A New Earth: Create a Better Life

Tolle argues that the human attraction to flowers and other ethereal life-forms, such as winged birds and insects, is natural because such beings are “like messengers from another realm, like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless” (3). They model transformation and an “opening, however slight, into the world of spirit” (5). Tolle envisions that humans have a capacity for a transformation of consciousness far greater than that of plants, and that his book can guide any reader who is ready to change from an egoic, fear-driven view of the world to a connected, peaceful one.

Original sin, in all world religions, encompasses the act of becoming overidentified with the ego and the illusion of mental, emotional, and physical forms that separate the individual from the rest of creation.

In Tolle’s opinion, some religions are also overidentified with the material form of beliefs, which create divisions between their followers and others. Unlike religion, spirituality concerns itself with rendering an individual conscious of their connectedness to other life-forms.

Our species must evolve from an egoic perception of the world or face extinction, as selfish behaviors are “threatening the survival of the planet” (21). The book’s title derives from biblical references to the end of the present order in favor of “a new heaven and a new earth” (23). Instead of being a distinct location, as it is in the Bible, for Tolle, heaven is “the emergence of a transformed state of human consciousness,” and the “new earth” is “its reflection in the physical realm” (23).

According to Tolle, the word “I,” which humans use to distinguish themselves from others, is an illusion and a “monstrous act of reductionism,” as it conflates “the infinite depth of who you are” with the material forms that you identify with (28). Tolle draws attention to the etymology of the word “identification,” which derives from the Latin idem, meaning the same, and facere, meaning to make. Thus, when a person identifies with an object, they purport to “endow it with a sense of self” until it becomes part of their identity (35).

For the most part, the “ego’s sense of self-worth is bound up […] with the worth you have in the eyes of others” (45). People derive ego satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, by identifying with their material possessions, bodies, intellectual capacities, and social standing, and comparing themselves to others. They become identified with their thoughts on these transitory material entities and are “always looking for something” new to supplement their inner sense of lack (48).

When people lose the material forms that they identify with—for example, a loved one, a possession, or good health—this “can lead to a collapse of the ego, since ego is identification with form” (56). At this point, the person may become aware of a consciousness beyond the thought forms and labels they identified with, yield to the present moment, and experience peace and oneness. Conversely, their ego may resist the new reality and search for another form to identify with.

Tolle argues that most people are “possessed” by their egoic mind, the branch of mind where “there is a sense of self […] in every thought—every memory, every interpretation, opinion, viewpoint, reaction, emotion” (59). All people’s egos rely upon the phenomena of identification and separation for survival. The egoic mind creates strong notions of self and other. To strengthen its own position and feel superior, it makes others wrong and harbors resentment against them. On a collective level, this takes the form of collective resentment against particular groups that one group’s egos label enemies or make inferior. The dissatisfied ego continually longs to escape and surpass the present moment, and in so doing opposes “life itself” (63).

The ego is incapable of distinguishing between fact and opinion, to the extent that it regards the world and the intentions of others through a “distorted interpretation” (68). It is incapable of seeing the commonalities between self and other, or the fact that the perceived flaws of others are “the same patterns that are also in you, but that you are unable or unwilling to detect within yourself” (74). There is the danger that those who declare war on an enemy could “turn into the very thing [they] are fighting against” (74). Rather than attributing egoic behavior to particular identities, humans would do better to perceive it as “a collective dysfunction” present in all (76).

The ego thrives on fear of the loss of the impermanent forms that give it definition. To become spiritually enlightened is to recognize that “[you] cannot find [yourself] in all those things that continually pass away,” such as thought, feeling, or other types of material forms (78).

The consistently demanding ego role-plays to “get its ‘needs’ met” by other people, and it thrives on their attention (85). These roles are varied and often encourage the ego-bearer to judge themselves as superior or inferior to others.

One role, the victim, is especially negative because it is “magnified by an active pain-body, that is to say, emotional pain from the past that wants to renew itself through experiencing more pain” (87). By continually identifying with a negative story, the victim’s ego perpetuates this negativity.

Many people seek to define who they are, either professionally, in their relationships to others, or in their relationships to circumstances, such as bankruptcy. If they are not conscious, they can become trapped in these roles. Conversely, they can become free by catching themselves in the act of role-play. According to Tolle, humans would do better to observe and pay attention to the facts of a situation rather than becoming identified with it.

Parents often become overidentified with their role and strive so their children have everything they lacked. Tolle advises that parents should recognize that while they brought the child into the world, the child belongs to itself, not them, and so must find its own path to consciousness. As the child learns to love, it will recognize itself in others and long to be recognized by the parents “not on the level of form, but on the level of being” (105).

Tolle argues that the purpose of our lives is to give up the roles we are playing, which lend us a “fictitious sense of self” and create divisions between self and other (107). We should connect to the “pure potentiality” of Being “rather than something that is already defined” (109).

One of the most common forms of ego-driven unhappiness is the general dissatisfaction with the present state of matters and the mistaken belief that everything would be better if conditions were different. Tolle teaches that it is not situations but our thoughts about them that create conflict. Happiness, therefore, is “making peace with the present moment” (115).

Individuals who accept the present and let go of the stories that define them as separate from others, can contribute to the healing of all humanity. Conscious individuals can prevent the formation of harmful collectives who possess a paranoic “us against the evil others” mentality (120). When new conscious collectives emerge to replace them, “they no longer look to any form to define who they are” and keep their egos in check (126). The new collectives will be less focused on preserving and narrating their individual lives than on the collective good of all beings.