My Favourite Eckhart Tolle Quotes from His Book, "A New Earth"

All I can say is you've got to read Eckhart Tolle's books, "The Power of Now" (truly inspirational and transformational) and "A New Earth" (to me it's like one big aaahhhhh moment where everything becomes clearer; it's like pieces of a puzzle once apart come together finally). I've selected a few of my favourite quotes from his book "A New Earth." Enjoy! :)

TRUTH

"Thought can at best point to the truth, but it is never the truth. That's why Buddhists say, 'The finger pointing to the moon is not the moon.' There is only one absolute Truth, and all other truths emanate from it. When you find that Truth, your actions will be in alignment with it. Human action can reflect the Truth, or it can reflect illusion. Can the Truth be put into words? Yes, but the words are, of course, not it. They only point to it. The Truth is inseparable from who you are. Yes, you are the Truth. If you look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time. The very Being that you are is Truth. Jesus tried to convey that when he said, 'I am the way and the truth and the life.' Jesus speaks of the innermost I Am, the essence identity of every man and woman, every life-form, in fact. He speaks of the life that you are. When you are in touch with that dimension within yourself, all your actions and relationshiops will reflect the oneness with all life that you sense deep within. This is love."

WAR IS A MIND-SET

"Fighting unconsiousness will draw you into unconsiousness yourself. Unconsiousness, dysfunctional egoic behaviour, can never be defeated by attacking it. Even if you defeat your opponent, the unconsiousness will simply have moved into you, or the opponent reappears in a new disguise. Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists."

PRESENCE

"Only presence can free you of the ego, and you can only be present Now, not yesterday or tomorrow. Only Presence can undo the past in you and thus transform your state of consciousness."

SPIRITUAL REALIZATION

"Spiritual realization is to see clearly that what I perceive, experience, think, or feel is ultimately not who I am, that I cannot find myself in all those things that continuously pass away (Buddha refers to it as anata-no self). What remains is the light of consciousness in which perceptions, experiences, thoughts, and feelings come and go. That is Being, that is the deeper, true I. When I know myself as that, whatever happens in my life is no longer of absolute but only of relative importance. I honor it, but it loses its absolute seriousness, its heaviness. The only thing that ultimately matters is this: Can I sense my essential Beingness, the I Am, in the background of my life at all times? To be more accurate, can I sense the I Am that I Am at his moment? Can I sense my essential identity as consiousness itself? Or am I losing myself in what happens, losing myself in the mind, in the world?"

ALL STRUCTURES ARE UNSTABLE

"Once you realize and accept that all structures (forms) are unstable, even the solid material ones, peace arises within you. This is because recognition of the impermanence of all forms awakens you to the dimension of the formless within yourself, that which is beyond death. Jesus called it 'eternal life.'"

WHO AM I?

"Is it possible to let go of the belief that you should or need to know who you are? In other words, can you cease looking to conceptual definitions to give you a sense of self? Can you cease looking to thought for an identity? When you let go of the belief that you should or need to know who you are, what happens to confusion? Suddenly it is gone. When you fully accept that you don't know, you actually enter a state of peace and clarity that is closer to who you truly are than thought could ever be. Defining yourself through thought is limiting yourself."

HAPPINESS AS A ROLE VS. TRUE HAPPINESS

"In many cases, happiness is a role people play, and behind the smiling facade, there is a great deal of pain. If there is unhappiness in you, first you need to acknowledge that it is there. But don't say, 'I'm unhappy.' Unhappiness has nothing to do with who you are. Say, 'There is unhappiness within me.' Then investiage it. A situation you find yourself in may have something to do with it. Action may be required to change the situation or remove yourself from it. If there is nothing you can do, face what is and say, 'Well, right now, this is how it is. I can either accept it, or make myself miserable.' The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral, which always is as it is. There is the situation or the fact, and here are my thoughts about it. Be aware that what you think, to a large extent, creates the emotions that you feel. See the link between your thinking and your emotions. Rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them."

Isn't that empowering?!