Customer Reviews

Practicing Presence: A Guide for the Spiritual Teacher and Health Practitioner (English and Korean Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is so strange to read these mixed reviews.

For me, just when I thought Eckhart Tolle's words could not get any better (after reading A New Earth & The Power of Now), this is one that helped me learn about the couple questions I have in my head about spiritual "teaching". I am not a health practitioner or a therapist. However, I am always inspired to become a guided meditation "teacher" (but nothing to teach really) some day. This helps me out so much!

Others are entitled to have their own opinions and I fully respect it.

For me, this set of CDs worked beautifully well with these pauses in the middle. He gave us the "pointer" and then there is the space (the pause) right there for us to go beyond thoughts. How beautiful is that (I say to myself).

I understand people's frustrations on Eckhart Tolle's teaching and in all these books, tapes, CDs, DVDs. His words either points our soul to go straight to Nirvana (the NOW and that is it ... no more conceptual thinking of enlightenment or the idea of Nirvana) or you try to analyze his words too much (particularly this CD set) and then lost in the thinking forest without a guiding light.

When one of my friends was in turmoil, I gave her "The Power of Now" and told her that was the best thing to help me out, her feedback to me was that Eckhart Tolle's teaching was too abstract and too deep that she couldn't understand it. I was not offended at all.

However, I learned something here! It is just that one needs to beware that Eckhart Tolle's "Way" is NOT the only way and different people are drawn to the different "teachers"/"authors" they need at the time for personal/professional/spiritual growth. That was a big "Aha" moment for me when I listened to this set of CDs.

Also, I do not think everyone is ready for Eckhart Tolle's teaching because it requires two conditions to make his words work for us. Condition #1 is that we suffered enough in our head to realize fully (body, mind, heart & soul) that we want to let go of the egoic mind dominated thinking and suffering is optional. Condition #2 is the willingness of not analyzing Eckhart Tolle's teaching in our head but instead, just feel the words in the bottom of our hearts. Condition #2 is most essential to get any benefit out of Eckhart Tolle's work.

That is why Eckhart Tolle mentioned before that some people are "not ready" for the more gentle, peaceful self yet. Please beware that "Not Ready" is not judging. It is simply a fact that the "mind" is not ready to give up its control yet. No more ...

I don't recommend beginner of Presence to start off with this set of CDs because it most likely will get one more confused. I suggest "Power of Now" or "A New Earth" first if you were going to ask me for suggestions.

That is all I have to say. You can agree, or disagree to my words. They are just words, which words are always fragmented serving as labels. The most important thing is whether you can find inner peace and serenity for yourself and maybe for others if they choose to join you.

Thank you.

This set of CD's would be more suited as a DVD. There are several long pauses, mostly in the first and last CD. Since the listener cannot see Tolle's "presence" we are sometimes not sure what is happening.
This set is worthwhile, but I would recommend "Through the Open Door" as Eckhart's best CD.

Very useful lecture. As a psychotherapist I am now more confident with situations, where I dont know what to do, what to say. I leave space and somehow answers come...It works. On the other hand I see, that there is no need to mistify such people as Tolle ( somehow superficial knowledge about analytical therapies). Anyway: great wisdom, new aproach, fresh look, "evidence based" work.

Matjaz Lesjak MD

I like this 6 CD set for all of the stuff that usually gets edited or left out of his books and lectures; little things like the influence of astrological configurations ("invisible energies that resonate"), structures or modalities of work, etc. that may encourage or inhibit mindful action,etc., in addition to the usual urge to be here now and connect with the "Inner Body" (feel the chi).
Surely, as a teaching for health-care providers and would-be spiritual teachers, this contains the marrow, but makes no claim on being complete, exclusive, or of ideological correctness. As others have noted, the DVD format might fill in some of what seems to be missing...such as his cute parodies of mind-obsessed neurotics (his facial antics are only to be imagined as the audience laughs), but this isn't much of an objection.
Release date was 2003, before the Oprah 'New Earth' frenzy began.

This is a great set of CD's for someone who is looking for a more in-depth understanding of presence and Tolle's work.

This is a typical Tolle CD. He doesn't come across well by recorded voice, whereas his DVD's are better at transmitting the essence of presence.

It is about "practicing presence" as the title says. However, he does not go into details about how to teach this to others except through living example. Tolle even makes a joke of the fact that he isn't "teaching" a method or technique. A classic non-dual evasion of responsibility.

Basically, it's an okay set if you know presence (which is scintillating ever-nowness) but even then, why bother? It's not worth it if you want some concrete suggestions to help others awaken.