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A New Earth Round Tables |
| The A New Earth Round Table is a discussion group on Eckhart Tolle's all-embracing book on personal development and spiritual awakening (A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose). The group's intention is to expand our understanding and awareness of ourselves and others. Visitors to this page can get a more in-depth idea of what our group is about by reading both the Round Table Mutuals and Round Table Briefs (in particular, Weeks 1, Feb 16, 2009 and Sep 14, 2009) sections near the bottom of this page. Each session begins and ends with a meditation and, along with the book, we draw upon a number of resources, such as EckhartTolleTV.com subscription downloads, a variety of Eckhart's lectures from his retreats, A New Earth Inspiration Cards, the Talking Stick, the Eckhart/Oprah course recordings, and more. To see where we are currently, please refer to When We Meet and the Next Round Table immediately below; and, for a little nostalgia, a brief history of how our group came into being is at the bottom of this page. |
| If you're interested in joining our group, we have room for more, so do be in touch. As of January 2010, 7-8 people attend each session. Donations towards resources, candles, and tea are great-fully accepted. |
When We Meet |
| We break for the summer and resume again on Sep 13. Occasionally we rebook due to statutory holidays or other commitments but—in general—we meet every other Monday from 7:30pm-9:30pm in Ioco (Port Moody), BC. Newcomers are always welcome so, if you've found our page, perhaps you're meant to join us—do be in touch. |
Next Round Table |
Week 1: Sep 13, 2010
We like to start the season with a potluck, and a discussion on how we'd like to proceed with our sessions, so please arrive at 6:30pm with one of your favourite dishes in hand. Also before you arrive, do give some thought to the upcoming season. Relative to Tolle's teachings, think about how our discussions have been going for you up until now, what you'd like (perhaps more or less of) in your life, and how you can apply Tolle's teachings towards making the changes necessary to facilitate these shifts. Recognizing our thoughts and our patterns is the first step to changing our minds, our perceptions and, therefore, our experience of life. We've got lots of new material to watch from our subscription to www.eckharttolletv.com. |
Round Table Briefs |
Week 18: Jun 21, 2010
We had a sumptuous meal and a solstice celebration with a bonfire and short ceremony for letting go of that which isn't working for us, bringing in sweetness and light, and carrying these foward with us come what may. |
Week 17: Jun 7, 2010
We talked about many topics this evening: illness and perception; the notion of entropy, what is creativity, and when are we most creative; Joseph Campbell and following your bliss; awareness and self-awareness of humans and animals; education, the school system, issues of control vs. engendering creativity. |
Week 16: May 26, 2010
We finished up the The Gift of Nature from Eckhart Tolle TV. We're enjoying this new material from Eckhart which is adding to our evenings. |
Week 15: May 14, 2010
This session we watched the first half of The Gift of Nature from Eckhart Tolle TV and discussed nature and its healing effect. |
Week 14: Apr 26, 2010
We talked about the monks in Into Great Silence—and silence and noise and the impact they have on us. We read some excerpts from the book and discussed a variety of things: the ego within each of us in relation to family roles and patterns, and what Tolle says (or doesn't say) about physical illness. |
Week 13: Apr 12, 2010
