A short reflection on the philosophy of Eckart Tolle

After having read both The Power of Now and A New World, two books which I thought would be of great importance for me, instead of feeling emotionally enlightened I feel nothing but contempt for Tolle’s ideas of how one should live life. As an atheist who believes in the sanctity of individualism, the idea of Being as an invisible bond between man, animal and nature (Being is to Tolle’s philosophy what Atman is to Hinduism). He argues that the ego, that is our individual wants and needs, is heavily opposed to the true state of “Being” and that it is the goal of every human being to transcend into the state of Being (if you think that I am already repeating myself, try reading the aforementioned books) and thus experiencing the true meaning of existence by discarding our egoism and individual needs in order to achieve Happiness.
The thing that strikes me the most with Tolle’s philosophy is the total opposition to the core of humanity and modern civilization. To enter the state of true Being, one must not only discard our greatest hopes and fears but also the one thing that makes us human, that makes us the individuals we are; our memory. I am of the firm belief that personality is defined by our wants, needs, mistakes and moments of suffering. Not allowing ourselves to be in contact with our memories and their influences on our emotions is contra productive to the evolution of humanity. Living in the moment, in Eckart Tolle’s definition, is to let go of the core foundations of our existence.
Every civilization is characterized by a different mindset, a result of the melting pot of ideas deriving from the endless experiences of its inhabitants. All human beings are, therefore, a separate entities in a larger scheme of things. Individuality is a natural state of civilization simply because the life of every individual is different. Our experiences of reality are wholly unique, which is the only reason as to why cultures and peoples differ in the most rudimentary ways. Should we allow ourselves to forget who we are, to forget our strengths and weaknesses (which, as everything else, is a result of our ways of life), the development of modern civilization will cease.
For Tolle, our greatest enemy is the sense of dissatisfaction, of always wanting more, but instead of trying to overcome dissatisfaction (as Tolle argues that we should), modern man has embraced this weakness and transformed it into a positive driving force for the future welfare of the human society. The core of evolution is the need to improve and the ability to do so. As with all human characteristics, there is always the danger of wallowing in negativity, but these moments are also a part of our lives. What Eckart Tolle fails to admit is that we must all live through the hardships of life in order to become complete. Avoiding the ego, i.e. our individualism and personality, would result in the fall of modern civilization and all the things we associate with it; science, culture, education etc. The current forms of these manifestations have come into being simply because we have allowed ourselves to remember and learn from past mistakes, and the only reason that they are still evolving is simply because our “ego’s” need for improvement has proved to be a fruitful incentive for the future betterment of humanity.

We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on. (Richard P. Feynman)