Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual teacher and an author of the best selling book, The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to your Life’s Purpose. Let’s get to know him better by reading some of the popular quotes by Eckhart Tolle.
Best Eckhart Tolle Quotes
You are not a problem that needs solving. Eckhart Tolle
Most humans are never fully present in the now because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is not now. Eckhart Tolle
When you wash your hands, when you make a cup of coffee, when you’re waiting for the elevator – instead of indulging in thinking, these are all opportunities for being there as a still, alert presence. Eckhart Tolle
People look to time in expectation that it will eventually make them happy, but you cannot find true happiness by looking toward the future. Eckhart Tolle
You can have religion with spirituality. You can also have religion without spirituality. Eckhart Tolle
The answer is, who you are cannot be defined through thinking or mental labels or definitions, because it’s beyond that. It is the very sense of being, or presence, that is there when you become conscious of the present moment. In essence, you and what we call the present moment are, at the deepest level, one. Eckhart Tolle
Religion and ritual can be vehicles for entering stillness. It says in Psalm 46:10, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ But they are still just vehicles. The Buddha called his teaching a raft: You don’t need to carry it around with you after you’ve crossed the river. Eckhart Tolle
The more you live in the present moment, the more the fear of death disappears. Eckhart Tolle
If danger arises in the present moment, there may be an emotion. There may even be a pain. But that’s a challenge, not a problem. For a problem to exist, you need time and repetitive mind activity. Eckhart Tolle
The ‘soul’ is one of the words you can use to talk about your innermost being, the essence of who you are. Eckhart Tolle
Thinking is a wonderful tool if it’s applied. Thinking, however, can not become the master. Thinking is a very bad master. If you’re dominated by thinking then your life becomes very restricted. Eckhart Tolle
Many people identify their sense of self with the problems they have or think they have. Eckhart Tolle
Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is life itself, it is an insane way to live. Eckhart Tolle
Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems – most life situations are – but find out if you have a problem at this moment. Do you have a problem now? Eckhart Tolle
If you live only in one culture for the first 20 years of your life, you become conditioned without knowing it. Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle Present Moment Quotes
People don’t realize that now is all there ever is; there is no past or future except as memory or anticipation in your mind. Eckhart Tolle
People tend to dwell more on negative things than on good things. So the mind then becomes obsessed with negative things, with judgments, guilt, and anxiety produced by thoughts about the future and so on. Eckhart Tolle
I’m grateful for always this moment, the now, no matter what form it takes. Eckhart Tolle
When you get into your car, shut the door, and be there for just half a minute. Breathe, feel the energy inside your body, look around at the sky, the trees. The mind might tell you, ‘I don’t have time.’ But that’s the mind talking to you. Even the busiest person has time for 30 seconds of space. Eckhart Tolle
If there are people you haven’t forgiven, you’re not going to really awaken. You have to let go. Eckhart Tolle
Acceptance looks like a passive state, but in reality, it brings something entirely new into this world. That peace, a subtle energy vibration, is consciousness. Eckhart Tolle
If you are not living this moment, you are not really living. Eckhart Tolle
The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately… you usually don’t use it at all. It uses you. Eckhart Tolle
I believe that Jesus realized his oneness with God and he showed, what he attempted to do was show the way to all of us, how to realize our own oneness with God also, so he’s a precursor. Eckhart Tolle
To me, the ego is the habitual and compulsive thought processes that go through everybody’s mind continuously. External things like possessions or memories or failures or successes or achievements. Your personal history. Eckhart Tolle
What a liberation to realize that the ‘voice in my head’ is not who I am. ‘Who am I, then?’ The one who sees that. Eckhart Tolle
Was Jesus the son of God? Yes. But so are you. You just haven’t realized it yet. Eckhart Tolle
Being at ease with not knowing is crucial for answers to come to you. Eckhart Tolle
I don’t believe in an outside agent that creates the world, then walks away. But I feel very strongly there is an intelligence at work in every flower, in every blade of grass, in every cell of my body. And it is that intelligence that I wouldn’t say created the universe. It is creating the universe. It’s an ongoing process. Eckhart Tolle
Discontent, blaming, complaining, self-pity cannot serve as a foundation for a good future, no matter how much effort you make. Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle Inspirational Quotes
If the structures of the human mind remain unchanged, we will always end up re-creating the same world, the same evils, the same dysfunction. Eckhart Tolle
The only thing you ever have is now. Eckhart Tolle
That is the real spiritual awakening when something emerges from within you that is deeper than who you thought you were. So, the person is still there, but one could almost say that something more powerful shines through the person. Eckhart Tolle
Some people awaken spiritually without ever coming into contact with any meditation technique or any spiritual teaching. They may awaken simply because they can’t stand the suffering anymore. Eckhart Tolle
When you take your attention into the present moment, a certain alertness arises. You become more conscious of what’s around you, but also, strangely, a sense of presence that is both within and without. Eckhart Tolle
I sometimes ask people, ‘Can you be aware of your own presence? Not the thoughts that you’re having, not the emotions that you’re having, but the very presence of your very being?’ You become aware of your own presence by sensing the entire energy field in your body that is alive. And that is the totality of your presence. Eckhart Tolle
There is a fine balance between honoring the past and losing yourself in it. For example, you can acknowledge and learn from mistakes you made, and then move on and refocus on the now. It is called forgiving yourself. Eckhart Tolle
Always say ‘yes’ to the present moment… Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life – and see how life starts suddenly to start working for you rather than against you. Eckhart Tolle
Any action is often better than no action, especially if you have been stuck in an unhappy situation for a long time. If it is a mistake, at least you learn something, in which case it’s no longer a mistake. If you remain stuck, you learn nothing. Eckhart Tolle
Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now. Then accept the consequences. Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle Famous Quotes
Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life. Eckhart Tolle
It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up. Eckhart Tolle
Memories are thoughts that arise. They’re not realities. Only when you believe that they are real, then they have the power over you. But when you realize it’s just another thought arising about the past, then you can have a spacious relationship with that thought. The thought no longer has you in its grip. Eckhart Tolle
The soul is your innermost being. The presence that you are beyond form. The consciousness that you are beyond form, that is the soul. That is who you are in essence. Eckhart Tolle
The real truths of life are never entirely new to you or to anybody because there is a level deep down within you where you already know all the things, all those spiritual truths that you read or hear, and then recognize them. I say ‘recognize’ because you’re not… it’s not new. Eckhart Tolle
Many people in this world are still so identified with every thought that arises in their heads. There is not the slightest space of awareness there. Eckhart Tolle
The power for creating a better future is contained in the present moment: You create a good future by creating a good present. Eckhart Tolle
Is fear preventing you from taking action? Acknowledge the fear, watch it, take your attention to it, be fully present with it. Doing so cuts the link between the fear and your thinking. Don’t let the fear rise up into your mind. Use the power of the Now. Fear cannot prevail against it. Eckhart Tolle
To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. When you complain, you make yourself into a victim. When you speak out, you are in your power. So change the situation by taking action or by speaking out if necessary or possible; leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness. Eckhart Tolle
If small things have the power to disturb you, then who you think you are is exactly that: small. Eckhart Tolle