I get Eckhart, I really do. I wouldn’t want you to think that I’m writing this from the perspective of someone who is dismissive of what he is saying because they simply don’t understand. I believe he’s got it. He has an absolutely honest insight into what is really going on with human consciousness, and where we are all headed.

But that’s the point: it’s where we are headed; not where we are now. And above all, Eckhart is interested in what’s happening now.

And now we are all still trapped in the fields of time and space, locked into these “meat puppets” (as I’ve heard them described) and we have no choice but to deal with human emotions. It has always seemed to me that what Eckhart is advocating requires us to rise above our emotions in favor of simply bearing witness to what is occurring in the now, without engaging in an emotional response. Not only is this virtually impossible unless you have undergone the kind of singular transformational experience that he encountered, but I think it is ultimately harmful and possibly dangerous to attempt to do so.

We are all familiar with the “pressure-cooker” image that goes along with continually suppressed negative emotion…eventually the lid blows off, and it may happen at the most inopportune time, in the company of those who deserve to witness it least. I find myself wondering if Eckhart ever loses his temper and, if so, when and why?

Perhaps he isn’t actually suppressing negative emotions; perhaps he really doesn’t have them. In that he would be fairly unique. The majority of us encounter negative emotions frequently, every day.

The question of authenticity arises. How do we cope in situations that require us to act, to counter a situation that engenders fear, anger, etc.? How do we respond to injustice? For many of us, our authentic values and principles demand that we do more than simply bear silent witness. Are we then doomed to remain less evolved?

These are the things Eckhart Tolle makes me ponder.