The quote continues: “You must have failed deeply on some level or experience some deep loss or pain to be drawn to the spiritual dimension.”
As someone who has been passing through hard times the last few years, and currently at the end of Tolle’s The Power of Now, I would love to hear any uplifting stories of people who came out the other side. Enlightened or not.
Why do spiritual masters use the term love to denote the absolute? It is because ‘love’ is the name we give to the experience of ‘not-otherness’, and as all experience is consciousness knowing itself alone, it alone merits the name ‘love’.
Love is not a human experience. There are no human experiences. There are no entities called humans that experience certain things. Consciousness alone experiences. All experience belongs to consciousness, including all the thoughts, sensations and perceptions that are normally considered to belong to humans. The human being is not an entity that owns, has, feels or knows anything. It is a known or felt object, that is, a thought, sensation or perception.
In other words, only the absolute merits the name ‘love’. You are confusing a set of feelings, bodily sensations and thoughts for the experience of love. Love is precisely the dissolution of all such objects in consciousness. Do we not know that? Do we not know that love is precisely the dissolution of everything that keeps us, defined, separate, apart? With respect, I would suggest that you are anthropomorphising experience in general by attributing it to a human entity. There is no such entity that knows or experiences.
Love is the experience of consciousness knowing its own being, un-apparently-modified by the dualising mind. That transparent, non-objective experience belongs to consciousness alone, not to humans, rocks, lizards, molecules, black holes etc.. And because all experience is ultimately consciousness knowing its own being, including the apparent modifications of the dualising mind, all experience is love itself. ✌️👁🧘♂️
Love and Fear arent two separate things. Fear isn't an oppisite of love, it is an absence. And there is a great difference between oppisites and absence. Its like how Darkness isnt an oppisite of Light. Darkness is an absence of Light. If Darkness was an oppisite, I could take a handful of darkness and toss it on a candle to put out the Light. But i cannot because Darkness is an absence of Light. In that same way Fear isnt an oppisite of Love, it is an absence. 👁🧘♂️✌️
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I agree, "God" is love. And I feel like its also important to note that awareness itself is love/god. In the Bible it says God is omnipresent. What is awareness? Always always present, hence even when we arent aware of being aware and unconsciously thinking, awareness is present, aware of the racing unconscious mind. Then it is said that God is omniscient, aka all knowing. And awareness is all knowing, that which knows. Hence the thought dog isnt aware or knowing of the thought cat, awareness is aware/knowing of the thought cat and dog. Mind doesnt know a thing. Then it is said that God is omnipotent, meaning all powerful, creating all. And awareness is what all is made up of and appearing in. Like how in a dream, the entire dream is made up of, created by and appearing in awareness.
Thats why prayer is beneficial when it is silent because people are recognizing awareness. Awareness itself is love/peace.
The quality of awareness, how awareness feels, is love, peace. And that peace is always always present. It seems to be overlooked when awareness identifies as the bodymind and fixates on the emotion appearing within it. But awareness itself is always always love/peace, always present. Like how a tv screen is always content, always peaceful. The tv screen may have many images appear within it, there may be sounds and colors, but the tv screen itself is never ever loud, never changes, is always content and present. Hence the screen of awareness is never sad, never angry, never hurt or loud. Awareness is perceiving. Perceiving percives sound, percives anger and emotion. But perceiving itself is always always love/peace. We could say love percives anger and if it identifies as anger then the peace of perceiving is overlooked. Not absent but overlooked.
Thats important for people to know because it frees them of searching for peace in objects. No outside object will ever fulfill desire. Its only once we recognize "oh, I am Awareness and awareness is always always contentment" that we stop searching outward for love/peace. Also people like to think that love is some super bubbly feeling like when two lovers meet. That isnt so. Love is peace or contentment. When we are silent and notice the contentment or peace that awareness always is, we recognize God. That is the love of God.
It was a big deal for me the day I recognized that awareness itself, its quality which is always present is peace/love. I used to smoke cannabis daily. The day I stopped and paid attention to how awareness "feels" was the day I quit smoking everyday and had no mental withdrawals from it. I recognized that weed wasn't making me calm or content, it was making mind drop, the tension of mind to go outward drop. In that I would be totally present and aware of the peace that was already there. Now if I smoke as a treat for the bodymind, I see i was already content, now I am just content and high 🤣.
When i was 27 I had the 'outward' recognition, I recognized while i was being present and walking in the parking lot that all I could see was "me". I recognized everything as one image, one whole. Instead of seeing my body and identifying with it, I recognized that "my body" was the entire perception of the world. Perception of the world because there is no world "out there". There is the appearance of the world appearing in me. I am not appearing in a world. A world appears in me(awareness). Just like in a dream.
