How many superlatives can I use to describe Eckhart Tolle’s new book A New Earth? Probably not enough. Lucid, incisive, bold, straight shooting and comprehensive, Tolle once again looks the human ego in the eye and addresses the shambles it inevitably makes of its life and its home planet.
“To create suffering without recognizing it - this is the essence of unconscious living; this is being totally in the grip of the ego. The extent of the ego's inability to recognize itself and see what it is doing is staggering and unbelievable. It will do exactly what it condemns others for and not see it. When it is pointed out, it will use angry denial, clever arguments, and self justifications to distort the facts. People do it, corporations do it, governments do it. When all else fails, the ego will resort to shouting or even to physical violence. Send in the Marines. We can now understand the deep wisdom in Jesus’ words on the cross: “Forgive them for they know not what they do."
As in his New York Times best seller The Power of Now, Tolle exposes the ego for what it is: the illusory sense of self through which we interpret – or misinterpret rather – reality. All thought processes, relationships, interactions and decisions are determined by this false “self.” Based in separation from the life force, from wholeness, from peace, from “God,” the ego’s life is a miserable one, characterized by pain, suffering and violence. Even still, it will do literally anything to protect its fragile existence and survive, for it has a life of its own. As Tolle puts it, the ego is a psychic parasite.
Layer by layer, Tolle exposes the ego and its creations, describing its multifaceted aspects and dynamics in a matter of fact, even tone, giving the reader ample opportunity to safely recognize his or her “self” in the process. Short, two to five page sections, discussing everything from the ego’s need to feel superior and giving up role playing, to conscious parenting and the secret of happiness, chunk the material down into easily digestible bites.
But Tolle doesn’t stop with just revealing the ego’s structure, attitudes and actions. He shows us the way out of the dilemma. He coaches on how to not only recognize the ego, but how to unwind from its grip. He shows us how to wake up and stay Present with the ego’s actions and its pain; for being Present is the key to the ego’s demise.
“All that is required to become free of the ego is to be aware of it, since awareness and ego are incompatible. Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment. This is why we may also call it Presence. The ultimate purpose of human existence, which is to say, the purpose, is to bring that power into this world. And this is also why becoming free of the ego cannot be made into a goal to be attained at some point in the future. Only Presence can free you of the ego, and you can only be present Now, not yesterday or tomorrow. Only Presence can undo the past in you and thus transform your state of consciousness.”
Towards the end, Tolle gives us a vision of what our new selves will be like as the flowering of human consciousness takes place. And he speaks lovingly of the new Earth that shall come as a result. For those familiar with Tolle’s The Power of Now, his new book will prove to be a deeply satisfying expansion. For those who aren’t, hold onto your hat. You can safely dive into A New Earth without feeling the need for any preparation.
PAVEL'S PICK
The Future of Food:
The Coming Danger of Genetically Engineered Foods
Review by Pavel Mikoloski
Producer/Writer/Director Deborah Koons Garcia, better known to many as the widow of Jerry Garcia the legendary Grateful Dead lead singer and guitarist who died in 1995, spent the last three years making The Future of Food. A must-see documentary about GMO (genetically modified organism) foods, the film is shocking and revelatory as it presents evidence of the calculated corporate manipulation and control of the earth’s food supply
Garcia, who told me her film was labeled by Fox TV as a ‘crockumentary’ is a prominent figure in the increasingly vocal antibiotech movement in California . Her film integrates vintage footage with profiles and personal stories from critics of agbiotech. Especially eye-opening are interviews with Andrew Kimbrell, head of the Center for Food Safety in Washington, D.C., Charles Benbrook, Agricultural policy expert, and activist and Ignacio Chapela, an assistant professor at Berkeley whose work tracking the invasion of American GMO corn into Mexico stirred a furor.
Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, The Future of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.
Garcia, who became a vegetarian in her 20s, was originally planning a serious film that was a standard examination of the effects of pesticides upon our food supply. But her research led her to the genetic revolution of agriculture: Biotech breakthroughs, gene-splicing plants from different species or even plants and animals to create crops that resist disease or can withstand pesticides, and the "terminator" gene that kills off crop seeds after one season.
It became clear to Garcia that GMOs are really a much bigger issue and that there hadn’t yet been a film that told the whole story. She was surprised to learn that
corporations in the agbiotech industry had begun to patent life itself through genetic engineering; that they claimed legal right of access to the fields of farmers who inadvertently ended up with corporate GMOs mixed in with their regular crops from wind-borne cross-pollination. The film points out how these chemical companies have succeeded in slapping patents on a huge number of crop seeds and are patenting life forms for the first time without a vote of the people or Congress.
I spoke to Garcia from her Mill Valley California home and asked her what she thought about the rise of the documentaries like The Future of Food and What the BLEEP!? “People have a craving for reality, and so much of what we see in the media is such convincing unreality – such as ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ and so much else. Is it a wonder that people are looking for truth?
"Someone needed to make this film, because if this technology isn't challenged and if this corporatization of our whole food system isn't stopped, at some point it will be too late."
Garcia threads a clear path through the history, science and politics of GMO foods, issues which are complicated and technically daunting, and arrives at a clear call for action.
The film questions why the U.S. government hasn't required GMO foods to undergo the rigorous testing required of medicines created by recombinant DNA technology, and why it has resisted efforts to require GMO labeling on foods, as Europe does.
Suggesting an answer, the film ticks off all the government officials who have links to Monsanto, including Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
The film also explores alternatives, touting organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today. With ongoing support from organic farming associations, food policy experts, environmentalists, and academics, the film is regarded as a key tool for educating the public about these complex topics.
The Future ofFood calls upon us to think more about the consequences of our food choices and to use our consumer power to push for labeling and regulation. While some people are seeking to ban GMOs, Garcia thinks labeling would drive GMO foods off the market, as it has in Europe . And, unlike the back-to-the-land days of the 1960s when people could drop out and grow their own food organically, that option may become increasingly obsolete. With genetic engineering, says Garcia, "You can't drop out anymore -- it'll come and get us."
DVD Release: December 1 st. 90-minutes
Special Edition Two-Disc DVD with a smorgasbord of extras includes a wealth of add-ons, including 10 other smaller films.
