A month ago, one of the LinkedIn groups asked a question ‘What is time?”. That started an exchange of thoughts. One fellow mentioned Eckhart Tolle would have views about Time. I said I would write to him to check it out firsthand. So, I wrote to Eckhart Tolle to ask him to explain his views of Time.
I let him know I had read some of his books and I knew he had commented on Time and I was interested in a summary of his views.
I have not, as yet, received Eckhart Tolle’s response.
However, my sister gave me a copy of his 2005 book titled ‘A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose’.
In that book, Eckhart Tolle writes about Time.
Here are some excerpts:
At the section titled ‘The Paradox of Time’…
‘The space of Now is confused with what happens in that space. The confusion of the present moment with content gives rise not only to the illusion of time, but also the illusion of ego.’
Note: Time is an illusion…Eckhart Tolle has written that more than once.
That captures a piece of his view of Time.
At the next section titled ‘Eliminating Time’...
“Time, that is to say, past and future, is what the false mind-made self, the ego, lives on, and time is in your mind. It isn’t something that has an objective existence “out there”. It is a mind-structure needed for sensory perception, indispensable for practical purposes, but the greatest hindrance to knowing yourself. Time is the horizontal dimension of life, the surface layer of reality. Then there is the vertical dimension of depth, accessible to you only through the portal of the present moment.
So instead of adding time to yourself, remove time.”
Eckhart Tolle then goes on to talk about two types of time: clock time and psychological time.
That is another piece of his view of Time.
Provocative…
Footnote: