The Power Of Now'. I suspect that the message is much the same in all of the books. But even when you know the message already, it helps to be reminded in different ways.

[Simon]

Mark - I hope you enjoy the webcast! I'm off to download part two....

[Liara Covert]

Hi Simon. Thanks for that giraffe test. When I reflect on this beautiful creature, I am encouraged to consider wider vantage points or new perspectives, to see things differently, perhaps sides of an issue I had missed before. In the context of Eckhart Tolle's teachings with Oprah, I like your idea of the giraffe. You see, we each have the ability to easily reach beyond what we think we can already do. Its just a matter of changing perspectives.

[Sue Ann Edwards]

It's simply physics Simon. It really is. A focused projectile has more 'umph' then scattered buckshot. If you're aiming at a definite target, which would you rather use?

One of our greatest densities and illusions is "sentimentality".

[Simon]

Liara - We're certainly going beyond boundaries - it seems like the previous strand is merging into this one! I like your musings on the giraffe. Now I think about it, it is only one of a great many creatures which prove that nature is unafraid to venture beyond 'common sense' in its creations!

[Simon]

Sue Ann - I was trying to work out exactly what you're responding to here but I think it's kind of spooky and you're tuning into my state of mind. I feel like I'm spraying buckshot all over the place today! I've got this computer all loaded up with Windows again and it's already playing up on me. It's one of those days when I feel like I'm wading through treacle - and my shoelaces keep coming undone. It's easy to get bogged down in irritating minutiae. Your comment has reminded me that I can focus on the sky instead of on the yucky mess on the ground...

[Liara Covert]

The idea of giraffe as a totem or power animal reminds us human existence is full of potential. If you think of associations, you may imagine its strong body, sort of like we're grounded in the physical world. This creature readily sees 'over and above' what many of us see, like a spiritual vision. The image of a giraffe teaches us to live our lives in a way that's both grounded and expansive. In essence, we crave balance and search for it when its within.

You may reflect on, "sticking your neck out." We take risks by stretching our idea of who we are, and expand our horizons. Think how the giraffe becomes vulnerable when it lowers its head to drink. If we lose sight of a wider vision and consciousness and settle into a mundane thinking or ways of life, we risk losing our spiritual connection. The giraffe directs us to reconnect with soul.

[Marion]

I am in awe of how the Universe chose to "get the word out" by using a hugely popular media figure and the Internet. How perfect it all is.

thanks for the link for the download, Simon. It's tough these days for me to use the 'Net, I've just been catching up on your site.

[Sue Ann Edwards]

We are not separate {{Simon}}...of course I can sense what's going on within you. It's only APPEARANCES that give the illusion of separation. The same mind is in you that is in me. The same Soul and Spirit is in me that is in you.

You might consider the age of your computer and how much of an "old" energy signature it is carrying. "Old" would be vibrations of polarity and love upon condition. If you've focused a lot of this kind of energy over the years using your computer, then it is this old energy associated with it, that is causing your troubles.

Everywhere we look, we are being given reasons for disassociating ourselves from old energy patterns. Just look at the price of a barrel of oil. Only fossilized fools are looking to fossil fuels anymore.

[Sue Ann Edwards]

p.s. As we come to terms in knowing and understanding ourselves, so are we empowered to understanding and knowing all others. Once 'awakened' there is very little on any level that can remain hidden from us. "Privacy" being another one of our illusions.

[Simon]

Wow - brilliant! Thanks for sharing that, Liara. I've always rather warmed to giraffes - now I know why!

Thanks for dropping by, Marion. I'm very impressed with the way you are seamlessly maintaining your blog while moving house!

It's interesting that several of my favorite bloggers have moved recently. Sue Ann and Marion have moved house - while Grace has moved blogs. And of course, I moved house myself last year. Is this all due to us moving away from old 'energy signatures', Sue Ann? And I wonder if I should give Reiki to my processor?!

[Sue Ann Edwards]

YES!!!!

