English Audio Request

When you know a certain person or situation is likely to trigger your Painbody, is it better to avoid them altogether or is it helpful to the development of Consciousness to stay with them and observe your Painbodies?

There is no clear answer to that - it depends on the situation. In some situations you cannot even walk away. There may be a situation at work, or wherever, that may require you to be there at that moment, and all you can do is be present with your Painbody. In other situations it may be better to walk out instead of being engaged in useless argumentation or conflict; sometimes it may be better to walk out of a situation and let someone else's Painbody exhaust itself rather than stay with that person. Nobody can give you a clear guideline of whether this is right or that is right, you have to take individual situations and feel what is right to do.

There is no way of avoiding the Painbody altogether. If you live in this world, there will always be situations in your life [that trigger it], unless you are a complete hermit. Even if you are a complete hermit, it may happen because your own Painbody may arise as a result of certain thoughts that may trigger it. There is no way to avoid encountering Painbodies. And certainly you cannot run away every time you encounter someone else's Painbody. Your spiritual practice will have to be a heightening of presence as soon as you notice somebody close to you who is being drawn into that deep unconsciousness that is the identification with the Painbody.

The intensity of Presence needs to arise so that you can counteract the deep, powerful pull of unconsciousness of the other person's Painbody, that wants your Painbody to react - it wants an emotional reaction from you. It's like a dimmer switch, you need to turn the dimmer switch up so that you become intensely present while the other person's Painbody is trying to get some kind of reaction from you. It's a very subtle thing, it can easily be confused with closing down or shutting yourself off from the other person.

When I talk about intense Presence, it has nothing to do with closing yourself to the other person, shutting down - this is energetically completely different. If you close down and you say "nothing can touch me now, I am not going to react", then you shut off. You might fool yourself into believing that you are so present that nothing can touch you. You have created a barrier between yourself and the other person. That's not what I mean by intensification of Presence. With intensification of Presence, there is a complete openness toward your surroundings, toward the Other, but there is that high degree of alertness, and that alertness is open towards what is. After a while you will find that you do that automatically, it's not a decision-making process.

Whenever there is a pull of unconsciousness in a situation, you find yourself becoming more alert and awake. When you find yourself being challenged, you will find yourself becoming more alert – like the light is being turned up. That's wonderful, because then it means that whatever the challenge may be, its function is to push you into intensified Presence. That's the only way you can not be drawn into somebody else's Painbody.

Once you realize that this is possible, you will find in situations the intensity of Presence inside you will vary. It becomes very intense the moment you are challenged by a difficult situation. Immediately you find, rather than being pulled into unconsciousness by a challenge, which is the case for most people, you intensify your presence.

Inspiring Story

Hello Eckhart and Friends,

I've been on this journey all my 40 years but didn't realize everything connected until recent years. When I was a child I already knew things but could never really explain to anyone "how" I knew them. I thought it was "common sense" or that everyone was like me and just knew them intuitively too. After a while though I began to feel like I was strange and was told by family and friends that I was strange because I always had a positive attitude no matter what happened in my life. I remember always getting yelled at by my parents and my siblings when they were upset because I would tell them "everything will be alright" "its okay -- not a problem" in an attempt to comfort them but it only made them more upset -- at the time I didn't understand why. People blew me off because they thought I was too naive and didn't know what I was talking about when I said that they had the power to control what happens in their lives. That it was easy to make the right choices in life. No one believed me but I KNEW it worked this way for me and couldn't make sense that this was not true for everyone as long as they put their minds to it.

My parents ignored me as child so my childhood was mostly spent in my bedroom alone. I can reflect back now and realize that these were my meditation moments which caused me to become very insightful at an early age. I truly believe this is what allowed me to know the truth that was already in me because I was not distracted by "outside influences". I see it now as a blessing in disguise.

As a working adult dealing with customers, I remember speaking with people and striving to make them laugh to chisel away at the wall people had up initially. I remember thinking to myself that I prefer to talk with the YOU that laughs with your family and friends -- not the YOU that arms yourself when speaking to a stranger. It always worked. I recognized these differences within individuals even then, but didn't realize what it was.

Eckhart's teachings cast a huge light for me. I am very much at peace, present and free. I was a very positive and understanding person before, but now I truly understand others when they are upset about something. With the knowledge I have now about egos, this serves me well in my marriage, with friends and co-workers. My family still thinks I'm weird. I hope one day they will connect with Eckhart's message but I don't force it on them.

Thank you, Eckhart, for helping me make sense of everything. My life is so much richer for it as well as the lives of those I come in contact with every day. I truly enjoy the journey and passing the teachings on to others.

Raquel Walter
Sterling, VA

Inspirational Quotes

"When you need to use your mind, and particularly when a creative solution is needed, oscillate every few minutes or so between thought and stillness, between mind and no-mind."

"When you look upon another and feel great love or when you contemplate beauty in nature and respond deeply, close your eyes for a moment and feel the essence of that love or that beauty within you, inseparable from who you are, your true nature."

"Most people are so distracted by their thoughts, so identified with the voices in their heads, they no longer feel the aliveness within them. To be unable to feel the life that animates the physical body, the very life that you are, is the greatest deprivation that can happen to you."