Eckhart Tolle explains how unconsciousness creates suffering and why acceptance matters. He argues that awakening often comes through suffering itself, and discusses how to teach acceptance to the next generation rather than passing down pain.
One aspect of the insanity of this world is we assume infinite growth on a finite planet. We are coming up against the limitations of that assumption. How do you suggest we accept the suffering that that will entail?
Thank you. Okay, that was not the answer. That was just sound. The structures that are in place, the economic structures now, are reflection of a certain state of consciousness, collective state of consciousness in humans, which is largely the egoic state. The ego needs always more. Because the ego lives in a state of constant insufficiency, a constant sense of neediness and lack. It does not feel it has arrived, it needs more. So that's the unconscious urge. So if that's in the individual human, and if that mind structure is in millions of individual humans, then these individual humans create these external structures, organizations and so on that reflect the original mind setting. So the company said, the economy needs to grow and grow, and it cannot. Nothing can grow indefinitely. It's just not everything grows. And then it shrinks or dissolves and then something new arises. That is a constant cycle. And yes, of course, when something that is ego created dissolves, it leads to suffering. That's inevitable. And it is this very suffering. I don't know if that's a politically correct statement, but I'll say it anyway, because perhaps the political statement, nobody should have to suffer. It's a travesty that humans suffer. Nobody should die. Death is a travesty. I'm against it. Of course, I'm against suffering. Yes, humans shouldn't suffer. That's not the reality of it. Humans create out of the unconsciousness. They bring about their own suffering, both on a personal level and if you amplify that on a collective level. Now, if on a personal level, you, out of the egoic unconsciousness, you embark on certain courses of action that reflect the egoic unconscious. You will encounter self created suffering. You make others suffer around you and they will make you suffer. You encounter the unconsciousness and the suffering that's generated by unconsciousness as a person. And the same applies to the collective. When the collective no longer works because the very foundation was delusional, then it creates suffering in humans. But as in the individual, the suffering, although it is created through unconsciousness, the redeeming feature behind suffering is that it's the very suffering that was created by unconsciousness that has the effect potentially of awakening you and transporting you beyond ego. And when that happens on a larger scale, it still applies. So there will be suffering, humans will have to suffer. But ultimately, whether it's a million people who are suffering because a Huge company has collapsed. It always comes. There's always every one out of these million individuals is one individual. There's your suffering. This one individual is suffering. And in the suffering of this one individual there is a potential of awakening. But it is very helpful if as many people as possible come into contact with these teachings that show the possibility that his concealed behind suffering and that suffering in a certain state is inevitable as long as there is unconsciousness. And then the suffering itself has the potential of awakening you again, coming back to what we talked about earlier. The cross, the image of suffering. The cross is the image of suffering. The cross is also suffering symbol for the divine. So it's the self created suffering, both personal level and collective level, that is actually part of the evolutionary progress, the evolution of human consciousness. And one thing that is also good to remember is that we tend to regard every human being as completely autonomous entity. That's list. Here's the human and here's the rest of the world. Of course the ego sees itself like that. Also here's me, the most interesting thing in the universe. And there's the rest of the universe. That's how the ego perceives me against the universe. That's the ego's perception. Of course it's a misperception. And every human being is a temporary expression of the one evolving consciousness, a ray of light, so to speak, from the one source. And so every human being is an expression of that. There is the eternal consciousness. That is the eternal in you is gradually awakening and it awakens in many cases through the dream. An unpleasant dream. But that's a long story. Don't need to go. It may make sense to you just by giving you a little hint. There's a nightmare. Sometimes my life had to become a nightmare before the awakening happened. If my life had not become a nightmare in my own mind, there would have been no awakening. So I'm very grateful that it became a nightmare. Because if you're in a nightmare, you don't want to carry on dreaming. You say, get me out of here. If you have a relatively pleasant dream with up and down, I might as well stay here. I'm quite comfortable in this dream because. Because here's another good meal waiting for me and I'm going to eat this in my dream. And it tastes so good. I may be dreaming, but it tastes great. And then you're sick for a little while. But then there's something else. So how your question is, how do you cope? Or how do you explain.
How do you accept the suffering that awaits us accept. And one small piece. I'm old enough that I will escape a lot of it, but I think about my children who will live in a world in which there will be a lot more limits and limitations.
Yes, that may well be the case.
How do I help them?
You help them by teaching them what acceptance really means, by making them more conscious. And you do that by being conscious yourself. And occasionally you might. They might be open to hearing something that you say to them occasionally. Then they will be ready. Then they will be able to use the suffering. I mean, the first half of the 20th century was a dreadful nightmare for millions upon millions of humans. When the first and Second World War happened, genocide happened on an enormous, unimaginary scale. Insanity. Often you can't even imagine the insanity of it. And you ask, will we have to go through something like this again? Maybe. Maybe, yes, there is. Teach them how to suffer, and by learning how to suffer, to go beyond suffering. That's what you can teach them. And then so before you depart from this dimension, they will know, and then they are ready.
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