Eckhart Tolle argues that consciousness itself, not your personal self, is what you fundamentally are. Thoughts and emotions are ripples on the surface; the true self is the deep ocean beneath. When you recognize this, fear dissolves and you sense oneness with everything around you.
Of course we can question whether this moment, you sitting there, me sitting on a chair, is actually happening, or whether maybe you are dreaming that you are sitting in a room listening to a man who is telling you that maybe you're dreaming. So you can question whether this is actually happening or not. Is it— is reality real? But of course, if you start thinking about it, you can think for the next 20 years and you can write books about it. It won't get you anywhere. But there's a more immediate realization possible here, and that is to ask yourself, what is absolutely beyond doubt about this moment here and about myself, which maybe I'm dreaming this moment, that is possible. But is there something else that is beyond doubt? So you can doubt whether this is real, but is there something else that you cannot doubt? Let's see. And don't start thinking about it. Is there something else that I cannot doubt? Yes, of course there is. And what's that? You cannot doubt that at this moment, right now, you are conscious. There is a consciousness in which whatever you're perceiving is perceived. If you were not conscious, you would not be perceiving this room or anything in it. So you must— and if it's a dream, the same thing applies. Even if it's a dream, there must be a consciousness in which the dream appears, the light of consciousness in which the dream unfolds. So whether or not it's reality or dream makes no difference to the more fundamental question of what is it about myself that is absolutely beyond doubt, that I can know for sure. And that, that which you can know for sure is consciousness. And it's not so much that you are conscious That's using language that creates a delusion of duality again. But you are consciousness. The essence of who you are is consciousness, the light of consciousness. Now, what that is, scientists have no idea. Most scientists don't mention the word because they don't know how to do with it. Now, But you can verify at this very moment the essence of who you are is consciousness, and that is the I am. That is the spaciousness within. That is the stillness. That is the formless, the unconditioned consciousness. Your thoughts are also part of your consciousness, but they are the form that consciousness takes. I compare to the ocean and the surface of the ocean. Your thoughts and emotions are the ripples and waves on the surface of the ocean, and your entire sense of identity, your form identity— me and my life— is a little ripple on the surface of the ocean of being. Now, when you only know yourself as a ripple on the surface of the ocean, then life is very problematic because you are threatened by bigger ripples, and there may be even some big waves occasionally threatening you. And all you look is you see separate other ripples. There's— what's that? Ripple looks better than me. 'What's that ripple going to do with me?' Or, 'Come, I can't live without you, and we need to come together and form a bigger ripple.' And that doesn't help either. But if the ripple could realize its essence identity as, 'Oh, I'm actually deeper than I realized. I'm not just the surface phenomenon here with my thoughts and emotions and stuff going on in my life.' I'm actually— suddenly the ripple stops thinking, and suddenly as the ripple stops thinking, it's becoming aware of a deep spaciousness. 'Mm-hmm. Oh.' And that is, the ripple is beginning to realize that it is the ocean, the ocean temporarily appearing as a ripple or wave, just a short while, and goes 'chew, chew.' Oh! And then the way in which the ripple experiences life is going to change because the ripple is no longer fearful of other ripples. It actually loves every other ripple because it can sense its oneness with the other ripple. And so that suddenly life becomes more enjoyable. It's not that sometimes it still gets bumped by other ripples, that's okay, but life is actually becoming enjoyable because the ripple is connected with something that is far, infinitely vaster than the little ripple existence. And but the strange thing is, when the ripple becomes conscious— and bear with me just one more minute about the ripple analogy— as you realize that you are the ripple, I'm sure you know that. So as the ripple realizes its identity, as the ocean, ultimately it's not the ripple that's realizing its identity, but because when the ripple realizes its identity, the ocean also realizes its identity through the ripple. And that's the— but now you can perhaps intuitively sense what I mean when I use that analogy, because when you become conscious, of your essence, it goes far beyond a personal realization. It transcends the personal. When a human being awakens to his or her essence identity, it's not just a human being awakening to his or her essence identity. There's the ocean of being, the universe itself awakening, experiencing an awakening And the universe wants to awaken, it wants to know itself. And so you are connected to the evolutionary impulse of the universe. And the reason why you've come here tonight, you can explain it on a personal level. Well, I came because I read the book and it helped me and I became interested and then, or I've already been to, hundreds of retreats, and I hope that this time I'll finally get it, or whatever. You can explain on a personal level why you have come here, but there's a deeper reason why you have come here, because the universe itself wants to experience an awakening.
Why alcohol feels like relief, and what it is really giving you | Eckhart Tolle
