In the Gospel story of Mary and Martha, Jesus says to
Martha, “You are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one
thing is needful.” (Luke 10:41)
As I was writing A New Earth, people would sometimes ask me, “What is
the new book about?” And invariably, my answer would be, “I only ever
write or speak about one thing.” What is that one thing? Spiritual
awakening. Can a person be awakened spiritually by a book? Yes, if
three conditions are met:
Firstly, there must be a readiness on the part of the reader, an
openness, a receptivity to spiritual truth, which is to say, a
readiness to awaken. For the first time in history of humanity, large
numbers of people have reached that point of readiness, which explains
why millions have responded so deeply to The Power of Now.
Secondly, the text must have transformative power. This means the
words must have come out of the awakened consciousness rather than the
accumulated knowledge of a person’s mind. Only then will a text be
charged with that power, a power that goes far beyond the informational
value of the words. That is why such a book can be read again and
again and lose none of its aliveness.
Thirdly, the terminology used needs to be as neutral as possible so
that it transcends the confines of any one culture, religion, or
spiritual tradition. Only then will it be accessible to a broad range
of readers world-wide, regardless of cultural background.
All these conditions were met in The Power of Now, which is why the book has had such an impact on the collective consciousness.
Why write another book?
Since the publication of The Power of Now, I have given hundreds of
talks and teaching sessions all over the world, and in the course of
those seven years, the teaching evolved. While the essence remained
the same (The Truth is timeless.), new perspectives arose, new
signposts, alternative approaches to the Truth, as well as an added
sense of urgency. A New Earth reflects this evolution and this urgency.
If The Power of Now worked for you and changed your life – as it did
for countless people all over the world – there is no need for you to
read A New Earth (although you may enjoy reading it and may find some
of it helpful in recognizing the ego and thus sustaining the state of
Presence).
My feeling is that A New Earth will make the teaching (the one thing)
accessible to an even wider audience, including people who perhaps
would not have dreamt of reading a “spiritual” book but have within
them a hitherto unrecognized longing for spiritual awakening.
A New Earth will also be extremely helpful for those who read The Power
of Now, found it interesting, but somehow missed the essence of it. It
presents them with new perspectives on the same truth, new signposts,
pointers towards Presence. Different pointers work for different
people.
Millions are now ready to awaken because spiritual awakening is not an
option anymore, but a necessity if humanity and the planet are to
survive. Everything is speeding up – the madness, the collective egoic
dysfunction, as well as the arising of the new consciousness, the
awakening.
We are running out of time. From the perspective of the ego, that’s
bad news and will give rise to fear. From a higher perspective, the
running out of time is exactly what is needed for the new consciousness
to come into this world.
Just a few days ago, I started reading 'A New Earth' and so far I love it. When I read the first few pages my eyes filled up with tears and it was because of the beautiful reference and portrayal of flowers. You may think I am crazy...heeh...maybe I am but to me you see flowers are very important. A few years ago, a close relative passed away after a long struggle with cancer. He was much to young and it was really unfair and I got to see him just a month before he passed. One day during my visit, he showed me a photograph he took (because he was passionate about photography just like me), of a field of sunflowers on a clear day. It was remarkable and this picture was what had such a strong impact on me. Today, I feel my relatives presence guiding me to the right places, to the most beautiful flowers and to the best way that they can be captured, and I try to listen.
A New Earth' may not be a complete revelation. What I mean is: I have a similar understanding of 'The Celestine Prophecy', and maybe other books, although it is more 'new age'; nevertheless, 'A New Earth' is still well written and I like the fluidity of it and the imagery and the fundamental beautiful simplicity in which the author conveys concepts that are founded on goodness and virtue.
I believe a spiritual awakening is an ongoing thing. I think my first awakening happened to me when I started reading books by the Psychologist, C. G. Jung. He made me realize that I needed to b e the artist who was in me and through creativity I have become a self motivated person and freer person. These were my beginnings of spiritual awakening. I am still on that path and lately I have just discovered something about myself (by reading something) that I never paid attention to and realized, how could I have lived all that time and not understand that very basic thing (which I won't get into here) As you go on with your search, new information comes your way for you to grow. That's when you realize that we are really well looked after, I believe we each have guides that help us, we may call them Angles, Jesus, Buddha, whatever, they are there for us, if we just ask.