We talked about the ego, form and the formless, meditation, read an article on the brain, ADHD, and overstimulation in society, which led us to watching (30-minutes of) Into Great Silence. |
Week 12: Mar 29, 2010
We finished the "Eternal Life" session from Tolle's Freedom from the World DVD set, and discussed death and the question and answer period at the end of the lecture. |
Week 11: Mar 15, 2010
We watched about half of the "Eternal Life" section from Tolle's Freedom from the World DVD set, and talked about death, and experiences we have had surrounding death. |
Week 10: Mar 1, 2010
We shared some experiences over the past month--stuff (such as perfectionism, fear of authority figures, shame, facing death and our vulnerability) came up for some. Realizing that the feelings were based in old experiences and practising Tolle (bringing ourselves back to the present moment) helped to lessen/dissolve the feelings. |
Week 9: Feb 1, 2010
We discussed Chapter 4 "Role-Playing: The Many Faces of the Ego" and watched the end of the TolleTV Meditation lecture as well. |
Week 8: Jan 18, 2010
We watched an hour of the Tolle TV Meditation Lecture and discussed the topic of meditation and its affect on the ego. We also talked about anger and how to abate it applying Tolle's techniques. |
Week 7: Jan 4, 2010
This evening we each drew A New Earth card and we went around the circle and we read and discussed them one-by-one. |
Week 6: Dec 21, 2009
After missing a couple of sessions due to cold bugs, being that the 21st was the solstice, we had a potluck Solstice Celebration with dinner first, then a beach bonfire with rituals of: burning holly and letting go of the old negative patterns that don't work for us; burning oak and inviting more of what we'd like in our lives; and singing Return Again. It was a lovely evening. |
Week 5: Nov 23, 2009
A few Tolle'voking compositions were shared (see Nov 4 below), a short and sweet one of note from Julie, "There is no ow in now." Another participant read a passage and coincidentally drew an Inspiration Card that matched it. Discussion ensued, unfolded and, as the evening progressed, the subject of roles and role-playing captured us, so we decided to make Chapter 4 the topic for next time. |
Week 4: Nov 4, 2009
This week people shared poetry that invokes/evokes the Tolle-like way of being in the now, in the moment, letting go. There is something about poetry that is different....It seems to make one sit with it for awhile, without thinking, just getting a feel of it. It was a pleasant and mellow evening. We closed with a bit more of Eckhart's and Oprah's Chapter 1 and, of course, a meditation. |
Week 3: Oct 26, 2009
We had an illuminating discussion surrounding the ego, Tolle's definition of the ego as "identification with form" as opposed to Freud's, and how to recognize it, and how to let it go. |
Week 2: Sep 28, 2009
We watched about half of the first running of Eckhart and Oprah's Chapter 1 and discussed topics the Chapter and the webcast brought up. |
Week 1: Sep 14, 2009
We enjoyed a sumptuous homemade fare potluck (crustless Spinach and Cheese Pie, Baked Beans and Garlic Bread, Chana—an Indian chickpea dish, Broccoli and Feta Salad, 'Seizure' Salad, and Oriental Coleslaw), then we had a nice meditation to attune ourselves. We touched on applying Tolle-isms in our lives over the summer break, then discussed future evenings—how we have approached these groups to date and whether anyone had suggestions on how we might perhaps proceed differently. Thoughts expressed were:
- We continue with the same flexible/spontaneous approach;
- Each week one individual offers to set the theme and plan for the next evening;
- We watch some of the Oprah evenings as well;
- We continue to use the book chapters as a resource and frame of reference.
