Two Different Views
Of the hundreds of audio books I’ve read in the past 30 years, I’ve listened to only two of them more than once. Both are spiritual books and both propose a new attitude toward spirituality based on principles the authors themselves discovered. It is they, living in the here and now, rather than ancient myth-shrouded men, who provide the spiritual authority for their teaching.
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle, now a world-wide bestseller, was first published in 1997. I was beckoned by its title, since at the time I was overwhelmed by trying to cope with a man with severe PTSD, who acould not escape the horror of his memories of Vietnam 40 years ago.
The impact of Tolle’s personal story of enlightenment (not dissimilar to Saul of Tarsus’ instant conversion on the Damascus road) were life-changing to me. Tolle’s focus on the present moment — the Now — transformed not only my attitude toward war and PTSD, but more importantly, the way I behaved toward the challenges life sent me in the present day.
I played the book on cassette all day at home, enabling me to constantly catch snatches of its practical advice as I did my household tasks. The marriage did not survive, but with the guidance of The Power of Now I was able to maintain sanity.
Another Ashevillean who was positively affected by Eckhart Tolle is author Trey Carland, who discovered The Power of Now, at age 31, in 2004, when his life was dramatically thrown askew by the sudden onset of epileptic grand mal seizures.
Over the years, Carland had several “awakening experiences” that confirmed to him the truth of Tolle’s teachings. “One of the key teachings that has helped me the most,” says Carland, “is the true realization and recognition of what the present moment really is. Being at one with the Now is to be free of all judgments, mental stories, and in a state of peace.”
Carland not only became a seeker of spiritual enlightenment, but he also shared his spiritual journey with others — through his website and blog writings and organizing spiritual groups, such as the Asheville Sangha online community (www.ashevillesangha.com) and twice monthly meetings of the Awakening Practice Group that studies the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and others.
Carland has compiled several years of his blog writings to create his first book, A Seeker’s Guide to Inner Peace: Notes to Self. It’s a simple, accessible book, made enjoyable by Carland’s personal style and his recommendations of other spiritual teachers he has discovered.
The second book I’ve listened to more than once — in fact I am now on my 6th re-listen — is The Tools: Transform Your Problems into Courage, Confidence and Creativity, by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels. I discovered The Tools from the grapevine reputation it had for being such a cure for writer’s block that several Hollywood scriptwriters attributed their million dollar fees to it. Instead of avoiding adversity, the writers learned to embrace it, thus turning what they feared into something that made them creative.
The Tools is really a “new spirituality,” based on practical activities that access “higher powers” (or God, or Spirit or Universe). The tools, five of them, were recognized and then developed by psychologist Phil Stutz, using his own experience rather than religion, as his “spiritual authority.”
In essence, the form of therapy Dr. Stutz developed disdained the sometimes endless search for why people do things, and instead focused on getting them to change their behavior — to take action, now, to embrace their personal demons instead of running away from them, to exchange love for resentment, and to act not only for their highest good, but for the best interests of everyone on the planet. Sounds like a heady order– and it is — but the book makes understandable what the higher powers are and how applying the tools can access them.
But only by putting the principles into practice, by accessing the “higher powers,” will real change occur — and, as the authors explain, reading the book once and putting it aside won’t do it — that’s why I’ve re-read the book so many times, to force into my somewhat resistant consciousness the principles the book espouses.
Because the principles actually work, I have accomplished a major shift in my life, including actively proving that there is life after divorce, something I did not think was possible four years ago. I attribute this shift to the insights and practical applications espoused in The Tools. Being able to re-listen to the book as often as I like has been an easy way to reinforce the tools and turn their principles into action.
A Seeker’s Guide to Inner Peace: Notes to Self; written by Trey Carland; Whitney Press, 2011; paper 198 pp.; $12.95.
The Tools: Transform Your Problems into Courage, Confidence and Creativity; written and read by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels; Random House Audio, 2012; 7 hours; 6 CD set, $35.