Eckhart Tolle, pictured centre left with Oprah Winfrey, is compared to authors Maurice Nicoll (L) and Barry Long (R) on this site.
This site presents original research suggesting Eckhart Tolle, the celebrity spiritual teacher and bestselling author, owes a significant unacknowledged debt to earlier modern writers.
Tolle does more than just cover the same general themes as others; he can restate their niche ideas and even phrases at times, without acknowledgment. Go here to view articles with many side-by-side comparisons illustrating this. I believe there are far too many close correspondences for all to be coincidental.
Who is Eckhart Tolle?
The German-born Tolle was thrust into the limelight by US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey in the early 2000s, making him a world-famous author and multi-millionaire. With Oprah’s endorsements, his books The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, and A New Earth became New York Times bestsellers, selling millions of copies worldwide. Millions follow him on social media. He’s become the biggest independent spiritual teacher in the world—teaching outside any religious tradition that is—and has been ranked alongside the Pope and Dalai Lama in spiritual influence in the west.[1] His global popularity and stature is unparalleled for an independent spiritual teacher.
The issue
Tolle states his teachings are “the essence of all religions.”[2] He’s generally seen as providing a New Age blend of traditional wisdom from East and West, whose insights he contemporises. That may be partly true. Yet he also claims his work is “not derived from external sources, but from the one true Source within.”[3] I don’t think that’s wholly accurate, to say the least. My research strongly suggests that major aspects of his teaching are derived from external, contemporary sources.
Yet Tolle does not acknowledge these sources in his books. Until now, Tolle’s claim his work is not derived from external sources has not been methodically contested. My research changes that.
It is Tolle’s lack of acknowledgment for his sources which is the key issue here. Had he simply acknowledged what he derived and adapted from other writers, while imparting his own teaching, there would be no need for me to point any of this out.
So what I have I found?
My research suggests that the British psychiatrist, writer and Fourth Way teacher Maurice Nicoll and Australian independent spiritual teacher Barry Long are two of Eckhart Tolle’s most significant influences. Both gave esoteric /spiritual teachings in the 20th century outside of conventional religious traditions. Because they’re unknown to most, and unacknowledged by Tolle, their influence mostly goes unnoticed. But their impact on his work is substantial.
Before he changed his first name to “Eckhart” and became an author, Tolle personally attended Barry Long’s London teaching sessions in the mid-1980s. I believe Long’s influence on Tolle is so blatant that Tolle almost certainly plagiarised him.
Nicoll’s influence on Tolle is less obvious to the untrained eye, but extensive. I believe it came by way of Nicoll’s books, published mid last century; though largely ignored by mainstream society, they are underground classics of contemporary western esotericism. Yet Tolle makes no reference to Nicoll, or to the Fourth Way teaching he imparted, in his own books at any point.
However, I believe that key ideas derived from Nicoll and Long are so much at the core of Tolle’s own teaching, that, without their influence, it is difficult to envisage Tolle’s teaching existing at all.
Eckhart Tolle and Maurice Nicoll similarities
While I looked at a few other writers, I’ve focused mostly on comparing Tolle’s work to Maurice Nicoll (1884-1953). I’ve discovered hundreds of close correspondences in their work, outlined across a series of articles.
Nicoll was unique in having studied personally with the famous psychologist Carl Jung, and the prominent early 20th century esotericists G.I. Gurdjieff and P.D. Ouspensky—who brought the “Fourth Way” system to the West Nicoll would teach in his last decades. The way he incorporated Jungian and other influences into his teaching was distinctive, and I believe his hallmarks can be seen in Tolle’s work.
Nicoll had a particularly strong influence on how Tolle describes self-observation—a present-moment practice for self-knowledge and inner change which both emphasise. Each write of developing the “power of self-observation,” explain “the light of consciousness” brings inner change through this practice, and tell us we gain “the power of choice” to respond to life more consciously by it. They also express similar views about negative emotions and how they operate, among other topics such as the difference between essence and personality and how the law of opposites governs inner states.
You do not need to value “esoteric psychology”—as Nicoll refers to self-knowledge methods and teachings oriented towards awakening—to appreciate or recognise Nicoll’s influence on Tolle. I survey their correspondences in-depth on this site. One really needs to read my comparative analyses (outlined further down) to get the full picture, but enough examples of similar statements to give a sense of their commonalities, are shown in the slideshow below.
