by Carolyn Welty

Created on: April 28, 2008

In the middle of the seventeenth Century in America, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau wrote about transcendalism, a philosophy that began in Germany. "I am part of parcel of God," wrote Thoreau. In the twenty-first Century, Eckhart Tolle writes of the same concept in his non-fiction Bestselling book.

Tolle says that God, or pure goodness, lives in the form of man on Earth. He indicates, as Thoreau did, that this goodness can be fanned to a higher level, or it can be ignored. Those who fan it, gain a greater consciousness or "awareness" as he calls it. He says that this goodness expands beyond man and into every aspect of the universe, but it has an enemy called "ego". The ego acts as a devil inside each person through thoughts that discourage the progression to a state of oneness with the Being, or God.

In his way, Thoreau said the same thing. When he went to the woods at Walden Pond to experiment with Transcendentalism, one of his main efforts was to reject materialism and worldly issues in search of a higher purpose. He was successful to a point, but he found that it was difficult to live a true philosophy. However, he also found that it was possible to use parts of the concepts towards living a more rewarding life.

To the same way, it is nearly impossible to live the fully awakened life of Tolle in total.
However, the suggestion is made that all people can benefit by practicing some of the concepts, and they will progress to greater awareness in baby steps, but that forward movement will continue along the way. As he said, only Jesus or Buddha had the gift of pure goodness from the beginning.

People are supposed to reject their past, upbringing, culture, and family background (which creates pain bodies), and they are supposed to suppress those constant reminders from the ego in their thoughts to create space. Space is necessary for conscious living and creativity, according to Tolle. Happiness is something that comes along with the space, but no one can think themselves into joy. It just happens-sort of a gift from the goodness place that gets fanned and used more and more until it is natural.

All of it makes sense in its way to some readers. Transcendental thought did, also-to some-in Thoreau's day. Both are idealistic and desirable, and most people want to unite with the God force that promises, also, immortality of the formless person. The idea meshes with all religious beliefs as well as with Eastern thought. It has mass appeal.

The book is a good read, and it has positive vibrations. It is intellectual and spiritual in concept, and Tolle does a magnificent job with tying the ideas to the great masters in a gentle way.

One can only hope that he is right. The egos of this world need a good calming down, and if goodness, or God, is the reward, the book deserves its smashing success!

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