A response to the article: “Pushing for the power of now” by Thornton McCamish

at: http://jmm.org.au/articles/21492.htm

Dear Rowland,

In the article entitled, “Pushing for the power of now” by Thornton McCamish, recently posted on your site, it seems to me that we have here yet another example of inept journalism regarding contemporary religion and or spirituality. The article also reflects the current crisis in the newspaper industry where a shrinking number of journalists are being asked to produce more and more copy on subjects they know nothing about and have little time to investigate or research. In this case, ‘The Age’ has asked a travel-writer to assess the life and output of a spiritual teacher, which is a bit like getting a sports-writer to assess the work of an artist or a member of the clergy to assess the research of a scientist.

McCamish’s lack of knowledge and understanding in the spiritual realm is soon demonstrated, for instance, by his associating Eckhart Tolle with ‘spiritualism’ and referring to him as a ‘spiritualist’. McCamish should know, these words have very specific meanings. The term, ‘spiritualism’, has to do with the ‘black art’ of contacting the dead (1Sam. 28:5-25), and a ‘spiritualist’ is defined in the dictionary as a professional clairvoyant who uses spiritualism to predict the future. Tolle is clearly not a spiritualist, nor has he ever advocated the practice of spiritualism … quite the contrary.

A good sub-editor would have picked up this glaring mistake along with unintelligible sentences such as, “TOLLE’s appeal is not so much what it promises to give you, but what it as well as physical — resentment, anger, jealousy, shame, dissatisfaction”, but apparently ‘The Age’ could no longer afford this luxury.

Commenting on the huge popularity of Tolle’s books, ‘The Power of Now’ and ‘A New Earth’, McCamish, perhaps feeling some envy as a less successful author himself, gives no credit whatever to Tolle’s literary ability, the content of his writing or the aptness of his teaching, but rather attributes Tolle’s best-selling author status entirely to Oprah Winfrey’s public praise and endorsement of his books.

McCamish also gives the impression that while it’s OK for a writer on secular subjects to make money from his labours, it’s not OK for a writer on spirituality to earn a lot of money by his books selling millions of copies, and the fact that Tolle has now achieved this is somehow an indication of gross materialism and reader-exploitation.

It’s laughable that McCamish suggests through the mouths of certain ‘anonymous’ critics that Tolle is but “the latest celebrity swami to strike it rich with a congenial porridge of Buddhism lite and fuzzy nostrums magpied from all over”. You can almost hear one pharisees saying with a sneer to a colleague at a much earlier time that this Jesus is “merely a self-appointed rabbi courting popularity with a congenial porridge of Judaism lite and petty parables magpied from all over.” This same Jesus, it should be remembered, warned that if people said unjust and insulting things about him, they would certainly say or write them about those who followed in his steps.

And while we are mentioning warnings given by the Master, it should be noted that not a single time did Jesus ever warn his hearers about other religions in general nor about non-dual spirituality in particular. Rather, he said, “Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.” (Luke 9:49-50). In his books, Tolle quotes or refers to Jesus quite frequently and more than any other religious leader, including the Buddha. With great respect, he seeks to clarify or explain the words of Jesus on numerous occasions. Not even Tolle’s strongest critics would maintain that he is against the Master or his teachings, so according to scripture, one would have to say Tolle is for Jesus, and that he is not the antichrist that some fundamentalists have asserted him to be.

The whole tone of McCamish’s dismissive article put me in mind of Nathaniel’s casual comment, recorded in John 1:46 … “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” as if nothing good or spiritually wholesome could ever come from the tongue or pen of a German emigrant now living in Vancouver. Fortunately Philip didn’t argue but said simply to Nathaniel, “Come and see.” With Tolle’s video clips freely available on the Internet and his planned speaking at events in Australia in March, 2009, that invitation is extended once again to all with open hearts and minds, “Come and see”.

As an past mission-leader and one seasoned in Evangelicalism, I first read Tolle’s book, ‘The Power of Now’ in 2001 and have since read it and his second book, ‘A New Earth’, several times. I can only say that the timeless truth that Tolle points to so clearly has brought about a great deepening and freedom I had not known before. It was through Tolle’s pointers that I finally found the Pearl of great price and understood what the ‘buying’ of it truly entailed. It was Tolle who enabled me to finally see what Jesus meant when he spoke of, “I in you and you in me”, and what it was to become an ‘awakened’ partaker of the divine nature … *some* help!!!

As McCamish almost derisively sums up Tolle’s teaching, “Awakening is all. As long as we’re unawakened, we’re all victims of our neurotic egos, unconsciously addicted to resentment and anger, the pain of wanting.” Actually, this also reflects the urgent message of scripture, “Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” (Eph. 5:14) In awakening, not only are we enlightened by the Christ light or consciousness within, but we become, as the Master said, the light of the world, bringing the light of a new consciousness into this world through a transformed life.

McCamish is at least honest enough to admit he is one of the ‘unconscious’ so to speak, yet I notice this does not deter him from dismissing Tolle or damning him with the faintest of praise. He reminds me of the woman who rushed into an art gallery and made a superficial tour of the exhibits. “Are these the masterpieces I’ve heard so much about?” she asked, in a scornful tone of voice. “I can’t see anything in them.” Quietly, the curator said, “But madam, don’t you wish you could?”

Rowland, I hope you will post my small contribution here as a balance to the McCamish article which I feel is very one-sided.

With all good wishes,

Pete Sumner

Clearsight