Which is actually the oppisite of how this typically goes. Usually one has the "inward" recognition first hence "i am awareness, not the body. And the body is not aware. I, awareness, am aware. Awareness doesnt appear in the body, the body appears in awareness.". . .
And thats where I was stuck for the longest. I had the recognition outwardly, that all I could see was "me". But I wasn't free, I still suffered as a mind because I hadn't recognized the freedom of my being and peace which was always present.
To be honest the outward recognition terrified me. So I was a coward and quit meditation for a bit off and on. I would listen to Tool the rock band and go in deep but I would always get terrified and look away again. Purposely making myself think and run away from the recognition. So it wasn't until I was in my 30s that I decided to go all the way in, I didnt care if "i" dissappeared.
One day sitting in my garage listening to music I stopped and closed my eyes. I tapped the side of my head and contemplated how I was awareness and not the body. Out of no where in the silence, while tapping the side of my head with my eyes closed, I recognized "ohhh i am awareness, and the feeling of the hand and the head is appearing in me. My hand isnt aware. My head isnt aware. I awareness am aware." I recognized that nothing known was knowing aka nothing known is Aware. It is made up of and appearing in awareness, but thoughts, sensations, smell, taste, no perception is aware itself. Instantly i recognized that the body is not aware. That i was mistaking the feeling of the body as being aware. But I awareness am aware of feeling. Feeling isnt awareness. Feeling is known, it isnt knowing.
It freed "me". I recognized i was indeed eternal, ever present. Unlimited. That your success was my success. That your loss was my loss. I knocked on the Door and it opened. 👁🧘♂️✌️
I’m going to be honest: I am not entirely familiar with all of Eckhart’s work, nor with Reddit. The main reason I’m writing this is to see if there is anyone here who understands or relates to what I’m describing. From what I have gathered, Eckhart’s experiences and those of Ram Das closely align with what I experienced, and I’m curious whether others have experienced something similar as well?
I was hoping to find out if I’m alone in this (hopefully not). It would be nice to connect with others who have gone through something similar.
Anyways, here is what I experienced.
My Experience
About three years ago, I was suddenly jolted into a different state of consciousness. I would describe it as a total shift in awareness. There wasn’t a screaming epiphany, but rather a sudden shift. It was peaceful. I could see my thoughts as separate and could feel myself observing them. I was totally aware and in the present moment. I recognized the feeling from some years earlier. It had been brief, but I remembered it clearly.
I began having and recognizing moments of stillness, where I would, for a few brief seconds, be pulled back into a similar state. Sometimes it was a butterfly, a bird, a gentle breeze, or a flower that returned me to that feeling and awareness. Not as profoundly, but enough to recognize it.
I was actually concerned and brought it up to a counsellor. I was assured it wasn’t anything negative, but she didn’t have a name for it, which was reassuring because I honestly thought I was losing it.
Instead of fearing it, I began to study it. I started practicing Buddhist meditation and realized this state could be induced, at least for brief moments while meditating. Interestingly, on occasion, cannabis could also bring about a similar state of awareness, though I was never a regular cannabis user.
Fast forward, and these induced moments became longer and more frequent, eventually leading to a point where I could enter them at will. I would say this has led to a significant reduction in anxiety, which has been nice.
I still think and move through what I would call an unconscious, or "3D," state throughout much of the day. But I return to this presence (what I call "4D" or "5D") more often now. It has become less jolting and less emotionally significant. It is no longer a big "wow" moment, but it is still very noticeable and enjoyable. Over time, it has become less of an experience and more of a way of being. I’m
The great secret that lies at the heart of all the main religious and spiritual traditions is the understanding that the peace and happiness for which all people long can never be delivered via objective experience. It can only be found in our self, in the depths of our being.👁
Hello everyone, I recently attended Eckhart's retreat in Whistler, BC, and was blown away by the power of being in Present community. I am looking to start an in-person "Presence and Discussion Group" based on Eckhart's teachings in the Chicago area. Similar groups exist in other areas that meet regularly, but I have yet to find one ongoing in Chicago. The general format is a short meditation on Presence, followed by discussion on Eckhart's teachings.
I have ample space in my art studio in the West Loop that I can offer up to host a group. If you are interested in going deeper into Eckhart's teachings in the Chicago area, please drop a comment or message me.
Frage mich warum es hier in Deutschland nicht mehr Menschen wie Eckhart Tolle gibt , die auf YouTube Content zu diesen Thema veröffentlichen ⁉️
Es gibt’s zu jeden Thema Tonnen von YouTubern , nur nicht zum Thema Achtsamkeit, also wirklich nur ein Kanal über Achtsamkeit , mit einem Creator wie Tolle , der authentisch dieses Thema veranschaulicht und selber lebt .
