Hello Everyone!

Well done to Oprah and Eckhart for another great session! I loved how the gathering opened with ten seconds of silence. It has been my spiritual practice, through years of observing Eckhart, to begin and end every new event or situation (whether it is getting in my car, speaking on the telephone, running my next errand) with a space for inner silence, ten, thirty or sixty seconds of bringing attention inward to feel the breath and inner body. This enables me to sense the stillness, my inner connection to God. That connection to the divine spirit prepares me for authentic, spontaneous, right action. It is a way to let go of the remaining energy of the previous moment, but most importantly, it honors God, the space in which all forms arise and dissolve. And as Oprah asked Eckhart last night, "How do you honor something?" Said Eckhart, "By giving it your full attention..."

Our primary purpose in life is to honor God. That is giving our attention both in listening and acting from a God-centered state. Then our secondary purpose in life is everything else, work, career, family, friends, etc. In the words of Jesus, "Seek first the kingdom of God/heaven, then all things shall be added to you." I can only say for myself that this statement is true. Many times I have been in a state of presence, of devotion and reverence, while in the next moment, my primary attention got drawn elsewhere - into money, things, thoughts, emotions. Suddenly I would find myself in suffering again, inner hell. I began to learn to use suffering as my alarm clock, my wake-up call to return to present moment awareness, to inner peace, to being one with the essence of who I am.

This waking-up and falling back to sleep, spiritual sleep, brings me to a statement from one writer on this Blog. Davlaw said, "I have one comment and it is not meant to be confrontational. You stated that most people should not expect a sudden awakening like Eckhart did, but rather a gradual awakening over time. ...I wonder if the gradual approach reaches that type of profound place at its conclusion. The gradual approach may take a lifetime...while a sudden awakening can happen in the span of a day. It is not surprising that the shorter path would be preferred."

I would say that "preferences" are generated from the conditioned mind, likes, dislikes, and so forth. And the mind is always in search for something other than what is happening in the present moment. "A lifetime" is a mental concept. Concepts are thoughts. They have no ultimate reality outside our thinking. In reality, that is to say in absolute terms, there is only now. So we can only ever awaken now. Gradual awakening consist of many small awakenings, but ultimately each awakening can only happen now. No one knows when their awakening will be completed. Can it ever be complete? When Oprah asked Eckhart, last night, "Are you completely free of ego?" He replied, "All it means is that I am no longer identified with thoughts. I don't think in terms of ‘I'm free of ego.' That would be ego again."

Aldina3 asked, "...was the fear caused by the ego, or by the brain reacting to something unknown?

There are two types of fear, psychological and real. The latter type of fear happens in the moment and is usually short lived and rare, for example a bear chasing after you. There may be fear, but you don't have time to think "I am afraid." Instead, you take action. In other words, you are more than likely to "run", without thinking. The far more common and distressing type of fear, the psychological one, is created by identifying with your fear-based thoughts. Those habitual thoughts that tell you, "What if..., I can never..., will I be good enough..., what's going to happen..., etc." All of which is the ego. However, when you are rooted in stillness, you are free of fear. When you are fully in the present moment, accepting what is, there is no fear. You are not afraid of the unknown anymore. It is the ego in you that is afraid of the unknown. The fear of the unknown is the mind, or ego's, projection.

Sumanjoshi asks, "Why are we concerned about our human species survival as a form, if we are not the form?

Having "concern" is to care about humanity's existence. That deep caring is love. Love is the recognition of the formless within the form, the eternal within the impermanent. We honor the form because we love the formless within it. Because we honor the form, we are concerned. Because we recognize the formless within the form, we are not afraid of loosing the form.

Mlamarre asks, "Why is God called consciousness? Presence for Spirit? Clarify."

Whatever word we use to point to that infinite reality is going to be inadequate. "The Tao that can be named is not the true Tao", says the ancient Chinese book of wisdom, the Tao Te Ching. Eckhart rarely uses the word God because over the centuries many misinterpretations have accumulated around that word and it has become a closed concept. (A mental idol, as he calls it). Being, consciousness, or presence are open concepts and therefore work more effectively as pointers towards That which cannot be named. Consciousness, as Eckhart uses the word, could be described as "the light that emanates from the unmanifested, the eternal source of all life." That light is the essence of who you are. Jesus already pointed to that when he said, "You are the light of the world." Spiritual awakening is being aware of the light of consciousness within you.

As regards words, I liked what Oprah said last night, which went something like this; "When you believe the word is the reality, the world looses its magic." How divine is that!!!

In closing, I would like to thank all the people who have contributed questions and comments, which made for a truly inspiring reading. It is amazing to see the awakening process happening to so many people. My heartfelt thanks to everybody!

I would like to leave you with something that Eckhart said at last night's session, "The Now is the foundation for the rest of your life."

And this moment is your life!!

Be well...be in peace,

Kim Eng