It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Disease. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2010.

Illness (sometimes referred to as ill-health or ailment) is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease.^[1] Others maintain that fine distinctions exist.^[2] Some have described illness as the subjective perception by a patient of an objectively defined disease.^[3]

Introduction[link]

The mode of being healthy includes, as defined by the World Health Organization, " [...] a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". ^[4] When these conditions are not fulfilled, then one can be considered to have an illness or be ill. Medication and the science of pharmacology is used to cure or reduce symptoms of an illness or medical conditions. Developmental disability is a term used to describe severe, life-long disabilities attributable to mental and/or physical impairments.

Physical[link]

Conditions of the body or mind that cause pain, dysfunction, or distress to the person afflicted or those in contact with the person can be deemed an illness. Sometimes the term is used broadly to include injuries, disabilities, syndromes, infections, symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts these may be considered distinguishable categories. A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. A passenger virus is a virus that simply hitchhikes in the body of a person or infects the body without causing symptoms, illness or disease. Foodborne illness or food poisoning is any illness resulting from the consumption of food contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites.

Adaptive response[link]

According to evolutionary medicine, much illness is not directly caused by an infection or body dysfunction but is instead a response created by the body. Fever, for example, is not caused directly by bacteria or viruses but by the body raising its normal human body temperature, which some people believe inhibits the growth of the infectious organism. Evolutionary medicine calls this set of responses sickness behavior.^[5][6][7] These include such illness defining health changes as lethargy, depression, anorexia, sleepiness, hyperalgesia, and the inability to concentrate. These together with fever are caused by the brain through its top down control upon the body. They are, therefore, not necessary, and often do not accompany an infection (such as the lack of fever during malnutrition or late pregnancy) when they have a cost that outweighs their benefit. In humans, an important factor are beliefs that influence whether the health management system in the brain that evaluates costs and benefits deploys them or not. The health management system, when it factors in false information, has been suggested to underlie the placebo reduction of illness.^[8]

Mental[link]

Mental illness (or Emotional disability, Cognitive dysfunction) is a broad generic label for a category of illnesses that may include affective or emotional instability, behavioral dysregulation, and/or cognitive dysfunction or impairment. Specific illnesses known as mental illnesses include major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to name a few. Mental illness can be of biological (e.g., anatomical, chemical, or genetic) or psychological (e.g., trauma or conflict) origin. It can impact one’s ability to work or go to school and contribute to problems in relationships. Other generic names for mental illness include “mental disorder”, “psychiatric disorder”, “psychological disorder”,“abnormal psychology”, “emotional disability”, “emotional problems”, or “behavior problem”. The term insanity is used technically as a legal term. Brain damage may result in impairment of mental function.

Study of illness[link]

Epidemiology is the scientific study of factors affecting the health and illness of individuals and populations, and serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventive medicine.

Behavioral medicine is an interdisciplinary field of medicine concerned with the development and integration of psychosocial, behavioral and biomedical knowledge relevant to health and illness. Clinical Global Impression scale to assess treatment response in patients with mental disorders. It's " Improvement scale" requires the clinician to rate how much the patient's illness has improved or worsened relative to a baseline state. Mental confusion and decreased alertness may indicate that a chronic illness has gotten worse.

See also[link]

• Convalescence
• Wellness (alternative medicine) is used to mean a healthy balance of the mind-body and spirit that results in an overall feeling of well-being.
• Sickness behavior

References[link]

Elyn Saks is Associate Dean and Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Gould Law School and an expert in mental health law.^[1][2]

She suffers from schizophrenia and has written about her experience with the illness in her autobiography, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness published by Hyperion Books, 2007.^[3] Dr. Saks is in training as a psychoanalyst in Southern California.

