Currently Reading: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

My recent book shopping was quite fruitful. I end up buying 2 books, one of them is A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle.
I've been watching the Oprah Show almost daily after work, as it comes on the Hallmark channel at 8pm on week days. The episodes are usually good (it's Oprah!) and inspiring, and I love listening to other's sharing and experiences. Recently the big thing on Oprah is about this book called A New Earth, also listed on Oprah's Book Club. Oprah and Eckhart Tolle had launched a series of online classrooms to cater for worldwide audiences, discussing on the book chapter by chapter. On the show, Oprah interviewed many that had read and was inspired by the book. I was curious. How could a book have that kind of impact on so many people?

Needless to say, that triggered me to grab the book from the shelf, and I got the very last copy in the store. The book keeper had to remove the last copy from the display window for me hehe.

I'm now only 50 pages into the book. I would say it is quite intriguing so far. The book aims to help us in awakening to our life's purpose. To me, it is a whole new philosophy of looking at life itself-- the conscious and unconsciousness; the form and formless. The content is very philosophical, so I can only absorb and comprehend when I'm reading without distractions. I can't quite summarize the chapters here, I'd say it is quite impossible. Even if I could, I wouldn't risk misinterpreting the content, so I won't even try.

Foods for thought...

"A large part of many people's lives is consumed by an obsessive preoccupation with things. This is why one of the ills of our times is object proliferation. When you can no longer feel the life that you are, you are likely to try to fill up your life with things. As a spiritual practice, I suggest that you investigate your relationship with the world of things through self-observation, and in particular, things that are designated with the word "my". You need to be alert and honest to find out, for example, whether your sense of self-worth is bound up with things your possess. Do certain things induce a subtle feeling of importance of superiority? Does the lack of them make you feel inferior to others who own or show them off to increase your sense of worth in someone else's eyes and through them in your own? Do you feel resentful or angry and somehow diminished in your sense of self when someone else has more than you or when you lose a prized possession?"