Eckhart Tolle delivers a short monologue on the human condition, arguing that the unenlightened or "unawakened" state is being lost in thought. He clarifies that thought itself is not inherently bad (using analogies like a hammer, saw, or phone) but becomes dysfunctional when one is its servant rather than its user. The central prescription: use the mind as an enormous tool without being at the mercy of it.
The unenlightened, the unawakened human condition is lost in thought. It's a dreadful state. And that doesn't mean that thought is bad in itself, in the same way that a hammer and the saw are not bad in themselves. And even the phone, the Samsung or iPhone, as long as it doesn't explode, is not bad in itself. But the way in which it is used, or rather to be its servant, that is crazy and that is dysfunctional. But if you are able to use them, it's great. Use your mind, enormous tool, but not be at the mercy of your mind.
Why alcohol feels like relief, and what it is really giving you | Eckhart Tolle
