Super Soul Special: Eckhart Tolle: Being in the Now

Summary

Oprah’s Super Soul Special: Eckhart Tolle – Being in the Now

Podcast: Oprah’s Super Soul
Host: Oprah Winfrey
Guest: Eckhart Tolle
Date: May 27, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features a powerful and intimate conversation between Oprah and acclaimed spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle. Drawing on his transformative works The Power of Now and A New Earth, Eckhart delves into the practical and profound aspects of being present, the nature of awakening, and the essential role of consciousness in personal and global transformation. With warmth and clarity, Oprah and Eckhart explore how embracing presence and inner stillness can anchor us in the tumult of modern life, facilitate healing, and deepen our connection to ourselves and others.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Groundbreaking Impact of A New Earth

• Oprah reflects on their 2008 global webcast and how it revolutionized spiritual conversations by making them accessible worldwide.
  • “It was a seminal day for me because it said that our ability... to let people come closer... could actually be both physically, emotionally and spiritually received.” (04:48)
• Eckhart notes the dual nature of technology: both connecting and distracting us from presence (05:30).

The Meaning of Presence & God

• Eckhart on Presence:
  • “The most important ability a human being can have is to direct his or her full attention to the present moment.” (05:30)
• On God:
  • Oprah reads from his work: “Through the present moment, you have access to the power of life itself... that which has traditionally been called God... As soon as you turn away from it, God ceases to be a reality in your life.” (06:44)

From Belief to Realization

• Transitioning from belief to knowing:
  • “It's stepping from belief, which is fine, to a deeper level where belief becomes an actual realization or a knowing.” (07:42)
• Experiencing Presence:
  • “When you take your attention into the present moment... a certain alertness arises, which is different from thinking. Thinking compared to that is... almost like a kind of dreamlike state.” (08:07)
• Oprah: “You are that awareness disguised as a person.” (08:56)

The Power of Now and the Practice of Acceptance

• On Change vs. Acceptance:
  • Oprah: “How do you know whether you're supposed to accept it or try to bring about change...?”
  • Eckhart: “First, you accept even if change is possible... the basis for effective action is to come into an inner alignment with the isness of this moment. This is how it is.” (10:47)
• Metaphor of Being Stuck in Mud:
  • “If you're stuck in the mud and you're angry about being stuck in the mud... you will always remain stuck in the mud.” (12:06)

Awakening: Recognition of Spiritual Truth

• Aha Moments:
  • Oprah: “That's what an aha moment is, isn't it?”
  • Eckhart: “Yes, it's always a recognition… It's not new. Ultimately, it's not new information. Your very soul resonation.” (12:29–12:58)
• “Only spirit can recognize spirit.” (12:10)

Handling Overactive Minds and Troubling Memories

• Calming the Racing Mind:
  • Eckhart’s advice: Bring awareness to bodily sensations, like the energy in your hands, as an “anchor for presence.” (20:55–22:05)
• Dealing with Bad Memories:
  • “Memories are thoughts that arise. They are not realities. Only when you believe that they are real, then they have the power over you.” (23:30)

Guilt, Ego, and Goodness

• On Guilt:
  • “Guilt is a strong way for the ego to strengthen itself... every human being has done things in the past that they now regret... but the essence of who you are does not lie in the past or thoughts.” (25:04–25:58)
• On Goodness:
  • “You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge.” (26:08, Oprah reading)
• On Loving Your Neighbor:
  • “Love your neighbor as yourself really means, first of all, you need to be in touch with yourself... the consciousness that you are.” (27:12)

Seeing Others’ Essence

• Relating to Others:
  • “On another level, they are the consciousness that I also am... That pure essence.” (28:05)
  • Oprah: “Presence in me, speak to the presence in you. Because that's what I'm really looking for.” (28:56)

Spiritual Practice and Everyday Presence

• On Practice:
  • Eckhart: “I don't have a practice as such... sometimes I sit and just be. Without doing anything.” (31:29–31:42)
• Stillness as God’s Language:
  • “Stillness is the language God speaks. Everything else is a bad translation.” (32:04)

Integrating Presence into Daily Life

• Beyond Formal Meditation:
  • “Bring in little spaces of aware presence into everyday life... For example... being aware of your breathing... even the busiest person can do that.” (33:19–33:56)
• Oprah: “Tell that thought be gone with you. You have no power here.” (34:12)

Soul, Awakening, and Personal Story

• Definition of Soul:
  • “The soul is... your innermost being, the presence that you are beyond form.” (34:46)
• Eckhart’s Awakening Story:
  • “I can't live with myself any longer... are there two? Who is the 'I' and who is the self that I cannot live with?” (36:03)
  • The realization: “The I was consciousness, the awareness. And the self was created by thoughts and emotions.” (36:03–37:01)

