Eckhart Tolle and Sri Aurobindo

Mind, Thought, and Stillness

The core of Eckhart's teachings is related to mind, thought, and stillness. The following statements, paraphrased from his writings and talks, encapsulate these central teachings:

The ordinary or normal state of the human being is, at the present stage of the evolution of consciousness, a state of identification with mind and thought. In other words, the human being has ordinarily a mind-based or thought-based sense of self. From the spiritual viewpoint, this is a state of unconsciousness; one is lost in thought and lives in continual mental noise.

Identification with the mind gives rise to a false self—the ego, a substitute for the true self. The true self is the essence of one's being and of all Being. It belongs to the realm of no-mind, a consciousness without thought. It is a realm of stillness and Presence. The next step in human evolution is that of rising above mind and transcending thought.

Sri Aurobindo, too, speaks of the next step in the evolution of consciousness as the emergence of a principle beyond, called by him the Supermind. In Eckhart's teachings, the mind refers always to the ordinary mind. Sri Aurobindo, however, makes these distinctions:

1. Different distinguishable parts of the ordinary mind

2. The ordinary outer mind and the inner or subliminal mind

3. Various levels of spiritual mind above the ordinary mind

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