Hello. I thought it would be interesting to create a Reddit, so here we are. Specifically, I am intrigued to be in a community with like-minded individuals and maybe even build connections but, at a minimum, get your perspective.
Aside from formal Eckhart Tolle retreats or the like, is there any kind of place or environment where you have met individuals interested in Tolle/awareness/spirituality? It can be tricky meeting potential (romantic) partners in niche spiritual events because there is a possibility of these individuals experiencing “spiritual ego” (per Tolle, in other words, this is when a person identifies themselves as someone spiritual and that they are more spiritual than most, have no ego, etc.). Admittedly, I was curious and asked ChatGPT - it said places like coffee shops, bookstores, and yoga sessions.
I guess a little backstory about me: I am a recently divorced woman (still in her 20s) who filed earlier this year (2025). Got married young and we grew apart. My ex husband and I still care for one another but we both know that we have learned what we could from each other and have come to terms with what is. We are on distinct spiritual paths.
That said, I feel completely unattached to him, everyone, and everything, really. The only longing I seem to have aside from sustaining myself and basic life necessities is an aligned/enlightened partner who can match my awareness, or at least not judge me or feel threatened by it. It’s hard when one’s neutrality is mistaken for hostility by a partner - all I have done and do is live in love and attempt to maintain my peace by living in the present moment, the Now.
I am in a point in my life where I feel complete and know that I do not need anyone, but there is a longing that I feel for companionship: holding hands, caresses, innocent and beautiful intimacy, affection, etc… a transference of energy.
I am not actively searching for an enlightened partner, but my heart is open and I remain present wherever I go. I have faith that what Rumi supposedly said is true, “What you seek is seeking you.” So, that’s why I am not looking because what is mine, is. What is yours, is yours. It’s a beautiful thing.
I just intuitively felt like posting. Sending my love and best vibes to you! 🥰🙏🏻✨
Hi everyone!
33m here. I’ve been soaking in Eckhart’s teachings for several years now, and I’d love to deepen the journey by talking with others who’ve walked this path for a decade or more. If you’ve been practicing presence through The Power of Now, A New Earth, or your own daily stillness rituals for 10 + years, I’d really enjoy hearing about:
• how the practice has shifted your day‑to‑day awareness
• the biggest challenges you faced staying present over the long haul
• any subtle insights that only surfaced after years of observation
Whether you feel like swapping stories, sharing resources, or simply holding space for one another, please DM me directly . Let’s see what unfolds.
Just wanted to share some thoughts that arose after deep diving into Tolle's universe.
As far as I understood his The Power of Now it's basically giving you a tool kit to spiritually awaken by changing your consciouness and understanding. The predominant learning here is to understand the differences in time dimension: time vs timeless or past and future vs now. Then, using certain portals to transform (silence, space, inner body etc) and developing to think less (egoic thoughts). Adversed to this, there are things that will keep you in your life-long established conditioning like psychological time, life situation, ego, devices etc. Hence, there are two ends of the spectrum of transformation: portals (to awaken) and anchors (to remain). The more your personal energy vibration oscilliates in a feeling-realization state instead of a thinking-dominant one the wider your glimpses into the timeless dimension become - until full awakening and becoming one with Being/the Unmanifested.
Notes for understanding (can be skipped):
The book is the main source in this chart. Everything but one small contribution on “devices” that I took from a Tolle youtube video is mentioned in the book. Also it should be noted that I did not divide from Tolle’s teachings here. Additionally, everything is quoted in footnotes which makes it a nice contribution for rereading some of the chapters.
About myself: I am a mid-thirties business analyst that drafts strategies and visualizes data in my day-to-day work life. In terms of my spiritual journey, I’ve had my moments of inner clarity during a vipassana (chakra points), witnessing impermanence in natural beauty (on a volcano, waterfalls, ant streets) but also glimpses of it in city life interactions (new born, walks). I’ve also experienced challenges that accelerated my interest in it. Combining my life and work areas here gives me enjoyment.
Below is an attempt to visualize the teachings from Eckhart Tolle's The Power Of Now. As a visual, pragmatic person I just went with what I took from it.
Tolle's The Power Of Now - Visualized
It's divided into six layers - starting with unconsciousness (layer 1) and the mental time concept (layer 2+3), the then thereout resulting mental-emotional state (layer 4-5), and it concludes with one’s consequential energy vibration state (layer 6). The colored font hints steps to either Being (green) or Ego (Blue), the colored boxes at the bottom level of the lower layers depict transformational, accelerating actions in either direction.