Spirituality vs. Religion

• Eckhart:
  • “You can have religion with spirituality. You can also have religion without spirituality... Some people are so closely identified with their belief structure, they're really completely trapped in thinking. And so there's no spaciousness.” (38:10)
• On Deepening Religious Practice:
  • “Any Christian who wants to go deeper into their own religion... there is enormous depth in Christian teaching in the words of Christ.” (38:36)
• Oprah: “Everything that Christ came to teach is spirituality.” (38:54)

On Prayer and Fun

• On Prayer and Stillness:
  • “If you talk to God, you pray. If God talks to you, you are insane. So it's very unlikely that God will speak to you in words because God speaks through stillness.” (39:10–39:19)
• Joy in the Moment:
  • Oprah: “So you're having fun right now?”
  • Eckhart: “Yes... I enjoy the present moment wherever I am. And that's fun enough for me.” (40:33)

Ego and Awareness

• On Ego:
  • “If you're really in the ego, you don't know it.... But that's already... the shift is already happening. The awareness is there.” (41:41–42:01)
• On Awakening’s Necessity:
  • “The world needs spiritual awakening.” (42:19)

Notable Definitions (Rapid-Fire)

• Love:
  • “Love is the recognition of yourself, the essence of yourself in the other...” (42:50)
• Gratitude:
  • “I'm grateful for always. This moment, the now, no matter what form it takes.” (43:17)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The most important ability a human being can have is the ability to direct his or her full attention to the present moment.”
  – Eckhart Tolle (05:30)

• “Through the present moment, you have access to the power of life itself. The power of life itself. That which has traditionally been called God.”
  – Oprah, quoting Eckhart (06:44)

• “Stillness is the language God speaks. Everything else is a bad translation.”
  – Eckhart Tolle (32:04)

• “You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge.”
  – Oprah, reading from Eckhart (26:08)

• “Love is the recognition of yourself, the essence of yourself in the other.... the recognition of oneness.”
  – Eckhart Tolle (42:50–43:09)

• On Gratitude:

  • “I'm grateful for always. This moment, the now, no matter what form it takes.” (43:17)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Oprah and Eckhart reflect on the 2008 webcast: 04:31–06:44
• Defining God & Presence: 06:44–08:56
• Practice for Being Present: 09:25–09:56
• Role of Awakening in Human Evolution: 10:03–10:25
• Acceptance vs. Changing Circumstances: 10:47–12:06
• Recognizing Spiritual Truth (‘Aha moments’): 12:10–13:50
• Calming the Mind (Advice to Listeners): 20:12–22:44
• Dealing with Bad Memories & Guilt: 23:04–25:58
• Essence of Goodness & Loving Your Neighbor: 26:08–27:47
• Practical Application of Presence: 31:24–34:41
• Eckhart’s Spiritual Awakening Story: 35:07–37:45
• Spirituality and Religion: 38:10–39:07
• Prayer, Fun, Joy in Presence: 39:10–40:50
• Rapid Fire Definitions (Love, Gratitude, etc): 42:19–43:29

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Overall Tone and Takeaway

Oprah and Eckhart’s exchange is warm, open, and gently profound. The conversation approaches life’s biggest questions—God, consciousness, presence, purpose, and love—with clarity and accessibility, making deep spiritual truths feel both immediately practical and universally relevant. Eckhart’s teachings encourage listeners to move from conceptual understanding to direct experience, using the present moment as the portal to awakening and authentic connection. The episode is especially rich in accessible practices for becoming more present, compassionate, and alive in everyday life, while extending hope and practical wisdom for conquering anxiety, regret, and the restless mind.

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For listeners seeking a guide to more mindful and meaningful living, this episode is an affirming, serene, and transformative Super Soul classic.

Transcript

[Oprah Winfrey]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[Eckhart Tolle]

And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball.

[Stephen]

But you can call me the Smash Daddy.

[Oprah Winfrey]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[Eckhart Tolle]

That's right.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Hey.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Hey. So each week, you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[Oprah Winfrey]

And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[Eckhart Tolle]

News flash.

[Stephen]

I'm never wrong.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts.

