Eckhart Tolle guides you into the present moment, pointing to the stillness beneath thoughts and sensations. He teaches that what matters most lies beneath the surface of what you perceive, accessible through simple awareness.
As you look at me on the screen and as you listen to the words, you become aware that there is a background to this experience that you are having at this moment, which is visual, mainly visual and auditory. There is a background of could say stillness to that experience. So the surface reality is your experience of looking, listening, then in your mind decoding the sounds and the visual signals, but then becoming aware that there is a background of stillness which is in between the words and behind the words. And that is a dimension that if I perhaps had not pointed it out, some of you might not have become aware of. And you would only be interested in the words or in looking at me for some reason. But you can also be aware that there's a background to this experience that you are having right now, which is a little bit like the canvas on which the artist paints. The difference here is of course this metaphorical painting, which is the experience that you are having at this moment, is not fixed. The painting, once it's done, is fixed on the canvas. But this is a fluid, continuously moving painting, which is your present experience. And you can be aware simultaneously as you are having this experience right now, which from a conventional viewpoint could not possibly be called interesting. But there is something deeper to this reality than what is conventionally called interesting on the surface of things. If I start screaming now that it becomes interesting or something happens, the house collapses. Oh, that's interesting. That's the surface reality. So meditation is deeper than interesting. You can now be aware simultaneously of the experience you're having at this moment. Words, visual image, mainly some thoughts. Because the words I speak become thoughts in your mind, they become your thoughts. But these thoughts point elsewhere. They are pointers or signposts. They are not self serving thoughts. They don't say, look at me, believe in me, adopt me as your opinion, identify with me. That's not what these thoughts are saying. The thoughts are simply pointers beyond thought. And what is it that the thoughts point to? The thoughts appear. They are part of the surface appearance on the canvas, the metaphorical canvas. That on which your present experience is painted appears. But these words that appear on the canvas point to speak of the canvas on which they appear. They say, don't just be aware of me. The thoughts say that don't just be aware of me. Be aware of where I appear and how I appear, how I emerge, where I emerge. Be aware of what makes it possible for me to be now, what makes it possible for a painting to be the canvas. So you become aware that there is a stillness as I said in the background of your present experience, in the background. And even. It even interpenetrates your actual experience. It becomes into it goes. You find it in the cracked of between words. It's. It's there everywhere. And what else could we call it? So I want to give you a few more pointers, helpful pointers, in addition to the experience you're having and whatever makes up the experience you're having at this moment. And right now it's a very simple thing, because there's only a few simple words and a man talking to you through the screen. But in addition to that, there is a silent presence that has no form. You can't say, there it is. You can't say, look at it. You can't grasp it, you can't analyze it. In fact, you can't know anything about it. And yet it's there. It's the one thing that is beyond doubt about the reality of this moment. Everything you're experiencing at this moment could be a dream. So you can doubt that, and in some ways it is a dream. It evaporates quickly, dissolves, and then something new appears. So you can doubt that what you're experiencing right now is really, absolutely, really real. What you cannot doubt is that you are experiencing something, whether it's real or unreal, whether it's dream or reality. You cannot doubt that something is being experienced. You might doubt, even have to say, I am experiencing, because the I that says I am experiencing me, the person could be part of the dream in some way. It is. But even if the person is a dream in some way, yes, the person is a kind of dream, but the dream is happening right now. What is it that enables the dream? If it is a dream or if it's not a dream, what is it that enables the reality of this moment to be? And since I used the word to be, we could say it is the being that is behind everything, the silent presence which is being. So you become aware of that. This again is the canvas, as we called it. But what is that? The mind may ask. And many answers are possible. Not one answer is the correct one. Every answer, what is to the question, what is that? Every answer will limit it, will not be absolutely correct, will distort it. And yet, let's say this, it is you, that canvas, that silent presence, is the essence of you, not the surface you. The essence of you, surface you. Who knows what that is? A kind of dream. And you become aware of that underlying silent space or presence. And many answers are possible. Not one answer is the correct one. Every answer, what is to the question, what is that? Every answer will limit it, will not be absolutely correct, will distort it. And yet, let's say this. It is you, that canvas, that silent presence, is the essence of you, not the surface you. The essence of you, because the surface you, who knows what that is? It's a kind of dream. And you become aware of that underlying silent space or presence.
Why alcohol feels like relief, and what it is really giving you | Eckhart Tolle
