Hi heartspirit!
I got upset with the R's not with the posts, exchanging of opinions is good and some argumentations made me think and I'm still chewing on them.
I've just bumped into this moderator another time, she's making her little games and I just don't care. Once this thread is finished I'm gone.
Sure enough, it's been a reaction of the mind on my part, but also call it an uneasy feeling. Lao has worded the feeling of sneaky in action better than I could. Call me paranoid, but I still believe in the utility of keeping critical thought and eyes wide open on what plate is served in such "easy" and "popular" tones. It ain't a flower, very far from it, clear?
The credits to Jesus and Buddha were too generic to be considered a reference. I saw a part of the second chapter and yes, he did mention that the question of who am I has a tradition behind, that was a relief (BTW, it's a typical rinzai zen inquiery for beginners, and, totally different tradition, it was at the core of Ramana Maharshi's practice - please check into RM, you'll see in his face especially at the end what I really can't see in ET, the radiance chiron was talking of). Maybe when Oprah called him the Father of Now he was too tensed being just at the beginning of the whole thing, to say that no he wasn't. Still, it was scary to hear.
You say: These answers/thoughts/feelings all stem from the ego anyway, the very thing you are attacking Tolle with. That's right, but I'm not out there in Oprah's show talking to 2 millions of people on going beyond the ego, am I? Noblesse oblige, he can't afford being so obviously not what he claims to be. On my part, I'm working at it, and this exchange of opinions here has made me think. But as I said I'm not too keen on throwing critical thinking in the dustbin as many of you seem to be, I prefer to have elements telling me I that I can trust and only then open up. It might be wrong, I'll think of it and I'll also ask peyote, as I'm gonna have a session these days.
ciao heartspirit, it's been a pleasure to meet you and I hope we'll run into each other again in some other forum
ciao also to this forum, I wish to everybody all the best