Product Description

"A New Earth, An Old Deception" is a must-read for thoughtful people seeking more information about Tolle's claims, especially about scripture. In an easy-to-use format, Abanes provides biblical responses to questions raised by Tolle's views, including: Who or what is God - and is God separate from us? Does Tolle accurately interpret the Bible? Is everyone essentially 'One' with all that exists? Is evil real, or do we only perceive it as real? Are all religions equally false/true and do they all teach a single core Truth?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #367650 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 190 pages

From the Author
Review:

I am the author of this book. And I want all of you readers out there to know that this volume is NOT -- I repeat, NOT -- an attack on Eckhart Tolle (or Oprah Winfrey).

On a personal level, I like Eckhart Tolle. As I even note in my book: "He often expresses himself using extraordinarily sincere and heartfelt arguments, poignant observations, and deeply personal anecdotes." I also state very plainly: "[I]t is my sincere belief that Tolle's motivation for teaching what he is teaching is heartfelt and, in his own way, loving -- i.e., he wants people living happier, more fulfilling lives, in full appreciation of how precious they are as individuals. And he also wishes that the world were a better place for everyone; a place with less violence, hatred, strife, anger, and pain. Most of his views, in fact, I must admit, are rooted in his desire to help people escape their suffering -- not only emotional but also physical."

HOWEVER, this does not mean I agree with everything Tolle says, especially when it comes to how his views contradict my own personal experience of knowing "God." So in this world of civil discussion and exchange of ideas, I have offered a different perspective, which hopefully will help others understand why Tolle's views are incompatible with the God-centered spirituality found in the Bible.

My goal was to share my heart, my faith, and yes, even some criticisms of Tolle -- but all in a way that would stimulate not only conversation, but also spiritual growth in ALL of us. This is not about attacking, or hating, or fearing, or ego. It is about forward spiritual progression for everyone through a mutual sharing of those things we hold most sacred and dear.

Do I disagree with Tolle on a number of important issues? Yes. And this book simply expresses why I feel the way I do. And, more importantly, it points to what I believe -- indeed, what I "know" -- is a better way.

Richard Abanes
author, A New Earth, An Old Deception

About the Author
Richard Abanes is a bestselling and award-winning author of twenty books, specializing in the area of cults, the occult, world religions, and pop culture. His most popular titles include The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code, One Nation Under Gods, and Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings. He's written for most major US Christian magazines and in 1997 received The Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in North America for his "outstanding work on intolerance." He has been interviewed on hundreds of radio and TV programs including The 700 Club, Hard Copy, MSNBC, and CNN.

Customer Reviews

A poor wannabe-book, based on a lie and lots of Bible quotations
Mr. Abanes obviously despises Eckhart Tolle to the max. Sometimes he is using more than 10 "diminutives" per page to emotionally underline his position of hatred. A voice similarly used by other doctrinaire sources such as Communism, Nazism or the very same ancient Catholic Church which only too much loved burning people alive for their opinions, not so long ago. While he is superficially polite, under the surface his pain-body is roaring, raging and rampaging against "A New Earth". One could say, Mr. Banes is fluently speaking the language of the ego. This is difficult to read. There is definitely NO gut "feeling" arising, that there is any truth to be told in his writings.

On page 25 he introduces a severe lie about Eckhart Tolles writings.
He claims, Tolle, in his teachings, suggests to measure truth in terms of "feeling". Eckhart Tolle never does such a thing. He categorizes both, "thinking" and "feeling", as something to be AWARE of, since they both can be expressions of the egoic mind. His only measure of truth is that you KNOW it is true, by being fully aware, this knowledge is far beyond thinking or feeling.
Needless to say that Mr. Abanes has no reference for his lie, but nevertheless builds up the remainder of his book on this.

One could say that, in opposition to Mr. Abanes, who "only believes" in God, awakened people KNOW that God is. The thought God could not be, is ridiculous to them.
Mr. Abanes would doubtlessly have written the very same book in the year 30 after Christ was born, about a "certain self-proclaimed spiritual teacher called Jesus".
In fact, taking time out of the equation - this is exactly what he did. He would not see truth if the very truth would hit him in the eye.

The biggest issues with Mr. Abanes is that he completely fails to understand that in Tolles teachings, "Truth" could be exchanged by a word processor with "God". Tolle doesn't use the word "God" because Christians made it such a confusing concept of "a man with a white beard sitting in heaven" that any other spiritual sentence would sound strange. For Mr. Abanes, "truth" is a mental concept, which is nonsense, of course. No mental concept could ever be true.

May he awake at some point in time, but since he is so glued to the "Bible" or "scripture" - the best example of "mixology" which exists - this will be quite difficult. May he then have the joy of reading the Bible and know instantly and without feeling or thinking which sentence is true and which sentence was inserted by other sources.

Mr. Abanes hangs on a very thin rope, called "Religion", scared to death that this rope could fade away. If he could only willingly let go of his rope, he would find that the distance between solid ground and his feet is almost non-existent. Like a cliff hanger dangling over an "abyss" only one millimeter deep.

Or maybe he simply wanted to make some money, writing a book on the back of one of the great teachers of our time. I'm sure, Eckhart Tolle smiles about this as well.

Complete waste of the paper it was printed on
This is just fundamentalist Christian propaganda by someone who is clearly threatened by the notion that 'truth' can exist outwith his own deeply entrenched dogma. This is about as much fun as being preached at by a zealout with a loudspeaker as you are trying to go about your business. The EGO has clearly landed....and I really take offence to the fact they have tried to make the cover as close to 'A New Earth' as possible. Seriously, this book makes me feel queasy.

Missed The Point
Richard Abanes seems to have missed the whole point of "A New Earth.

In fact if he had understood what Eckhart Tolle was saying, this book would probably bee no more than a fleeting thought which never materialised in print.