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.
Without our fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves. Flowers, more fleeting, more ethereal, and more delicate than the plants out of which they emerged, would become like messengers from another realm, like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Flowers symbolize the intangible and sacred aspects of our existence, serving as a bridge between our physical reality and deeper spiritual truths.
In this quote, Eckhart Tolle suggests that flowers represent a deeper, more profound aspect of life that transcends the physical. They serve as a reminder of the delicate and transient nature of existence, offering a glimpse into the sacred and formless essence of our inner selves. Flowers, through their beauty and ephemeral nature, connect us to a higher realm, inviting us to reflect on the challenging interplay between the tangible and the intangible in our lives.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about finding beauty in everyday life, one might use this quote to illustrate the connection between nature and inner peace.
More from Eckhart Tolle
All quotes →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.
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.
Nothing that was real ever died, only names, forms, and illusions.
Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego.
Sometimes surrender means giving up trying to understand and becoming comfortable with not knowing.
Similar quotes
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So war and peace start in the human heart. Whether that heart is open or whether that heart closes has global implications.
The true test of liberty is the right to test it, the right to question it, the right to speak to my neighbors, to grab them by the shoulders and look into their eyes and ask, “Are we free?” I have thought that if we are free, the answer cannot hurt us. And if we are not free, must we not hear the answer?
Man has made remarkable strides in conquering outer space, but how futile have been his efforts in conquering inner space- the space in our hearts and minds of men.
But I’ve been turning over in my mind the question of nostalgia, and whether I suffer from it. I certainly don’t get soggy at the memory of some childhood knickknack; nor do I want to deceive myself sentimentally about something that wasn’t even true at the time—love of the old school, and so on. But if nostalgia means the powerful recollection of strong emotions—and a regret that such feelings are no longer present in our lives—then I plead guilty.
If there is no other life, then this one has been enough to make it worth being born myself...a human being.