If you are deeply depressed -- if you've come to hate your own existence, as well as the world --
then I hope you'll find comfort in
the story of Eckhart Tolle.
Tolle, who was born in Germany, is
now about 50 years-old. He is widely
regarded as one of the few enlightened spiritual teachers in
the Western world.
But when he was 29, Eckhart Tolle
almost killed himself. I am going to
quote the first few paragraphs of
Tolle's magnificent book, THE POWER
OF NOW. If anything he says resonates with you, I hope you'll
buy a copy of the book, and read it
slowly. It might change your life.
"I have little use for the past and
rarely think about it. However, I
would briefly like to tell you how
I came to be a spiritual teacher, and how this book came into existence."
"Until my 30th year, I lived in a
state of almost continuous anxiety,
interspersed with periods of suicidal depression. It feels now as
if I am talking about some past lifetime, or somebody else's life."
"One night, not long after my 29th
birthday, I woke up in the early hours with a feeling of absoute dread. I had woken up with such a
feeling many times before, but this
time it was more intense than it had
ever been before."
"The silence of the night, the vague
outlines of furniture in the dark
room, the distant noise of a passing
train -- everything felt so alien,
so hostile, and so utterly meaningless, that it created a deep
loathing in me: a deep loathing of
the world."
"The most loathsome thing of all,
however, was my own existence. What
was the point in continuing to live
with this burden of misery? Why carry on with this continuous struggle? I could feel
that a deep
longing for annihilation, for non-existence, was now becoming much
stronger than the instinctive desire
to continue to live."
"'I cannot live with myself any longer.' This was the thought that
kept repeating itself in my mind."
End of excerpt. To find out how
Eckhart Tolle conquered his depression, and completely remade himself, spiritually and emotionally, you should read the book. It will repay its cost a
thousandfold, and open Doors for
you that need to be opened.
The terrible night that Tolle described above, was his Dark Night
of the Soul; the very lowest point
in what had been a lifelong descending slide. Lots of very
famous spiritual gurus went through
precisely the same emotional crisis.
Buddha spent six years trying to
become enlightened. He was a disciple, at one time or another,
to every famous spiritual teacher
of his time. But none of them could
help him. So Buddha finally gave up.
He sat himself down under a Bodhi
tree for 43 days, and became more
and more despressed at his failure.
Finally, Buddha, like Tolle and others, reached his absolute lowest
point. He gave up his desire to
become enlightened, he gave up all
his desires, and waited to die. It
was Buddha's Dark Night of the Soul.
Instead of dying, Buddha awoke the
next morning as an enlightened being. By giving up all his desires,
he connected with his soul, the
Divine Essence which was inside him
(and is inside all of us), and was
literally reborn. Buddha spent the
next 40 years helping others to
feel their connection with all beings and all things.
Swami Rama is one of the most
famous mystics who ever came to
America. In the 1970's, Swami Rama
dazzled the doctors at the Mayo
Clinic with his magical abilities
to completely control every aspect
of his body. He could willfully stop
his heart, or cause it to beat at
360 cycles per minute. Rama could
drain every drop of blood from the
right side of his body -- it turned
white and dead -- and send the blood
to his left side. Later, he founded
The Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania, which survives and thrives to this day.
But Swami Rama tried to kill himself
when he was in his mid 20's. He lived in India, and had been apprenticed to enlightened gurus all
his life. However, the young Bhole Baba
(as he was known then) could not
make that final jump into his own
enlightenment. So he told his mentor, Babaji, that he was going
to tie rocks to his legs, and throw
himself into the Ganges River.
Babaji followed his young disciple
to the riverbank. This was the Dark
Night of the Soul for young Bhole.
He'd failed for 20 years to achieve
his only desire. It was time to die.
Bhole tied ropes around the big
rocks, and then attached the ropes
to his legs. He stood on a platform
above the deep water, and looked back one last time at his mentor,
Babaji. And at that dark moment,
Babaji walked forward, touched
Bhole Baba on the forehead, and
the young man fell backwards on the
bank, and went into a 24-hour swoon.
When he awoke, Bhole Baba was no
more. The young man had become
enlightened, and was known thereafter as Swami Rama.
So if you're feeling very depressed,
and have even flirted with the idea
of suicide, know that some of the
greatest men and women in history
have felt exactly as you do. Recall
Jesus' Dark Night of the Soul, when
he called out to God, "My God! My
God! Why hast Thou forsaken me!"
Don't give up hope! Work on yourself, educate yourself about
true spirituality. You are not your
body, and you are not your mind.
Begin with Eckhart Tolle's book, and
go from there. Your Soul wants you
to live, and so does God, the Universal Soul. Find a way to make
it happen.
