(bell rings) - The essence of meditation
is, of course, stillness. Every meditation technique is designed to take you into stillness. So, one could say that
whatever technique you use is not the meditation, although techniques can be helpful. The true meditation, of
course, is stillness. And then we don't need to
call it meditation anymore. Because, to be aware of stillness, is the arising of your natural state. We could call that. Your natural state of connectedness. Connectedness with what? Something deeper... Than the person... That you also are. You are a person. But there is a depth to who you are, where the person merges
with something huge. We could call it the
intelligence that underlies the manifested universe. The intelligence that pervades, and at the same time is beyond the manifested universe. And you, as the person, are... One aspect, of course, of the manifested universe. You are the universe manifesting, for a very fleeting moment, as a person. But there's more to you
than the fleeting person. The fleeting person exists in time, and even if you reach 100 years or beyond, it's still fleeting. So the person exists in time, and the depth of who you are is outside of time. Please, as you sit here and listen, stay alert. And become aware. Particularly of... The spaces between the words, or the... It's not really spaces, it's one space. Let's call it like that for a moment. We could also call it stillness. Become aware of the
stillness between the words and realize that the moment you become aware of the
stillness between the words, and also the stillness behind the words, the moment you become aware of that, you have become still inside. Which means you're not thinking, but fully conscious... And alert. And already, at that... Right away you are connected with something deep and vast. Although, from the point of
view of the thinking person, it may look as if you had become nothing. So when you look into my eyes... As I'm not thinking... The words just come, I'm not thinking about them. So the mind is... The mind does operate
in the moment I speak, but not before and not after. So... When you look into my eyes,
because I'm not thinking, you are not looking at a person, you're looking at that which
is deeper than the person, which is consciousness. Of course, you can't
look at consciousness, but you can connect with consciousness. And although on the surface reality, it looks as if you were connecting with somebody... Out there. You are really connecting with a deeper dimension within yourself. And that's... We could call it stillness. Now, the person... (clears throat) If the person is not connected with the dimension of stillness, it's hard for the person to realize how important stillness is. In fact, the person is more likely to be either uninterested in stillness or even afraid of it. But if you ask me, what do you think is the most
important thing in my life. What is the most important achievement in my life? I would say it's the
ability to become still. To be still. And as I said in the little
book called "Stillness Speaks," it is only when you become
still that you are really, fully yourself. So... In daily life... It's important to be able to constantly step back into stillness as you go about your daily activities. And while you think, use your mind. Not think continuously, not being dragged along in a stream of one thought after another, and another, and another, and another until finally you fall asleep and then have restless dreams. Fortunately, you go into dreamless sleep for a little while. You become still, you
merge with something vast. But as you wake up in the morning, you quickly lose it again. The mind immediately starts up. And... We live in this era of (clears throat) Digital gadgets, when it's become even more
important than it was before, to cultivate, so to speak, your ability to be still. Because the gadgets that we have, the smartphones- The games. Computers... Bombard us continuously, and stimulate continuously... the thinking mind, it goes from one thing
to another and another, emails, text messages, the phone ringing. Facebook, Twitter. Everything demanding
your immediate attention. And then you go there. You're at the mercy of these devices. Well, many people seem to be. And get addicted to the
continuous, constant stimulus. You get pulled this
way, that way, that way. Never having any kind of
stillness inside yourself. No inner space. Just stuff. Stuff without space. (chuckles) And then of course, inevitably, after a
while, you feel depleted, and still you can't stop. And youngsters finding
it harder and harder to focus on anything for very long, more than a few seconds. Because they've been conditioned to always look to the next thing. They can never stay with anything for more than a few seconds. And now they call it an... (Eckhart clears his throat) Some, an illness that needs
to be treated with drugs. Attention deficit disorder. "What's the answer?" "Give them drugs." So, at this time, it's even more important to have this ability to be still, even while you're thinking, in between your thinking. Back into stillness. When you talk to somebody, you talk, while you listen, you're
still present, alert. Just your... Just that field of
attention while you listen. When you look at something,
