Eckhart Tolle Talks About Compassion
Copyright: Janet Cameron |
Eckhart Tolle uses the metaphor of a lake to describe
compassion and its secret depths. By now, through meditation and relinquishing
the negativity of constant mind-chatter, you should have dispensed with those
self-inflicted opposites that cause conflict. You are ready to identify with
Tolle's lake, for its surface represents the outer situation of your life and
all the things that happen to you. This surface may sometimes be calm and
sometimes turbulent, depending on the seasons. But deep, deep down, the lake is
still and undisturbed, like the deeper recesses of your Being.
Don't Cling - Just Be
Stay in touch with the depths of your Being; don't cling to life situations; trust that your inner peace does not depend on those things. "You abide in Being," says Tolle, "unchanging, timeless, deathless - and you are no longer dependent for fulfilment or happiness on the outer world of constantly fluctuating forms."
While you are in this happy state you may do as you wish with these forms:
·
play with them.
·
create new forms.
·
appreciate their beauty.
The important thing is that you do not
become attached and unable to let go of any of this.
Does Detachment Mean Remoteness from Others?
The opposite is true, because if you are not aware of Being, other human realities will not be accessible to you. This is because you would not have found your own reality. Your busy mind will either like or dislike their form, which includes both body and mind. Tolle believes that at the level of Being, "...all suffering is recognized as an illusion." Suffering is identification with form.
Compassion brings about a bond between you and all the creatures of the world. You share with the other creatures our vulnerability and mortality, says Tolle. "One of the most powerful spiritual practices is to meditate deeply on the mortality of physical forms, including your own. This is called "Die before you die." You must go into this state deeply, so that your physical form begins to dissolve. Yet - you are still there within the divine presence, fully awakened.
Nothing real ever dies. This is your true nature, the other side of compassion, when you recognize your own immortality and the immortality of all other creatures. True compassion for another demands high consciousnesss that is beyond empathy. Tolle quotes the Bible: "The lion shall lie down with the lamb."
Through this special portal of beyondness and Being, you can remove "unconsciousness" from your world and attain true depth of compassion for everything around you.
Sources:
Tolle, Eckhart, The Power of Now, New World Library, U.S.A. 1999.
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