A New Earth

Those of you who follow me regularly know I’ve been struggling through a messy post series lately. The topic? Spiritual Enlightenment, and actual neurological changes in the brain that might go along with it.

I blame Oprah.

It all started with my attempt to review her multi-media marketing of Eckhart Tolle’s psuedo-Buddhism, ala A New Earth.

Then it snowballed into sharing my personal experiences and half baked hypothesis, which I’m afraid comes off like What-The-Bleep, Part Deaux. Still, I’m compelled to finish this series, trudging onward bravely…

First, a reminder of the science:

Modern neurological research has seriously shaken up our understanding of the mind/brain connection. Not only does the brain shape thought, but thoughts help shape the brain. [click to continue...]

Promises, Promises. I’m full of them, aren’t I?

Last week I promised you my personal “awakening” story, as part of exploring the Oprah/Eckhart Tolle presentation of “A New Earth”.

But as I wrote, I realized I couldn’t reduce it to a simple one post undertaking. It’s a sub-series in it’s own right, and the first part is nearly ready to be posted.

Before I get to that, I did finish reading “A New Earth” and, surprisingly, I surprisingly have very few issues with it, in and of itself.

Here’s an edited version of what I said on the Oprah site: [click to continue...]

So. I’ve made it most of the way through Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth”, as promised. I’m still maintaining an open, if discerning, mind - also as promised. And I still don’t hate it.
Oh, I did grit my teeth a few times, and sort of sputtered into my Diet Coke at least once.

But I’ll get to all that in another post. *This* post is about an honest insight I had while reading the first chapter.

First up, some definitions.

Neurogenesis / Neuroplasticity: Both terms refer to the brain’s ability to physically develop and rewire itself according to need. Even adult brains can create new connections between neurons, reroute tasks to different parts of the brain and in some situations, even produce new cells. It’s hard science, measurable and measured.

Enlightenment: In a spiritual context, enlightenment refers to a permanent state of higher wisdom, perception or understanding. Depending on the person talking, and the tradition they’re influenced by, it can mean anything from a simple awareness of their own nature, to the more complex [click to continue...]

If you’ve surfed the Internet at all this month, you’ve been bombarded by incessant tangerine for Oprah’s latest endeavor: a free online course about her book club pick, Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth”.

Eckhart Tolle (for those of us who live under rocks where New Age booksellers can’t find us) is one of the big names in the spiritual publishing/workshop niche. Oprah, of course, is Oprah. (And no rock in the world is big enough to insulate us from Oprah!)

For several years, Oprah has been on a spiritual quest, and she’s been excitedly dragging her audience along with her… miss-steps and all. Last year, she promoted the psuedo-scientific mysticism of “The Secret” into a multimillion dollar international obsession. Ouch.

I came late to The Secret party (someone forgot to send me an invitation) and so my posts on the topic didn’t have the impact they could have. Still, I enjoyed my attempts at righteous indignation and skepticism, and they were among my most popular posts.

Determined not to miss the chance to blog about this years Really Big Spiritual Woo from Oprah, I ordered “A New Earth” from Amazon, and signed up for the course on Oprah.com. [click to continue...]