The character arc of Eckhart Tolle

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born Ulrich Leonard Tölle on 16 February 1948 in Lünen, a small town north of Dortmund. Between then and now sit a move to Spain at thirteen and a refusal of all formal education until he was twenty two, five spiritual books given to him at fifteen, three years teaching German and Spanish in London, a degree and a postgraduate place at Cambridge in 1977, one night at twenty nine that ended the studies, about two years spent largely on park benches, a first book in 1997 at forty nine, and a readership in more than thirty languages. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Eckhart Tolle?

His family thought he had lost his mind. He was on a bench in Russell Square.

He was born in a small town in the Ruhr and moved to Spain at thirteen to live with his father, where, in the record's words, he refused all forms of formal education between the ages of thirteen and twenty two, preferring to pursue his own creative and philosophical interests. At fifteen somebody gave him five books by a German mystic and he has said they influenced him heavily. That is the whole of his schooling: a boy who would not go, reading what he chose.

At nineteen he moved to England and taught German and Spanish at a London language school for three years. Then he did the conventional thing after all. He went to the University of London, and in 1977 enrolled on a postgraduate programme at Cambridge.

He was twenty nine and had been through long periods of depression. One night he woke in a state he has described as almost unbearable, and a question arrived without an answer: who is the I that cannot live with the self? He has said the mind made self, with its heaviness, its problems, the one that lives between an unsatisfying past and a fearful future, simply collapsed. He woke the next morning and everything was peaceful.

He walked out into London and found, in his words, that everything was miraculous, even the traffic. He abandoned the doctorate. For about two years he sat much of the time on park benches in Russell Square watching the world go by, staying with friends, in a Buddhist monastery, or sleeping rough on Hampstead Heath. His family thought him irresponsible, even insane. He changed his first name to Eckhart.

Former students and acquaintances started asking him what had happened, and he began counselling and teaching. People kept coming for the next five years. He moved to Glastonbury, then to Vancouver in 1995. The Power of Now was published by a small press in 1997, when he was forty nine, republished at scale in 1999, recommended by Oprah Winfrey in 2000, and reached number one on the New York Times list two years later. It has been translated into more than thirty languages. A second book followed in 2005.

The moments

Eckhart Tolle's timeline.

The 1960s

~1961

He refuses school

Setback, and it changed everything. Nine years of no school at all, by his own choice.

~1963

Five books at fifteen

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A present of five books, and they did the teaching.

~1967

Teaching languages in London

Milestone. Nineteen, in a new country, teaching the two languages he had.

The 1970s

~1977

Cambridge, at last

Milestone, and it changed his direction. The boy who would not go to school, admitted to Cambridge.

Jun 1977

The night at twenty nine

Milestone, and it changed everything. The worst night he had, and then the morning after it.

15 Jun 1977

Finish the doctorate

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: leave, and sit with it, taken, or finish the doctorate. He began teaching within three years, and the book that came out of it reached number one twenty five years later.

Jul 1977

He leaves the doctorate

Milestone, and it changed everything. A Cambridge postgraduate place, walked away from.

~1978

Two years on the benches

Everyday, and it changed everything. Two years on a bench, with his family certain he had gone mad.

The 1980s

~1980

People start asking

Milestone, and it changed his direction. He never advertised. People came and asked.

The 1990s

~1995

Vancouver

Milestone. A new continent at forty seven, and still no book.

~1997

The Power of Now

Milestone, and it changed everything. Forty nine years old, and the first book.

The 2000s

Aug 2000

One recommendation

Milestone, and it changed everything. One magazine column, and the book went to number one.

~2005

A New Earth

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A second book, and no church to put it in.

The talks still go out from Vancouver, quietly, to people having their own bad night at three in the morning. What it has set moving started on a park bench with a man everybody had written off, which is worth remembering on any morning when the useful part of your life looks like it is behind you.

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Eckhart Tolle: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is Eckhart Tolle's character arc?

A boy who refused all formal education from thirteen to twenty two, went to Cambridge anyway, abandoned his doctorate at twenty nine after one night that changed everything, spent two years largely on park benches, and published his first book at forty nine.

What happened to Eckhart Tolle in 1977?

At twenty nine, after long periods of depression, he woke one night in a state he called almost unbearable and describes the mind made self as having collapsed. He woke the next morning to find everything peaceful, and abandoned his Cambridge doctorate.

Did Eckhart Tolle go to school?

Barely. He refused all forms of formal education between thirteen and twenty two, after moving to Spain to live with his father, preferring to pursue his own creative and philosophical interests. He later attended the University of London and Cambridge.

How did Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now become a bestseller?

It was published by a small press in 1997 and republished at scale in 1999. Oprah Winfrey recommended it in her magazine in 2000, it reached the New York Times list that August, and it reached number one two years later.

Why did Eckhart Tolle change his name?

He was born Ulrich Leonard Tölle and took the name Eckhart in the years after 1977. Some accounts link it to the German mystic Meister Eckhart. He has said he saw the name on a book cover in a dream and knew he had written the book.

Where does Eckhart Tolle live?

Vancouver, where he moved in 1995 after a period in Glastonbury. His teachings draw on Zen Buddhism, Christian mysticism, Sufism and Hinduism, and he remains unaffiliated with any particular religion.

Where does this timeline of Eckhart Tolle's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Eckhart Tolle isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

Eckhart Tolle, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
His own accounts of the night in 1977 and the years afterwards, as quoted there.
New York Times bestseller listings for The Power of Now from August 2000.