Eckhart Tolle in the Land Of The Ha’oles
The scene in Marin this last week resembled not so much a wisdom teaching’s solemnity and respectful aura, but more a carnival atmosphere. I estimate roughly 40% of us had purchased our tickets well in advance of the Oprah publicity and were there to absorb the teachings. The rest seemed there to gawk and hector each other and the speaker. I expected some of that, but not as much of the attention-seeking "pain-bodies on parade" that there were.
I wasn’t expecting the Paris Hilton wannabees, each with tiny dogs in tow, getting Very Upset on being told they could not bring animals into the auditorium. Or the sheer brass of the one who tried to insist that her tiny cockapoo was a "disabled service animal".
I wasn’t expecting the reality-challenged gentleman who interrrupted Tolle in mid-lecture to spew a load of politically motivated invective at full volume and had to be escorted off the premises.
Or the woman in front of me who interrupted Tolle yet again to pose her question. While the question was more or less valid, she had been thrusting her hand in the air for the previous half hour softly calling "oo, oo, me! me!"….which I thought summed up the situation pretty succinctly. My partner calls this "Me First, California" as it typifies those whose lives and agendas are much more important than anyone else’s - justifying dangerous car maneuvers, cutting in line and the like.
The irony in it all was that this lady didn’t realize that Tolle was already answering the question she was about to pose when she interrupted him. He stopped, listened to her shouted query, nodded, and continued on with what he had been saying.
Tolle, to his great credit handled each situation with the aplomb and grace of a born diplomat, further lending credence to his position. He refused to allow the several who tried, to lure him into making political statements saying "I am here to bring Presence and only that. I am not here to be a mouthpiece for any movement." Or words to that effect.
Way to go, Eckhart.
Poor impulse control characterized many who attended, but Eckhart did say, in several different ways as he always does, that it’s always easier to see ego in others. <*cue laughter from those who got this and puzzlement from those who didn’t*>
My seatmate, a well-known local musician offered the observation that the whole thing felt like a sorority rush party - a distinctly different feel to the wisdom teachings we had both been to in the past where silence and contemplative meditation reigned both before and after the teachings. And a respectful questioning session, where questioners waited their turn and observed local protocols around asking and the answers given. Only a few at this event actually got up to use the microphones placed around the room to pose their questions. Most simply shouted from their seats, not caring whose turn it was, and freely interrupting the flow whenever the thought struck them to do so, frequently speaking over each other.
It helped to say over and over "all here are manifestations of my own self. It is me acting out and it is me observing the acting out. They are me and I am them. I can hold the space for this and be okay with what is."
But I’m not a fully enlightened person as I said, and a small, wisftul part of me wished things were different.
I was hoping for the atmosphere that characterized Tolle’s Findhorn Retreat…where all there were on a spiritual path and a reverent, open and almost innocent atmosphere was inherent. Or any of his other pre-Oprah lectures. I say hoping, but with the realization that it probably would never be that way again.
Of note, Tolle said that he had been considering retiring from teaching, but then "life called, and it was Oprah on the other end of the line". Cue hearty laughter from Tolle and the audience. He was jolly as ever, but after this experience, I wouldn’t blame him a bit if he revisited that notion.
I found myself constantly re-centering my attention as there was a running commentary by the people sitting a few seats down from me that was distracting, annoying. "Oh my GAWD, isn’t he cute? Isn’t he funny? Oh my GAWD isn’t this SO COOL? Oh my GAWD girl, he so TOTALLY KNOWS OPRAH…." etcetera.
I tried to bring my mind to the place of being okay with what is, and found it easy to maintain until one of these blessed beings made a loud exclaimation - which was happening rather often. I reminded myself that all who were present, myself as well, were in exactly the right place, and all could deeply benefit from Tolle’s message. With each distraction that came I considered it to be an invitation to go deeper and be at peace with what was.
And then, in the midst of not being very interesting as Tolle puts it, in the midst of all the micro-chaos, something happened.
I sat there, trying not to be incredulous at what I was hearing and seeing of other people’s actions in the face of Tolle’s earnest attempt to educate and enlighten. Suddenly, I fell out of the world, into a still and quiet place, as if all was going at warp speed and only I were standing still. There was only myself, the flowers on the stage who were beautiful and perfect in their Stillness, and the Stillness shared through Eckhart himself. You’ve probably seen movies where the main character is standing still in a busy airport and the action of those around them is greatly speeded up. It felt just like that.
I had tried to meditate prior to Eckhart’s appearance on the stage. It was so noisy, and so unlike other wisdom teachings I had attended that I found myself a little off-kilter until this very moment. I could see Eckhart’s body talking, and also see the energy of his Self standing to one side just being Silently present. And the flowers, so present and perfect.
It was a beautiful moment that lasted a long time, always Now. As I think about it, I can enter the space again. I saw a few other spots in the rush-rush-rush of minds there, of people who were perfectly still and present. Perception extended deep inside my own body to the rushing of blood in veins and the whispered communications of cells. I found myself both within, without and between all at the same time.
Eckhart said, clearly speaking to those of us who were having problems with the environment:
"Just ask yourself ‘can I be the space for that?’ and sit with the answer."
He said this after a particularly loud exchange, and it was appropriate for me to hear in that very moment. I realized that one of the reasons the folks showed up who did was the Universe telling us: "this is who you’ve got to work with, so all can become Present". I include myself in this as I am not fully Present every single moment of my day either. I reflected that if I couldn’t be Present and in a place of compassion with people who had voluntarily come to a wisdom teaching (even if they were being sophomoric), I had no business teaching spiritual topics myself.
And the fact was, they came. They may have come to gawk, they may have come just because Oprah endorsed Tolle, and they may have come to "be seen" in the sense of being at the popular spot. They may even have come sincerely seeking enlightenment. But they did come. And they did listen. We all did. And we are none of us divisible from each other. I am the same as the most profane of ha’oles, and they are the same as me, as Eckhart, as everyone else. We’re all just sentient pieces of the same stew. And I’m here until every last one of us achieves enlightenment anyway, so I might as well learn to deal with it.
As Eckhart says: "Even Oprah puts on her shoes one at a time" Or words to that effect.
The Takeaway: I know when the challenges are many but minor, that the teaching and learning will be especially poignant and sweet. And it was. Despite the circus-like aura, I received amazing insights and sense of Presence that is ongoing. Exercise of the Compassion muscle is integral to this work.
More later on what Eckhart was actually teaching, and how we do disservice to our children by giving them labels.
Namasté and Peace…
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