“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly — you usually don’t use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease. You believe that you are your mind. This is the delusion. The instrument has taken you over.” (Eckhart Tolle)

Leif H. Finkel is trying to stress to us the idea that as human beings we create our own realities. “thus, put in the position of both interpreter and forecaster, the cortex adopted a brilliant strategy- the development of a model or representation of the world” (Finkel ,404). With this is mind I was alarmingly reminded of a book I read last summer called A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. Eckhart Tolle is not only a New York Times Best Selling author for two of his books (The Power of Now and A New Earth) but he is one of the biggest philosophers followed by a lot of people today. Tolle tells us is how little we are in the grand scheme of the world. He teaches and stresses the idea that the only thing that we can control is the “now”. This is the idea the past and future do not exist because they are inside of our minds only as a vision. Whenever I feel stressed out or angry about anything, I remember Tolle’s teachings. There is no reason to get angry about anything that has happened before, or feel anxious about the future because the only thing that is real is what is happening right now. This is a lot harder in our society here in America for obvious reasons.

He also informs us about the “ego” which some of you may be familiar with. The ego is basically what Finkel is talking about: a created world, a vision we have of ourselves. Eckhart Tolle reminds us that this is not real life and that there is meaning and importance beyond our egos. In fact, while reading the book, I sensed Eckhart preaching hatred toward our egos. He blames the ego for problems like stress and greed. With his teachings as a spiritual teacher he has helped many people including me. Here is a video that is a must watch. He talks about our visions coninciding with who we are and our self “image”.

Bear with his voice...I thought it was God too when I first heard him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbj4nLOPN8o

I enjoy what Finkel is saying, he really just makes us think of the idea that we are creators of our own realities, but in this reading he doesn’t give us a lot of the conclusions that Tolle can. “The elaboration of this internal reality gave rise, by and by, to the emergence of consciousness and the subjective perception that the internal world was, in fact coextensive with the external” (Finkel, 404)”. Eckhart Tolle makes us think even further in our views, and if you watch that video he can really help you relax and think a lot easier about the world. So if you are intrigued by Finkel, believe me you will be fascinated by Tolle!

Sidenote: Tolle’s book A New Earth was recommended to me by somebody who was very close to me and he told me if I was ever confused about the book to contact him and ask him questions while reading the book. I took him up on his offer. I know I am not an expert on his work, but if any of you do end up reading the book, feel free to contact me if you have any questions about it, because it does get confusing!