http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/webcast/archive/anewearth_archive_main.jsp - Links for watching the 1st webcast on Chapter 1. You can watch on Demand, download to your computer, or get the transcript. There are also other links of interest on this page also.
http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/webcast/archive/archive_download.jsp - Links for Chapter 1 downloads in different modalities.
http://images.oprah.com/images/obc_classic/book/2008/anewearth/ane_chapter1_transcript.pdf - for a transcript of the 1st webcast.
http://www.oprah.com/community/community/bookclub/tolle?view=discussions – Links to the message boards discussing the book.
I tuned in on Monday evening for the first installment of the webinar. It was choppy at best, would start and stop and start again. Twenty minutes into it the screen went black. After trying to reboot and re-connect, I soon realized it was not going to happen. I did not get upset or frustrated, knowing that it would be archived for me to watch later on.
The next morning there was an email from the tech crew which explained that they did have difficulties. Though, over 100,000 people had signed up for the webcast, more that 500,000 did log on, with the figure being revised to about 750,000. The overload crashed the system basically. How cool is that, though, over 500,000 people trying to hear a message of spirituality at the exact same time.
It took a few attempts in the next few days for me to be able to see the webinar in its entirety. It is very inspiring and enlightening to hear him speak. Eckhart Tolle explains how the books manifested itself and what he had to do to get the book to emerge.
I have been reading the message boards and there is quite a battle going on there. Many Christian groups have infiltrated the boards claiming that Oprah and Tolle are the “Anti-Christ” and will go to hell along with anyone who is following it. You thought the battles in GD-P were brutal, you should see this. Good grief. Tolle addresses the conflicts that some may have with the teachings of spirituality and their “own” religious beliefs.
Reading the message boards is inspiring. Just about any country you can think of is represented there, with the intent of making our planet a better place in order for mankind to continue. Tolle explains that we are at a threshold for humanity and that “Humanity is now faced with a stark choice: Evolve or die” He goes into depth about what that means on the webcast. An interesting conversation.
As many have stated in the other thread about A New Earth that they were having difficulty with the first chapter, I too, had difficulty. Didn’t understand where he was going. They address this in the webinar.
Oprah asks: “What about people who are struggling, particularly in this first chapter with the book?”
Tolle: The first chapter is a little bit more conceptual than the other chapters and less practical. I wanted to give a general context for where the book fits into the general context of spirituality on the planet or transformation of consciousness on the planet. So just read through.”
That is what I did and as you read the subsequent chapters, chapter 1 begins to become quite clear.
For each chapter there is a workbook with questions that you can answer to give you insight as to where or what it means to you. An interesting experiment.I am looking forward to next Monday evening for the discussion of Chapter 2 and I am thoroughly enjoying the experience.