Saks says "there’s a tremendous need to implode the myths of mental illness, to put a face on it, to show people that a diagnosis does not have to lead to a painful and oblique life".^[4] In recent years, researchers have begun talking about mental health care in the same way addiction specialists speak of recovery — the lifelong journey of self-treatment and discipline that guides substance abuse programs. The idea remains controversial: managing a severe mental illness is more complicated than simply avoiding certain behaviors.^[5] Approaches include "medication (usually), therapy (often), a measure of good luck (always) — and, most of all, the inner strength to manage one’s demons, if not banish them".^[4] That strength can come from any number of places, these former patients say: love, forgiveness, faith in God, a lifelong friendship. Saks says "we who struggle with these disorders can lead full, happy, productive lives, if we have the right resources".^[4]

Awards[link]

• 2009 MacArthur Fellows Program ^[6][7]

Works[link]

• The Center Cannot Hold:, ISBN 978-1-4013-0138-5
• Refusing Care: Forced Treatment and the Rights of the Mentally Ill, ISBN 978-0-226-73397-5
• Interpreting Interpretation: The Limits of Hermeneutic Psychoanalysis, ISBN 978-0-300-07603-5
• Jekyll on Trial: Multiple Personality Disorder and Criminal Law, ISBN 978-0-8147-9764-8

See also[link]

• Robert Whitaker
• Peter Breggin
• James Gottstein
• Peter Lehmann
• Anatomy of an Epidemic
• Anti-psychiatry
• David Oaks

References[link]

External links[link]

• Interview from National Public Radio
• USC Gould Webpage
• Interview on The Charlie Rose Talk Show

Ruby Wax
At the 2007 BAFTA awards
Birth name	Ruby Wachs[1]
Born	(1953-04-19) 19 April 1953 (age 59)[2] Evanston, Illinois, USA
Nationality	American
Years active	1970s-present
Genres	Alternative comedy
Spouse	Ed Bye

Ruby Wax (born 19 April 1953) is an American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s.

Early life[link]

Wax was born Ruby Wachs, the daughter of Jewish parents who left Austria in 1939 because of the Nazi threat.^[3] Her father became wealthy as a sausage manufacturer^[4] and her mother qualified as an accountant. Wax was raised in Evanston, Illinois in the 1950s and 60s. Wax elected to major in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Early career[link]

Wax came to the UK and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She began her acting career as a straight actress at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, where she began a long-standing writing and directing partnership with Alan Rickman, who later was to direct most of her stage comedy shows.^[5] In 1978, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, working alongside Juliet Stevenson in Measure for Measure, as Jaquenetta opposite Michael Hordern in Love's Labours Lost, replacing Zoë Wanamaker as Jane in The Way of the World^[5] and appearing in the Howard Brenton three-hander Sore Throats.^[6] While at the RSC, Wax also met and befriended Ian Charleson, and later contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute.^[7]

Wax made a one-off appearance in a 1980 episode of The Professionals, Bloodsports, playing Lonnie, an American student. In 1981, she appeared in the follow up to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, called Shock Treatment. In the film, Wax portrays Betty Hapschatt, who got married to Ralph Hapschatt in the first film. Wax also appeared briefly as a secretary in Omen III: The Final Conflict.

Comedic Work[link]

Her popularity in terms of comedy came from her interviewing technique: she was always forthright, brash and loud, conforming to the British stereotype of an American. Her physical appearance matched this image, with red hair and blood-red lipstick. She cemented this trademark image in 1985, when she starred as loud-mouthed American actress Shelley DuPont on the British sitcom Girls On Top. According to a BBC Arena documentary narrated by Dawn French it was Wax's role as backstage interviewer at Amnesty International's 1987 benefit show The Secret Policeman's Third Ball that eventually boosted her career to a higher level.^{[citation needed]}

Many of her early television shows involved her being put into a situation where she simply met and interviewed people, mostly extraordinary members of the public (including a memorable visit to pre-breakup Soviet Russia). In 1987, Wax was given her own comedy chat show Don't Miss Wax, on Channel 4. She was also hired as a radio presenter by The Superstation, an overnight sustaining service for commercial radio in the UK.^[8]

In December 1989, she appeared in the Red Dwarf episode "Timeslides" as an American reporter.

Wax began work with the BBC in 1991 in a variety of television documentaries and interview programs, similar in tone to her 1980s work on the UK's Channel 4. Programs on alternative health and primetime interviews culminated in the mid 1990s with Wax's 1996 series Ruby Wax Meets, for the BBC in which she interviewed public figures such as Imelda Marcos and Pamela Anderson.^[9] Wax was nominated in 1996 for a BAFTA award for her interview with Sarah, Duchess of York, an interview which attracted an audience of over 14 million viewers.^[10]

She also made several guest appearances in Absolutely Fabulous, a programme on which she served as script editor throughout the run of the series.^[11]

From November 2001 to June 2002 Wax presented a TV quiz show broadcast on BBC1 called The Waiting Game.^[9] Her final BBC interview series aired in 2003.

