A New Earth

I just finished reading A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. While I am not a huge fan of self help books, this book did make me stop and think in a few places, and anything that does that is worth one read at least in my view.

The framework is pretty simple.
First- he points out that your internal frame of mind shapes how you view the world. "Complaining is one of the ego's favorite strategies for strengthening itself," he warns. It's about making you feel better by putting down someone else. He elaborates later - "Complaining is not to be confused with informing someone of a mistake or deficiency so that it can be put right. And to refrain from complaining doesn't necessarily mean putting up with bad quality or behavior." So it is about standing up for yourself, certainly, but not by abusing others.
Second- he warns that all possessions fade over time, just as beauty and strength does. Taking pride in these things is setting yourself up to feel sadness when they are no longer there. It is better to be content inwardly, rather than based on external objects.
Third- he talks about how some people feel they can't be happy until something in their current life changes (I get a new house, I get a new job). He says other people feel they can never be happy because of something in their past. He says both sets of people are mistaken. You can choose to be happy NOW. Not that you resign yourself to your situation necessarily - you can strive to better your life. But you can accept that you are where you are, that you will find serenity where you are while you work to improve things.

While all this is Buddhist philosophy, Tolle has tried to make it more current. His writing style is compelling, yet tends to get tedious and repititious at times. This is NOT a light read and I had to re-read some passages just to get at exactly what he was trying to say.

But as I said, the book did make me stop and think a few times- and think about fundamental questions around life and the way to lead a good one...and for me, that is good time spent- we dont do enough of that in our busy lives.