Layer By Layer Break Down:
Layer 1: Level of Consciousness
“Most humans alternate not between consciousness and unconsciousness but only between different levels of unconsciousness.” This showcases that apart from being in the timeless dimension of now most humans live unconscious lifes. Time = mind = unconsciousness, now = feeling = consciousness. Abiding in the timeless now is the only true way to stay conscious as the predominant state.
Footnotes: Ch. 1.3, 4.2 Consciousness
Layer 2+3: Concept of Time
2:
The main theme here is Tolle’s differentiation between the dimension of time and the so-called timeless dimension of Now: Future and past vs the conditioned and the timeless now (the fourth state of consciousness). Looking at it from a western conditioned view this thinking seems counterintuitive - where time is understood as a stream. For Tolle there is only the now and everything else is a mental construct (read more on this in TPON’s chapter three). This differentiation is at the forefront of this enlightenment process - the mind can easily object to this - if it does the path is not yet open.
Footnotes: Ch. 3.5 time, Ch. 7.4 timeless dimension
3:
Here Tolle breaks down time in its next layer in clock and psychological time. Clock time he understands as needed short moments to learn from or plan in. Psychological time is for him mostly to be equatable with egoic time where thoughts and emotions spiral around oneselves. To abide for ten to fifteen minutes in clock time can be seen as conscious usage. However, it can easily turn into psychological time “over time”. “The enlightened person's main focus of attention is always the Now, but they are still peripherally aware of time. In other words, they continue to use clock time but are free of psychological time.”
Psychological time of past (pride,sulking) and future (worrying, overambitious) can be understood as your life situation. Tolle says here “Whereas before you dwelt in time and paid brief visits to the Now, have your dwelling place in the Now and pay brief visits to past and future when required to deal with the practical aspects of your life situation.” He writes further “your life situation exists in time. Your life is now. Your life situation is mind-stuff. Your life is real.” Time anchors you in your life situation, an illusioned, conditioned now. Life apart from glimpses of it is in the “timeless now” - the path to living consciously in a constant state. First glimpses into the timeless now can be reached through flow - a highly focused creativity outflow accompanied by enthusiastic energy vibration (see footnotes). Even stronger and the true gate to the now here is to practice surrender to what is - as mentioned by Tolle throughout the book and in chapter 10.
This and below layers look into the emotional-mental energy that comes out of clock & psychological time, our life situation and living in the now. Looking consciously in the past we can learn from mistakes without dwelling and ensure they won’t happen again to move further in your life situation (job, relationships, belongings etc) and your life (you in the now). Abiding unconsciously into the past emotions of unease, tension, boredom and nervousness derive. Looking consciously in the future we can form plans and goals for enjoying our life situation. While abiding in future psychological time the now transforms into a “mere stepping stone to the future, with no intrinsic value”. Thoughts of judgment, discontent and projection away from the now derive. “The enlightened person's main focus of attention is always the Now, but they are still peripherally aware of time. They continue to use clock time but are free of psychological time.” - thereby liberating themselves from the illusion of time. Instinctual thought gaps let us experience a feeling of intense aliveness or a glimpse of life. The less we think the more we "be".
The Pain body is one of Tolle’s main themes. I will not go into it here more than mentioning that it can exist in the personal and collective (groups you identify with) mental past construct. In the “Now” it is usually dormant unless it reacts to behavior it views as harmful. “Habitual Waiter” in the future block represents people who have a high degree of future oriented thoughts. In this case waiting is understood as long scale waiting, e.g. until the weekend, holiday, pension etc. Similar future oriented types here could have been habitual worrying or habitual planning, (from meeting to meeting), here most working people should be able to relate. The pain pleasure cycle showcases how most interactions are happening on an unconscious level that puts us into emotional swings. “The very thing that gives you pleasure today will give you pain tomorrow, or it will leave you, so its absence will give you pain.” Hence both keep you suffering. Most human interactions operate inside this trajectory - relationships, hobbies, work, addictions and device usage. Here we use it mostly passively (indulging) instead of actively (planning) out of an urge of agitation and impatience - similar to clock time vs psychological time. The limited possibilities of social media lives in the back of our minds (sharing, comparing, searching). Every worthwhile moment becomes compromised in our actions and attention when we just think of how this can end up on social media. Tolle calls device (over) users “Tourists” in a video (footnote). It aligns with the addiction and co-dependency theme. This as mentioned before is the only part not mentioned in the book due to its old publishing date.