[Stephen]

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[Oprah Winfrey]

Hey there, podcast listeners. I have exciting news. We're launching a brand new podcast in addition to Super Soul Conversations. It's called Oprah's Masterclass. The Masterclass podcast allows you to hear the greatest life lessons from some of the most respected and renowned actors, musicians, public figures and athletes. In their own words, listen as Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, Ellen DeGeneres, Shaquille O', Neal, Reba McEntire, Duane Johnson, and Jane Fonda, just to name a few, share what they've learned about life and and their own insights into their personal stories and challenges. I believe that there's something to be learned from every experience and everyone can use their life as a class. Oprah's Masterclass podcast is available now on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe now and listen free. Go to applepodcasts.com oprahsmasterclass I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is time. Taking time to be more fully present. Your journey to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right now. The weekly webcast that Eckhart, Tolle and I did together back in 2008, I describe as my first life class teaching one of my favorite books of all time, A New Earth. Chapter by chapter. Millions of people got to know eckart during those 10 weeks. But not everyone knows his remarkable spiritual journey. At 29, this German born author had become a research scholar in comparative literature at the University of Cambridge in England. Despite his academic success, it wasn't enough to halt bouts of anxiety and depression so severe that at one time he he considered ending his life. In his darkest hour, Eckhart says he experienced an awakening that transformed his life. We'll hear more about that later. And he chose to walk away from his promising career to explore his newly discovered inner peace. Eckhart's profound yet simple spiritual teachings are the basis for his best selling books the Power of Now and A New Earth. Too much time had passed since Eckhart and I sat down together. So I invited him back to Chicago to catch up, to reflect and to have a super soul conversation. Ah, how fantastic is this? So much has changed since we did A New Earth webcast. It was just four years ago, 2008.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That was considered for me and our industry groundbreaking. When we were broadcasting live around the world in our first webcast. Remember that first night and people were skyping in, we're like, oh, there's Brazil.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That first webcast was one of the really. I think it was a seminal day for me because it said that our ability, for me doing this kind of work, using your voice to let people come closer to the. To the one that is their own, that that was transmittable in a way around the world in a way that we had never done before, but not only transmittable, but could actually be both physically, emotionally and spiritually received.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Do you think technology is accelerating our consciousness or the opposite?

[Eckhart Tolle]

I think both are happening at the moment. I can see the negative effects of technology that it has, can have and has on many, especially young people who get addicted to their devices, the computer and the smartphones. And so on. Our mind can get totally filled up with useless facts. And so that can prevent us from actually being able to pay attention to what is here in the present moment. The most important ability a human being can have is to direct his or her full attention to the present moment.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Absolutely. Absolutely. So there are obviously wonderful things. The fact that we can communicate now, hello, world, with everybody throughout the world who is seeking this information, that's a good thing. And obviously there are dangers, particularly for people raising children in this environment. One of the things that you did after the New Earth seminars, you wrote a book called Oneness With All, A Companion to a New Earth, which says many of the things that are in New Earth. But it's not like a summarized version of New Earth.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yeah.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Okay. Now, this is what I loved from Oneness with All Life. This is also right next to my bed, my signed copy from you. You say, through the present moment, you have access to the power of life itself. The power of life itself. That which has traditionally been called God, which I thought is such a beautiful definition of God. The power of life itself. As soon as you turn away from it, God ceases to be a reality in your life. And all you are left with is the mental concept of God. The mental concept, which is what a lot of people talk about, the mental concept of God, their belief in God. And what you go on to say is which some people believe in and others deny. Even belief in God is only a poor substitute for the living reality of God manifesting every moment of your life.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

I think that is such a beautiful offering.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. It's stepping from belief, which is fine. Going to a deeper level, where belief becomes an actual realization or a knowing. And that can start with a simple thing like. And anybody can verify that in their own experience.

[Oprah Winfrey]

How?

[Eckhart Tolle]

When you take your attention into the present moment, which implies, of course, a certain alertness arises.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Which is different from thinking. Thinking compared to that is almost like a kind of dreamlike state. You're up here, not present here. So a certain alertness arises. You become more conscious of what surrounds you, but also, strangely, it's hard to talk about it, but I will. Of a sense of presence that is both within and. And without. A presence. We could call that a divine presence.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

There is something.

[Oprah Winfrey]

And that presence, what everybody needs to know, is the presence that you feel when you're able to silence your mind. Silence your mind and be aware of the silence that's in your mind. You are that awareness.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Disguised as a person.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. And when you Become conscious of the gap between two thoughts, for example, or even now. Sometimes I even recommend to people that they hold their hands like this and they create this, let's say, past is there, future is there. You let them go now. You bring your attention to just the present. It can be a little reminder to help you hold that sense of and

[Oprah Winfrey]

to recognize and the future is here. And that the only moment that matters is right now.

[Eckhart Tolle]

The only thing you ever have is now.

