A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth is a great read, despite all of its hype. I say that because I have friends who purposely shied away from it for the very reason that it found its way on to Oprah's Book Club list. I tried the book for two reasons, first of all friends had found it to be a good read, secondly I had read and enjoyed another of Tolle's books, The Power of Now, a number of years before. Regardless of why, I simply like the book because of the fact that it makes me think. The very beginning of the book captured my imagination and it continues to stay with me.

Those opening paragraphs are such a different way of looking at our world. Evolution and the big bang doesn't get you to think about the birth of a flower. Neither does Genesis and the seven days. Tolle's paragraphs inspired my imagination and allowed me to think of the world we live in, in a very new way. And those were only the first two pages.

Earth, 114 million years ago, one morning just after sunrise: The first flower ever to appear on the planet opens up to receive the rays of the sun. Prior to this momentous event that heralds an evolutionary transformation in the life of plants, the planet had already been covered in vegetation for millions of years. The first flower probably did not survive for long, and flowers must have remained rare and isolated phenomena, ...
Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature... (1-2)

In the following video, Tolle discusses his book and how he named it A New Earth.
 
If you've never read it, consider doing so, it's a very thought provoking book.