Writing, Academia, Corporate Training and Returns to Television and Stage[link]

In 2002 Wax authored her memoir, How Do You Want Me? which became a bestseller according to The Sunday Times bestseller list.

In March 2003, Wax was one of the celebrity contestants on Comic Relief does Fame Academy, which was a spin-off from the BBC's Fame Academy with all proceeds donated to Comic Relief. Although not a singer, Wax made it to the final, taking runner-up position to Will Mellor.^[12]

Wax appeared in a supporting role opposite Olivia Williams and Andie MacDowell in the 2005 film Tara Road. In September and October 2005, she appeared as a celebrity contestant in Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, progressing through to Sale of the Century before getting knocked out. In summer 2006, she was a celebrity showjumper in the BBC's Sport Relief event Only Fools On Horses. She presented Cirque de Celebrité on Sky One in 2006. Wax also appeared in an episode of Jackass where she was participating in the Gumball 3000. While the race was stopped at the Latvian border she was wrestled by Jackass Personality Chris Pontius.

In March 2009, Wax returned to Comic Relief to take part in Comic Relief Does The Apprentice. Wax appeared in the 2010 Comic Relief in Comic Relief Does Master Chef in which Wax prepared an appetizer for the Prime Minister, David Cameron.

On April 1, 2009, Ruby Wax Goes Dutch premiered on Dutch television network Net5.

Wax's 2010 standup show Losing It deals with her experience of depression.^[13][14] The show played in London at The Duchess Theater in 2011. Wax founded a mental health website in 2011 in response to the audience reaction from her theater show.^[15]

In addition, Wax teaches business communication in both the public and private sector, clients include Deutsche Bank, the UK Home Office and Skype^[16] .

Currently, Wax is attending Kellogg College at Oxford University to obtain a Master's Degree in mindfulness based cognitive therapy, having previously obtained a postgraduate certificate in psychotherapy and counselling from Regents College in London.^[17]

Controversies[link]

Popetown[link]

In 2004, the BBC planned to show a cartoon series called Popetown, which poked fun at the Roman Catholic Church. In it, Wax portrayed the Pope as a spoiled child. After protests, the BBC chose not to show the series.^[18]

Slander case[link]

In February 2004, Irish broadcaster Patricia Danaher reached an out-of-court settlement with Wax, who had initially claimed that Danaher had made racist remarks about her Jewish origins in an interview for Ulster TV. Wax's legal team apologised and announced that there had been a financial settlement.^[19]

Opposition to disabled-access ramp[link]

In November 2005, Wax was criticised by the Daily Mail columnist Richard Kay for opposing a proposed disabled-access ramp for the nearby Couper Collection charitable art gallery. The UK Sunday newspaper The Observer also reported the controversy,^[20] as did the act "I, Ludicrous" in "The Ruby Wax Song", from their Dirty Washing 2008 EP.

Personal life[link]

Wax is married to television producer and director Ed Bye, who produces some of the series of her long-time friends and working partners, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Wax and Bye have three children together: one son, Max (b. 1988), and two daughters, Madeleine (b. 1990) and Marina (b. 1993).^[21]

Interview Programs & Documentaries[link]

• Don't Miss Wax, Channel 4, 1987-1988
• Miami Memoirs, Channel 4, 1988
• East Meets Wax, Channel 4, 1988
• Class of '69, Channel 4 1989
• Wax on Wheels, Channel 4, 1988-1989
• Ruby Takes a Trip, BBC, 1991
• The Full Wax, BBC, 1991–1993
• Ruby Wax Meets..., BBC, 1994–1998
• Ruby's American Pie, BBC, 1999
• Ruby Gets Streetwise, BBC, 2000
• Ruby, BBC 1997-2002
• Ruby Wax With..., BBC, 2003

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile from her agent's page
• Ruby Wax at the Internet Movie Database
• Wax in the RSC performance database
• Ruby's Room, Ruby Wax's web show on BBC Headroom, where she regularly interviewed people with different mental health conditions.
• Ruby Wax discussion her choice of a great life on the BBC Radio 4 program Great Lives, first broadcast on 1 May 2009.