[Oprah Winfrey]

The only thing that matters is now.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

I mean, I learned so much from that experience with you. The 10 weeks. It was like it was the original life class. It is from which all the other life classes have stemmed. And one of the most important things that I learned is that we all have the ability to awaken. Correct?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes. And that if we don't awaken as a species, that the species will eventually.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. I see it as the next step in our evolution as a species is to embrace that state of consciousness that we call awakening. And if we don't, then the problems that the unawakened mind has created on the planet will only increase and multiply.

[Oprah Winfrey]

One of the things that you say is that stress is wanting something to be the way that it isn't. So how do you know the difference between something isn't the way that I want it to be and I need to accept it? Because you say what you resist persists. How do you know whether you're supposed to accept it or try to bring about change for whatever it is that you want to change?

[Eckhart Tolle]

First, you accept even if change is possible. And you may need to focus some attention on the situation to realize what kind of steps you can take to change the situation. But in the meantime, the basis for effective action is to come into an inner alignment with the isness of this moment. This is how it is. Let's say I gave the example in the Power of Now. I'm stuck in the mud. Just as an example. This is the situation right now.

[Oprah Winfrey]

I'm so pissed off. I'm stuck in the mud. Damn this mud. How did I get in this mud?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Oh, yes. Or you become a victim in your own mind. Why did you.

[Oprah Winfrey]

There's always mud.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Why is this happening to me? Always to me? And so on. Victim identity, complaining.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yeah, what is the mud in your life? So you're just saying. Using that as a metaphor.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. And so. But just look at the situation without labeling it. This is where I am right now. And you accept that this is how it is. The isness of life at this Moment.

[Oprah Winfrey]

And now I will begin to think about how to change.

[Eckhart Tolle]

And then you become actually a greater intelligence arises because you become present with what is.

[Oprah Winfrey]

So if you're stuck in the mud and you're angry about being stuck in the mud, and you're trying to resolve being stuck in the mud from that point of anger, you will always remain stuck in the mud.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

You've got to remove yourself from the mud.

[Eckhart Tolle]

That's right.

[Oprah Winfrey]

I got that.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yeah.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Okay. One of the things that you write in the very beginning of the book is that if you come across passages in this book that you feel are powerful, I want you to realize that what you're feeling is your own spiritual power. That is to say who you are in your essence. Only spirit can recognize spirit. That's what an aha moment is, isn't it?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. It's always a recognition. The real truth 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. Ultimately, it's not new information. You're very soul resonation.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes, it's a resonation. It's a resonating with what is somehow buried or suppressed.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That's what an aha is.

[Eckhart Tolle]

That's right.

[Oprah Winfrey]

So when you do hear something like from what we're talking about, the reason it resonates with you, the reason it is aha.

[Brooke Devard]

Aha.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Because that is spirit recognizing spirit.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Your consciousness recognizing the consciousness of whatever that message is.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That's great.

[Eckhart Tolle]

And that's an awakening.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That's an awakening.

[Eckhart Tolle]

And also it awakens that faculty in you. When there's a glimpse of. There's a glimpse of recognition, then that knowing in you awakens. And then it grows. It comes to the surface more. And the more it grows, the more open you are to hearing spiritual truth. And then you begin to live it in your life.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Absolutely.

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[Eckhart Tolle]

What makes a leader worth following?

[Stephen]

What should you really care about in your job? As technology is changing so quickly, is

[Eckhart Tolle]

it just gonna be about machines talking to other machines? I mean, should you quit your job and start something on your own?

[Oprah Winfrey]

What would that take?

[Stephen]

What does success and risk look like when we're all at the starting gate together?

[Eckhart Tolle]

These are the questions we answer each week on Lead Human with Jack Myers and Tim Spengler.

[Stephen]

Join us each week and subscribe at your favorite podcast platform and YouTube.

[Eckhart Tolle]

We'll tell stories, we'll hear from some of the best, and we'll try to figure this out together. Absolutely.

[Oprah Winfrey]

I think if the most important if there was only one message, because I don't want to, you know, in the short time that we have this morning to go over everything, it's impossible that we learn from New Earth. But if the essence of it that if you wanted people to understand what the reason why you sat down and wrote that book or that book wrote you, you said that book was burning inside you. Right. The reason why you wanted to do it is because you want it to cause an awakening. Is that it?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. Or one could say that it was kind of coming through me. So I just became kind of almost the channel for it. So there was something in me that needed to write that book. And I feel the essence of a new Earth and of the power of now is the arising of the state of presence. And now, for the first time, it is possible on a more widespread level for humans to undergo that shift in consciousness where they are no longer totally dominated by the continuous compulsive thinking in their heads, the voice that never stops talking. They are no longer totally in the grip of that because that's the old conditioned consciousness. Something new arises, an inner spaciousness, a presence. And that present true transcends who you are as a person.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That's right. And it's what you call in the books going beyond thought.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