View quotes in a table with citations
I named this site “Creation of Now” after a phrase Nicoll coined. He wrote that the present moment “only becomes now in its full meaning if a man is conscious” within it,[4] and called the act of reaching a higher state of consciousness in the moment—where one is “present to oneself”—“the creation of now.”[5] Tolle would later use “The Power of Now” to describe much the same idea; this is the title of his debut book and the subject he’s best known for.
However, on the spiritual significance of the present moment or “now,” Tolle has many commonalities with earlier writers, no just Nicoll.
Eckhart Tolle’s similarities to Barry Long
As mentioned, I’ve also compared Tolle’s work to the Australian independent spiritual teacher Barry Long, whose talks Tolle attended in the mid-1980s in London. This was about 15 years before he became a published author. Long, who passed in 2003, had an obvious influence on Tolle in many areas, but most noticeably with his signature “pain-body” concept. Tolle’s notion of a “pain-body”—a living energetic entity of residual emotional pain, carried inside us—is essentially identical to what Long taught earlier, although Long called it the “unhappy body,” “emotional body” or “pigmy.”[6] A sample of their obviously-similar statements on this niche idea is presented below (I present more examples here).
View quotes in a table with citations
When Tolle was an unknown figure in the 80s, he reportedly offered to translate some of Long’s writing into German.[7] But despite his past enthusiasm for Long’s output, Tolle never acknowledges or even mentions Long in his books. While Tolle has mentioned Long on occasion, and stated he “loved” his teachings, he has not, to my knowledge, properly credited or acknowledged him. Tolle has even suggested the notion of the pain-body was a “realisation” he came to independently.[8] This seems highly implausible and frankly dishonest.
Other influences
Other authors I’ve looked at much more briefly are the psychologist Charles T. Tart, who has written about Fourth Way methods for present moment awareness, and Jon Kabat-Zin, whose work helped to popularise mindfulness and its therapeutic benefits.
I’ve not given these more mainstream authors the same level of attention. The same goes for more well-known spiritual teachers Tolle mentions in passing in his books, such as Jiddu Krishnamurti and Ramana Maharishi—or traditions like Zen Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta, which he also discusses at times. While he never directly acknowledges any of these sources as influences, their connection to his work is easier to recognise because they are better-known and at least mentioned by him.
Nicoll and Long are, by comparison, lesser-known figures and are entirely omitted from Tolle’s books. Not even a passing reference is made. It felt appropriate to focus on Tolle’s most obscure, unsung sources not just because he does not mention them in his books, but primarily because I believe them to be his most important influences too.
However, my research does not, and cannot, give a complete picture of Tolle’s unacknowledged influences. Even with Nicoll—who is the only author for whom my comparative analysis has approached being exhaustive—I do not think I’ve covered everything. This type of close, analytical work is very time consuming and there are limits to how much I can do. I believe I’ve presented more than enough to support my conclusions though.
What you can read here—research outline
Here’s an outline of the major research articles I’ve published here, most of which feature extensive comparative analysis.
Side-by side comparisons
If you want the quickest “TLDR” look at my supporting evidence, then view these articles first. They present side-by-side comparisons of similar author statements in two column tables, grouped by topic. Each article has a number of comparison tables.
Here is an example of one table featured in the self-observation article.
Observing “inner talking” or “the voice”
| Maurice Nicoll | Eckhart Tolle |
| ‘Inner talking’ is a mental ‘monologue’ that can repeat like ‘old laid down gramophone records’ internally.[9] | ‘The voice’ consists of ‘continuous monologues or dialogues’ which can repeat like ‘old gramophone records . . . playing in your head.’[10] |
| It is ‘negative in character.’[11] | Has an ‘often negative nature’[12] |
| ‘This inner talking . . . goes on in you all the time.’[13] | ‘Virtually everyone hears a voice . . . in their head all the time.’[14] |
| It’s comparable to ‘people who go along in the streets muttering to themselves’ but it’s usually ‘not expressed outwardly.’[15] | It’s like ‘people in the street incessantly talking or muttering to themselves’ only most ‘don’t do it out loud.’[16] |
| It ‘drain[s] force from us uselessly.’[17] ‘It is a continual source of leakage, of force.’[18] |
It ‘drains them of vital energy’[19] ‘It causes a serious leakage of vital energy’[20] |
| ‘The first thing that we must do in regard to inner talking is to observe it and notice what this inner talking is saying.’[21] | ‘Start listening to the voice in your head as often as you can. Pay particular attention to any repetitive thought patterns.’[22] |
| ‘Now when you observe a thought, you are not identified with it.’[23] | ‘As you start listening to the thought . . . you are no longer energizing the mind through identification with it.’[24] |
| ‘You are not your thoughts.’[25] | ‘You are not your mind’[26] [27] |
I’ve published just over a dozen articles in this format so far.
