Eckhart Tolle describes awareness as the silent background of consciousness beneath all thoughts and emotions. Rather than identifying with what arises in your mind, you can recognize yourself as the canvas it appears on. This inner stillness persists even while thinking or working, untouched by what happens around you.
You can begin to live in a way that enables you to be aware of yourself even while you're having your life experiences, to be aware of yourself as the canvas on which your various experiences—good, bad, indifferent— Happen. So you're not just aware of the depths of who you are as the silent presence. You're not just aware of that when you are so-called meditating. But you can be aware of that all the time. Even while you're thinking, there's always a part of you that's background to your thinking, the awareness behind the thinking, the silent space between two thoughts, and it is you. It is consciousness. It is awareness. In your daily life, there's always a background of stillness or peace, something that is not touched by the comings and goings, gain and loss, turmoil. Whatever is happening in your outer life experience, something that is not touched by that, that is inner peace. It's not just peace, it's also a sense of joyful presence.
Why alcohol feels like relief, and what it is really giving you | Eckhart Tolle
