Eckhart Tolle has to be my current favourite spiritual teacher. Everything he says just makes so much sense. I have listened to many of his recordings on YouTube. I have loved every minute of this man’s wise words, he really is a genius or he is just very very present and everything he says comes from the one universal intelligence! It makes me want to be more present, more in the moment.
1, Your suffering becomes the biggest doorway. What you believe to be the worst thing becomes the doorway to unexpected joy.
My example I can offer as an explanation to this one is that when you are suffering emotionally and those thoughts go round and round in your head and then you do a Byron Katie work sheet on those repetitive thoughts, well within 20 minutes you have not only let the thoughts go but you have discovered some truths about you. In that moment you realise that you were blaming someone else for your reaction to them or to a situation. It is then in this moment of revelation that you can genuinely let it go and basque in a sense of freedom and peace.
2, There are two ways of being unhappy.
Not getting what you want and getting what you want.
Well ain’t that the case. This one is the simple fact that nothing in the external world can bring you happiness. Happiness comes from within. So best get meditating and practise being in the present moment.
3, This one is about the difference between feelings that arise from the mind and feelings that arise from a deeper intuitive place.
There is a certainty about it. You just know this is right. You may not be able to explain why to others. It has a different quality to it. When there is a deep realisation about what the right course of action is, there is a peace with it. You feel with absolute certainty that this is right for you. It cannot be explained in words and you would have to go through life experiences to find out for yourself what a deeper place this feeling comes from. Its different from somethings that arises from the condition of your mind.
This one is sooooo profound and comes with experience of listening to your feelings. There are some feelings that you have that have a knowing quality to them. It’s like they are so strong that there is no arguing with them. It’s a deep inner knowing.
4, The world, ultimately is here to awaken you and for most people it does that by making things difficult. If the world left you in your comfort zone for long you might think that might be the best thing to awaken spiritually because I need my life to be………
Gotta love the universal intelligence for this one. It is because of our suffering which forces us to go searching for answers and it is because of this searching that leads us on to the path of enlightenment. If life was easy there would be nothing to go in search of.
5, Your entire life is only ever now and so by appreciating the now, becoming friendly with the now, aligning yourself with the now, your life unfolds differently. And you appreciate the little things instead of thinking of the big things that would make you happy. If you could only achieve them, including the idea of enlightenment or whatever else it is. Instead appreciate what’s here in the present moment and you may find one day that listening to the leaves of the tree that move by the wind suddenly makes you happy and you may find that looking at the sky suddenly makes you happy. To become aware of your breathing and to feel the aliveness of your body makes you happy.
There is a peace in the present moment. The mind ceases its thinking and being takes precedence over doing. Doing is a mind activity but when being takes precedence then doing takes on a different energy to it. The glimpses I’ve had of being in the present moment after meditation I can explain however until one experiences it is a very difficult concept to grasp. The mind doesn’t understand it until it experiences it. During present moment experiences the incessant thinking ceases and there is a beautiful sense of peacefulness. I am sure there are different levels of presence and my experience is a dipping your toe in the water type of level. I have listened to many of Eckhart’s present moment explanations of extreme joy, peace, calmness and intense happiness when he had his spiritual awakening and during the following two years when he lived on the streets he said he was the happiest he’s ever been. He mentioned that one day someone sat next to him on a bench and said to him I want some of what you have!
I will be writing further blogs on similar quotes from my favourite spiritual teachers