Eckhart Tolle Quotes, Teachings & Interviews

Change Your Life Now

I remember this segment of the New Earth webcast. A woman emailed with the question, "How do I shed the years, or rather, decades of conditioning and distractions, sickness, relationships, work, in order to hear and feel the moments of stillness?"

This is a very good question. It may seem to us that there is so much conditioning, so much of an ego within us that is deeply entrenched and intractable, that we may never learn to be still and live life in the present moment.

It is true that the present moment is all you ever have of your life. Past and future and all of the distractions this woman mentioned are not about living. We will never discover our aliveness there. We will never be truly happy if we live our life from the conditioned ego and its narrow, dualistic, noisy, unreal reality.

The good news is that you don't need years and years to undo years and years of conditioning.

You can change your life now, in an instant. Maybe not forever. You are certain to fall back into the conditioning again at some point. But you can always, in any moment, connect with stillness and presence. Each time you do this, you are de-conditioning the ego. As you do this practice more and more, throughout your life, you will be surprised to find that every little moment of presence changes you a little bit more.

In this sense, the de-conditioning can take many years, but this does not mean that you won't experience any benefit for many years. You will experience benefit every time you enter the stillness and choose to be present.

Every little moment of presence is very valuable, very powerful and it adds to your inner transformation. If you continue the practice of presence with regularity, you will be surprised to see how much you have changed in a few months, in a year.

So don't be concerned that shifting your awareness from ego to presence is a difficult undertaking that will take years. It is not difficult. It is very simple. It is as simple as silence and surrender.

Take a moment right now to close your eyes, take a few gentle deep breaths.

Feel the air move in and out of your lungs, feel your legs and feet, feel your arms and hands, feel your face.

Smile as you take in a larger breath.

Hold that breath and feel it fill your body with oxygen.

As you exhale, allow your body to relax and soften.

Sit quietly for a moment, in stillness, breathing softly.

Enjoy the present moment.

Be here, fully with yourself, right now.

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.

In this segment of A New Earth webcast, Eckhart shares a few techniques for bringing presence into your everyday life.