{"id":4622,"date":"2010-06-18T08:09:54","date_gmt":"2010-06-18T08:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.yogaesoteric.net\/yoga-en\/divine-inspired-texts-1587-en\/about-spiritual-awakening-interview-with-eckhart-tolle-2\/"},"modified":"2010-06-18T08:09:54","modified_gmt":"2010-06-18T08:09:54","slug":"about-spiritual-awakening-interview-with-eckhart-tolle-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/about-spiritual-awakening-interview-with-eckhart-tolle-2\/","title":{"rendered":"About spiritual awakening – interview with Eckhart Tolle (2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nFragments from an interview with Eckhart Tolle, by Paula Coppel – Unity Magazine
\n \u00a0
\n Read\u00a0here<\/a> the first part of this interview.
\n \u00a0<\/p>\n


\n \"\"Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n Many people say they are unhappy, yet they are unwilling to change. Why do people stay wedded to their misery?<\/p>\n

\n Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> Because the unhappy self, or the unhappy me, has become part of their sense of self or identity. It continuously tells them who they are or how miserable they are. They don\u2019t want to let go because there is a fear that they will lose their sense of self.
\nThey need to be shown that their mind movements are not who they are. For some people, it\u2019s the beginning of an awakening when they hear or read, \u201cYou have a voice in your head that never stops talking. Have you noticed that?\u201d And suddenly they become aware that the thoughts go through their heads, whereas before they were so identified with them that they were those thoughts.<\/p>\n

\n Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n So one way to help ourselves and others is to note that these are just thoughts and to practice observing rather than attaching to them?\n <\/p>\n

Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> Yes, anybody who is reading this and finding it meaningful, it means they have already awakened. Anybody who is reading this interview and it\u2019s meaningless, it means the awakening hasn\u2019t happened yet. To recognize the basic truths being expressed by these words, that little opening must be there already inside you because it\u2019s only there that you can recognize it. Thought alone cannot recognize spiritual truths no matter how highly developed thought is. It\u2019s impossible. This is why very often you find educated people in the media who look at spiritual books but they are so identified with their thought process, they don\u2019t get it. They write reviews or articles and they miss the whole point. They can\u2019t see the essence. It\u2019s not their fault; it\u2019s not them personally. It\u2019s the human condition and its mind-identified state. And intelligence in itself doesn\u2019t help. You can have two or three Ph.D.s; it doesn\u2019t get you any closer to spiritual realization. In fact, you might be more distant.<\/p>\n

One way of pointing to this realization is, when you think you have big problems, ask yourself, \u201cWhat problem do I have at this moment?\u201d Usually, you will find that you don\u2019t have a problem at this moment because you\u2019re sitting here and you\u2019re breathing, you\u2019re looking out the window, and it\u2019s fine. There is enough air.\u00a0 You even had enough food today; and if you didn\u2019t have enough food, even that wouldn\u2019t be a problem, but maybe a challenge. So challenges exist, but problems are mind-made. Challenges are something that can only be tackled in the present moment and require action.
\nSo if you have no money, you can apply your mind and say, \u201cWhat action can I take?\u201d And then become still. Don\u2019t apply your mind without the stillness because, if you start applying your mind without the stillness, you might very soon lose yourself in the mind and that turns into worry. Worry means the mind is controlling you. Worry is always pointless. A solution never comes out of worry.<\/p>\n

\n Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n Although we tell ourselves that it does, that worrying is a productive thing to do.<\/p>\n

\n Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> Yes, the mind will tell you that you need to think about this because otherwise it will all collapse. But the uncontrolled mind activity is actually what\u2019s stopping you from finding your solution. It\u2019s only when you step out of it and become still and realize that at this moment there isn\u2019t actually a problem, that you find a solution. It might be that because you\u2019ve visited the realm of stillness suddenly the realization of what it is you can do or have to do comes to you when you\u2019re not looking for it.<\/p>\n

\n Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n Is that similar to when people say, \u201cI get my best ideas in the shower\u201d.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n \"\"Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> Of course many people are in their thinking mind even in the shower, but some people are able to enjoy the shower and then have a moment of space and stillness so they get an idea there, an original thought. So you have to be able to step into the dimension of no thought for thought to become empowered and that means being fully present.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re in touch with Presence, you feel at home wherever you are. And if you\u2019re not in touch with that, no matter where you go, you always feel there\u2019s something not quite right. Even so-called ideal situations have their limitations. You might say, \u201cI want to be like Oprah.\u201d Once you are like Oprah, you\u2019ll find you can\u2019t go out on your own anymore, or you can\u2019t go shopping, or you can\u2019t go for a walk in the street because you\u2019d get mobbed. So there is a limitation suddenly in life, and the mind says, \u201cOh, I wish this hadn\u2019t happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n What does a relationship look like between two awakened people?\n <\/p>\n

Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> There is a lack of expectation that the other person should fulfill you or make you happy. Without that demand, there is an openness where you can simply enjoy the other and accept the limitations. Every human being in the human form has limitations. You can marry the Buddha, and after a few months you will find on the human form the Buddha, too, has his limitations. There may be things that the mind reacts to and irritates you about the Buddha. \u201cWhy is he sitting over there in meditation?\u201d<\/p>\n

