How to Enter a Meditative State of Consciousness | 14 Minute Guided Meditation by Eckhart Tolle

Welcome to our live meditation. We are not going to do a technique based meditation here, but a more natural, spontaneous meditation. So allow me to just talk you into, so to speak, the meditative state of consciousness. The two ingredients of our meditation session here are the words and the spaces between the words. Yes, there's also the visual. You see the image on the screen, but mostly it's the words that you pay attention to. And there's the silent spaces. And usually you would always just be waiting for the next thing the speaker says. But here, to enter the meditative state of consciousness, you become aware of the silent spaces too. You just notice them, like now. And you may notice that when you notice the silent spaces for that moment, your mind also becomes silent. In other words, there is a brief sensation of thinking without loss of consciousness, like now. That is the beginning of the meditative state. And it may come as a surprise to some of you that although you probably think continuously every moment, almost every moment of your waking life, it doesn't have to be like that. You can invite into your life these still silent spaces. In fact, it's absolutely vital, essential for any human to have some access to that inner stillness. Because that inner stillness is a source of great power and aliveness. And it's also a place where you can sense the deeper feeling of being you. The word I is used a lot. It's probably one of the most frequently used words in the language, I, I. And usually it refers to yourself as a, let's say historical person, somebody, a person with a history. The history of you makes you into who you are as a person, your past. And then it includes the I refers also, of course, to your current circumstances. Whatever you identify with, whatever you derive your sense of self from, whether it's possessions or you can derive your sense of self from your possessions. You can also derive your sense of self from your lack of possessions, which could be interpreted as either that you are worse off than other people and you have a sense of identity there made up of certain, certain thoughts, or it could be interpreted, the lack of possessions could be interpreted as, I am more spiritual than all those people who have these possessions. Possessions, which again, it's a sense of identity based on a little story in your mind. And usually the word I refers to that mental entity that consists of things that you, over a period of time, throughout your life, have identified with mostly. And those things become a sense of who you are. Successes, failures, relationships, possessions, status in society, things that you, other people did to you, you did to other people. All those Things become mental stories. And they give you your sense of self. And this is what usually the word un I refers to. And most people don't realize that there can be a deeper meaning to I, a deeper sense of identity. Than one that consists of your personal history and meditation in a wider sense. Or the meditative state is here to help you realize that there is more to you than your personal history. Or the story in your mind about who you are. Which may be predominantly great, that may be a fiction. But better than most people. It may be predominantly negative. I'm a victim of everybody else. Or it may be a mixed bag. For most people, it's probably a mixed bag of good and bad. But if you never go beyond that sense of self. That's a very limited existence. But that kind of limited existence is normal. Whenever you watch movies and so on. It's usually about people who lead that kind of limited existence. Although there are some movies occasionally where you see a glimpse of something else. That's the spiritual dimension that's going deeper within, as we're doing now. So when we come to that, you may remember I said, be aware of these silent spaces. Even they may be short. And as you become aware of the silent spaces. Your mind becomes still. Just for that moment. Like this moment, your mind becomes still means, of course, there is a cessation, a stopping of thought. The voice in the head, as I sometimes call it, suddenly stops speaking. There's no longer any mental commentary about what's going on here or now. And there's no longer a mental projection into some future moment. Like what am I going to have for dinner or lunch or tomorrow? So what's left of you when there is that brief sensation of mind activity. But you have not gone to sleep. You are as alert as you were before. In fact, you are more alert than when you were engaged in thinking. And suddenly you go. And for a moment, what's left of you is that alert presence. And the historical person has kind of temporarily disappeared. That's quite interesting. And without having any story in your mind to tell you who you are. You nevertheless get a very strong sense of beingness or presence. You can sense that there is a presence. And of course, that presence is perceiving through that presence is the background to your sense perceptions. But right now it's. You hear the voice, you see the image on the screen. But no particular commentary on.