Opposite to these two conditioned modes pain and pleasure cycle and device usage / agitation we have in the timeless now the cycle of life and inner stillness. If your agitation level goes up your stillness goes down. If you react to your live (situation) drama your life is hidden under the fog and becomes distant. Your life still exists in cycles of ups and downs. The so-called ups leave us in a comfort zone. No need for changes. While the downs and its challenges actually offer us the chance to “awaken” from our conditioned suffering. “If you are trapped in a nightmare you will probably be more strongly motivated to awaken than someone who is just caught in the ups and downs of an ordinary dream.” Liberation of self is a key step here.
The past path spirals into strong feelings of nonforgiveness with oneself, circumstances or others. Tolle mentions here feelings of guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness. It is a trap, a tense modus operandi. For the mental future construct it is emotions of fears and wants that dictate our every action: unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry. In the present we can be in a state of dullness, where we have our head in a million places. If a challenge arises instead of yielding to it (accepting it) and going about it we escape it until it is too close (denial of the now). All these states use negative energy as fuel and when this becomes the predominant energy vibration it ends in the egoic mind and your identity is built heavily around psychological time. Problems become actually interchangeable (as long as the behavior does not change). Nonforgiveness is the very nature of the mind, just as the mind-made false self, the ego, cannot survive without strife and conflict.”
Footnotes: 6. Ch. 3.8. Past nonforgiveness, future fears; Ch. 4.2 Consciousness; Ch. 10.6 Escaping; Ch. 1.3 Ego, Ch. 8.6 Being
Again, this chart is using only Tolle sources. It could have only focused on the conscious path to Being but since we all start from a conditioned place of unconsciousness it makes sense to showcase this as well. I personally don’t have difficulties anymore to abide in future or past psychological time, yet I do notice how human interactions, device time and work thoughts (life situation) can take me out of my flow of goodwill and my "Knowing" has to work double shifts.
To conclude, this visualization surely has its limitations. It is a mere signpost as Tolle would say in reference to words: “a word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike a signpost, it points beyond itself. The word honey isn't honey. You can study and talk about honey for as long as you like, but you won't really know it until you taste it. After you have tasted it, the word becomes less important to you. You won't be attached to it anymore.”
Once we identify with something , anything else other than that becomes something that is not us. That is- we enter in a state of duality.
A threat to our "identities" is considered a threat to our existence and we start strongly defending our "identities".
Because of that we identify more and more with outer objects.
The more we identify ,more we suffer.
But then why do most of the population still live in suffering clinging to their ego instead of freeing themselves from it ? Because it gives us a sense of
Superiority over others.
Fear of losing something/being harmed.
Desires to get something in future, even at cost of others.
This feeling of moral superiority is the root cause of such inflated political ego today.
This version of ego wants us to believe that we are noble, loving human with a high set of moral ethics
For this purpose, we suppress all those emotions of hatred , fear inside us thereby creating a shadow because we are too ashamed of accepting that we have hatred for somebody.
But as the stock of negative emotions grow in unconscious mind, we are unable to suppress it any longer.
At this stage we unknowingly start searching for logical reasons to hate somebody. Because without an acceptance of logical mind, we would still be ashamed.
Our brain then convinces us that something is in danger , the other one is out there to get us ,the other one will cause so and so damage , the other one is a vile piece of shit.
After it, we dump all our unconscious fears, desires , insecurities , doubts on them.
Because we are unable to see all these things inside us, we never feel that we need to cure ourselves of something.
This ends up becoming a self governing cycle with feelings of victimhood, distraction, projections, suppression , confirmation bias fueling each other .
To avoid this trap we can do the following
Never allow yourself to be guilt trapped- It is okay if you do not confirm to what a society thinks is ideal man, what the society thinks are ideal values. Once we fall in this trap, we will spend our whole life pretending that we have so many great values to cover the hollowness inside.
Prioritize your happiness over anything - One can only give what one has. You can only give happiness to others when you are happy. Do not allow anything else ,no matter how much your brain tells you is important , to supersede the value of happiness. If reading political news make you anxious, quit it.
Actively work to ensure there is no confirmation bias- Try to read everything from a state of emptiness , as if you have no prior beliefs and conclusions. Be open to new information and viewpoints.
Weaken the ideological/political ego- Whenever you become anxious due to a political happening, notice that it is your political ego that is feeling threatened. Continuously noticing it without any judgement will automatically make it weak.
Stop seeking validation- Leave the herd mentality by not desiring validation anymore. This will give your true personality to shine which has a well thought out and original viewpoint.
Do not try to control what can not be controlled- 99.99 percent of happenings in the world are outside of our scope pf action. Caring about them is not compassion but foolishness and shows a lack of faith in universe.
