In Stillness Speaks, Eckhart Tolle helps us remove that which separates us from the truth of who we already are and what we already know in the depth of our being.
Stillness is your essential nature. What is stillness?
The inner space or awareness in which the words on this page are being perceived and become thoughts. Without that awareness, there would be no perception, no thoughts, no world.
Do you need silence to find stillness?
Silence is helpful, but you don’t need it in order to find stillness. Even when there is noise, you can be aware of the stillness underneath the noise, of the space in which the noise arises. That is the inner space of pure awareness, consciousness itself.
Is it not wisdom that humanity needs most at this time? What is wisdom and where is it to be found?
Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and listen. No more is needed. Being still, looking, and listening activates the non-conceptual intelligence within you. Let stillness direct your words and actions.
Don’t take your thoughts so seriously
The stream of thinking has enormous momentum that can easily drag you along with it. Every thought pretends that it matters so much. It wants to draw your attention in completely.
The thinking mind is a useful and powerful tool, but it is also very limiting when it takes over your life completely, when you don’t realize that it is only a small aspect of the consciousness that you are.
Stillness is where creativity and solutions to problems are found
Artistic creation, sports, dance, teaching, counseling–mastery in any field of endeavor implies that the thinking mind is either no longer involved at all or at least is taking second place.
The mind is incessantly looking for food for its identity. How to awaken from it?
When you recognize that there is a voice in your head that pretends to be you and never stops speaking, you are awakening out of your unconscious identification with the stream of thinking.
When you notice that voice, you realize that who you are is not the voice–the thinker–but the one who is aware of it.
Knowing yourself as the awareness behind the voice is freedom.
The ego lives through comparison
Envy is a by-product of the ego, which feels diminished if something good happens to someone else, or someone has more, knows more, or can do more than you. The ego’s identity depends on comparison and feeds on more. It will grasp on anything.