Eckhart Tolle’s has the power to suck me into his books; as soon as I start reading I feel exactly what he means on a very deep level. That is also the reason that I can only read a few pages at a time. I also tend to easily fall asleep after. I find it difficult to describe his books. It’s about consciousness, knowing who you are and learning to see your own ego, and consequently making it disappear. But the books are not airy-fairy or spacey, because that also irritates me immediately. Recently I took one of his books to the sauna and it came to life more than I could have dreamed.
The real meaning of ‘the little things’
I almost finished ‘A New Earth’, a sequel to ‘The Power of Now’. I had taken the book to the sauna to relax and read some pages. I’ll take you to page 236. It’s about the theory behind “appreciating the little things.” I’ve always taken that quite literally: the little things in life are already very beautiful, such as a beautiful sunset or a tasty cappuccino. I think it is important to appreciate simple things and not to take them for granted, nothing in life is a guarantee, except that you’ll die. But Tolle wrote something else about this topic that I didn’t realize before: “the form of little things leaves room for inner space.”
Butterfly
With inner space he refers to silence, and therefore space. Space for unconditional awareness. A moment when you do not ramble on all kinds of thoughts, but are aware of the here and now, the only moment that really ever is exists (think about that…). Now you may say that it sounds vague and abstract, but give it a try: being aware of those little things in your surroundings also means being quiet in your head. I dare say that I am quite aware of the (small) things around me. I can enjoy a beautiful sunset, a dog running, the friendly smile of someone in the street. I really see all those things happening, they resonate with me and I smile back at them. The moment I read this part of the book – scout’s honor! – a yellow-green butterfly lands on the table next to my lounger. He is beautiful and demands all my attention. He seems very interested in my tube of sunscreen: ’the ritual of karma’ from Rituals, which is on the table. The irony. He flies on and around it. Would he enjoy the smell too? He remains fixed on the tube for at least five minutes. Then he flies around my waist and head for a while and takes off. I pick up the tube and check the ingredients. I laugh: ‘do good, and good will come to you’ is the slogan above the ingredients. I think the universe was reading along with me…
Love,
Bridget