Question about title of Eckhart Tolle Video

Re: Does anything matter, I'll go back to the answer William James gave (separate thread here with the full quote):

""For my own part, I do not know what the sweat and blood and tragedy of this life mean, if they mean anything short of this. If this life be not a real fight, in which something is eternally gained for the universe by success, it is no better than a game of private theatricals from which one may withdraw at will. 

But it feels like a real fight,—as if there were something really wild in the universe which we, with all our idealities and faithfulnesses, are needed to redeem..."

I think that thing really do matter! Otherwise, why are we here, if nothing really matters?

Everything has a meaning. Everything has a purpose. Everything really does matter, in some way or another.

It's complicated. There are things that have positive meanings and purposes from the human standpoint. And then there are a lot of things that have some sort of meanings and purposes, but they either don't relate to our human selves, or the meanings and purposes are bad from the human standpoint. 

And I think that there are a lot of other things that exist and happen that have absolutely no meaning or purpose. They are merely the outworkings of natural law in a world that isn't here just for the nurturing of human beings. Think earthquakes and brain-eating parasitic worms.

Objectively speaking, nothing matters, there isn't even the possibility of it mattering.

subjectively, well that's up to each person to decide.

I have no problem with this since I would never accept any externally defined meaning or purpose or whatever anyways. If I didn't choose it, it's not valid. It's also why it's not possible for things to objectively matter, if I can disagree with or otherwise not like and reject a supposedly objective meaning, it's not objective.

He is a nihilist. Therefore he probably thinks that nothing really matters. I disagree with everything he says and I also think that he is a con artist.

In this passage or literally everything he says? 

To me he talks a lot of sense. Like most people that I listen to, the gems are hidden in the pile. Maybe we each see the gems we want to see?

In this passage or literally everything he says? 

To me he talks a lot of sense. Like most people that I listen to, the gems are hidden in the pile. Maybe we each see the gems we want to see?

He supports [/url][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta]the Anatta doctrine and Advaita Vedanta.

I disagree with these philosophies. I also think that if you believe in the doctrine of non-self, everything is ultimately meaningless.

All these esoteric concepts like Advaita Vedanta mean little to me. I don’t understand how anyone can write something down with such certainty about big picture stuff. 

On the other hand, Eckhart Tolle and Rupert Spira have definitely had a positive influence on me, so I can’t dismiss them or ignore all they have to say.

Tolle seems to argue that we must ultimately turn to a higher power for our purpose. I think an examination of the various ideas about free will shows that some form of a first cause might explain our urge to gain understanding. The human part of us is driven by instincts, so our lifetime is preoccupied with honoring those instincts while we seek understanding, but as moderated by our acquired understanding.

So, I would understand this for my self with by thinking of the old Zen proverb, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water,” as a parable for living a good lifetime. Happiness is successfully balancing human needs with spiritual needs.

Would that be a contradiction of Tolle's ideas?

So, I would understand this for my self with by thinking of the old Zen proverb, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water,” as a parable for living a good lifetime.

Van the man...