- So here we have then fundamental, at the most fundamental level, abundance is being in touch with a source of life within yourself and
recognizing it as the essence of who you are, of course. (bell dinging) So the secret of life is to be in touch with
that within yourself. And from that, we could say state of connectedness with being. Look out onto the world. And the first thing you see
is abundance all around you because you're surrounded by millions of different
life forms everywhere, unfolding continuously, unbelievable profusion of life everywhere, whether you're out in the
country, natural world or whether you are in New
York City or any city walking along 5th Avenue. And there too, profusion
of manifestations of life. You don't even need to
differentiate between natural. You can actually enjoy
all manifestations of life from the tree to the store display at Tiffany's if you want. It's just life. You don't necessarily need to... At that stage, you don't
need to have anything because you're already enjoying on that. And that is a wonderful
feeling of abundance already. But you have to be in the background. There needs to be the connectedness. So there is a certain
powerful field of stillness as you walk around 5th
Avenue looking at everything. You need to have a stronger
connection on 5th Avenue than you need in the middle of the forest. (audience chuckling) But it's not that you
can't be then that place on 5th Avenue. You can. So if you walk in out in
the middle of a big city, of course, you get all kinds of. (Eckhart imitating whooshing sound) your tension is pulled this way and that, and the staying rooted in that field so that you're not dependent on your environment to feel peaceful. If you're dependent or your
environment to feel peaceful, then oh, oh, I can't be peaceful here. I need to go out somewhere else. Yes, I've often mentioned, of course, that nature is helpful and it is wonderful to go on to nature, but
if you are dependent on nature to become still and peaceful, then your life becomes restricted. And there is a lack of depth still. You're dependent on a certain environment. You love nature, that's beautiful. You love being in
nature, that's wonderful. But you are then dependent on that and you cannot take that state
of aliveness into the city. So it requires greater depth and intensity, alertness so that you can
enjoy the aliveness everywhere wherever you are. In all manifestations of life, see them as temporary play. The temporary play of forms,
because that's what it is. There's nothing permanent here. Nothing permanent. (Eckhart chuckling) If you take a movie picture of 5th Avenue, let's just stay with 5th Avenue. That stands for all
cities and all streets. If you took a movie camera to 5th Avenue and film all the people
running around the street, and then a few years
later, let's say 50 years, you watch the film. Then most of the people running around 5th Avenue
will have disappeared already. Not only from 5th Avenue,
but from the planet. (Eckhart chuckling) So you watch, ultimately,
insubstantial life forms going about their business or their play. They call it business, but it is play. (audience chuckling) And to them it's serious, but it's not. It's a play of life, includes Wall Street. (audience chuckling) If you know it's play, it's fine but you can only know its
play through being connected to that which is deeper
than the forms in yourself. Then you recognize the
forms as the play of form. But if you are not
connected with the depths of being in yourself, you
don't recognize the movement or form as the play of forms because to you then, that's all there is. And then there comes a neediness. I need these forms to make me happy. And there comes a concern and seriousness about forms because that's
all you seem to have. So you get unduly anxious about the forms of life and everything is very serious. (audience chuckling) Most people in big cities are serious, going about their business. (audience chuckling) And there's fear
underlying the seriousness. They're serious because they're ultimately in a state of concealed,
to themselves, fear. And they're trying to get somewhere. They never get there, but they're always on the way somewhere very
important to get this done. They never get it done
because they could do this. And then there's something else Lack of, that's not abundance. There can be no true feeling of abundance if you don't recognize the
playful nature of the world. If you are dependent for your sense of fullness on the forms,
there's no abundance. You're just seeking more forms
to fill your life up with. (Eckhart chuckling) So here we have then fundamental. The at the most fundamental
level, abundance is being in touch with the source
of life within yourself and recognizing it as the essence
of who you are, of course. And then look around and
experience the sensory world. And then she can participate in the play without
completely losing yourself in it and enjoy the play of form. And then you experience, as you do that, you experience another level of abundance that is the
abundance of experiences, of experiencing life in various
ways through where you go, what you do, relationships,
sensory experience even. And even there, you don't get lost in it. You can even enjoy food. (Eckhart imitating food chewing) Tastes good without the addictive enjoyment. That is very different. That goes, (imitating
chewing vociferously). I need more of this. And then you come.
(Eckhart slurping) you need to take it in. (Eckhart slurping)
(audience chuckling) More, more, more. (audience chuckling) Drink, another one, another. Sex, need more. (audience chuckling) And it draws you out of yes, you where's the next sex object. (audience chuckling) And it, of course, it draws you out there. (Eckhart chuckling) You can enjoy sensory experience without becoming addicted
to sensory experience. And that is to being able
to enjoy sensory experience. And whatever you do is also abundance, is the part of the fullness of life. And then it's possible that
also things come into your life. And yet you can enjoy things
also for what they are without getting worked up about
owning them or fear of loss. Enjoy something beautiful. Why not? But not obsessively accumulating one thing after another pointlessly. But to honor the world of things also is part of being here. So as things come to you,
so you're not really... You don't need to seek abundance
for the sake of abundance. You have to go to the place of abundance. From there, different levels of abundance manifest in your life. They may include the outermost
level, things coming to you. (water falling)
