Eckhart Tolle in London
I recently had the privilege of seeing one of my favourite Spiritual teachers, Eckhart Tolle, whilst he was conducting a talk in London.
Although I have been following his beautifully simple teachings for over a decade, and have been running the Eckhart Tolle group in Bristol for some years now, this was only the second time I have seen him in person.
I felt compelled to blog about this event because of the nature of the journey, simply going to the talk took me on.
I was in London anyway because I was promoting my Yoga/Dance/Meditation ‘business’, Sleeping Serpent at Europe’s biggest Yoga show, the Om Yoga Show.
It was really lovely then to have something to look forward to celebrate all the hard work running a stall at this event for three days entailed.
The event was held at a venue called Troxy, which I had not heard of before, in a part of East London I do not know very well. I note that I am a former Londoner.
I thought that the direction of the event would be obvious on getting to limehouse station, being that it was billed as being just ’2 minutes’ away. However, I arrived with all my heavy bags full of posters, banners and flyers with no clue as to the direction, and only a short time to find the venue. I remained completely calm, and noticed a woman studying a piece of paper. I asked her if she was going to see Eckhart, and she was. My intuition was serving me well.
She had no idea where to go either, but we worked out the road was the main one, and we had the street number, so we walked in one direction to ascertain that we were in fact walking in the wrong direction. But at least now we knew where to go…
Eventually we got to Troxy, it wasn’t 2 minutes, more like 5 or 6 minutes. I found it to be a rather striking piece of art deco architecture, so must so that I was surprised not to have a conscious recollection of the venue, but then London is a big place…
However, the queue was bigger, it was astronomical! I heard people commenting on how surprising it was to have an event of this scale so badly managed. I personally was relieved, as we must have arrived without much time to spare, and yet all these people still needed to get in, so I assumed that it couldn’t start.
Then we noticed that all these people had tickets, and we didn’t, so my new friend asked about this, and it turned out we were in the wrong queue. We were directed to the other side of the building, and then I saw it…the largest queue I have ever seen in my life, outside of Wimbledon of course which takes great pride in having the largest queue in the world. Queuing, is after all, a great British tradition. I, however, grew up with a Dutch mother. She taught me that queuing for the sake of it is rather nonsensical, and something you often see people in Britain do, when there is a perfectly good alternative. Alas, this was not one of those occasions.
It was at this point I realised that my friend had a confirmation e-mail on her phone, which was to act as proof of her purchase, in order to collect her ticket. I searched, and searched all my e-mails, but realised I had no such confirmation e-mail. Once again, I remained completely calm in the knowing that I just needed to trust in the journey.
The queue was long, very long, and my bags were heavy, very heavy, but somehow it didn’t matter. I was in a queue to see Eckhart, and no-one had any intention of being inappropriately stressed about this fact, therefore. It is as if we all knew this was part of a test, this was our unique journey, and we were in it together.
8pm, the time that the talk was meant to start came and went, and still we queued, rumours were caught in the air like leaves blowing in the wind of there having been technical problems to account for the hold up.
Everything is as it should be. Everything is in it’s perfect place, at the perfect time.
Eventually, we made it! I gave over my name. The gentleman searched for my ticket, but informed me there was no one by that name. I repeated my name calmly…he had misheard me…he had my ticket!
I was in. There had been no need to stress, no need to panic, and so I had not.
I carried my heavy load like a pilgrim up, up the stairs to the top balcony, at which point I realised the talk had started! All was a hush, Eckhart was on stage…
I was directed to my seat. I saw that the lady had directed me incorrectly, and I couldn’t possibly go anywhere other than the front seat with all my bags so I just sat there in the hope that it would not be taken….It was! 5 minutes later a lady asked me to move, as I was in her seat.
I calmly obliged, and walked up, up to the very top of the theater, and put my bags up there, and decided to stand and listen, where at least I could be with my bags, be in a place where I could not be moved, and had space all around me.
Finally, I had arrived!
At this point it’s almost as if the talk was immaterial, I had been tested, over, and over again, and I had remained completely calm.
Naturally as expected Eckhart made comment of the very fact that we had been tested with the long queue which got a nice response of resounding laughter across the auditorium.
The one thing I remember about the talk is that Eckhart, reflecting on his morning in London, talked about how much he enjoyed looking out of the window. I too have always enjoyed this rather wonderful past time. I was repeatedly labelled a dreamer in school. The emphasis in school, of course, is always on putting your attention on the teacher, and the subject they were talking about. However, I have found much greater virtue in staring out of the window, and felt greatly encouraged that one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our time had endorsed this greatly underrated pursuit.
I recall one Summer’s day staring in wonder at the view from my bedroom window…the river flowing, the trees blowing in the wind, the little cottage with the clock, the far away tower. Then I got a phone call asking what I was doing. I took great ‘pride’ in retelling how I was staring out of the window, only to receive the remark, isn’t it time we got out of the window. That we did, and admitedly had a lovely evening out there in the world…
But what is it about staring out of the window that holds such appeal over and above simply observing the world whilst out in it? For me it is partly about being in the comfort of my own home, feeling safe and warm in the environment I have personally shaped to reflect my interests. To look from there, out into the world, is like looking out into another reality. A reality filled with the magic of the elements; where I have electric lighting inside, the sun shines out there, I have tap water, but out there rain falls from the sky, and the river flows eternally, I have a carpet, out there is the earth, and the trees. By looking out of the window I feel that contrast of me, in my own shell, my own world looking out into the big wide universe. Of course this is always the case. I am always placed between the two worlds, my inner reality, and the outer reality. However, by looking out of my window, the feeling of viewing the world through the lense of one’s personal perception is accentuated. For me to starkly notice the contrast between the two, is to then realise the duality that is constructed in consciousness of myself, and the world. To see this inclusively is to witness oneself as a witness to both, and this is the end of duality, and the realisation of oneness. This is the goal of all spiritual teachings, to bring self and other together to realise singularity…being, as Eckhart would say.
Next time you find yourself looking out of the window, ignore any thoughts of wasting time, for you have just taken the first step towards realising the greatest truth in the universe…you are the divine intelligence that has orchestrated all of life in this eternal moment.
