For the last few weeks I’ve been following Oprah Winfrey’s live Internet broadcast with author Eckhart Tolle (yes, you pronounce the ‘e’). If you haven’t heard of this event it’s something brand new, at least in its reach, and is a major contributor to increasing spirituality around the world. Talk about transforming!
Eckhart Tolle is the author of 1999's “The Power of Now: A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment,” a book that belongs in everyone’s library. It’s focus is on the importance of staying in the present moment for healing and transformation. In 2005 he published “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose,” dealing with how to recognize ego and transcend that state of conscious for personal growth and planetary healing. Oprah recommended the book for her book club and felt it was so important something else was needed. In order to reach as many people as possible and as deeply as possible, she and Eckhart are going through the book chapter by chapter for ten weeks in a live Internet broadcast. Each show is 90 minutes and accepts call-in questions. It is aired Monday nights at 9 p.m., but is also available to view online on demand or for download. About 2 million people from all over the world view or download the show each week. As of this writing they have completed week 4.
There are three things of interest here: the book’s value to you personally, the phenomena of the broadcast itself, and the energy field it creates.
I read the book last year and like many people felt it was even more important for me than “The Power of Now.” There is always room for improvement where the ego is involved and it can be a real trickster. I would recommend it to anyone on a spiritual journey.
This is probably not a book I would have chosen to bring to the general public as most, I suspect, have only a vague idea of how ego affects their lives. Confronting ego and releasing roles is challenging. Maybe Oprah sees people at a different place than I do, but bless her for the effort. She will is bringing new concepts to people and many will shift as a result.
A third phenomena is at work here. In the mid 1970's Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique to the Western world. He claimed that when a large group meditated together the entire population would experience greater coherence, which would positively influence the social and natural environment. This is known as the Maharishi Effect. To test this 4,000 TM practitioners meditated for two months in the summer of 1993 in Washington, DC and violent crime rates were reported to be reduced by 18%. This effect is consistent with other research as reported by Lynne McTaggart in her book “The Field” in which she talks of coherence and how it influences others.
So what might be the effect of 2 million people focused for ten weeks on spiritual concepts and self improvement? Might this create a coherent field that will affect everyone and, for those who are ready, open them up? And how will it combine with all the new energy supposedly pouring in as part of the 2012 shift?
In the past few weeks I’ve noticed and heard stories of people of all ages who are making shifts or suddenly opening to new phenomena. These are only a few anecdotal stories, but keep your eyes open to miracles and please share with us what you see or experience yourself. The world may be ready for a breakthrough.
Credit Oprah for making this very accessible and using her fame and influence to create help A New Earth.
There are several ways you can experience the Oprah and Eckhart show and catch up on what you might have missed. If you have an iPod or MP3 player and use iTunes you can subscribe to the show as a podcast and get audio only or video and listen/watch at any time. Previous shows are still available and it makes great listening on your daily commute. You can also go to www.oprah.com and watch previous shows, download them or sign up to access the live Monday shows.
Jon, thank you for sharing this. I don't watch television (by design), but because of your mention of this, I have gone to iTunes and have downloaded the podcast & have begun to listen to this series.
(I haven't caught up yet, but that's ok! I don't like cliff hangers, so by my being behind, I'm more satisfied ;) hehe!)
I am just astounded at the depth at which Oprah - a mainstream celebrity - is going with this. It gives me hope that more of society will be becoming more conscious. I need to go pick up that book & read it.
Posted by: jean Egan | March 30, 2008 at 08:21 PM