STILLNESS SPEAKS

By
ECKHART TOLLE

EasyRead Large
Copyright Page from the Original Book
This optimized ReadHowYouWant edition contains the
complete, unabridged text of the original publisher's
edition. Other aspects of the book may vary from the
original edition.

Published in 2008 in the US and world markets by

ReadHowYouWant.

Copyright © 2008

The text in this edition has been formatted and typeset

to make reading easier and more enjoyable for ALL kinds
of readers. In addition the text has been formatted to the
specifications indicated on the title page. The formatting
of this edition is the copyright of Objective Systems Pty
Ltd.

Set in 16 pt. Verdana

ReadHowYouWant partners with publishers to provide
books for ALL Kinds of Readers. For more information
about Becoming A Registered Reader and to find more
titles in your preferred format, visit:
www.readhowyouwant.com
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Also by Eckhart Tolle.................................................................i
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................ii
CHAPTER 1: SILENCE & STILLNESS.............................................
CHAPTER 2: BEYOND THE THINKING MIND...................................
CHAPTER 3: THE EGOIC SELF.....................................................
CHAPTER 4: THE NOW...............................................................
CHAPTER 5: WHO YOU TRULY ARE...............................................
CHAPTER 6: ACCEPTANCE & SURRENDER.....................................
CHAPTER 7: NATURE.................................................................
CHAPTER 8: RELATIONSHIPS......................................................
CHAPTER 9: DEATH & THE ETERNAL............................................
CHAPTER 10: SUFFERING & THE END OF SUFFERING.....................
ABOUT THE AUTHOR............................................................103
BACK COVER MATERIAL........................................................106
 i

Also by Eckhart Tolle

The Power of Now
Practicing the Power of Now
ii

INTRODUCTION
A true spiritual teacher does not have anything to
teach in the conventional sense of the word, does
not have anything to give or add to you, such as
new information, beliefs, or rules of conduct. The
only function of such a teacher is to help you re-
move that which separates you from the truth of
who you already are and what you already know in
the depth of your being. The spiritual teacher is
there to uncover and reveal to you that dimension
of inner depth that is also peace.

If you come to a spiritual teacher—or this

book—looking for stimulating ideas, theories, beliefs,
intellectual discussions, then you will be disappoint-
ed. In other words, if you are looking for food for
thought, you won’t find it, and you will miss the
very essence of the teaching, the essence of this
book, which is not in the words but with-in yourself.
It is good to remember that, to feel that, as you
read. The words are no more than signposts. That
to which they point is not to be found within the
realm of thought, but a dimension within yourself
that is deeper and infinitely vaster than thought. A
vibrantly alive peace is one of the characteristics of
that dimension, so whenever you feel inner peace
arising as you read, the book is doing its work and
fulfilling its function as your teacher: it is reminding
 iii

you of who you are and pointing the way back

home.

This is not a book to be read from cover to cover

and then put away. Live with it, pick it up frequent-
ly, and, more importantly, put it down frequently,
or spend more time holding it than reading it. Many
readers will feel naturally inclined to stop reading
after each entry, to pause, reflect, become still. It
is always more helpful and more important to stop
reading than to continue reading. Allow the book to
do its work, to awaken you from the old grooves of
your repetitive and conditioned thinking.

The form of this book can be seen as a revival for

the present age of the oldest form of recorded
spiritual teachings: the sutras of ancient India. Su-
tras are powerful pointers to the truth in the form
of aphorisms or short sayings, with little conceptual
elaboration. The Vedas and Upanishads are the
early sacred teachings recorded in the form of su-
tras, as are the words of the Buddha. The sayings
and parables of Jesus, too, when taken out of their
narrative context, could be regarded as sutras, as
well as the profound teachings contained in the Tao
Te Ching, the ancient Chinese book of wisdom. The
advantage of the sutra form lies in its brevity. It
does not engage the thinking mind more than is
necessary. What it doesn’t say—but only points
to—is more important than what it says. The sutra-
iv

like character of the writings in this book is

particularly marked in chapter 1 (“Silence & Still-
ness”), which contains only the briefest of entries.
This chapter contains the essence of the entire book
and may be all that some readers require. The other
chapters are there for those who need a few more
signposts.

