Ego is no more than this: identification with form, which primarily means thought forms. If evil has any reality--and it has a relative, not an absolute, reality--this is also its definition: complete identification with form--physical forms, thought forms, emotional forms. This results in a total unawareness of my connectedness with the whole, my intrinsic oneness with every "other" as well as with the Source. This forgetfulness is original sin, suffering, delusion. When this delusion of utter separateness underlies and governs whatever I think, say, and do, what kind of world do I create? To find the answer to this, observe how humans relate to each other, read a history book, or watch the news on television tonight. (p. 22)
You might also like: An Excerpt from A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Evil does indeed have absoulute reality and it is not "relative". The purpose of evil is to frustrate and divert humanity from the truth which is found in the Father, Son and Holy Sprit; one need look no further for absolute truth.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! What Eckhart means here when he says evil has only "a relative, not an absolute, reality," is that even those things that appear evil from our limited perspective ultimately serve to further "the Good," or the will of God, in the unfolding of the universal plan, a plan to which we are not privy.
ReplyDeleteAs for your second point, Eckhart says at another point in the book,
"The Catholic and other churches are actually correct when they identify relativism, the belief that there is no absolute truth to guide human behavior, as one of the evils of our times; but you won't find absolute truth if you look for it where it cannot be found: in doctrines, ideologies, sets of rules, or stories. What do all of these have in common? They are made up of thought. Thought can at best point to the truth, but it never is the truth." (p. 70)
In other words, God is being and thus God can only be known on the level of being. God can't be known on the level of ideas. "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" is an idea about God, but these terms are not God.
When we turn off the voice in our heads, the internal monologue, that is when we are only being--not thinking, but being. At that point, when we do that, we can't help but sense God. And we realize that the words and the names and the concepts are utterly inadequate in the presence of such vastness (and this word is too small too). This is the only absolute truth there is and it isn't possible to name or define it.
This is what Eckhart is talking about here.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing up my most favorite E.Tolle excerpt on EGO :-)
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of things I'd like to share: The only absolute reality is "the infinite". Evil exists in human perceptions, not in reality.
The success in avoiding practicing EGO is the ability to recognize you are practicing it. More challenging for some than others. It takes a multifaceted human being to "be aware" of this world we live in...
Thanks,
Dimi