Eckhart TolleNYT Bestselling author of the Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle: The Silence You Keep Missing

22 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief excerpt, Eckhart Tolle explains that true stillness exists not only in the external world but also in the space between words and thoughts. He points out that most people are unaware of this inner stillness; even when they are in quiet natural settings, their mind remains noisy, with the incessant "voice in the head" continuing to speak. Tolle emphasizes that this mental chatter is not merely unnecessary—it can be destructive, harmful, and toxic. The teaching draws a contrast between external silence and the lack of internal silence, urging listeners to become aware of the stillness that lies beneath the surface of thought.

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There's stillness behind the words. There's stillness in between the words. Normally, people are not aware of stillness at all, and even when they go out into nature, where there is usually a high degree of stillness, even then many humans are still engaged with their noisy mind. The voice in the head does not stop speaking. So they might be in external silence, but internally— In the head. There is no silence. There's continuing mental noise, a lot of which is, by the way, not only unnecessary but actually destructive, harmful, and toxic.