I already got it, don’t worry Jim.
I also hope the coverage will be good.

In case you didn’t pick up on the American humor…

We’re kidding about staying with you on World Youth Day.

As much as I like the idea of going to Madrid, I’m too old to qualify for World Youth Day. Too bad for me.

I’ll just have to watch on the internet and hope the coverage is as good as it was for the Pope’s visit to the U.S.

I noticed that the quote says the post is from Oprah’s book club.

Is it your take that these words are quoted from Oprah or from the author?

It looks to me like the quote says … Eckhart wrote them.

I don’t agree with the author’s comment that “there is only one spiritual teaching”. But I do believe there is at least one commonly shared basic message that can be used as a starting point to link people of different faiths in interreligious dialogue.

In The Power of Now, Eckhart writes, “When I occasionally quote the words of Jesus or the Buddha…or from other teachings, I do so not in order to compare, but to draw your attention to the fact that in essence there is and always has been only one spiritual teaching, although it comes in many forms. Some of these forms, such as the ancient religions, have become so overlaid with extraneous matter that their spiritual essence has become almost completely obscured by it. To a large extent, therefore, their deeper meaning is no longer recognized and their transformative power lost. When I quote from the ancient religions or other teachings, it is to reveal their deeper meaning and thereby restore their transformative power—particularly for those readers who are followers of these religions or teachings.”

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahsbookclub/anewearth/pkganewearthwebcast/20080130_obc_webcast_religion

The 1957 audio tape from Earl Nightingale was titled … “The Strangest Secret”. The lesson in that tape from Earl Nightingale was “You become What You Think About”.

I don’t take that to mean if you think about God you become God. But I do believe the body of Christ is here among us. Another subtle, but important nuance.

In the 1950s, Earl Nightingale presented it as the “You Become What You Think About”. This was the first best selling audio tape launched the highly succesful Nightingale Conant organization.

This is probably where Oprah is coming from with “The Law Of Attraction”. But I don’t have the full 55 minutes to listed to the entire interview with the woman.

If you did listen to the full 55 minutes, let me know if I’m off track.

Thanks,
Jim

I heard the woman say that the followers of new age philosophy believe they are God.

Is she saying that Oprah is teaching people that they are God or did she had a show where she featured people that promote this New Age philosophy. There is a subtle, but important distinction.

From the interview on the link I heard the woman say that Oprah had a show that presented the book “The Secret” that teaches “The Law of Attraction”.

I agree with Jimmy that this philosophy has been around for quite some time. There was a 1925 best seller titled “The Game Of Life And How To Play It”. It is largely based on the theme “As you sow, so shall you reap.” I concur with “As you sow, so shall you reap.”

This woman makes some large leaps in the portion of the discussion I listened to and projects some things on to Oprah that may be problemantic and inaccurate.

I do not watch much of Oprah…so it is not clear to me if Oprah was presenting “The Law of Attraction” as a philosophy or as a theology we should follow. I think you can believe in the “As you sow, so shall you reap” without being a follower of New Age as a religion.

THe woman also said that New Age as a religion says “there is no difference between good and bad or right and wrong.”

It seems to me like Oprah does believe there is a difference between good and bad and right or wrong.

If Oprah is truly presenting this as her theology that is note worthy. If she is presenting a book as a philosophy that encourages people to work to improve themself, that is something else.

The woman in the interview also indicates that she had followed New Age as her religion until she learned enough to switch to Catholocism. That is noteworthy too.

Actually, the ability to speak two languages is impressive. Twelve would clearly be over-achieving!

It would be an honor for me to help you with your Spanish whenever you want to begin learning it.
Regards,
Alonso

Glad to hear you like Irish music. I guess you’d never guess, given that my name is Sean Patrick, but Irish music is among my favorites. If you haven’t listened to them yet, be sure to check out a band called Solas – particularly their earlier albums if you prefer slightly more traditional music. I know they can be found on last.fm. I hope you enjoy it.

== Sean

Thank you for a great show.

Abraços,
Hugo