All right, you say on page 13, see if you can catch that is to say, notice the voice in the head. Whenever you notice that voice, you will also realize that you are not the voice, but the one who is aware of it. It's what you say in stillness speaks. You are that awareness disguised as a person.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Wow. That's big. I think. Is that. Would you say. Is that. I know it's hard to measure your own words and your own work, but would you say that that is in terms of awakening and realization of your personal power? That. That's really one of the most important things?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes, that is the most important. Feeling it for yourself, sensing it. So the moment you become aware that you have certain kinds of thoughts in your head, there's already that awareness arising. There's still many people in this world who are so identified with every thought that arises in their head. There's not the slightest space of awareness there. And they may not even be ready to hear what we are saying. It would be totally meaningless to.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes. So you have to be ready to hear it. That's why you were saying. Why I was saying earlier, quoting from the book, that if you hear something that connects to you, it means you're already awakening enough to be able to hear it. Because it's only spirit that recognizes spirit.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Truth recognizes truth.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

There you are.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. It's the deepest sense of beingness. I sometimes ask people, can you be aware of your own presence? Not thinking, 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.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

And that is the totality of your presence.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Because you know that no matter what's going on, all the trials and difficulties and challenges and whatever that all of us have from time to time in our life, if you live past five years old, that there is a space that you can go to that really is the ultimate connection to all there is. Or God.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. Yes. That's where you and God merge. So then you recognize your oneness with a source of life.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Of source of life.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

What I find is if you can go to that space, that's where your strength. That's where your true strength lies.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That's where your true creativity, your power, your ability to be authentically yourself.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Everything comes from that space. And you want to be able to bring that space to everything that you do. Yes, yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

And bring that space forward to inhabit who you are.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

To be conscious of that.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yeah, I got that.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yeah.

[Oprah Winfrey]

So, Laura, one of our Facebook followers, wanted to know how to calm the voice in her Head, she writes, I feel like my mind is racing at enormous speed. And at night it's even worse. How can I stop the constant stream of consciousness in my mind?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yeah, good question.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Thanks, Laura.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Many people will be thankful for that question.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

So first of all, the question implies that you know that your mind won't stop if you are totally immersed. You are so identified with your mind, even the thought that your mind won't stop doesn't even occur to you because you become your mind.

[Oprah Winfrey]

You don't know that it is your mind that won't stop.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

So, Laura, that's a big. That's. You're ahead of the game. The fact that Laura knows that her mind won't stop is a good start.

[Eckhart Tolle]

A good start. So when you hear the thought, why can't I stop my mind? Don't believe it. Because you can stop your mind. How you can choose to take your attention away from thinking. And the first thing you do as you lie there in bed, you ask yourself, can I feel the energy inside my hands? In other words, can I feel that my hands are there without touching anything? Can I feel that there's an energy inside my hands? And after a little while, you. Most people can. There's a slight tingling or aliveness that you can feel when the energy goes in there. And that's an enormous step that you've already taken because immediately thinking will slow down because it no longer has your whole attention.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Got it.

[Eckhart Tolle]

And then, see, can you incorporate the whole body? Can you sense your legs and arms?

[Oprah Winfrey]

So why does that work? And not just Laura saying to herself, let me think about something else.

[Eckhart Tolle]

There's no anchor then, for presence. And the mind has such momentum that you won't be able to stop it.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Got it.

[Eckhart Tolle]

You need an anchor for presence. And the inner body, as I call it, is a wonderful anchor for the state of presence.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Laura, I hope you got that too. That's why you just can't say, okay, I'm going to think about something else.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. And then the wonderful actively choose. Choose not about something else. Just go into the body. And then thinking slows down. You might even stop completely for a while. And the amazing thing is, what before was an unpleasant, dreadful, sleepless night within a few minutes can actually be transformed into a very pleasant experience of feeling the inherent aliveness in your whole body. And you lie there because.

[Oprah Winfrey]

And then you recognize, oh, I have.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Have slowed down, you have slowed down. And the mind will do very little when you're really in the body, there's not much thinking Anymore.

[Oprah Winfrey]

So another Facebooker wanted to know. This is closely related to what Laura said. How does one clear one's mind of bad memories? Can you clear your mind of bad memories?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Well, not as such, but you can recognize that bad memories are thoughts that are arising in your mind. And when you recognize that these are thoughts arising in your mind, you don't need to identify with the thoughts any longer. So memories, for example, of something bad that happened to you.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

It's not happening here and now.

