Core Teachings of Eckhart Tolle
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1. You are not your thoughts. You are the awareness behind the thoughts. Thoughts are often negative and painful, yearning for or fearing something in the future, complaining about something in the present or fearing a matter from the past. However, the thoughts are not you; they are a construct of the ego. Awareness of your thoughts without being caught up in them is the first step to freedom.
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2. Only the present moment exists. That is where life is (indeed it is the only place life can truly be found). Becoming aware of the now has the added benefit that it will draw your attention away from your (negative) thoughts. Use mindfulness techniques to fully appreciate your surroundings and everything you are experiencing. Look and listen intently. Give full attention to the smallest details.
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3. Accept the present moment. It is resistance to the present moment that creates most of the difficulties in your life. However, acceptance does not mean that you cannot take action to rectify the situation you are in. What is important is to drop resistance so that you let the moment be, and that any action arises from deeper awareness rather than from resistance. The vast majority of pain in a persons life comes from resistance to what is.
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4. Observe the pain-body. Years of conditioned thought patterns, individually and collectively, have resulted in habitual emotional reactions with an apparent personality of their own. During pain-body attacks we become completely identified with this pain identity and respond from its agenda–which is to create more pain for ourselves and others. Observing the pain-body is awareness itself arising–as it allows humans to separate from this unconscious identification with pain.
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Teachings
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Tolle's non-fiction bestseller The Power of Now emphasizes the importance of being aware of the present moment as a way of not being caught up in thoughts of the past and future. His later book A New Earth further explores the structure of the human ego and how this acts to distract people from their present experience of the world. It is the feeding of the human ego that is thought to be the source of inner and outer conflict. Only in examining one's ego may people begin to see beyond it and obtain a sense of spiritual enlightening or a new outlook on reality.In his view, the present is the gateway to a heightened sense of peace. He states that "being in the now" brings about an awareness that is beyond the mind, an awareness which helps in transcending the ego. The ego means here the false identification with forms and labels: body, mind, thoughts, memories, social roles, life-story, opinions, emotions, material possessions, name, nationality, religion, likes and dislikes, desires, fears etc. If one is present, one recognizes oneself as the space of consciousness in which the thought or impulse arises. One doesnt lose the self in thought, nor does one becom e the impulse. Being present is being the space, rather than what happens. He says that the mind is to be used as a tool, but not let the mind use the person.The "pain-body" is the emotional component of ego; it is created by the cumulation of suppressed emotions, the suffering of non-acceptance of what is. The size of "the pain-body" differs from person to person; it originates in the persons past conditioning, usually the early childhood.He says that our true "identity" is the underlying sense of I Am, which is consciousness itself. Awareness of Being is self-realization and true happiness. He states that we people are very important, because we are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold.In his view, all wanting implies that the future is more desirable than the present. As long as you want something, you are seeking to reach some point in the future that promises fulfillment. Thereby you are making the present moment as well as the other persons into a means to an end. You don't need future or future lives to find yourself, and you need to add nothing to you to find yourself.He believes that the New Testament contains deep spiritual truth as well as distortions, which are due to a misunderstanding of Jesus teaching. He teaches that when you are present, you access your inner knowing and you will sense what is true and what was added on or distorted.[6]In his view, love comes into existence when you know who you are in your essence and then recognize the other as yourself. It is the end of the delusion of separation, which is created by excessive reliance on thinking.
In his view, this shift in consciousness for most people is not a single event but a process, a gradual disidentification from thoughts and emotions through the arising of awareness.
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