We decided a mixture was a good idea. |
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Week 9: Jun 22, 2009
This evening we left open, watched the end of the Findhorn Retreat, and had a great discussion. We shall break for the summer and meet with a potluck September 14, 2009 (arrive at 5:30/6:00). |
Week 8: Jun 8, 2009
This evening we watched the 2nd half of Lesson 5 (Freedom from the World, from Eckhart's Costa Rica Retreat Freedom from the World) and discussed it. We also decided that, after June 22, we would take a break for everyone's summer holidays and reconvene with a potluck on September 14 right after work. |
Week 7: May 25, 2009
We watched Lesson 5 (entitled Freedom from the World) from Eckhart's Costa Rica Retreat Freedom from the World, and discussed it relative to relationships with self and with others, and balancing the human and the being. |
Week 6: May 11, 2009
We left Week 6 an open forum. We shared our observations of the teachings in our moment-to-moment experiences over the past weeks and some insights since the last session. We read and discussed Eckhart's children's story, Milton's Secret, which explains the feeling of the Now (the "inside of the Now") and illustrates what it means to be in relationship, which leads us to next session's topic (see above). |
Week 5: Apr 27, 2009
Another stimulating evening discussing roles and the patterns in our lives. It was noted that, as we re-read chapters, we glean a greater understanding of the teachings and the material 'touch' us at a deeper level. Next time is open to whatever moves us...likely watching some of a DVD. |
Week 4: Mar 30, 2009
We checked-in with sharing our experiences during the last two weeks of noticing The Pain Body and how we were able to Break Free (or not). Discussion ensued surrounding the various examples and methods Eckhart presents in Chapter 6. "What is the Body?" from A Course in Miracles was read and parallels drawn to Eckhart's teachings. We watched more of the Findhorn retreat (Disc 1, Chapters 4-9). A few are going to be away at Easter, so we decided to take the stat and regroup on April 27th for which we shall read Chapter 4, Role-playing: The Many Faces of the Ego. We also decided that when a Round Table date was going to be 'missed' we would continue on the same date pattern so everyone would know when the we next reconvene. |
Week 3: Mar 16, 2009
Though we all felt we could spend more time on The Pain Body( ) we thought that, since (as Eckhart says) it's bound to surface again , we'd move on to Chapter 6, Breaking Free. So if you plan to participate March 30, please read this chapter. |
Week 2: Mar 2, 2009
One person read a passage from the book and discussion ensued. We also watched some of Eckhart's opening talk of the Findhorn Retreat (Chapters 1-4). Someone asked that, for the next session, we focus on Chapter 5: The Pain Body. All agreed to read this chapter before we arrive on the 16th. |
Week 1: Feb 16, 2009
We discussed the following questions. What does A New Earth mean to you? What were your observations of the webcast? What are you hoping to get out of our group and the teachings? What process do you think and feel would best facilitate (you as an individual and us as a group) working with the teachings? How can we best integrate the key premises explored in A New Earth into everyday action? Then we each drew A New Earth Inspiration Card and, one by one, read our card and shared our thoughts on each reading. |
Round Table Mutuals |
| A brief version of the group's guiding principles that have come out of sessions. |
- The group decided to be flexible in our approach and go with an open forum to see where these Round Table sessions lead us. When we reconvened in September 2009, we decided to expand our process to include a mixture of the following.
- We continue with the same flexible/spontaneous approach;
- One individual offers to set the theme and plan for the next Round Table;
- We include the Eckhart/Oprah courses among other Tolle resources;
- We continue to use the book chapters as a resource and frame of reference.
- So everyone knows when we next reconvene, when a Round Table date is going to be 'missed' we will continue on the same date-pattern; in other words, rather than in 2 weeks, the next gathering will be 4 weeks away. For example, we missed Easter and the next meeting was held as planned on April 27th, 2009. This way everyone who has attended has some point-of-reference for when the next Round Table is being held. (Of course, one can also refer to the website. It is updated shortly after each session.)
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A Little Bit of Fun |
| Another synchronistic event, this A New Earth group began in the spring of 2008 with Eckhart Tolle's and Oprah's offering of an online webcast course. I had bought and read the book when it came out so, when someone had mentioned the course to me, I felt moved to do it, registered, pulled the book off our shelf, read it again, and began the course. A short way into the first class, my cousin and neighbour called wondering if I was watching; her webcast had crashed and could she join me? A little while later, my computer crashed as well, and we decided to continue the course together. Each week I downloaded the videos for the classes. Along the way a few more people came and went. Michael overheard some of the material, and began reading the book. By the time we had finished, five regulars remained and all were game to continue for its second running—summer school. |
| To add more comfort to our experience, Michael burned the classes onto DVDs so we could watch them on the TV, and he began watching the course with us as well. Having the classes on DVDs made the course more flexible. We took breaks for everyone's summer vacations and, when people weren't able to come, we watched a few of the chapters twice or other mind-expanding shows. When our group finished in November, we all decided to gather in the New Year with A New Earth in a new way, and A New Earth Round Table was born. |
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