Eckhart Tolle’s description of his moment of enlightenment is very interesting because it clearly shows the non-dual state. It it shows how simple it is to step into non-duality. It’s in that moment when you just go, “Oh!”
So, he’s sitting around. He’s very depressed. We hear a lot of discussion, you know, that most of the story centers on his depression. But it’s really the most important part of the story.
He thinks, “I can’t take myself anymore.”
And then stops for a second. It’s like… “Wait a minute? How many people are in here?”
‘I’ can’t take ‘myself’ anymore,
I? Myself?
Which one is which? What is this self? Standing back and looking at the moment from afar, that ‘self’ is obviously the thing that he can’t take anymore. That nasty little inside-brain part of being a human.
Who’s who? What’s what? ‘I’ can’t take ‘that’? This? That?
This is me. Ahhhh.
And then you get an “Ah ha!” I am.
That thing that you “can’t take anymore” is just a projection. It doesn’t exist.
I do exist. I. Me. This. The one who sees… step into that.
No more self that you can’t take. I don’t need that ‘myself’ thing. That ‘myself’ thing is nothing but a projection. The I is not two. The ‘myself’ is a million things: millions and millions and millions of things (mostly horrible things).
Step into that obviousness.
It doesn’t need the great depression that went with Eckhart Tolle’s realization. That was irrelevant. Any dual statement could help you see this.
I love myself. ‘I’ love ‘myself’.
(Quick sidebar: you’ll notice that any spiritual teaching about self love is duality. And it never sticks. “I love myself” has to be repeated over and over and over again because it’s a lie. It’s a lie to try to love your self. We don’t love that thing. Never can and never will.)
That ‘self’ that he could not stand is horrible in all of us. Eckhart was honest with himself back then, and that’s why he went into this deep depression. This myself thing is a horrible, nasty, projected, untrue thing that shouldn’t be in charge of your life.
The realization could have been just as possible with “I love myself” as it was with, “I can’t take myself any more.”
Think about it for a while. What part of yourself do you love?
Or…
What is doing this loving? What’s even seeing it at all? Step into that.
I love myself. I’m proud of myself. I can’t stand myself. Doesn’t matter. It’s all about two things. One is false and one is real.
This story can you get the sense of how non-duality works. I. Myself. These two things don’t work well together.
Self, self, self, self, self… always wants to be in charge. I. The simple silent part of you is not assertive. It’s not loud. But it is you.
This self thing, this second thing, this other thing, can change and change and change and change. You can like it one minute, hate it another minute.
The who in “Who am I?” is unchanging because it has no qualities.
One silly little question, “Who is the ‘I’ that can’t take myself anymore?”
Truth. Unspeakable.