Eckhart Tolle describes prisoners who found freedom through his work by surrendering to the present moment. He explains how accepting what is without judgment or mental labeling stops the mind from adding suffering to reality, producing awakening and freedom from conditioned patterns.
Several prisoners have said to me, I have become free. I am still here, but I am free internally. I have visited prisons and the prisoners have read the book and said, wow, Surrender to the present moment is the end of suffering. And they've been suffering for 10, 20, 30 years. And suddenly they completely accept this moment as it is, without judging it in any way, without labeling it in any way. Don't add any more thought to this moment. What happens? Awakening happens. What does that mean? Free of the burden of the personality, the conditioned entity that most people mistake for who or what they are.
Why alcohol feels like relief, and what it is really giving you | Eckhart Tolle
