QuoteProject
When life takes away the forms that you thought were the foundation of your life, what's left? The life that needs no foundation - that is the foundation. The formless. The essence.
Eckhart Tolle
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the nature of existence and self-awareness beyond material or superficial foundations.

Eckhart Tolle's quote suggests that when life removes what we typically rely on as our foundation—such as identities, possessions, or relationships—we are confronted with our true essence. This essence, which exists independently of these external forms, represents a deeper understanding of life and self, where one finds true stability and meaning in the formless essence of existence.

Themes

LifeFoundationEssenceSelf-AwarenessExistence

In practice

Example use cases

During a mindfulness workshop, to emphasize the importance of inner peace over material success.

More from Eckhart Tolle

Bring awareness to the many subtle sounds of nature - The rustling of leaves in the wind, Raindrops falling, The humming of an insect, The first birdsong at dawn.
Eckhart TolleRead
Body awareness not only anchors you in the present moment, it is a doorway out of the prison that is the ego. It also strengthens the immune system and the body’s ability to heal itself.
Eckhart TolleRead
Whenever you become anxious or stressed, outer purpose has taken over, and you lost sight of your inner purpose. You have forgotten that your state of consciousness is primary, all else secondary.
Eckhart TolleRead
Nothing that was real ever died, only names, forms, and illusions.
Eckhart TolleRead
Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego.
Eckhart TolleRead
Sometimes surrender means giving up trying to understand and becoming comfortable with not knowing.
Eckhart TolleRead

Similar quotes

The human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What's left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars.
Bertolt BrechtRead
It is a sign of creeping inner death when we can no longer praise the living.
Eric HofferRead
Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument.
Samuel JohnsonRead
Uptown is for people who have already done something. Downtown is where they’re doing something now. I live uptown but I love downtown.
Andy WarholRead
The dogma of the Incarnation is the most dramatic thing about Christianity, and indeed, the most dramatic thing that ever entered the mind of man; but if you tell people so, they stare at you in bewilderment.
Dorothy L. SayersRead
There is nothing so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.