Greatness - Beyond Abstraction

I find myself plodding through Eckhart Tolle's latest book, A New Earth.  I'm only on chapter 3 - slow going on this end.  Don't get me wrong, I have read his other books and appreciate the brilliance of recognizing how we each create our own heaven or hell, depending upon how we utilize the power of now.  I'm just not a fan of his heady writing style.

A friend suggested that I jump ahead near the end of the book to chapter 9 - "Your Inner Purpose."  Eureka!  This chapter justifies the book.  Tolle illustrates his concepts with a practical dialogue to bring it all home.  I'll be writing several posts on gems in this chapter that resonate for me.

Today's gem - GREATNESS

"The great arises out of small things that are honored and cared for.  Everybody's life really consists of small things.  Greatness is a mental abstraction and a favorite fantasy of the ego.  The paradox is that the foundation for greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment instead of pursuing the idea of greatness.  The present moment is always small in the sense that it is always simple, but concealed within it lies the greatest power."  - Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

Rather than my expounding on this quote, I invite you to respond to it.  If this idea of "greatness" resonates for you, how have you found it true in your own life?  Or you may have another perspective altogether.  Please further the dialogue by sharing a comment.

Comments

[Edgar]

I am so greatful to Eckhart Tolle and Oprah for turning me onto Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and her beautiful book ""My Stroke of Insight"". Her story is amazing and her gift to all of us is a book purchase away I'm happy to say.

Dr Taylor was a Harvard brain scientist when she had a stroke at age 37. What was amazing was that her left brain was shut down by the stroke - where language and thinking occur - but her right brain was fully functioning. She experienced bliss and nirvana and the way she writes about it (or talks about it in her now famous TED talk) is incredible.

What I took away from Dr. Taylor's book above all, and why I recommend it so highly, is that you don't have to have a stroke or take drugs to find the deep inner peace that she talks about. Her book explains how. ""I want what she's having"", and thanks to this wonderful book, I can! Thank you Dr. Taylor, and thank you Eckhart and Oprah.

[Deb Call]

Thanks for sharing the book recommendation, Edgar. I'm aware of her story. It is easy to "forget" that deep inner peace is within our grasp!

[Tom Volkar / Delightful Work]

Hey Deb, thank you friend for me. I was also reading The New earth at the speed of sludge. So when I came over here to see what you were up to I jumped on the idea of reading Chapter 9.

Yes the dialog is much more understandable to me as well. I think the only problem he has with greatness is when we place it in the future. I love this quote.

"What the world doesn't tell you - because it doesn't know - is that you cannot become successful. You can only be successful." I replaced success with great. What do you think?

You cannot become great. You can only be great.

[Deb Call]

I was also struck with that quote on success too, Tom. I think it applies to greatness as well. It still comes down to getting that inner alignment first. It's the "being" that directs the "doing." So hard for we Westerners to remember that!