I've heard so many great things about this book (Oprah certainly raves about it enough), so I figured it was time to pick it up. And while I found Tolle's ideas interesting and intriguing, I also found the book dense and difficult to follow. Maybe this is my failing, and I'm not "awakened" enough. He does state that if you find the book incomprehensible, you just haven't awoken yet. I didn't find it incomprehensible, but I certainly had a lot of questions while reading along. Tolle would probably say that's just my ego wanting to understand everything rather than letting my consciousness accept things as they are. If so, what can I say? That's a human failing I wholeheartedly recognize.

Some of Tolle's ideas on ego and the pain-body made me raise my eyebrows. My inner skeptic has a hard time giving so much credit to an "entity" that seems outside our control. It feels a little too easy to play the victim in that way. "I'm not an asshole; it's my pain-body!"

At the same time, I agree with much of what he says about the power of presence. I'm also all-in on the incredible peace that comes with accepting reality as it is rather than trying to control and manipulate it. Like many spiritual books I've read, this one can go a little too far into the "woo" for me, yet much of the content is practical and approachable as well. ( )

Ok, I found this book to be mind blowing. In a good way. Yet I can easily see someone else reading it and saying "what a bunch of bunk." I think how you perceive this book will totally depend on your stage of life and the degree to which you are spiritual and the degree to whether that spirituality is primarily derived from your religion or not. I consider myself to be an atheist, yet this book had a religious overtone to it that I could totally embrace. The theories in this book are complex. It is not an easy read by any means. But I think there is a great truth to its message. In some ways, it delivers a similar message as The Shack, but with much, much more finesse and with some guidance on HOW to actually achieve peace and happiness in your life. The major message of the book is that it is absolutely of the utmost importance to recognize that life is nothing more than a series of moments that take place NOW. It puts forth a fascinating theory that our personality really consists of "ego" and then our true selves. "Ego" according to the book is the part of ourselves that is thinking and evaluating all the time. It's the part that worries. It's the part that wants. But it isn't our true personhood. The book helps you to realize that the ego can be a barrier to relationships and how to put ego in its place.

The reason I only give it four stars is that I thought the first and last chapters really weren't representative of the rest of the book. The first chapter seems way too new-agey and hard to comprehend. And the last chapter also had too many religious overtones to me and strayed away from the focus on the individual's peace and happiness. But the rest is just GREAT. Challenging and thought provoking to read, but the type of book that could change your life. I think it changed mine. ( )

Eckhart Tolle nos enseña en esta nueva obra que tenemos la oportunidad de construir un mundo nuevo y mejor. Esto supone una revisión radical del papel de la conciencia, identificada con el propio ego, que debería convertirse en el instrumento de una comprensión distinta y profunda de quiénes somos. Para que esto ocurra, las mismas estructuras de la mente humana necesitarían experimentar una transformación. En Una nueva Tierra Tolle muestra cómo puede producirse dicha transformación, no sólo en nosotros sino en el mundo que nos rodea.

I had thought about reading Tolle's The Power of Now, but whenever I picked it up and thumbed through it it didn't capture me. When Oprah announced that she was doing her webinar on A New Earth I thought I might consider it. Then my boss asked me if I'd be willing to lead a book group on it (I worked in a bookstore) and I said sure. I love book groups. So, I read it for the group. We've been meeting once a week and discussing the book chapter by chapter. Tolle's ideas are very Buddhist and Louise Hay, so for me there wasn't anything really new in this book. I've read enough self-help/metaphysical/spiritual stuff to know there's nothing really new out there...authors just put their ideas together differently and so different authors appeal to different readers. We need the variety and I know I also need to hear positive messages over and over and over. One concept of Tolle's that I have found both fascinating and helpful in my own life is that of the Painbody. I'm very happy to have read the book, and thrilled to have met the wonderful group of people who have been coming to the discussion group each week. ( )

Immersed ... ( )