Eckhart Tolle
The master of presence
Here's a time line of Eckhart Tolle's life:
- 1948 - Born in Lünen, a small town north of Dortmund in the Ruhr region of Germany.
- 1961 - In 1961 he moved to Spain to live with his father, where he "refused all forms of formal education between the ages of 13 and 22, preferring instead to pursue his own creative and philosophical interests."
- 1967 - When he was 19, Tolle moved to England and taught German and Spanish for three years at a London language school."
- 1977 - After attending the University of London, he enrolled in a postgraduate program at the University of Cambridge.
- 1977 - One night in 1977, at the age of 29, after having suffered from long periods of depression, Tolle says he experienced an "inner transformation".That night he awakened from his sleep, suffering from feelings of depression that were "almost unbearable," but then experienced a life-changing epiphany.
- 1977-1982 - Former Cambridge students and acquaintances began to ask Tolle about his beliefs. He started working as a counselor and spiritual teacher.Students continued to come to him over the next five years. He moved to Glastonbury, a center of alternative living.
- 1995 - He moved to Vancouver.
- 1997 - The Power of Now, Tolle's first book, was published by Namaste Publishing.
- 1999 - The book was republished on a large scale by New World Library.
- 2000 - Oprah Winfrey recommended The Power of Now in her magazine O. In August, it reached The New York Times Best Seller Advice, Miscellaneous and Hardcover list, reaching number one two years later
- 2008 - The book had been translated from English into 33 languages
- 2008 - Tolle partnered with Winfrey to produce a series of webinars, each one focusing on a chapter from his books, with discussions, silent meditations, and questions from viewers via Skype. The third webinar attracted more than 11 million viewers.
- 2009 - By October, the webinars had been accessed 35 million times.
- 2009 - In September, he appeared with the Dalai Lama at the Vancouver Peace Summit.
- 2011 - In July, it had appeared on the list of the 10 best selling Paperback Advice & Miscellaneous books for 102 weeks.
- 2023 - Oprah Winfrey partnered with Tolle to produce a weekly podcast series. Oprah has reported that Tolle transformed her life with his Essential Teachings.
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.”
— Eckhart Tolle