Eckhart Tolle & Sri Aurobindo: Two Perspectives on Enlightenment

Originally this book was meant to share the thoughts of a seeker with those who, like him, feel drawn to the teachings of Eckhart Tolle. So, the first draft of the manuscript was written with a view to presenting Eckhart's teaching from the perspective of Sri Aurobindo's yoga, of which the writer has been a practitioner for over five decades. Eckhart, who graciously read the manuscript and expressed his appreciation for it, suggested that I make a comparison between his teaching and that of Sri Aurobindo. I had generally desisted from making such a comparison — even though part of me was inclined to do so — in view of what Eckhart has said in the Introduction to his book The Power of Now: "The mind always wants to categorize and compare, but this book will work better for you if you do not attempt to compare its terminology with that of other teachings; otherwise, you will probably become confused." I have kept in mind these words of Eckhart while writing the present version of this book, in which I have tried to compare the teaching of Eckhart with that of Sri Aurobindo in a way that would not confuse the reader. The comparison is meant to help toward a better understanding of both Eckhart's teaching and that of Sri Aurobindo.