Life Isn’t Here to Make You Happy, It’s Here to Awaken You | Eckhart Tolle

Something is built into life to challenge you. And why does life do that? Because the world isn't here to make you happy. It's here to awaken you. Something goes wrong, something, something that shouldn't be happening, an obstacle limitation in your life, one form or another. And so the things never stay perfect, in perfect order for very long. Perfect order would mean your health is good, your finances are good, your work situation is good, you have a great family, you have a few nice, nice possessions, everything is going smoothly in their life and all you have nice furniture, everything is arranged. Relationships, finances, work, home, everything. Great. Now, if that is your situation at the moment, there may be one or two of you who say, yeah, well, that's what's happening to me right now. Everything is fantastic. It won't stay like that. Just wait a little. Because life, something is built into life to challenge you. And why does life do that? Because the world isn't here to make you happy. It's here to awaken you. The ultimate purpose of the world is to make you conscious, to find God within the deep, this dimension of depth. The world is here to fall, to bring you, it to frustrate you, one could say, not to satisfy you. So the whole assumption that the world is here to satisfy you creates a lot of suffering because every time you get challenged, you complain and say, oh, this shouldn't be happening. And of course. And then the delusion that the world could possibly satisfy you is perpetuated by the technology that we've come up with. Because when you go on Facebook and at similar platforms, you see all these humans who have achieved total satisfaction in their photos. You can see it because you can look at their photos. And they eat one great meal after another because they photos of them, look what I'm eating now. It's wonderful. Look where I am. And. But of course. And that's not enough. Another, Another deception comes in because there are filters you use for the photos. So these. And these filters, you make everybody beautiful. And if you. And then you look at them say, look at these people's lives, they're so great. What about my life? And then you think, oh, I can do the same. Then you start taking pictures of your meals and use the filters. So that is deception that the world can satisfy you. What the world can do is to awaken you. That's the potential the world has. And it awakens you through the challenges of life. It does not awaken you when it gives you a moment of you are in a temporary comfort zone. Some people think if I had enough. If I had enough means to live in a place where everything is done for, where I didn't have to worry about anything. Where beautiful meals are cooked for me. All the best, purest food. I get at least one massage a day. And beautiful surroundings. The weather is great. And if I could, then I could really dedicate my life to meditation and spiritual awakening. Now, you would find it might work for a week or two. You say you're really getting somewhere with your meditation. Maybe three weeks, four weeks. And then something else sets in. Unhappiness arises again. Or you fall asleep, so to speak. You become less and less alert because nothing challenges you. And when nothing challenges you, the level of alertness tends to go down. Let's have another beer. Let's watch another movie. It's comfortable. Card, sofa. I have nothing to worry about. I get my regular income every month, Every. And my wife is giving me massages. Everything is great. You fall and go to sleep, so to speak. You're not being challenged. The same applies to the animal realm. Animals have a high degree of alertness. Look at birds, for example. I love observing birds or any animal. Why are they so alert? If you watch a bird, you can see enormous. Why is the bird so. Because that's. It wouldn't be alive anymore if it weren't. And any animal has this. Or deer. We have in Canada, often we have deer come up to the house. And yes, they are more trusting than in other places, but they're still incredibly alert. More than visually, the hearing. The ears are enormous. And at the slightest sound, the ears move towards the sound. The slightest could be a mile away. Too much. And when there is some possible danger, the deer remains totally motionless for several minutes. So you can't see any animal. Cannot distinguish between the deer and the trunk of a tree or something. Just totally alert. Alert. Why are they so alert? Because they need to be. They don't. They are not in a comfort zone. They need to survive. So they are being challenged. Every life form is continuously being challenged. And through the challenges is an evolution of consciousness. And humans experience the same on another level. So remember, the world is here. It is perfectly. It is fulfilling its function perfectly. Next time you get challenged, the world is fulfilling its function perfectly. It's here to awaken you. Oh, that is how. And the strange thing is, up to a point, the fact that you are continuously being challenged until you reach a certain point where awakening becomes a possibility or is beginning to happen. The challenges of life produce unhappiness. They produce an unhappy person. And then you reach. When the awakening process begins. The challenges that continue to arise then also can turn into its opposite. Instead of creating unhappiness, an unhappy person, they contribute or they intensify or accelerate or deepen the awakening process. And so you, instead of reacting in the old unconscious way, when you're confronted, let's say you're confronted with a difficult human, you become. You enter the state that we entered here and that perhaps you're still in to some extent, even while you're listening. But just as I talk from being, although I am doing, the words arise from a deeper dimension of being. I could not give a talk like this. Just if I were disconnected from being would be, what am I going to talk? I don't know what to say. So there's a connectedness. So you're connected to that. And then things unfold. And so when a challenge comes, you become more alert, a difficult person, perhaps. And so instead of reacting, you go, or a health challenge. Good. I was challenged two years ago. I had some trouble with part of my body. And I went to a medical exam. And the man said, after the examination, you have cancer. Although that's a challenge. So I went, oh, of course, nobody knows the outcome because. And it was strange because I thought I could never have cancer because I'm mostly at peace. But of course, there may be other reasons. The world is full of toxic stuff, so. And for a long time in my life, I did not have good nutrition, couldn't afford it, but. So there was a moment disconcerted for a few minutes. That's strange. I didn't expect. And then my usual state of I'm fairly present. I don't do a lot of useless thinking. But that state of presence suddenly intensified enormously. And it went on for days and days and days, just incredible states of. Because you never know with cancer. You could be dead within six months, or you could be alive longer. Who knows? Nobody knows. And it was just nothing left of me except an alert presence. I could sit in my room just, oh, wonderful, wonderful. And I was ready to go and at any time. And I was also ready to be healed. And then 10 days later, a phone call came. They would operate on you. They had to, because there was something physical, had to be removed. And they did operate. And I could, after the operation, still in hospital and continued in that state of. And then I had another exam. And they said after the operation that, well, you seem to be free now of cancer. Okay, so that seems to be the case at the moment. Nothing is guaranteed in this world and whatever it is. I have met people who have had a diagnosis, similar diagnosis, and they had already begun the awakening process, and they were able to virtually become just totally awakened. Because the person went away completely and there was just consciousness, the being left the depths of the deep. I emerged more and more.