I got together recently with an old friend who tells me she is now way into Eckhart Tolle. He seems like a vanilla, new age, “spiritual” guru who largely recycles ideas from Eastern philosophy. Do I have reason to worry? Is Eckhart benign, dangerous, other?

Thanks,
Jordan

I’ve browsed through his stuff, and by itself it doesn’t seem too dangerous. As you said, it’s basically a commercial new age recycling of some elements of buddhist thought. The real question is how your friend deals with it. Taking what seems useful and interesting out of it and moving on is one thing. Becoming devoted to a great soul who has secret wisdom for her is another.

Anyone heard of him? He’s the author of The Power of Now and A New Earth. Oprah was all about him for a while. He’s a spiritualist/philosopher who stresses the importance of living in the present moment if one wants to be at peace.

I was personally very into his writings for a while and I feel I have gotten what I wanted out of them. I feel you can’t focus too much on his teachings after you’ve grasped the concepts already, otherwise it defeats the purpose and distracts you from simply living your life. But I do think he does have a lot to offer and I very much agree with his philosophy on life, since I held similar views even before I heard of him. It is true he is recycling a lot of Eastern teachings, but at the same time he’s coming from a completely different angle and explaining it in such a way that the common man can understand.

If anyone has heard of him, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.