nature, the sky, a tree, you're still. And you know that you are still, but not by saying in your
mind, "Oh, I'm still." No, you can sense
yourself as the stillness. So the most important thing in your life... Is to become familiar with stillness, and have stillness as
your constant companion, so to speak. Your best friend. (Eckhart clears his throat) And that is... Spiritual awakening. which simply means not to be completely
identified with every thought or emotion that arises. To realize there's something
more to who you are than the continuously arising
thoughts and emotions. And also sense perceptions. There is more to who you are than that. Meaning, also, there
is more to who you are than your... Put that in quotation marks. Your life. There is more to who you are than what you conventionally consider to be "My life." What you think of as your
life, your life situation. What's going on in your life. Your relationships, your work. Where you live. Your finances. Your health. Those things make up your life. They are the life of the person. Are those things completely insignificant? No. They matter. They have some importance. As I've said somewhere before. Of course it matters whether you are poor financially
or live in abundance. Makes a difference. And most people would probably
choose abundance, except... Ardent spiritual seekers who
believe that by choosing... Poverty, they might be able to discover, find God, or become spiritually awakened. Of course, if you... There's no guarantee whatsoever
if you choose poverty, that that will awaken you spiritually. It could. In most cases it doesn't for
those people who practice it. Because true poverty
is not to be identified with anything in the world of form. Not to derive your sense of self, not only from things that you possess, but from any self image in your mind. So you may only possess a
loincloth and a begging bowl, and yet be identified with an image in your mind of who you are. A highly-advanced spiritual being, infinitely superior to
all these silly people who are still identified with possessions and other things. Other... Of course, the moment this happens,
you are not poor at all. You are still rich in
identification with who you are. That's heavier than any
external possession, a mental image of who you are. And even... Especially if the images of
spiritually highly advanced is more of an obstacle
than external possessions. So... This is why Jesus said the poor in spirit, that's what he really meant. And that somebody wrote it down correctly. A lot of things were not
written down correctly. I think a few people did
take notes when he taught. (Eckhart clears his throat) "Blessed are the poor in spirit," which means internally poor, no identification with anything. So, it matters... Whether you are rich or poor. Healthy or not healthy. Or have a nice job, or a nice family. Harmonious. Or live in a nice place. But all these things are very unstable. There's very, almost never a time, and if there is, it's very short, when all the factors that
make up your life situation are working perfectly. Health. Finances. Work situation. Family. Relationships. Living situation. So... And that's how it is. It's in the nature of phenomenal existence to be in continuous flux. It continuously changes. Things come and go, and disappear. Things may satisfy you for a while, and then they no longer satisfy you. Things make you happy for a while, then they make you unhappy because they lose their
ability to make you happy or they disappear. So there's something that
is much more important than anything in your life situation. And that's the ability to be still. That's one way of putting
it. (clears throat) And in that, you realize a depth, there's a depth to who you are. A presence... That shows to you, without any doubt, that whatever happens in
your life situation out there is of secondary importance. And when things are not satisfying in your life situation, whether it's to do with
money, work, relationships, living situation, health, it is often precisely at those moments when things don't work in one
or on several of these areas, that there is an opportunity for you to go deeper within yourself and find that realm of stillness, or spaciousness, or presence, whatever you want to call it. So you become, to some extent, free from... External conditions. The conditions of your life,
including the physical body, even that's still external, no longer have the ability to make you really unhappy. Really upset and frustrated, and fearful and anxious. On the other side. This may sound like
bad news, but it's not. All these external things
also lose their ability to make you really happy. (chuckles) "Wow, yeah, God, yup, yup!" You can still feel enthusiastic and enjoy life tremendously, whatever life gives you in the world of form. But there's always something, there's something transcendent in you from where you observe and
enjoy the beautiful things that come into your life. There is an enjoyment there, but you don't give them an importance that they don't have. You don't attach yourself to them. You allow them to be. It may be a possession that comes to you, and it's lovely, you look
after it, whatever it is, a house, an object. You appreciate it, it's
lovely, you look after it without that strong sense
of attachment of mind. (Eckhart coughs softly)
