‘A New Earth’ by Eckhart Tolle
Have you ever felt compelled to re-read a great book years after you first read it, because of what was going on around you?
Have you found, like I have, that in the last few years in particular, the world around us appears to be exponentially becoming more polarised and unstable?
I believe so strongly that the world is on the verge of a catastrophic leadership crisis that, for the last few months, I have been writing a book called ‘Leadership Crisis’ (working title), which I plan to publish before the end of the year. In my book, I acknowledge that within the wisdom of Eckhart Tolle’s ‘A New Earth’ can be found the basis of the solutions for us to collectively reverse this growing existential crisis. 
In a word, the solution to the crisis we face is ‘AWARENESS!’ Awareness of many things, but first and foremost, our egos and the identities that our egos create. It is my perspective that the deepening leadership crisis we are facing is the underlying cause of a number of existential threats, from the more obvious threats of nuclear war and out-of-control AI technology, to some much less obvious threats, like… ‘Where have all the insects gone?’ (more about that topic in a moment).
It was whilst writing my book about the impending, growing leadership crisis that I was magnetically drawn to re-read, revisit and reflect on Eckhart Tolle’s masterpiece. The relevance of ‘A New Earth’ for the current crises facing humanity is so great that, for the first time in 10 years of writing book reviews, I am reviewing the same book again.
Why am I reviewing the SAME book again!?
‘A New Earth’ is a profoundly insightful book about an aspect of human experience, particularly the contrast between our human egoic identities and our more transcendent, authentic self. Tolle is probably best known for his best-selling book ‘The Power of Now’, which I also previously reviewed back in May 2021 (which you can read here).
In my previous review of this book, conducted back in July 2021, I explain why it an important read, but mostly review and summaries the profound wisdom found within its pages (click here to read it).
However, in this first-ever repeat Book of the Month review, I wish to primarily expand on the ‘why’: in other words, why is it so profoundly important for people to read, or even for me to re-read, this book?
The short answer is that the current, spiralling expansion of egoic leadership is leading humanity towards a potential catastrophe, the ultimate solution to which is to expand human awareness of our egos and our egoic identities and actions, thereby expanding human consciousness and allowing the authentic, egoless aspects of humanity to emerge and express themselves.
Presently, the world is caught in a downward spiral of multiple crises, any one of which could potentially threaten life on Earth, each one existing, or remaining unresolved, because we are in the midst of a period of leadership dominated by leaders who are lost in their egos.
This is not just individual leaders in positions of power losing themselves in their egos; it is leadership at a collective and systemic level that is now dominated by egoic forces, where leaders say, in words, that they care about the people they lead, but where their policies and actions show that they care more about their own power, money, significance and material position than about the people they are meant to be leading.
Where have all the insects gone!?
A question that exposes the gravity of the leadership crisis we face is “Where have all the insects gone?”!
Since 2004, insect populations have plummeted by 70 to 80 percent in the UK and there has been significant drops in insect populations in countries around the world. The data to support this fact can be found online if you look for it, but my guess is that your own eyes and experiences will confirm this to be at least substantially true. The reducing insect splatters on my car over the last 20 years concur with the noticeably less insects I experience when I play golf, when I go camping and often when I go cycling or hiking. When I mention the ‘lack of insects’ everyone and I literally mean ‘everyone’ that I have mentioned it to so far has agreed.
Bird populations are also significantly lower in many parts of the world; if the situation gets any worse, our entire ecosystem could collapse. Insects have generally been considered irritating, so their absence doesn’t immediately trigger any grief. However, insects don’t just feed the birds and pollinate most plants, they perform a vast range of functions essential to the ecosystem we live in. If insect populations continue to deplete at these alarming rates, it is a virtual certainty that our ecosystem will also collapse.
The obvious cause of this collapse in insect populations is, in very chunked-up terms, a toxicity crisis. The fact that there is so little talk from our leaders about the insect population crisis or the toxicity crisis is the clearest indication that we are in the midst of a catastrophic leadership crisis, one so serious that it threatens all life on Earth as we know it.
Here is the biggest takeaway from my re-reading of this book….
As soon as I get angry or judgemental about individuals or groups of leaders, I am myself taking a position from my own ego, and thereby fuelling and further polarising the cycles of crisis and conflict.
The human ego is part of being human. ‘A New Earth’ is about an earth where we do not roll over and accept our own, or other people’s, egoic behaviours, but a place where, through greater awareness, we influence the transcendence of the ego, and are thus all able to live a more fulfilling and meaningful life.