[Oprah Winfrey]

It's already happened.

[Eckhart Tolle]

It's done. Yes. So memories are thoughts that arise. They are 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 you find a space, a spacious relationship with thought. So thought no longer has you in its grip. I call it.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Sometimes I hope people really get that.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That would be a gift for somebody who's tortured by the past.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. Another aspect of that, of course, is guilt, which has to do with something one did to someone or something that they failed to do but should have done. And so guilt arises. But of course, who you were then no human being can act beyond their level of consciousness. At that time, you acted like that. The awareness was not there to act differently. Now the awareness is there, and the awareness is there is who you truly are.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Well, I think a lot of the reasons anytime I've ever felt guilty is because I kind of knew better. I knew better and didn't do it. When you know, there's nothing worse, I think, than being upset with yourself.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

And you're upset with yourself. Not when you make a mistake. For me, I'm upset with myself when I make a mistake that I could have prevented.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes, yes. But you didn't.

[Oprah Winfrey]

But I didn't. But you didn't. So live with it.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Guilt is a strong way for the ego to strengthen itself. Because when you feel guilty about something, you identify again with certain thoughts in your mind, which is ego. And the thoughts say, I should have done better, I didn't do it, I, I, I. And every I thought that that judges you. You identify with it. It becomes part of ego. The ego loves guilt. It loves not only blaming others, that strengthens it too. If that doesn't work, you can blame yourself. But of course, every human being has done things in the past that they now regret. I've done things that I regret. They were silly and stupid. And so realizing the essence of who you are does not lie in the past or thoughts.

[Oprah Winfrey]

What Matters is what you are willing to do now.

[Eckhart Tolle]

And you are the presence.

[Oprah Winfrey]

You are the presence.

[Eckhart Tolle]

You are the presence. No, thought is who you are.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yeah, this is one of my favorite quotes from page 64. You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and. And allowing that goodness to emerge again. We're talking about going to presence, the divine within you and bringing that forth to whatever it is you do.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. Because trying to be good is often to improve one's self image.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Right. That's ego driven.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Ultimately, it's ego. So you try. And some people, for example, have been trying for centuries to love their neighbor as themselves, but have been finding it, most of them have been finding it very difficult. Because love your neighbor as yourself really means, first of all, you need to be in touch with yourself, the self that you are beyond the form, the consciousness that you are. And then you can love your neighbor as yourself because you recognize your oneness with your neighbor.

[Oprah Winfrey]

And so what you're saying is, that's so beautiful. I get it. Lots of bing bing aha's here. You're not love your neighbor as yourself. As you're interpreting it is not as yourself the personality, not as yourself who's out there mowing the lawn, not as yourself. See, it doesn't mean if you go to the theater, give your neighbor tickets to the theater or whatever. It means the deeper, always inner self.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Higher self.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. So love, I call love the recognizing yourself in the other and yourself, your essential self is consciousness.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Got it.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Then I begin when I then meet people and interact with people, I see them on. I see them on two levels or feel them on two levels. On one level, they are the form which is the body and their psychological makeup.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Correct.

[Eckhart Tolle]

On another level, they are the consciousness that I also am. Because underlying the body and the mind is the consciousness out of which the body and the mind have come. And that is still there, that pure essence.

[Oprah Winfrey]

You see that in every person that you encounter.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. And that makes it much easier to interact with people and much more pleasant. Because sometimes the personality, the psychological makeup is not that wonderful.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

And then one is able to let that be because you can sense that beyond that, there is an essence to that human being.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That's what I mean. When I am going into interviews, particularly that I think might be challenging, I will consciously meditate on the thought of the presence in me. Speak to the presence in you.

[Eckhart Tolle]

That's wonderful.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yeah.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Because that's what I'm really looking for. Yes, that underlying thing that we all have. That oneness that we all have.

[Eckhart Tolle]

That's right.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Which, as you know, that's when you get the best conversation.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes, ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.

[Oprah Winfrey]

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[Eckhart Tolle]

ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.

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[Oprah Winfrey]

What is your own personal spiritual practice? Do you have one?

[Eckhart Tolle]

I don't have a practice as such.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Do you meditate?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Not in a formal sense, but sometimes I sit and just be. Without doing anything.

[Oprah Winfrey]

I want everybody to know that you can just do that. There was a wonderful line in the book. I can't remember where you said it.

[Eckhart Tolle]

That.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That stillness. I think it is stillness. Is the voice of God or stillness is how God speaks to us. Does anybody know where that quote is? 140.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Stillness is the language God speaks. Everything else is a bad translation.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Oh, that's right. You wrote the book. Why not say it again?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Stillness is the language God speaks. Speaks. Everything else is a bad translation. And of course, the. In stillness you get closest to the source of life, which is God and which is essentially self.

