Echkart Tolle and Karen May at Wisdom 2.0. (screenshot via YouTube)
LOS ANGELES — When we turn our minds to the present moment, rather than focus on the past or the future, we receive unexpected gifts. The present is a gift. Pop-spiritual teacher and public speaker Eckhart Tolle explained the idea of this “inner state of connectedness” in a recent conversation with Google Vice President of People Development, Karen May, atWisdom 2.0, a conference dedicated to mindfulness in the digital age. “The person becomes an instrument for the consciousness, and that’s all. I don’t know what is going to be said next — there is no plan,” he explained to May. “This is a ‘complete surrender to the present moment.’” I wasn’t at Tolle’s conversation in-person, but I did watch it on YouTube and felt present with it. In real life, I went to an regular weekly event at the Hammer Museum calledMindful Awareness Meditation, which discussed many of the same spiritual tools for staying in the moment.
As I made my way to the Hammer Museum, I was very aware of the fact that I would arrive late to the event — but something told me to go anyway. When I stepped up to the glass doors at the Billy Wilder Theater, I noticed a sign that said guests were welcome to stay for five minutes, 30 minutes, or however long we felt like it. There was no late or early; were allowed to come and go as we pleased. In that way, I felt that I was right on time. I silenced my phone and snuck into a seat in the front row between two guys who were already in that inner state of connectedness. I turned around and noticed that the auditorium was packed. It was a little after 12:30pm, and so most people were on their lunch break.
Read the full story on Hyperallergic: http://hyperallergic.com/119017/mind-your-awareness/
