My partner and I saw Eckhart Tolle today at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. We were mesmerized for 3 hours (minus the 20 minute break in the middle) by his disarmingly honest and real presence. I read The Power of Now years ago when it first came out. Then I listened to mp3s during my long job commute and most recently I am listening to A New Earth on my iPod.
The message that he so beautifully conveyed is that we are not separate from ourselves. There is no “me” as in “my life.” Rather, I am life with no separation between the two. I love myself and I hate myself are 2 sides of the coin which separates us from the living entity that we truly are. We have come to believe in a self outside of our actual existence and consciousness.
He spent about 2 1/2 hours talking about this from many different angles in ways that almost anyone can understand. I highly recommend reading his books, listening to his audiobooks, and watching his DVDs. If you can, go see him and listen to him speak.
Here are a few quotes I took away from today and will use to help with becoming more and more present myself.
“What is my relationship to the present moment?” Ask yourself this often to help be in the now. This is a teaching I’d heard on an mp3 before and I’ve found that when I ask myself this question it helps me get back to being in the present.
“Can I be the space for this?” I was on the edge of my seat when he started talking about this. It’s a technique to use for continuing to be present when in the presence of unconscious people, such as people who are going off on you or people who are demanding things of you or what have you. He joked that this is the one to hang on the cubicle wall.
“Who am I” He said to ask this question often but don’t answer it. It will help to open the door to awareness.
“I am” This is in the same realm with “Who am I” but with a slightly different twist. I am is the pronouncement of to be, “the formless I am; the formless one life.” It is simply “I am life,” rather than “This is my life.”
And for all of us retiring soon or already retired, but really for everyone, “Honor your function, but don’t let it be your identity.” This is really such a powerful message.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Michelle Vandepas // Feb 24, 2008 at 1:40 pm
You are so lucky to have had him near you. All the spiritual teachers say the say thing, in different ways, through different filters. Once we drop our expectations, our stories, and just look within, Who am I, What do I have to give to the World, How can I contribute, and keep going deeper, we’ll get our own answers.
Nice post
2 Cheryl // Feb 24, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Thank you, Michelle. Sounds True is doing a webcast of his sessions in San Rafael (San Francisco) next month. I haven’t looked at the website yet so I don’t know how much it will cost, but I may sign up. And he’s doing the 10 week Oprah class. It’s really neat that his message is getting to such a large audience now.
3 Cindy // Feb 25, 2008 at 6:56 am
This is the second time I’ve heard about A New Earth during the past week. I look forward to reading the book. I love the first two questions. I’m going to give them some thought and really keep them in mind. Thank you.
4 Jan - queenofkaos // Feb 25, 2008 at 10:25 am
I am a big fan of Eckhart Tolle as well. I will definitely look for some of his newer stuff, I only have The Power of Now.
When I am anxious or stressed, putting myself in the present almost always calms and centers me. At least for the moment :0)
5 Sherri - Being the Change I Wish to See // Feb 25, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I find I have to strike a balance between being in the moment and taking myself out of it to get out of my comfort zones to make change happen. Being in the moment is wonderful, calming, and comfortable. But I don’t push or improve myself when I’m comfortable.
I will have to add Eckhart Tolle to my reading list this year. I’m always open to ideas and alternate perspectives. They make me think.
6 LaRene // Feb 25, 2008 at 1:04 pm
He is right. You need to be aware of your thoughts and ask yourself if they are taking towards success. I loved the video.
7 Tom Stine // Feb 25, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Eckhart is one of those wonderful non-souls that comes along every once in a while. It is always great getting in touch with someone who is the real deal in the spiritual world. Somehow I managed not to read Power of Now, so I’m reading it, well, now! Great book. He and Adyashanti are two of the purest lights around these days. Great post Cheryl!
8 June Campbell // Feb 25, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I hope to have a chance to see him soon. I live in Vancouver so hopefully he might be presenting in his home territory some day. I’ve certainly signed up for the Oprah/Tolle webinar in March, and my church, the Center of Spiritual Living is having book discussions every Sunday after the service throughout the lifespan of the webinar
9 Cheryl // Feb 25, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Thanks to all of you for your comments. I’m struck by how many people are responding to my Eckhart Tolle post, which tells me how many people he’s touching. I’m also struck by the different responses to being in the now. While I find it difficult because I’m always doing, doing, doing, thinking, thinking, thinking (in other words, it’s hard to turn it all off), Sherri finds it too comfortable.
I look forward to experiencing that kind of comfort, although I can understand how you’d feel the need to act. I think that Tolle would say something like acting in the now is putting being in the here and now into action.
10 Fran // Feb 26, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Wow, you’re so incredibly lucky that you got to go and listen to Eckhart speak. I hope I can do the same one day. As soon as I stopped reading The Power of Now I started right back at the beginning again. It’s such a great book and I hope I can eventually achieve being fully conscious! Thanks for posting.
11 Cheryl // Feb 26, 2008 at 6:50 pm
You’re welcome, Fran. The funny thing is he’s come to Seattle before but for one reason or another I decided not to go. I’m really glad I went this time. Everything relates to what he says, whether I like it or not :).
12 stefan day has a blog // Feb 29, 2008 at 12:03 am
Hey, I want to put it out there as a reminder, I know the video sells it, but the event next week (March 7 &
will be webcast from Marin County. Those of you not able to make it to Eckhart’s limited speaking engagements may love to check it out.
Cheryl, I was at the Seattle event as well - I think my favorite piece was actually about the relationship parents can have to their children, in terms of “being the space.”
13 Cheryl // Feb 29, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Stefan, that is so cool you were there, too. I really liked what he said about parents allowing children to just be and giving them attention for nothing more than that sometimes. I loved his whole discourse on “being the space.” My favorite part about that was being the space for what goes on at work. It’s really neat that they’re doing a webcast of his talks from Marin County, like you said. Thanks for your comments
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