David Robert Ord

What is the purpose of the "crash in the desert" that seems to have to happen in our life if we are ever to enter into the bliss that Eckhart Tolle describes in his books? I'm talking about the abiding peace and exhilarating joy that Jesus knew and invited us to experience. The purpose of life descending into a mess, sending us into an emotional tailspin, is to expose what Eckhart calls our pain-body.

There are people who think we ought to get rid of all talk about the crucifixion of Jesus in the 21st century—that it is a negative, unhelpful, even harmful image. Those who have moved away from Christianity point to how Christendom has even taught people to crucify themselves, put themselves down, subjecting their will to that of others, and actually to feel bad about themselves.

How can you be who you really are in a corporate, government, or nonprofit workplace when you are around giant egos that challenge you and seek to control you and get the better of you day in and day out? An interesting article was sent to me recently entitled "A bigger ego is the only way to truly create ‘A New Earth.'" The author of the article applauds Eckhart Tolle for his impact on the world, then goes on to claim that the real problem in our world isn't that we have an ego, but that our e

In the British television soap EastEnders, an elderly character called Dot says that at lonely times in life, she always had herself, so that she was never totally lonely. Her concern about the fact she's aging is: what if she loses herself as she grows older? All of us are going to lose what we think of as "ourselves." It's an inevitable part of aging. Eventually we shall irrevocably surrender up this mortal form we have experienced.

Do you think you are really someone?If someone believes they are really someone, people tend to think of them as egotistical and maybe even put them down.On the other hand Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham Lincoln, once said to him: "Abe, be someone!"There are two different ways to be someone. One comes from ego, the other from showing up in our life as an authentic person.

When people argue, fight, or fall out with each other and retreat to their corner, it's almost always over some petty issue that doesn't matter a hill of beans in the long run. As the Little Prince is beginning to realize with the love of his life, we take each other far too seriously much of the time, as if the existence of the universe depended on our "position" on an issue prevailing. The antidote to this is to detach from having to get our way.

For many of the earlier years of my life, whenever I had a decision to make about what I ought to do with my life, I sought the input of others. Often I'd discuss and discuss the pros and cons of the various paths that lay before me, going back and forth on them, trying to feel I was doing the "right thing." This "right thing" almost always meant pleasing others with that I decided so I would feel liked and accepted.

Akash Bhairab is a Hindu god, revered by devotees in Nepal as the god of sky protection. The god's symbol is displayed on the aircraft of Nepal's state-run airline. Recently, one of the airline's two Boeing 757 planes has been experiencing a spate of technical difficulties, such as electrical faults. There had been a number of delayed flights in recent weeks due to the problems.

Where does your motivation come from? You hear people urging, "Get motivated!" And there are all kinds of tricks you can use to develop a degree of motivation. The Little Prince's visit to the fifth planet and his talk with the lamplighter reflects the condition of many on our own planet, Earth. The lamplighter is driven by his orders—instructions he was given long ago, but that today no longer match his reality.

Whenever we are caught out, such as being found making an egoic statement we can't back up, we have a tendency to deflect the fact we've been caught out onto the person who caught us. Until we are firmly grounded in consciousness, the state of presence that's our true being, it's just not that easy for us to come clean and simply state, "I shifted into my ego. My true being doesn't believe what I just said at all."