Creation of Now

Exploring the ancient inner tradition of self-knowledge in modern times.

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

Did self-help superstar and celebrity guru #EckhartTolle plagiarise his former teacher Barry Long – whose London sessions Tolle attended 15 years before he was plucked from obscurity by #OprahWinfrey? Compare their writing side-by-side, and decide: https://t.co/kayDSso6hp

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

While the general idea doesn't originate with either, Nicoll's practical, descriptive language (i.e. "gramophone records") was unique. Tolle has striking similarities with Nicoll's expressions. View comparisons of their words here: https://t.co/s0rqUziZUG

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

Coincidence or influence? Eckhart Tolle echoes Maurice Nicoll's earlier writing on self-observation. Both describe thought "monologues" repeating like old "gramophone records" in our heads, that sound like people "muttering to themselves" in the street, but not spoken aloud.

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

Nicoll and Tolle also call this inner monologue "inner talking" or "the voice" respectively, and describe it a negative drain on our energy. Both say we break "identification" with it, and save energy, through practicing "self observation".

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

Uncanny similarities in style and substance. View side-by-side comparisons of Eckhart Tolle vs earlier writers on the spiritual significance of the present moment or ‘now’ (just a small sample of my comparative analysis) https://t.co/8RF1ImPj6o

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

"A higher level of being lies immediately above all of us at this very moment. It does not lie in the future of time but in ourselves at this very moment, now."

- Maurice Nicoll

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

‘Self-Remembering can give a feeling utterly different from . . . hurrying, anxious Time. Essence, being eternal, has not the feelings of Personality which are of Time only.’

- Maurice Nicoll

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

This table comes from my recent article, where you can find more comparison tables, explanatory commentary and citations.
https://t.co/XOW0bTqlL7

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

Is the past living in us? These authors say so. Compare Maurice Nicoll on the 'time-body' to Eckhart Tolle on the 'pain-body.'

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

In his bestsellers, Eckhart Tolle tells us we have a “pain-body” carrying our “living past”—a concept closely resembling ideas in Maurice Nicoll’s earlier writing. How closely? View over 40 similar statements compared side-by-side, and find out.
https://t.co/XOW0bTqlL7 #FourthWay

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

Whatever new insight you gain now will give you an insight into your past and change it. Consciousness is the force that changes us.’

- #MauriceNicoll

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

‘Remember that every stage of slightly increased consciousness begins to alter us and the past. The past is living in us…. Whatever you do now alters the past, as well as the future. . . .

[Gurdjieff Studies @GurdjieffStudy]

"...Change of being begins with changing your reactions to actual incidents of the day. This is the beginning of taking your life in a real and practical sense in a new way."

(#MauriceNicoll)

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

Remember that the [negative] thought can be observed and not allowed to infect the Emotional Centre. But if it is identified with, it will rouse the negative part of Emotional Centre with all its endless miseries.’

- #MauriceNicoll

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

‘Every event can be taken negatively through some thought about it. Events are being offered you every moment. If your thought is unobserved, if you cannot see your thought, you will probably take every event negatively.

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

‘All negative emotions desire to hurt, and at the bottom of them are unlimited forms of violence.’

- #MauriceNicoll

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

Much of what bestselling spiritual author Eckhart Tolle tells us about negative states was described earlier by Fourth Way teacher Maurice Nicoll. Compare their words side-by-side here: https://t.co/vKNTqomq25

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

‘People love their negative emotions. They will not let go of them easily. . . . Has it ever occurred to you that there must be something in negative emotions comparable to a fascinating drug? A drug gets a hold on a person.’

Maurice Nicoll

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

“It is said on the subject of the struggle with negative emotions:
Man must sacrifice his suffering.
‘What could be easier to sacrifice?’ everyone will say. But in reality people would sacrifice anything rather than their negative emotions.”

P.D. Ouspensky

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

Only in this way can we change the nature of events that happen to us.’

- Maurice Nicoll

[Creation of Now @CreationofNow]

‘Since our inner life attracts our outer life, [then] by changing our inner states, starving some and nourishing others, we also alter not only our relation to events coming from outside [us] but even the nature of the events that come to us day by day.