20 Minute Guided Meditation with Eckhart Tolle | Spending Time with Conscious People

For today's meditation, I'd like to have a little bit more silence. I believe we are ready for that, at least most of you. I just like to explain how this works in the context of our technology. Here, when I'm not speaking, all you do is you look at the screen and you look at the image on the screen. My job is to be here in the state of presence, which means to hold the state of not thinking. And as you look at me, please realize that you're not really looking at a person. It looks like a person. But when there's no thinking, no form, consciousness, no concepts, where is the person? The person is generated by thought. So when there is no thought, all there is is something that's prior to the person, more fundamental, more basic, more real, formless, just consciousness. So it can be helpful then, if you're receptive to be with someone, even if it's only through the means of technology, to be with someone who is in that state of no thought, which means above thinking, not below thinking, because that apparent person has become transparent to the light of consciousness. And somehow, if there's even the slightest opening in you to that, you can sense that there is something there that is deeper than the person. In fact, the person becomes irrelevant. So, but that in you, that senses, that is of the same frequency, is consciousness itself. So if you even have the slightest glimpse of, there's something that transcends the person when you look at the image on the screen, you're right. But at that moment you have already transcended to some extent, your own person, person being, form, identity, psychological form. Identity consists of thoughts and images. So it may look at first a little weird, as the human mind would tell you, to be staring at a person on the screen who is staring back at you. And perhaps once or twice a thought will come into your head. This is weird. That's just a thought. It's not really weird. It's much more weird to be trapped in your mental noise for most of your life and to live on the basis of that which is a false sense of identity. So what you endeavour is to, as you look at the screen and don't wait for me to say, let's start now, let's consider that we've already started with our silent meditation, because silence underlies the words and is in between the words. All you need to do then is not doing at all, really is. You're looking at the screen and you're aware of the sense perception, and you're aware that you're aware you can sense the presence that you are as you look at the screen. So, and you're alert, you're aware that there is awareness. Otherwise you wouldn't be seeing anything or hearing anything. So the prerequisite for any sense perception is awareness, consciousness. So you become aware of that in yourself. And what the technology here provides is a reflection of the consciousness that you are. A helpful reflection. That's all. When thought comes in, you realize a thought has arisen. And you watch it like a cloud. And then it drifts past and the there is a space again. Don't believe when any thought tells you as we sit here. Don't believe if a thought tells you that this thought is more important than sitting here in presence. Thought likes to do that comes in. Think about this. No, you've decided that the most important thing as you sit here is to be just present. If you like, you can think for the rest of the day when we finish here. Plenty of time for thinking. But this is the time for not thinking. Rising above thinking. Looking at the image on the screen will help you to stay above thinking. When you're feeling drowsy or sleepy, then it's a sign you're falling below thinking. So continuously looking at the image helps you to stay alert. Connecting with alertness. Those of you who find it hard to sit here in presence and whose mind is still very active thinking, Feel the inner body as you sit here. Feel the aliveness in the body as you sit and look at the screen. Feel the aliveness in your hands, your feet, your legs, your arms. There's a field of aliveness alive within the body. Feel that in the background. That takes attention away from thinking. And then you have two things. You have the sense perception that is helpful, takes attention away from thinking and the connection with the inner body. And those two should keep your mind fairly clear. If you're able to hold attention there, it's no effort, just effortless. It. Close your eyes for a moment. Presence, Spacious awareness, Aliveness. Life itself. The life that you are. Consciousness. Open your eyes. Present within and without. Look at your left or right hand for a moment. See the hand, the skin, the texture, how it reflects the light. Without thinking, just present. Awareness. Sense perception appearing in the field of awareness. Looking back at the screen, awareness remains. What appears, changes. That's sense perception. Form. Look away for a moment. Any object where you're sitting in the room. No matter what it is, look at it for a moment. Take in its shape, its color. No mental labeling, just an aware presence behind the sense perception. Amazing Shift from continuously labeling everything and just being there as the presence. Look back at the screen. Space of awareness remains. This is how you gradually become free of being dominated by the person. Of course, you're still a person in your daily life. But there's something more vital and more powerful that arises from behind the person and begins to shine through the person. Everything else is meaningless in this life. If that doesn't happen in your life, what's the point? It means evolution hasn't happened for you. It doesn't matter to the universe, but to the little entity it does. In ultimate terms, it doesn't matter at all. Only in relative terms, in miracles. As delay does not matter in eternity. But it is tragic in time. There's nothing to think about now. Now there are two movements inside you. One is the awakening consciousness, and the other is the pull of the person of unconscious thinking that wants to continue to be in control and run your life. You cannot fight the person or the thinking mind. You can only recognize yourself as the presence behind it. There's an inertia in everything. And the person is the principle of inertia, the gravitational pull back into my drama, into my imagined problems, back into the old reactivity that keeps the person alive, just waiting for another excuse for a reaction. That's the inertia of the person. It. As you know, the word person comes from Latin, and its original meaning is mask. So it is not something that is ultimately real. It is a mask. It's the mask that actors used to wear in ancient theater. The word consists of two parts per P E R means through S O N is the same root as the word sound. Son sound through. It's the mask through which the actor speaks. Sound comes through. Your primary task is to transcend that in this lifetime, because that's part of the evolution of the universe. Consciousness coming in it.