Does Eckhart Think? | Eckhart Answers

So puffs come, go predominantly, really awareness. It's so much nicer than thinking.

So I had the opportunity to interview you once before Eckhart, about 10 years ago. And one of the things you reported to me then was, was that after this awakening, you experienced an 80% reduction in mental activity. And I'm curious in your life what it's like for you in terms of your relationship to thoughts. Meaning do you sometimes have hours go by where there literally are no thoughts? Or are there thoughts coming but they just float by and there's no attention is given to them? So what's it actually like? And I'm sure it's different, obviously, if you're in the middle of an airport doing something than if you're just relaxing at home. But I'm curious to know more about the interior of your experience.

Yes, well, there are long stretches of no thought, and I can still function in that state. For example, you talk about airport, I can perfectly check in or walk to the go through security check and then onto whatever the lounge without any thought. And this would not be uncommon that I would do something or go from where I get into the car and drive to the store to buy something. And again, virtually no thought is not uncommon. And it does make. Occasionally little fragments may come up like little puffs of clouds, and then they're gone. So there can be, or let's say I'm sitting at home not doing much.

And.

Occasional thoughts can drift in and out of awareness like clouds. Like the sky is blue, but little puffy clouds come from time to time. And they go. The thoughts have no. I don't follow them. And they don't even try anymore to get my attention. As is the case with people who are still very strongly identified with thought. Every thought pulls you. Every thought pulls you where it wants you to go. And thoughts don't really have that pull anymore. They just. When they appear, there's a blue sky and the clouds appear and disappear, appear and disappear. And there could even occasionally be a stream of thoughts in certain situations, or maybe not even connected to anything particularly happening outside of me. There can be times when there are certain streams of thoughts, but again, they are harmless. They are not the thoughts that have this gravitational pull that is. And you have to follow them with your entire attention. But it's a thought that, yes, from time to time, there may even be more clouds than blue sky. But these clouds are no longer the heavy weather clouds that I had in the distant past and that other people perhaps recognize in their own lives. They Are more like innocent little puffy clouds with thoughts, but no thought matters that much. And then it disappears. It's not amplified by following it up and identifying with it, and then becomes a heavy thing that takes possession of you. So it never feels as if any thought were taking possession of me. So, yes, then to summarize, I think if anybody entered my inner state, they would be surprised how little thinking there actually is compared to probably what still is still for most people, normal, almost continuous. How relatively little there is. Yes, there is some. And that which there is, is doesn't have the heaviness anymore that it has when you're identified with the thoughts and they have a gravitational pull and they develop into streams. They proliferate and develop into streams and you lose yourself completely in it. So that doesn't happen. So I. Not thinking is almost. Would say predominates unless there's something specific to think about. But then occasionally, yes, clouds come and go and so on, but there's always an awareness of the sky also. And it doesn't really matter whether I'm out in nature, walking in the forest, looking around. Let's just describe. Let's just describe perhaps one minute of. Let me walking in the forest, walking, looking. The dog. Trees, no thought, just looking at the trees, the plants, the aliveness of it, sensing the energy field. And then a thought may come, says, oh, when I get home, I need to. I need to do this or that. I forgot to do that. When I get home, I still need to do that, or I need to buy some. I need to buy some bananas later. Okay. And then it's gone. And then I. And then some other thought comes of something, maybe, could be anything. A person that tried to contact me the other day didn't. And. And then it's gone again and back. So puffs come go predominantly, really awareness, it's so much nicer than thinking.

So just to be sure that I fully hear you correctly, it never happens that one of these puffs kind of has a little hook that comes down that catches you by the neck or something like that. And, you know, just a little hook that comes in like I forgot to do something and.

Good question. I have experienced in the past, not for some time now, occasionally some thought coming in and hook is a good word I experience in the past sometimes and I can't remember when the last time was. Occasionally some thought coming in and wanting more of me than just appear and disappear. Yes, it goes. I perceive it. It goes like this. It pulls your sleeve.

Yeah, yeah.

And so that's usually I notice it and then there's an intensification of presence. There's a consciousness, a conscious choice at that moment to be more intensely present.

Interesting.

The same thing happens when a challenge comes in everyday life. Something goes wrong, whatever it may be, and a challenge comes in and what otherwise could easily develop into some kind of drop minor drama again at that time. Usually it's not even so much a conscious choice. It almost happens naturally that immediately there is an intensification of presence. So that's something that I hadn't mentioned before. There is the normal level of presence is the ticking over of the normal level. When the challenge comes in. There is a. I call it sometimes the dimmer switch is turned up and there's more intense presence when the challenge comes because only more intense presence can burn the thoughts that want to arise there. And so there's then a. And hard to describe what a heightening of presence is, but if I could act it out, please. It's like normal presence is. And more intense presence is then back to normal, more intense. The more intense presence is a presence becomes a sharp sword, as I sometimes compare it to that in intense presence, which if you are surrounded by pandemonium could happen, then that is required. Or if there's a very strong pull by some thought, come this way. I will lead you to a wonderful place. It's called drama and unhappiness. Just follow me. You will love it. And then you have to go. You can't fight that thing. You can't say no, go away. You give it more power. You just go. You have to have that fierceness. Then the presence becomes fierce presence. Whereas before presence was gentle, gentle presence.

It.