Eckhart TolleNYT Bestselling author of the Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle on Embracing Spiritual Growth

3 Oct 2025 · 1 min

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In this brief monologue, Eckhart Tolle asserts that genuine spiritual awakening almost never occurs within a person's comfort zone. He explains that people are naturally reluctant to be pushed out of familiar, comfortable states and often postpone or avoid the discomfort required for awakening. Tolle mentions that some individuals create external challenges, such as intensive meditation retreats—specifically citing Vipassana, which involves up to ten hours of daily meditation—as a way to force themselves into the necessary discomfort that can catalyze spiritual growth.

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It is very unlikely that anybody awakens spiritually from within their comfort zone. Oh, no. And of course, people often are very reluctant to be taken out of their comfort zone. Some people create challenges. They want to achieve this or that or later. They want to awaken spiritually. They might go to a meditation boot camp, not this one, but you can go to a meditation retreat such as Vipassana, where you have to meditate like 10 hours a day.