A Visit From Eckhart Tolle
Last night, I experienced more of my self.
Stick with me here.
Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle came to Winnipeg and spoke to a group at the Centennial Concert all. He spoke for about two hours, and in that time I had a few revelations.
First, I was glad I didn’t bring my notebook. Tolle himself said at the beginning if we brought one, to put it away. The confirmation really stroked my ego. It’s all about experience, and not concepts he said. We do that enough every day.
Two, an extension of number one — Concepts, and experience. Labels. Perception. Thought. Most of our unease stems from a lack of awareness of our constantly chattering mind.
From a young age we are taught to label things. Good, bad. Beautiful, ugly. Cat, dog. This is a human tendency which allows us to maneuver our environment with greater ease. This is what Tolle described as “conceptualization.”
In this sense, labels are wonderful. We can communicate things easily, and move onto more challenging tasks quickly. I’m not going to argue with you what’s a cat or a dog.
The issue with labels: They are subjective thoughts of our perception.
What the f — ?
Said another way, everything is what I think it is (or what I want it to be).
There is an emphasis on “I,” and “think” in that quote. Our ego, and our minds are racing with constant thought, all of the time. It’s chatter. Noise. And it can become disruption, and a mask covering up our true, present, experiencing selves. You’re ego is trying construct an environment in which it makes itself feel best. And when gone unchecked, it may force us into resistance, frustration, depression, and anger.
How so? Labels! When things aren’t going the way “I” want them to go, “I” (my ego) wants to figure out how to get all nice and cozy. How can “I” feel better about myself? It forces my entire Being into a state of push, resistance, and anger. “I” throw a hissy fit. “I” get all whiney. “I” complain. All from what? A label — a thought.
I believe it was Shakespeare that said something along the lines of, “Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Here, we move from the conceptualization towards something far greater — experience.
You see a tree with no leaves so you think it’s ugly, and you label it so.
You see a dog who disobeys orders, so you perceive it to be bad, and then you label it so.
The label has confined you to your own mind. Your ego feels safe now because it’s figured things out. Your ego is now either happy, sad, or angry because the label it attached to the situation said so. If we go through our entire life calling something “bad”, it results in negative stress on our minds and body.
The label isn’t bad. It’s the interpretation that matters.
Let’s use the example of being happy or unhappy. You may hear people say, “Happiness is a mindset.” Happiness is not just a mindset. What I have found is often when I am upset, just thinking, “Dude, it’s okay. Just be happy,” my physical self does not necessarily change. I actually find that I become more resistant, and agitated because I feel that my negatively labelled thoughts are, “bad.” Now with this label, my body is holding stress that I am trying to push away and “just be happy.”
So what are we to do? I don’t have a f — ing clue. But I’m slowly figuring things out for myself.
There are just the waves of experience that we must learn to cope and adapt with. Labelling ourselves as “happy,” or “unhappy” is a problem in of itself. One we seek, the other we avoid. There is a divide. A separation. Detachment. But this goes against our true selves. We all experience these things, no matter our situation.
Instead, it’s beneficial to think of the following words. (And yes, these are labels. But are here to help guide you towards an awakened sense of Being. Tolle calls these “Sign Posts.”)
Non-attachment.
Spaciousness.
Stillness.
How can you practice these three words in a concrete method?
Welcome everything, as is.
Do not resist. Do not push. Accept. Because going against what’s happening around and you will always just see labels, and concepts. Not true presence, and experience.
This does not mean you have to be a push over, not to set goals, or don’t try to expand your comfort zone. Rather, it is an invitation to become deeply aware or yourself, and where you are now. It’s about understanding you are not alone, and you are apart of something much grander. Finally, it’s about respecting the process, because the only moment that exists, is now. Everything else is just a thought. We are a state of Being.
We don’t live a life. We are life. And life is us.