Once you accept the limitations of the other, it\u2019s a dance between two forms and a realization that the essence of relationship is the space in the relationship. So, the question that needs to be asked always is, \u201cIs there space in this relationship?\u201d Space really means the level of awareness or presence, not thinking. So, can you look at your partner and not think? Two conscious beings realize that the essence of the relationship is the space in it. Even when there is an egoic overlay, it is not too dense or heavy for you to sense the essence underneath it. You don\u2019t need to react to the egoic overlay. When you don\u2019t react to it you don\u2019t strengthen it.<\/p>\n

\n Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n You often talk about the consciousness of animals in your writings. Do you consider animals to have a higher level of awareness than human beings?\n <\/p>\n

Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> Not higher but, I sometimes say animals are closer to God than humans. They are closer to the source. The humans are more lost in the mind forms. Being is more obscured to the human because of the overlay of ego and mental formation. I call animals \u201cguardians of beings,\u201d especially animals that live with humans. Because, for many humans, it\u2019s through their contact with animals they get in touch with that level of being.<\/p>\n

We are destined not to go back to the level of animals that we\u2019ve come from but to return to being by going beyond thinking. The animals are at a level prior to thinking. They haven\u2019t lost themselves in thought. We rise above thinking and then we meet them again, where we\u2019re both in no-thought. There\u2019s a deep connection.
\nThe consciousness of the animal also begins to change when it interacts with a human who\u2019s gone beyond thinking. It\u2019s not only the animals assisting us; we are also assisting the animals. The animals certainly like to be close to humans, especially as humans go through the shift in consciousness.<\/p>\n

\n Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n How does being more conscious help us deal with tragic occurrences in people\u2019s lives and in the world? Is there an element of faith that even from personal tragedy, some good will come?\n <\/p>\n

Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> Yes, when forms begin to crumble \u2013 whether the physical form, some external form, your life situation, relationships, whatever \u2013 there is always an opportunity for great deepening. By deepening I mean the arising of who you are beyond form. Sometimes people need to experience great loss to really be driven deeper.
\nWhen great loss happens\u2014deaths close to you or your own approaching death \u2013 this is an opportunity for stepping completely out of identification with form and realizing the essence of who you are, or that the essence of anyone who is suffering or dying is beyond death.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re not compassionate. Compassion has two aspects to it. When you see around you the human form suffering or dissolving, you have empathy on the human level. You share the suffering because it has to do with the fleetingness of form. But if that is the only level that operates in you, you haven\u2019t gone beyond suffering.
\n But on the being level, you realize that who you are in essence is beyond form, and who this other person is, in essence, is beyond form. The realization is not an intellectual one; it\u2019s a sensing or feeling. Then, you look upon the other human being and the suffering and you may cry, but underneath it there is a peace and a power.<\/p>\n

\"\"That peace and power is also the aspect that sometimes brings healing. It may heal the form, or it may heal the other person in the sense of the other person getting in touch with their deeper level. That is the most important healing\u2014realizing who you are. The healing on the outer level is fine, but it\u2019s not the essence of healing.<\/p>\n

\n Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n What you\u2019re saying is similar to how we pray in our Silent Unity prayer ministry. When people call, we remind them of the truth of who they really are. We point them back to that untouched essence of God consciousness within them. You said during the Webcast with Oprah: \u201cThe world is not here to make you happy. It is here to make you conscious.\u201d Is this misunderstanding the root of human misery?\n <\/p>\n

\n Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> If people believe the world is here to satisfy them, whenever they begin to encounter their limitations, they become unhappy again. They don\u2019t realize that the world\u2014and by that I mean anything in the world of form, physical form, some mental forms, or emotional forms\u2014cannot give you lasting fulfillment or satisfaction or tell you who you are. They don\u2019t realize what they are looking for is on the formless level, and they\u2019re seeking it on the level of form and that leads to the frustration of human existence.
\nSo the important thing to realize is the world is not here to make me happy. When you don\u2019t demand that the situation, or place, or person should make you happy, then actually the situation, place, or person is quite satisfying.<\/p>\n

\n Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n Your teachings are contributing to a global shift in consciousness. How do you perceive what is occurring?\n <\/p>\n

\n Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> A huge number of people are going through the process of awakening, some in the early stages, some in later stages, and it\u2019s wonderful to see. It takes a while before it filters through to the economic, political and social structures. The tendency is for people who run those structures to be still completely identified with the ego. So maybe it will take awhile before it reaches the politicians, although who knows? Occasionally, already relatively conscious politicians appear and there are even just sane, normal people compared to the unconsciousness of politicians who have come before.<\/p>\n

\n Paula Coppel:<\/strong>
\n Does the fact that this awakening is occurring convey a sense of hope for the world?\n <\/p>\n

Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> Yes. The question is, does the old consciousness need to carry on until it actually brings about its own downfall through chaos and collapse? Or is the new consciousness arising that can gradually replace the old consciousness without excessive destructiveness?
\nI don\u2019t know the answer to that. We\u2019ll have to wait and see. All we can do is take responsibility for our own lives.
\n \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n yogaesoteric<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fragments from an interview with Eckhart Tolle, by Paula Coppel – Unity Magazine \u00a0 Read\u00a0here the first part of this interview. \u00a0 Paula Coppel: Many people say they are unhappy, yet they are unwilling to change. Why do people stay wedded to their misery? Eckhart Tolle: Because the unhappy self, or the unhappy me, has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[361],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-divine-inspired-texts-1587-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4622\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}