Question: I wonder if you could please share with me your opinion on a question that I have about TLOA.
Esther is all about telling an empowering story and Ekhart is all about no story. She says re-frame it in a positive light and thus shift your vibration and point of attraction. Ekhart says bask in the lightness of being and implies that the goal is much like meditation and meditation is not what you think!
Esther would say “just find something positive to focus on” and yet Ekhart Tolley would say “just observe your inner critic”. The former suggests having a different conversation and the later suggests disconnecting from any conversation. I love them both and yet find it a challenge to know sometimes whether it would be best to just observe my thoughts and thus be in a meditative state or to shift my thoughts and thus actually feel better, quicker… but find myself still in “thought” and thus perhaps not as present as I could be? It’s a bit like the difference between “I think therefore I am” and “I am, therefore I am”. I truly am not just what I eat but what I think and yet again I am beyond thought. “Meditation is not what you think” resonates with Ekhart Tolle (power of now) and “it’s not what happens to us but our thoughts about what happens” resonates with Esther. She says think, Ekhart says, don’t think or do, but as little as necessary. And on the whole, I perceive this to mean “rather focus on your breath than entertain better feeling thoughts”. These guys seem to differ in what they invite us to do it would seem to me.
I recon they are both right and I’m wondering what the synthesis is.
Kindest regards.
Oscar
Answer: Hi Oscar. Thanks for writing in … its a GREAT question.
I’ll post this later on my blog as an ‘Ask Christina’ Q and A, so I’m going to form my reply not only to you, but to others who may also read it.
For those of you who may not know, Oscar is referring and comparing the work of Abraham-Hicks and Eckhart Tolle. And their seemingly contradictory advice.
Funny … I was just at the gym, doing my cardio workout and listening to an mp3 download of Abraham-Hicks recent Mexico cruise … and they answered a similar question from a heavy-duty meditator (nothing ‘funny’ about it really … just another cool sign of being in alignment, yippee!). So I’m primed to answer this one, love how that happens!
First off, both of these people and their respective work is wonderful. I agree with you about the respectful and thoughtful tone you have taken in contemplating your question about their work and approaches and I second it.
Here’s how I would humbly try to answer this one … given the calibre of work we are dialoguing about.
“It depends”. It depends on your own emotional guidance system (your emotions … something Abraham-Hicks teaches alot about). Sometimes its best to do the meditative route (Tolle’s route). And sometimes it is best to reach for a better feeling thought (Abraham-Hicks route).
Meditation is not one thing. It is many, many different states of consciousness. I’m definitely not an expert in this. A great resource is Genpo Roshi’s work or perhaps Ken Wilber (to name two who come to mind … there are definitely lots of others!). There are types of meditation where you are quieting the mind (getting to no thought) that you talk about. And there are types of meditation that get you to other states of consciousness as well (sometimes intentionally and sometimes by an act of grace) … Like the oceanic bliss you are referring to.
From what I understand about Abraham … meditation is something that they recommend to people … especially if the person is lower down the emotional scale and needs to interrupt the negative vibration they are in. No thought is a HUGE improvement from negative thought. Sometimes we are just so down the rabbit hole that we can’t catch a whiff of positive emotion or thought. Sooooo, meditation is a great next step. After a round of meditation, then you try reaching for a more positive thought. You will probably have greater access to it than before your meditation. Abraham tells some lovely and funny stories from Esther’s own life, where she gets her vibe out of whack too and the only thing that helps is meditation.
Abraham suggests many ways (processes) to shift your vibration. Meditation is one of them. Its Process #6 in their ‘Ask and It is Given’ book. I highly recommend this book if you don’t already have it. I use it as the central text in my Merkley’s Manifestation Mastermind course. You can use meditation to great effect from any emotional / vibrational position on their emotional scale (from the depths of despair all the way up to the heights of joy). Because of that, you really can’t go wrong in using meditation as a way to stabilize or enhance your vibe. And they basically say and advise that all the time. Its not an either / or premise. It is ‘yes/and’.
There are also plenty of other things you can do … once your vibration is bathed from a good round of meditation … that will take your thoughts/emotions/vibration to enhanced places. This is where the ‘reach for a better feeling’ approach that you write of comes in. See Ask and It is Given for a bunch of processes to use for when you are higher up the emotional scale. My personal favorites are Positive Aspects, Wouldn’t It Be Nice If and The Focus Wheel (I adore their Focus Wheel exercise and do it several everyday! … see my Soothing Saturday Series for a free call devoted to this wonderful tool).
I hope this has helped Oscar. I have so loved fielding your inquiry. Thank you so much for writing in with such a high level question … love it! Let’s keep the dialogue going if you’d like to respond … this answer will be on my blog soon and you can leave your comments (and so can others) if you care to. I’m curious as to your response and if this helps/clicks.
All the best in getting in the Vortex regularly! Cheers, Christina