Eckhart Tolle
Born	Ulrich Leonard Tolle 1948 (age 63–64) Lünen, Germany
Occupation	Writer, public speaker
Language	English, German
Genres	Spirituality, psychology, metaphysics
Notable work(s)	The Power of Now (1997) A New Earth (2005)
Influences Tao Te Ching, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Bible, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Rumi, Thomas à Kempis, Meister Eckhart, Hafiz, Rinzai Gigen, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Ramana Maharshi
www.eckharttolle.com

Eckhart Tolle (German pronunciation: [ˈɛk.haʁt ˈtʰɔ.lə], English: /ˈɛ.kʰɑrt ˈtʰɒ.lə/; born 1948) is a German-born Canadian resident, best known as the author of the The Power of Now and A New Earth, which were written in English. In 2011, he was listed by the Watkins Review as the most spiritually influential person in the world.^[1] In 2008, a New York Times writer called Tolle "the most popular spiritual author in the [United States]."^[2]

Tolle says he was depressed for much of his life until he underwent, at age 29, an "inner transformation", then spent several years wandering and unemployed "in a state of deep bliss" before becoming a spiritual teacher. Later, he moved to North America where he began writing his first book, The Power of Now, which was published in 1997^[3] and reached the New York Times Best Seller lists in 2000.^[4] Tolle settled in Vancouver, Canada, where he has lived for more than a decade.

The Power of Now and A New Earth sold an estimated three million and five million copies respectively in North America by 2009.^[5] In 2008, approximately 35 million people participated in a series of 10 live webinars with Tolle and television talk show presenter Oprah Winfrey.^[5] Tolle's books and teachings have stimulated much commentary from theologians and journalists.^[6] Tolle is not identified with any particular religion, but his work has been influenced by a wide range of spiritual teachings.^[7]

Early life and education[link]

Born Ulrich Leonard Tolle in Lünen, Germany in 1948,^[2][6][8] Tolle describes his childhood as unhappy, particularly his early childhood in Germany. There, his parents fought and eventually separated, and he felt alienated from a hostile school environment.^[9] While playing in buildings destroyed by Allied bombs during World War Two, Tolle felt depressed by his experience of "pain in the energy field of the country".^[10] At the age of 13, he moved to Spain to live with his father.^[9] Tolle's father did not insist that his son attend high school, and so Tolle elected to study literature, astronomy and language at home.^[6][9]

At the age of 19, Tolle moved to England and for three years taught German and Spanish at a London school for language studies.^[11] Troubled by "depression, anxiety and fear", he began "searching for answers" in his life.^[9] At age 22 or so he decided to pursue this search by studying philosophy, psychology, and literature, and enrolled in the University of London.^[9] After graduating^[9] he was offered a scholarship to do research at Cambridge University as a postgraduate student and was admitted there in 1977.^[6][7]

Inner transformation[link]

One night in 1977, at the age of 29, after having suffered from long periods of suicidal depression, Tolle says he experienced an "inner transformation."^[7] That night he awakened from his sleep, suffering from feelings of depression that were "almost unbearable," but then experienced a life-changing epiphany.^[9] Recounting the experience, Tolle says,

I couldn’t live with myself any longer. And in this a question arose without an answer: who is the ‘I’ that cannot live with the self? What is the self? I felt drawn into a void! I didn’t know at the time that what really happened was the mind-made self, with its heaviness, its problems, that lives between the unsatisfying past and the fearful future, collapsed. It dissolved. The next morning I woke up and everything was so peaceful. The peace was there because there was no self. Just a sense of presence or “beingness,” just observing and watching.^[11]

Tolle recalls going out for a walk in London the next morning, and finding that “everything was miraculous, deeply peaceful. Even the traffic."^[9] The feeling continued, and he began to feel a strong underlying sense of peace in any situation.^[5] Tolle stopped studying for his doctorate, and for a period of about two years after this he spent much of his time sitting, “in a state of deep bliss," on park benches in Russell Square, Central London, "watching the world go by.” He stayed with friends, in a Buddhist monastery, or otherwise slept rough on Hampstead Heath. His family thought him “irresponsible, even insane."^[11] Tolle changed his first name from Ulrich to Eckhart, by some reports in homage to the German philosopher and mystic, Meister Eckhart,^[6][8][12] by other reports he was drawn to that name coincidentally.^[13]