This is the 'beginning of the 'new' shores our quantum shift has carried us to.

You see, from my perspective, we've all already made it. That's what comes from living in the Now. It's a done deal already. A lot of us just haven't caught on, yet. Because we're too focused in living in the past. (grinning like a cheshire cat)

We're waving *byebye* to various facets whose usefulness is over and getting ready to move into new career paths.

This full moon rising brings possibilities of being able to harness a sense of true Self, a sense of true emotional clarity, an energy of true expression to others and an energy of outer accomplishments all together.

[Simon]

Is it new moon yet? I woke up this morning feeling kundalini energy gushing through me and all the horrible emotions which have been rising in me in recent months swept away. I'd been *hoping* I was feeling those emotions because I was clearing them away. It's nice to get some indication that this might really have been what was happening.

[Sue Ann Edwards]

{{{hugs}}}} They have to come up in order to come out...to be released, so we aren't carrying them around inside us anymore. Ponder it for a moment...

with what you now know was within you, can you guess the resonance you've been emitting and transmitting into the Quantum? It may have been suppressed but was still there and in accord with the Law of Attraction, was magnetizing like to come into you life.

[Simon]

Thanks for your encouragement, Sue Ann. I had that connection all day. Since then, it's been intermittent. All I can do is go with what happens, I guess...

[Terry Czar]

Obviously your to caught up in the center of yourself to realize as a species we have way missed the mark. Who wouldn't love to be living for the moment but unfortunately while we are erasing the concept of ego the world continues to grow in despair. It doesn't take another self help book or another dollar in your pocket to realize that attitude is everything. I have been told more times than I can count that I should be dead and actually died once. I am dead broke, live with my mother, unemployed and have all reasons to be bitter but I am not. Instead I am a Red cross volunteer, I am a pillar in my community known as the guy who gives selflessly and have begun procedures to donate one of my kidney's to someone I don't know. The real problem isn't ego it's the cause and effect that creates ego. When people feel they have been dumped on the decide by natural decision that it's me or you and by God it's not going to be me. Society molds our ego's by who dumps on us or by who holds the power. I wonder how blissful your homeless adventure would have been if you were dragging a bunch of starving children with you. I hope that people are helped by your writings but still the answer is and will always be a simple four letter word LOVE. Give it, share it, spread it.

[Terry Czar]

How to get a giraffe in the fridge? that's easy a lot of zip lock bags.

[Simon]

Hi Terry - Thanks for your interesting comment. You are obviously making the best of a difficult lot in life. Well done! But I would like to ask you a question. What if you were too unwell to work as a volunteer? What if your kidneys were so diseased that no one could use them? Would that make your worth any less? I don't think it would. I think you would be just as valuable and precious as you are right now. But what you have written gives the *impression* that you rely on these things for your sense of worth. If that is so, then it is scarcely surprising, because that is the way we have all been brought up to view the world: to rely on these 'stories' of ours (like the one you have told me) to validate ourselves.

Your own 'story' is a noble one, but unfortunately other people's stories do less to enhance the world. As you suggest, many people see themselves as victims. Many people, sometimes whole races, build their life stories out of the way they have been mistreated by other people, other races, and make it a part of their story to take revenge. That is why the world is the way it is. As you say, people can choose more wholesome stories and take a different attitude, but the point is that most of them don't.

How about if we could all be freed from the need to make these stories, the need to make ourselves important in the eyes of the world? Wouldn't that be liberating? That is the kind of freedom I am writing about on this blog. It may seem selfish and self-absorbed to go into ourselves and fix ourselves, but the truth is the very opposite of that. In coming to know ourselves, we are connecting with the inner consciousness of which we are *all* a part. We are drawing closer to others rather than disappearing into our shells. Perhaps, slowly, the tide will turn and more people will join us. Perhaps more people will wake up and realize that that the stories they’ve made up are only that: stories. It’s the only way I can see to fix the world.