Eckhart Tolle: Why I Sit and Do Nothing Daily

22 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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1:16

In this short monologue, Eckhart Tolle explains his fundamental preference for "being" over "doing" and describes his daily practice of simply sitting, observing, and walking in nature without engaging in formal meditation. He confesses that his primary activity is teaching the state of being, and he values moments of quiet presence—watching the sky, trees, or simply feeling inner peace—over continuous activity. Tolle emphasizes that this practice is not a structured meditation but a natural, effortless state of simply being.

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As you might realize, I am more inclined to being than to doing. And even now, I have a confession to make. I'm not a great doer except spiritual teaching, if you can call that doing. So the strange thing is my doing is mainly concerned with teaching being. And I still love the being dimension. I'm not continuously active. I still love periods virtually every day when I just sit and be. When I contemplate, I look out of the window, look at the sky or the trees, or I go for a walk in the forest, come back. And even sitting in a room for a while every day without Not saying I'm now doing a meditation. No, no, I'm not doing anything. I'm just being. I look at the trees moving in the wind, or still. Sky is beyond. What else could one wish for? Just being quietly sitting in the room, feeling inner peace.