Blessings,
Owen
©†ƒ……•™¼‡_Original_Message_¾€š½ž¢«»¬ï°©
If you are deeply depressed -- if you've come to hate your own existence, as well as the world --
then I hope you'll find comfort in
the story of Eckhart Tolle.
Tolle, who was born in Germany, is
now about 50 years-old. He is widely
regarded as one of the few enlightened spiritual teachers in
the Western world.
But when he was 29, Eckhart Tolle
almost killed himself. I am going to
quote the first few paragraphs of
Tolle's magnificent book, THE POWER
OF NOW. If anything he says resonates with you, I hope you'll
buy a copy of the book, and read it
slowly. It might change your life.
"I have little use for the past and
rarely think about it. However, I
would briefly like to tell you how
I came to be a spiritual teacher, and how this book came into existence."
"Until my 30th year, I lived in a
state of almost continuous anxiety,
interspersed with periods of suicidal depression. It feels now as
if I am talking about some past lifetime, or somebody else's life."
"One night, not long after my 29th
birthday, I woke up in the early hours with a feeling of absoute dread. I had woken up with such a
feeling many times before, but this
time it was more intense than it had
ever been before."
"The silence of the night, the vague
outlines of furniture in the dark
room, the distant noise of a passing
train -- everything felt so alien,
so hostile, and so utterly meaningless, that it created a deep
loathing in me: a deep loathing of
the world."
"The most loathsome thing of all,
however, was my own existence. What
was the point in continuing to live
with this burden of misery? Why carry on with this continuous struggle? I could feel that a deep
longing for annihilation, for non-existence, was now becoming much
stronger than the instinctive desire
to continue to live."
"'I cannot live with myself any longer.' This was the thought that
kept repeating itself in my mind."
End of excerpt. To find out how
Eckhart Tolle conquered his depression, and completely remade himself, spiritually and emotionally, you should read the book. It will repay its cost a
thousandfold, and open Doors for
you that need to be opened.
The terrible night that Tolle described above, was his Dark Night
of the Soul; the very lowest point
in what had been a lifelong descending slide. Lots of very
famous spiritual gurus went through
precisely the same emotional crisis.
Buddha spent six years trying to
become enlightened. He was a disciple, at one time or another,
to every famous spiritual teacher
of his time. But none of them could
help him. So Buddha finally gave up.
He sat himself down under a Bodhi
tree for 43 days, and became more
and more despressed at his failure.
Finally, Buddha, like Tolle and others, reached his absolute lowest
point. He gave up his desire to
become enlightened, he gave up all
his desires, and waited to die. It
was Buddha's Dark Night of the Soul.
Instead of dying, Budda awoke the
next morning as an enlightened being.By giving up all his desires,
he connected with his soul, the
Divine Essence which was inside him
(and is inside all of us), and was
literally reborn. Buddha spent the
next 40 years helping others to
feel their connection with all beings and all things.
Swami Rama is one of the most
famous mystics who ever came to
America. In the 1970's, Swami Rama
dazzled the doctors at the Mayo
Clinic with his magical abilities
to completely control every aspect
of his body. He could willfully stop
his heart, or cause it to beat at
360 cycles for minute. Rama could
drain every drop of blood from the
right side of his body -- it turned
white and dead -- and send the blood
to his left side. Later, he founded
The Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania, which survives and thrives to this day.
But Swami Rama tried to kill himself
when he was in his mid 20's. He lived in India, and had been apprenticed to enlightened gurus all
his life. But the young Bhole Baba
(as he was then known) could not
make that final jump into his own
enlightenment. So he told his mentor, Babaji, that he was going
to tie rocks to his legs, and throw
himself into the Ganges River.
Babaji followed his young disciple
to the riverbank. This was the Dark
Night of the Soul for young Bhole.
He'd failed for 20 years to achieve
his only desire. It was time to die.
Bhole tied ropes around the big
rocks, and then attached the ropes
to his legs. He stood on a platform
above the deep water, and looked back one last time at his mentor,
Babaji. And at that dark moment,
Babaji worked forward, touched
Bhole Baba on the forehead, and
the young man fell backwards on the
bank, and went into a 24-hour swoon.
When he awoke, Bhole Baba was no
more. The young man had become
enlightened, and was known thereafter as Swami Rama.
So if you're feeling very depressed,
and have even flirted with the idea
of suicide, know that some of the
greatest men and women in history
have felt exactly as you do. Recall
Jesus' Dark Night of the Soul, when
he called out to God, "My God! My
God! Why has Thou forsaken me!"
Don't give up hope! Work on yourself, educate yourself about
true spirituality. You are not your
body, and you are not your mind.
Begin with Eckhart Tolle's book, and
go from there. Your Soul wants you
to live, and so does God, the Universal Soul. Find a way to make
it happen.
Blessings,
Owen