Feeling Tortured by Eckhard Tolle's New Earth

Eckhard Tolle recommendation, that we "awaken" to the present and let go of "ego" so that we don't have to be plagued by worry and negative emotion, is easier said than done.

Here's what's happening: people are having painful feelings, like anger, hurt, worry or sadness, and they can't let go of those feelings so they berate themselves all the more for being so imperfect. This wonderful road to peace becomes, instead, another road to self-torture.

For most of us, learning to find a space between what we feel and our awareness of what our mind does with those feelings, is a long and ongoing process, not a "quick fix" that we can command our brain to do.

Awakening means finding a space between what we feel, and what we do with those feelings. It means realizing that we judge ourselves. It means we allow ourselves to be present in that moment so that we can better understand what happens when we have a feeling.

The irony of the problem is that we seek to rid ourselves of unwanted feelings and impressions and yet, the way to achieve this is to delve even more deeply into those moments. Having mastery over our feelings does not mean getting rid of them, it means getting so comfortable with them that they no longer control us.