On Stillness — Or How Eckhart Tolle’s book Stillness Speaks was Pivotal to my Survival

2023 was a turbulent year for me & mine — challenging, it was the bringing-you-down-to-your-knees-in-ultimate-surrender kind of year with plenty of hardships, opportunities for growth, blessings and miracles amidst it all.

There are some books, like some people, who walk into your life and completely change who you are as a person. And the beauty of it all lies in the fact that upon first meeting with said book or person, you never realize that this person or thing will change your life and maybe even you, forever.

I can’t remember how many times I have dedicated my daily gratitude journal entries to Eckhart Tolle’s book Stillness Speaks. At less than a 100 pages, Stillness Speaks doesn’t appear daunting or intimidating. It’s lavender book cover is soothing to the eyes, and when you glance through its pages, the first few passages will slow your mind, the same mind that’s been running at the pace of a million miles per minute. (Hello over-thinkers and multitaskers, I’m looking at you.)

The younger me that finished reading a book as easily as breathing would look at said copy of Stillness Speaks at a bookstore and arrogantly think to self, “Oh, I can finish this in less than an hour.” However, the beauty of Tolle’s masterpiece is not something my younger, teenage self from the 90s could’ve fathomed or even deciphered its depths. To this day, I am still amazed, how this book, still makes me take a breath, stops my mind in its tracks, and allows me to think through the author’s words with immense mental quietude.

This book is one of my top reading meditation books. You know, the kinds of books which you begin to read and they slow time and put you into a meditative trance? Eckhart Tolle’s work, especially this book, has caused immense internal shifts in my personality. And undoubtedly, Stillness Speaks is one of my most recommended books of all time.

Here are seven quotes from Tolle’s Stillness Speaks, that will always have my heart.

1. “Do you need more knowledge? Is more information going to save the world, or faster computers, more scientific or intellectual analysis? Is it not wisdom that humanity needs most at this time? But what is wisdom and where is it to be found? Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and just listen. No more is needed. Being still, looking, and listening activates the non — conceptual intelligence within you. Let stillness direct your words and actions.”

Having always been the human with a go-go-go mentality since a young age, Tolle’s words here underscore the sheer power in the ability to be still. In recent times, stillness and meditation has garnered a lot of public attention and for good reason. In our breakneck quest towards improvement of self and civilization, Stillness is the secret sauce our recipe needs.

2. “The human condition: lost in thought.”

Ah, my good old friend, “lost in thought” returns. He and I share a torrential, long lasting relationship. I don’t give up my quest for perfection and he doesn’t give up bringing an unending list of obstacles to the forefront of my pre-frontal cortex, both of us ensuring that I am still at the proverbial starting line “lost in thought” with not an actionable step taken towards my goal.

Case in point — calm down, embrace stillness, and begin one step at a time.

3. “The present moment is as it is. Always. Can you let it be?”

Pair a go-go-go mentality with resounding optimism and you have a human who will WILL any situation into its improved & evolved 2.0 version. And while that may be a much appreciated skill set to have, true wisdom lies in knowing when to let things be and when to WILL it better.

4. “The moment you enter the Now with your attention, you realize that life is sacred. There is a sacredness to everything you perceive when you are present. The more you live in the Now, the more you sense the simple yet profound joy of Being and the sacredness of all life.”

It takes a singular moment to enunciate the transience and delicateness of human life. And that is when you realize the sanctity of it all. When you’re at the cusp of losing a loved one to death, you can’t help but appreciate every moment you have together before it all becomes mere memories.

5. “Most people’s lives are run by desire and fear. Desire is the need to add something to yourself in order to be yourself more fully. All fear is the fear of losing something and thereby becoming diminished and being less. These two movements obscure the fact that Being cannot be given or taken away. Being in its fullness is already within you, Now.”

Resistance and fear are two of the demons I fight with on and off — good days, bad days, okay days — you’ll find me at the battleground warring with these demons in the privacy of my mind. Desires of the heart are aplenty, but I’ve found that dropping into quiet stillness while surrendering to those demons and desires at the end of a long day and just “being” brings solace to the heart like nothing else.

6. “There are situations where all answers and explanations fail. Life does not make sense anymore. Or someone in distress comes to you for help, and you don’t know what to do or say. When you fully accept that you don’t know, you give up struggling to find answers with the limited thinking mind, and that is when a greater intelligence can operate through you. And even thought can then benefit from that, since the greater intelligence can flow into it and inspire it. Sometimes surrender means giving up trying to understand and becoming comfortable with not knowing.”

When I look back at 2023, I don’t know how I made it through, there was no one thing or one person who was the solution. My entire year seemed like a Higher Divine Power trying to teach me that, it takes a village sometimes, to get through the craziest of times in life and most importantly how one should always walk hand in hand with members of said village even in our good times. It is a lesson, that in hindsight, was much needed to an INFJ Ambivert who theoretically believed in the being self-made concept. Another immensely pertinent lesson, has been, (drumroll please) Surrender. Surrendering to it all and realizing that if your prayers were meant to be answered they would be at their own time and there is nothing you can do to fast track it, except go through this experience.

7. “When you receive whoever comes into the space of Now as a noble guest, when you allow each person to be as they are, they begin to change.”

Living from the space where every moment is a gift while going through the ebbs and flows a human experience represents is the hallmark of a life well lived. And while this may be not easy, it is immensely fulfilling.

This article was first published on medium.com