The Three Keys to Happiness According to Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle is German spiritual author whom the New York Times named most popular in the United States. We can find inspiring teachings on love, life, and spirituality in his works. According to Eckhart Tolle, we can achieve the state of well-being and happiness that we crave.
Acceptance, joy, and enthusiasm are the three keys to happiness according to Eckhart Tolle. Consciousness has to flow through these three paths. Everything that doesn’t come from them comes from our ego and may become destructive.
Tolle says that he experienced a spiritual awakening at the age of 29. He suffered from long periods of depression and was on the verge of suicide. In his essay, The Power of Now, he emphasizes the importance of being conscious of the present moment and not getting caught up in our thoughts in order to be happy. In his opinion, the present is the gateway to peace.
“The mind is an excellent instrument when used correctly. If used incorrectly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more precisely, we normally don’t use it at all. It uses us.”
Is it possible to silence the heavy voice in our heads?
Most of the suffering we experience is unnecessary. We hurt ourselves through expectations and unsettled thoughts repeated in our heads over and over again. It’s as if our mind creates a distorted image of what happens and the universe responds in exactly that way. If we don’t become aware of this and change our mental patterns, we create that response over and over again.
Do you really want to be happy? If the answer is yes, start by identifying who the constant voice in your head really belongs to. Is it yours or is it your primitive brain’s? Identifying who is really speaking is essential to finding fulfillment and well-being.
If you constantly think about the past, you’ll experience more of the same if you don’t let go of those thoughts. The past perpetuates itself through the absence of presence. This is why you should ask yourself if those thoughts have a place in what you’re doing right now.
The quality of your conscience is what shapes your thoughts. If you’re focused on acceptance, joy, and enthusiasm, your thoughts will reflect that. You don’t have to completely stop your thoughts, but you do have to give them the proper importance in order to be happy.
Your thoughts are only beliefs. About 20% of them will become reality. So, observe reality instead and don’t let yourself feel threatened by fears disguised as thoughts. Nothing that happened in the past can stop you from being in the present. If it can’t stop you from being in the present moment, what power does it have?
“Limit your life to this moment. Your life can be full of problems, most people’s are. However, you should identify if you have a problem in this moment and if you have a problem right now.”
Keys to happiness according to Eckhart Tolle
How can you be happy? This question haunted Eckhart Tolle for a long time. The noise of his mind became so loud and caused so much anguish until his mind collapsed. The mental voice that scared him was silenced and he no longer suffered because of his thoughts. Now there was more silence between thoughts. This allowed for peace and stillness to settle in, bringing him a new concept of joy.
His advice to reach that state of well-being is to accept yourself and live without conforming to the normal pattern of thought. The right interpretation of joy, where all happiness comes from, will make you understand that being alive is the greatest gift of all.
“Being happy, according to Eckhart Tolle, is nothing more than understanding that being alive is the greatest gift.”
We can’t forget that the most important things to these three keys of happiness is the guiding thread of presence. We can always face the present moment but not the moments that are only projections of the mind. Therefore, you can’t face either past or future. They are the breeding grounds of unhappiness. Dare to live in the present.
“Life will give you the most useful experience for the evolution of your consciousness. How will you know that this is the experience you need? Because it is the experience you’re having right now.”