Career[link]

After this period, former Cambridge students and people he had met by chance began to ask Tolle about his beliefs. He began working as a counselor and spiritual teacher.^[7] Students continued to come to him over the next five years. He relocated to Glastonbury, three hours west of London, a major centre of alternative living.^[11] In 1995, after having visited the West Coast of North America several times, he settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he met his wife to be, Kim Eng.^{[7][9][14][15]}

Tolle's first book, The Power of Now, was first published in 1997 by Namaste Publishing.^[3][5] Only 3000 copies were published of the first edition. Tolle: "I would personally deliver a few copies every week to some small bookstores in Vancouver ... Friends helped by placing copies of the book in spiritual bookstores farther afield".^[3] The book was first published under copyright by New World Library in 1999.^[3][7] In 2000, Oprah Winfrey recommended it in her magazine, O.^[12] In August 2000 it reached the New York Times Best Seller list for Hardcover Advice.^[4] After two more years, it was number one on that list.^[16] By 2008, the book had been translated from English into 33 languages;^[3][5][7] since then, it has been translated into Arabic.^[17] Tolle published his second book, Stillness Speaks, in 2003.^[18] In July 2011, The Power of Now appeared on the list for the 10 best selling Paperback Advice books for the 102nd time.^[19]

In 2005, Tolle published his third book, A New Earth,^[2][20] which assumed the number one position on the New York Times Best Seller list several times between March and September 2008.^[21][22] By the end of 2008, it reached the list for the 46th time.^[23] The high sales of A New Earth in that year followed its selection by Oprah Winfrey for her book club in January.^[7] In the four weeks following the announcement, 3.5 million copies of the book were shipped.^[24] Tolle partnered with her to produce a series of webinar sessions beginning in May 2008.^[24] The weekly webinar sessions included discussions between Tolle and Winfrey, silent meditations, and questions from viewers via Skype.^[6] Each webinar focused on a specific chapter of A New Earth.^[6] The third webinar attracted more than 11 million viewers.^[6]

Tolle formed a company to sell products related to his teachings called Eckhart Teachings.^[25] He gives speeches and workshops in English and occasionally in German or Spanish.^[14] He also travels for various speaking engagements, such as seminars and retreats.^[14][26] In a 2003 interview with the Telegraph Magazine, Tolle indicated that he had no intention of creating "a heavy commercial structure", nor of setting up an ashram or centre. He believes one "could develop organically"^[11] and said "one needs to be careful that the organization doesn’t become self-serving".^[5]

In 2009, he created a video website, called Eckhart Tolle TV.^[5] In June 2009, Tolle and Jim Carrey headlined the first conference of the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment, or GATE, where both are Honorary Founders.^{[27] [28]} In September, he appeared with the Dalai Lama and other speakers at the Vancouver Peace Summit.^[29][30] His most recent book, Guardians of Being, is a picture book illustrated by Patrick McDonnell, the creator of the comic strip Mutts.^[5][31]

Teachings[link]

A plaque on a park bench, facing Sacramento River, Redding, California

Tolle writes in the introduction to his second book, Stillness Speaks, that "A true spiritual teacher does not have anything to teach in the conventional sense of the word, does not have anything to give or add to you, such as new information, beliefs, or rules of conduct. The only function of such a teacher is to help you remove that which separates you from the truth ... The words are no more than signposts."^[18]

Tolle says that his book, The Power of Now, is "a restatement for our time of that one timeless spiritual teaching, the essence of all religions".^[32] He writes that religions "have become so overlaid with extraneous matter that their spiritual substance has become almost completely obscured",^[32] that they have become "to a large extent ... divisive rather than unifying forces" and become "themselves part of the insanity".^[33]

Tolle writes that "the most significant thing that can happen to a human being [is] the separation process of thinking and awareness" and that awareness is "the space in which thoughts exist".^[34] Tolle says that "the primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it".^[35]