Just like the ancient sutras, the writings contained

within this book are sacred and have come out of a
state of consciousness we may call stillness. Unlike
those ancient sutras, however, they don’t belong to
any one religion or spiritual tradition, but are
immediately accessible to the whole of humanity.
There is also an added sense of urgency here. The
transformation of human consciousness is no longer
a luxury, so to speak, available only to a few isolated
individuals, but a necessity if humankind is not to
destroy itself. At the present time, the dysfunction of
the old consciousness and the arising of the new are
both accelerating. Paradoxically, things are getting
worse and better at the same time, although the
worse is more apparent because it makes so much
“noise.”

This book, of course, uses words that in the act of

reading become thoughts in your mind. But those are
not ordinary thoughts—repetitive, noisy, self-serving,
clamoring for attention. Just like every true spiritual
teacher, just like the ancient sutras, the thoughts
 v

within this book don’t say, “Look at me,” but “Look

beyond me.” Because the thoughts came out of still-
ness, they have power—the power to take you back
into the same stillness from which they arose. That
stillness is also inner peace, and that stillness and
peace are the essence of your Being. It is inner
stillness that will save and transform the world.
 CHAPTER 1

SILENCE & STILLNESS

 3

When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose

touch with yourself. When you lose touch with your-
self, you lose yourself in the world.

Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is insep-

arable from stillness. This is the I Am that is deeper
than name and form.

***

Stillness is your essential nature. What is stillness?

The inner space or awareness in which the words on
this page are being perceived and become thoughts.
Without that awareness, there would be no perception,
no thoughts, no world.

You are that awareness, disguised as a person.

***

The equivalent of external noise is the inner noise of

thinking. The equivalent of external silence is inner
stillness.

Whenever there is some silence around you—listen to

it. That means just notice it. Pay attention to it. Lis-
tening to silence awakens the dimension of stillness
within yourself, because it is only through stillness
that you can be aware of silence.
4

See that in the moment of noticing the silence around

you, you are not thinking. You are aware, but not
thinking.

***

When you become aware of silence, immediately there

is that state of inner still alertness. You are present.
You have stepped out of thousands of years of collec-
tive human conditioning.

***

Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness

rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in
Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.

***

When you look at a tree and perceive its stillness,

you become still yourself. You connect with it at a
very deep level. You feel a oneness with whatever
you perceive in and through stillness. Feeling the
oneness of yourself with all things is true love.

***

Silence is helpful, but you don’t need it in order to

find stillness. Even when there is noise, you can be
aware of the stillness underneath the noise, of the
 5

space in which the noise arises. That is the inner

space of pure awareness, consciousness itself.

You can become aware of awareness as the back-

ground to all your sense perceptions, all your thinking.
Becoming aware of awareness is the arising of inner
stillness.

***

Any disturbing noise can be as helpful as silence.

How? By dropping your inner resistance to the noise,
by allowing it to be as it is, this acceptance also takes
you into that realm of inner peace that is stillness.

Whenever you deeply accept this moment as it is—no

matter what form it takes—you are still, you are at
peace.

***

Pay attention to the gap—the gap between two

thoughts, the brief, silent space between words in a
conversation, between the notes of a piano or flute,
or the gap between the in-breath and out-breath.

When you pay attention to those gaps, awareness of

“something” becomes—just awareness. The formless
dimension of pure consciousness arises from within
you and replaces identification with form.
6

***

True intelligence operates silently. Stillness is where

creativity and solutions to problems are found.

***

Is stillness just the absence of noise and content? No,

it is intelligence itself—the underlying consciousness
out of which every form is born. And how could that
be separate from who you are?

The form that you think you are came out of that and
is being sustained by it.

It is the essence of all galaxies and blades of grass;

of all flowers, trees, birds, and all other forms.

***

Stillness is the only thing in this world that has no

form. But then, it is not really a thing, and it is not
of this world.

***

When you look at a tree or a human being in stillness,

who is looking? Something deeper than the person.
Consciousness is looking at its creation.
 7

In the Bible, it says that God created the world and

saw that it was good. That is what you see when you
look from stillness without thought.

***

Do you need more knowledge? Is more information

going to save the world, or faster computers, more
scientific or intellectual analysis? Is it not wisdom that
humanity needs most at this time?

But what is wisdom and where is it to be found?

Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look
and just listen. No more is needed. Being still, looking,
and listening activates the non-conceptual intelligence
within you. Let stillness direct your words and actions.

***