The first, listed below, compares Tolle to multiple authors—Charles T. Tart, Jon Kabat-Zin, Maurice Nicoll and Barry Long—on the theme of being more conscious in the present moment or now.
Summary of Eckhart Tolle and Maurice Nicoll Similarities
Eckhart Tolle is compared exclusively to Maurice Nicoll in this article series. It covers their close correspondences on describing the practice of self-observation, inner transformation, and overcoming negativity.
- 1: Self Observation – This practice is given a central place and explained in corresponding ways.
- Pt. 2: The Light of Consciousness – This recurring phrase conveys an idea integral to their views on inner transformation.
- 3: The Inner “Power of Choice” – Both make analogous statements about changing one’s inner approach to life.
- 4: Negative states – Negativity is toxic to the body, drains us, causes illness and misery yet we are enjoy it like a drug, both maintain.
- 5: The Negative Contagion Within – They discuss similar notions about how negativity accrues within, expresses psychically and how once can overcome it.
Overview of Eckhart Tolle and Barry Long Similarities
This article is like those above, with comparison tables, although it is longer as I covered all the main similarities I found in one article, rather than a series. This covers the pain body, the “inner body awareness” practice, the spiritual importance of the present moment/now and various other self-knowledge and spiritual ideas.
Comparative Essays
I wrote these longer essays before the articles above; many of the similarities discussed in them were distilled and summarised in the later ones, although I also cover some major topics here I’ve not summarised yet. In these I delve further into the meaning of ideas, showing in a deeper sense how the authors correspond conceptually. I also spend more time providing further historical background so the concepts ideas can be placed in a greater context. In addition, I highlight and contrast some key differences in the authors’ perspectives too.
The first article listed below compares Tolle to Nicoll and Long on the concept of the “pain body,” while the rest are focused on Tolle and Nicoll.
The Hidden History of Eckhart Tolle’s Pain Body
This essay argues that Eckhart Tolle’s signature “pain body” concept, which many consider unique, is not actually original. Most facets of the concept, which is an integral part of Tolle’s teachings, were described earlier in the work of Maurice Nicoll and Barry Long. I believe Tolle was heavily influenced by both authors on this idea, although his conceptual model derives more from Long overall.
Comparing Maurice Nicoll and Eckhart Tolle on Self-Observation
As mentioned previously, Tolle corresponds a great deal with Nicoll in how he describes the practice of self-observation, with Nicoll’s idiosyncratic phrases and approach evident in Tolle’s work. This series of essays provides a deeper analysis of their commonalities, while also discussing their sometimes diverging views on some matters, such as the difficulty and pace of inner change.
- Self-Observation Comparative Essays: Series Introduction
- Part 1: Being the Observer
- Part 2: The Light of Consciousness
- Part 3: Shifting Perspective on Life
Other Nicoll-Tolle comparative essays
This article compares Nicoll and Tolle on the important spiritual theme of self-identity, including the difference between our real self, or “essence,” and false self—and how our worldly “personality” sits somewhere in between these two.
In the next I compare their closely-corresponding views on “the law of opposites” said to govern external life and our emotions and inner states. They similarly describe how we might transcend this law to reach higher states of consciousness or being which have “no opposite.” I also compare and contrast their views with other esoteric perspectives on this theme.
Note that while I’ve not summarised the above two topics yet, they do include some comparison tables within them.
Quote image slideshows
A number of quote comparison images appear in my longer essays; these have been compiled into slideshows so they can all be viewed together in one place here.
Background articles
The first article I published here was a biographical piece—an introduction to the life, work and impact of Fourth Way teacher Maurice Nicoll, the main subject of my comparisons with Tolle.
The next introduces the Fourth Way esoteric tradition, initiated by G.I. Gurdjieff and disseminated by P.D. Ouspensky. It discusses the impact of this teaching on the popularisation of present moment practice in the West—including Eckhart Tolle’s teachings.