[Oprah Winfrey]

The One.

[Eckhart Tolle]

The one.

[Oprah Winfrey]

I love calling God the One now. The one. I know you told my producers that it's wonderful to meditate. You have meditated. Sometimes you do meditate, but meditation isn't the end all be all. Because there are a lot of people who go in and meditate and there's 20 minutes of let me connect to presence. Then they get up from that 20 minutes and they are unconscious the rest of the 2340, right?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes, yes. So their daily life is not interspersed with presence and space. That's why often that's like people who

[Oprah Winfrey]

go to church on Sunday and then come. Leave church and come. Come home and kick the dog.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes, yes. That's why I often say if you. Meditation is of course wonderful. It's not for everybody.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

But for many people. For many people it will be very helpful. But even more important than meditation, and especially those people who don't meditate and don't want to meditate. Bring in little spaces of aware presence into everyday life. Choose a few things that you use as vehicles for bringing in presence. For example, when you get into your car, you close the door. Why not spend 30 seconds, just for example, being aware of your breathing, which is another beautiful way of bringing that inner space, that presence into your life.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

30 seconds is not that much. Even the busiest person can do that.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes.

[Eckhart Tolle]

If they believe their minds, which their mind might say, I have no time for this now. But you don't have to believe every thought that comes into your head because

[Oprah Winfrey]

it's just a thought.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Tell that thought be gone with you. You have no power here.

[Eckhart Tolle]

You don't have to believe every thought that comes into your head. You don't.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Because it's just a thought.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yeah, that's right. For many people, no sense of spaciousness present inside at all. This like living in a room that's crammed full with furniture.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes. And I think of people who live their whole lives and hopefully this opportunity to join us on Super Soul Sunday starts to give a little crack of the space for people.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That's my whole heart's desire is to do that for People?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

What is the soul?

[Eckhart Tolle]

The soul is one of the words one can use to talk about your innermost being, the presence that you are beyond form, that which underlies the personality and the mind, the essence of who you are.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Have you always considered yourself a spiritual person or did you have an aha moment when you recognize your connection to something bigger than yourself?

[Eckhart Tolle]

I had a big aha moment where I disidentified from my mind and disidentified from the unhappy self that I was.

[Oprah Winfrey]

You were suicidal?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. So there was a mind created, unhappy sense of self. And somehow I made separated from it. It happened, just happened and realized that that is not who I am.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Was that what people call a nervous person?

[Eckhart Tolle]

No, not. It was a state of acute anxiety which could have become a nervous breakdown or could have become suicide. So it was moving in that direction.

[Oprah Winfrey]

It was moving in that direction where you literally separated and tell the story one more time.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Well, the thought I was in bed at night again. A lot of the mental suffering happens for many people at night. Night, couldn't sleep and plagued by dreadful thoughts. And the thought arose, I can't live with myself any longer. I can't live with myself any longer. And then there must have come some awareness, although I didn't know what it was at the time. And the awareness looked at the thought and said, what does that mean, I can't live with myself? Are there two? Who is the I and who is the self that I cannot live with? That question came up. The answer didn't come on the level of words. There was just the answer came as a separation suddenly of the self that I couldn't live with the I. And the I was consciousness, the awareness. And the self was created by thoughts and emotions.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Yes, all those thoughts in the head.

[Eckhart Tolle]

And so then I recognized myself as consciousness. And so the self began to dissolve. The false sense of self, the unhappy me, the unhappy sense of self kind of crumbled. And all I knew suddenly the next day I woke up. Everything is so peaceful. It took me years to understand what that actually was that I had disidentified from the unhappy self. And I was simply there as a perceiving presence, which is a deeply peaceful way of being. So it was in London, England. So I walked around the streets going, wow, everything is so beautiful. And there was just perceiving and peace underneath.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Did your friends think you were nuts?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Some did. My mother did. Especially when I then later walked out of my normal life.

[Oprah Winfrey]

So they all thought, eckhart has lost his mind.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

And in A way. They were right. You did. How do you define spirituality versus religion? What's the difference?

[Eckhart Tolle]

You can have religion with spirituality. You can also have religion without spirituality. Some people are so closely identified with their belief structure, they're really completely trapped in thinking. And so there's no spaciousness. What we are doing here can actually be part of any religion.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Any religion, absolutely. So as long as enhance the religion that you currently follow.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. Deepen it.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Deepen it.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. For example, in Christianity, any Christian who wants to go deeper into their own religion and does not want to abandon their religion, there is enormous depth in Christian teaching in the words of Christ.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Absolutely everything that Christ came to teach is spirituality.