According to Tolle's official website, "at the core of Tolle's teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego-based state of consciousness. This is a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for the ending of violent conflict endemic on our planet".^[14]

In his book A New Earth, Tolle describes a major aspect of the human dysfunction as "ego" or an "illusory sense of self"^[36] based on unconscious identification with one's memories and thoughts,^[37] and another major aspect he calls "pain-body"^[7] or "an accumulation of old emotional pain".^[38]

Tolle often talks about the relevance of figures in intellectual or popular culture. In A New Earth, he quotes Descartes, Sartre, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Albert Einstein.^[2][12][20] He has spoken of movies such as Groundhog Day, American Beauty, The Horse Whisperer, Gran Torino, Titanic, Avatar, Being There, and Forrest Gump,^[12][27][39] and musicians such as Mozart, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. He arranged an album of music in 2008 entitled Music to Quiet the Mind including work composed by Eric Satie, Claude Debussy and The Beatles, and music by contemporary artists such as Deva Premal, Jeff Johnson and Steve Roach.

Influences[link]

According to a 2009 article in the New York Times, Tolle is "not identified with any religion, but uses teachings from Zen Buddhism, Sufism, Hinduism and the Bible".^[7] Tolle has said "I feel actually that the work I do is a coming together of the teaching 'stream', if you want to call it that, of [Jiddu] Krishnamurti and Ramana Maharshi".^[9] Tolle himself has mentioned texts such as the Tao Te Ching, the Bhagavad Gita and other Hindu scriptures, the Buddhist scriptures, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and A Course in Miracles; he has mentioned various individuals such as Zoroaster, Lao Tzu, Mahavira, Siddhārtha Gautama, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Jesus, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Rumi, Meister Eckhart, Hafiz, Rinzai Gigen, Ralph Waldo Emerson; and he has emphasised the mystical schools within religions such as Gnosticism in Christianity, Sufism in Islam, Hasidism and Kabbala in Judaism, Advaita Vedanta in Hinduism, and Zen and Dzogchen in Buddhism. He has met and spoken with Barry Long and Don Miguel Ruiz, and he wrote a foreword for The Diamond in Your Pocket by Gangaji.^{[3][9][12][20][26][40]}

At the age of fifteen Tolle read several books written by the German mystic Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken, also known as Bô Yin Râ. Tolle has said he responded "very deeply" to those books.^[9]

Reception[link]

In 2008, an article in the New York Times referred to Tolle as "the most popular spiritual author in the [United States]".^[2] In 2011, the Watkins Review put him at number 1 in a list of "The 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People".^[1][41] By 2009, total sales of The Power of Now and A New Earth in North America had been estimated at three million and five million copies respectively.^[5]

The books have received a wide range of praise and criticism. One book reviewer characterized The Power of Now as "awash in spiritual mumbo-jumbo", while another reviewer wrote, "Tolle's clear writing and the obvious depth of his experience and insight set it apart".^[42][43] Celebrity admirers of the book include Tony Hawks, Annie Lennox, Gillian Anderson, Jeff Goldblum, Zach Galifianakis, Oprah Winfrey, Ben Stiller, Brett Kirk, Meg Ryan, Jim Carrey, Trey Anastasio, Michelle Ang, Rainn Wilson and Dusty Baker.^{[6][7][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]}

Some critics characterize Tolle's books as unoriginal, or even derivative. A 2009 New York Times article said he is "hardly the first writer to tap into the American longing for meaning and success".^[2] Sara Nelson, the editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly, said Tolle's writings have been successful due to surging public interest in books that tell you how to be more happy, peaceful, successful.^[2] James Robinson in The Observer called Tolle's writings "a mix of pseudo-science, New Age philosophy, and teaching borrowed from established religions".^[51]

However, others praise his re-working and synthesis of traditions. Professor and author William Bloom wrote that "Tolle is offering a very contemporary synthesis of Eastern spiritual teaching, which is normally so clothed in arcane language that it is incomprehensible", thereby providing "a valuable perspective on Western culture". Publisher Judith Kendra says, "The ideas [that Tolle is] talking about have been in existence for thousands of years in both Eastern texts and with the great Western mystics, but he's able to make them understandable".^[6] Musician Annie Lennox said "[Tolle] has some kind of special quality that I've never encountered before".^[6] Baha’i scholar and poet Jack McLean said "Tolle is no new-age armchair guru, but one who has experienced a radically genuine spiritual transformation ... He draws on a number of spiritual traditions, including Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism, but he has developed his own original formulation based on personal experience. He remains humble, good-humoured and unaffected by his popular success".^[52]

