A short spoken monologue by Eckhart Tolle arguing that much of our life experience is shaped by unconscious patterns that create unnecessary suffering or "baggage." He asserts that dissolving these patterns requires the power of presence — actively remaining present when old patterns and challenges arise, rather than waiting for difficult situations to invite presence.
You create to a large extent your life, not to a large extent completely your life experience unconsciously. And so to break the old patterns that create so much suffering, unnecessary baggage, I sometimes call it, that you carry around with you, that you. So you meet it, you interpret situations and people, throw the unnecessary baggage in your mind that for that to be transcended or dissolved, that requires presence power. The presence needs to be there when the old patterns arise in your life, and that is there. So you don't wait for the challenge in hoping that you can stay present, because you won't use it when you're not being challenged and invite presence into your life.
Why alcohol feels like relief, and what it is really giving you | Eckhart Tolle