[Eckhart Tolle]

That's right.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That's what it is.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Christ came to make manifest spirituality on earth.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

What does prayer mean to you? Do you pray?

[Eckhart Tolle]

There's a saying that goes, if you talk to God, you pray. If God talks to you, you are insane. So it's very unlikely that God will

[Oprah Winfrey]

speak to you in words because God speaks through stillness. That's where you find God. The Bible says, be still and know that I am God.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes. I think prayer to me could be called. I'm often in the state of listening, which really is an aspect of presence. When you're just receptive, that is your prayer. Yes. Like. Like that. I can be like. It's wonderful. Just enjoying the presence that is there when you're not thinking and just being just like this. And then when you become present, you become aware of a presence, a divine presence, both within and without, in all things. And that's why this is. I call it also prayer.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Prayer. So what do you do for fun?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Fun is every moment I don't look for. Where can I find some fun? Sometimes people ask me that, and I cannot answer that question because I enjoy the present moment wherever I am. And that's fun enough for me.

[Oprah Winfrey]

So you're having fun right now?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

This is fun.

[Eckhart Tolle]

You are, too.

[Oprah Winfrey]

I am too. You know I am.

[Eckhart Tolle]

I can see you.

[Oprah Winfrey]

You know I am. I know. That's what I feel too, all the time. Okay. That's really good. Where do you feel most? At home or at peace?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Wherever I am, in the stillness. That is, wherever I go, the stillness is there. And that's my home. I actually feel that being rooted in that as my home.

[Oprah Winfrey]

So are you always happy, Eckhart?

[Eckhart Tolle]

I don't call it happy, although I have used happy occasionally in the book. But it's more a state of peaceful aliveness.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Oh, I love that. Yeah. Have you lost Your ego?

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

You have completely.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Well, let's see. Who knows? Tomorrow it may suddenly appear again. Let me know if it does, because I wouldn't know it if it. If it's really the ego.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Really? Because people, if you're acting in the ego, you don't even know it's the ego.

[Eckhart Tolle]

If you're really in the ego, you don't know it.

[Oprah Winfrey]

But how is it? How can that be so, when what you teach us in a new Earth is that to be aware of it? And the more you're aware of it, you can say, because I've been able to see it. Oh, there's my ego. There's my ego. There it is showing up again. I see it, I see it, I see it. So there is an awareness, because mine's still alive.

[Eckhart Tolle]

But that's already. The shift is already happening. The awareness is there. You're not totally in the grip of it because the awareness arises also, but there are many others who are still totally in the grip of it.

[Oprah Winfrey]

So if you're totally in the grip of it, you can't be aware that it has shown up. Finish this sentence.

[Eckhart Tolle]

The world needs spiritual awakening.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Awakening. I believe in

[Eckhart Tolle]

nothing in particular.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That cracks me up. That is an loller. Okay. Love is.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Love is the recognition of yourself, the essence of yourself in the other, the recognition of the essence of who you are in the other.

[Oprah Winfrey]

In the other.

[Eckhart Tolle]

In the other. You recognize yourself in the other as

[Oprah Winfrey]

the other, the oneness, the oneness of all life.

[Eckhart Tolle]

The recognition of oneness.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Wow. That is love. That's a good definition. I'm grateful for.

[Eckhart Tolle]

I'm grateful for always. This moment, the now, no matter what form it takes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

That's great.

[Eckhart Tolle]

That is great.

[Oprah Winfrey]

This was fun.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Yes.

[Oprah Winfrey]

Wow. I believe in nothing in particular. That's the first time anybody has. I believe in nothing in particular. That's great. I'm Oprah Winfrey and you've been listening to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. You can follow Super Soul on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If you haven't yet, go to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. Rate and review this podcast. Join me next week for another Super Soul Conversation. Thank you for listening, Foreign.

[Eckhart Tolle]

Powers. The world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.

[Brooke Devard]

Hello. Hello, it's Brooke Devard from Naked Beauty. Join me each week for unfiltered discussion about beauty trends, self care, journeys, wellness tips, and the products we absolutely love and cannot get enough of. If you are a skincare obsession. Excessive. And you spend 20 plus minutes on your skincare routine. This podcast is for you. Or if you're a newbie at the beginning of your skincare journey, you'll love this podcast as well. Because we go so much deeper than beauty. I talk to incredible and inspiring people from across industries about their relationship with beauty. You'll also hear from skin care experts. We break down lots of myths in the beauty industry. If this sounds like your thing, search for naked beauty on your podcast app and listen along. I hope you'll join us.

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