Reception by Christian theologians[link]

Some Christian scholars have spoken against Tolle's teachings. James Beverley, Professor of Christian Thought and Ethics at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto, says that Tolle's worldview "is at odds with central Christian convictions" and that "Tolle denies the core of Christianity by claiming there is no ultimate distinction between humans and God and Jesus".^[5] John Stackhouse, a professor of theology and culture at Regent College in Vancouver, says that Tolle "gives a certain segment of the population exactly what they want: a sort of supreme religion that purports to draw from all sorts of lesser, that is, established, religions".^[5]

But, noted one journalist, "Tolle does have fans in academic, even Christian, circles".^[6] Theologian Andrew Ryder wrote that "Tolle's writing is based on his own experience and personal reflection. This makes his approach to the challenge of living in the present moment both practical and fresh" even though "he may not use the language of traditional Christian spirituality".^[6] Stafford Betty finds common ground between Tolle's worldview and that of Christian mystics. He notes that "one of the key elements in Tolle's teaching is that deep within the mind is absolute stillness in which one can experience 'the joy of Being'".^[53] Betty says that such a view is comparable to the view of contemporary Catholic monk Thomas Keating who wrote that "We rarely think of the air we breathe, yet it is in us and around us all the time. In similar fashion, the presence of God penetrates us, is all around us, is always embracing us, and it is delightful". Betty also says that "for Mr. Tolle, God is in the world in a more radical way than for the Christian" and that Tolle's theology "is only a footnote to the therapy he holds out to his audience".^[53]

Anglican bishop Michael Ingham has said, "I don't have any criticism of his message. I think the proper attitude to take with new spiritual movements is one of wait and see."^[5]

Roman Catholic priest and theologian Richard Rohr credits Tolle for helping to reintroduce ancient Christian mysticism to modern Christians: "Tolle is, in fact, rather brilliantly bringing to our awareness the older tradition . . . [which is] both the ground and the process for breaking through to the theological contemplation of God, and acquired contemplation of Jesus, the Gospels, and all spiritual things. He is teaching process, not doctrine or dogma. He is teaching how to see and be present, not what you should see when you are present. Tolle is our friend, and not an enemy of the Gospel. There should be no conflict for a mature Christian."^[54]

Selected publications[link]

Books[link]

The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle's Bestselling Book

• The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, New World Library, October, 1999 ISBN 1-57731-152-3 (HC) ISBN 1-57731-480-8 (PB)
• Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from The Power of Now, New World Library, October 10, 2001 ISBN 1-57731-195-7 (HC)
• Stillness Speaks: Whispers of Now, New World Library, August 2003 ISBN 1-57731-400-X
• A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, Dutton, October 11, 2005 ISBN 0-525-94802-3
• Milton's Secret: An Adventure of Discovery through Then, When, and The Power of Now, Hampton Roads, 2008 ISBN 978-1-57174-577-4
• Oneness With All Life: Inspirational Selections from A New Earth, Penguin Group, November 2008
• Guardians of Being, New World Library, October 2009 ISBN 978-1-57731-671-8

DVDs[link]

• The Flowering of Human Consciousness: Everyone's Life Purpose, Namaste Publishing, Inc., 2001 ISBN 1-59179-154-5
• Practicing Presence: A Guide for the Spiritual Teacher and Health Practitioner, Eckhart Teachings, 2003 ISBN 1-894884-45-0
• Eckhart Tolle's Findhorn Retreat - Stillness Amidst The World, New World Library, 2006 ISBN 1-57731-509-X
• Finding Your Life's Purpose, Eckhart Teachings, 2008 ISBN 1-894884-52-3
• The Doorway into Now, Eckhart Teachings, 2009 ISBN 1-894884-37-X

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Eckhart Tolle

• Eckhart Tolle's official website
• Eckhart Tolle TV official video website