Last year, I polled my audience to ask them if they thought Eckhart Tolle was a cult leader. Most people said Yes, which confirmed my own beliefs about the influential spiritual teacher and self-help author.
I’ve been studying Eckhart Tolle for over 5 years. I never really bought into the hype around The Power of Now—partially because I didn’t think he was saying anything new, and partially because I was a spiritual elitist.
By the time I read his best-seller, I was already familiar enough with the spiritual philosophies of Hinduism and Buddhism to recognize the watered-down version of these teachings that Eckhart Tolle presented to his Western audience. However, this alone is not enough to make him a cult leader. The ‘cult factor’ plays into someone’s overall social influence. I think it’s too early to tell if Tolle has had a net positive or a net negative impact on society….but there are few things that make me as skeptical as a rich and famous white man telling me how the world works.
I’m hesitant to label every other spiritual teacher a cult leader until I’m absolutely sure, and I have reasons to back it up. With Tolle, I’m still not 100% convinced he is a cult leader. There are certainly aspects of his influence that are cult-ish or cult-y. But after listening to this two part interview on A Little Bit Culty Podcast, my current stance is that Eckhart Tolle is not a cult leader, but his flawed and incomplete teachings don’t hold up to scientific scrutiny. By itself his teachings are not harmful, but once you put them into context around the larger New-Age zeitgeist, they take on a more insidious form because they are completely out of touch and falsifiable…imho.
In this episode, I critique 3 ideas that I found to be particularly troubling in his interview with the hosts of A Little Bit Culty podcast. I won’t give away which 3 critiques they are so that you can listen to the episode, but I will give you a hint:
E. Tolle’s perspective on the purpose of awakening
E. Tolle’s perspective on the purpose of suffering
E. Tolle’s perspective on the #1 skill that gives us immunity from cult control
Additionally, I re-introduce the concept of Political Awakening in relation to the new-age doctrine, while also providing context for our understanding of the term "new-age."
Enjoy and thanks for listening 🙂!
I’d love to know what you think of Eckhart Tolle’s teachings. Have you listened to this interview on A Little Bit Culty? Share your thoughts!
Is E. Tolle a Cult Leader?