Eckhart Tolle & Sri Aurobindo: Two Perspectives on Enlightenment

Are the views of two of the 20th century's most distinctive 'integrative' spiritual teachers complementary or contrasting? At the turn of the millennium, former dominant Hindu perspective as found in Cambridge physicist Eckhart Tolle caught the attention of spiritual seekers all over the world with his first book, "The Power of Now". His teaching, interspersed with elements from Buddhism, Advaita (nondual) Vedanta, and Christianity, is relatively neutral and powerfully direct. It does, however, lean strongly toward the Buddhist perspective in its view of reality, and the nature and process of enlightenment. This presents a sharp contrast to the dominant Hindu perspective as found in the "Bhagavad Gita". Described by Ken Wilber as 'India's greatest modem philosopher-sage' and as 'the greatest of all Vedantic philosophers', Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) is considered one of the foremost philosophers of the 20th century, and was, as well, a political activist, mystic, spiritual leader, poet, and yogi. His unique contribution to the development of the human potential was realised through his integration of Eastern and Western cultures. As well as comparing aspects of Eckhart's teaching and Sri Aurobindo's yoga, Dr A S Dalai relates these teachings to the story of his own spiritual quest.