Enlightenment Is The Space Between Your Thoughts
Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle said, “Enlightenment is the space between your thoughts.”
It’s not what we think but what happens in between that brings us peace. Very powerful.
And French composer Claude Debussy said, “Music is the silence between the notes.”
In our lives, it’s when we pause and notice the beauty, learn from the struggle and sit in the authenticity of our journey that we flourish the most.
But it can be so difficult to sit in between.
We are pulled in every direction with our to-do list, our need to react to emails, a financial crisis, a slight to our ego, a disaster at work, or a breakdown of a relationship.
However, if we add some space around those moments, we can see the bigger picture. Will it matter in five years? Will it matter in five minutes?
I’ve heard the saying that we only have sixteen summers with our kids. Those easy spaces of family time, cabins, bike rides, popsicles, swimming lessons, book clubs and memories made. The space in between the schedules and jobs and practices and homework and tournaments and exams.
As this summer comes to a close I hope it reminds us that we have the power to sit in between at any time. It doesn’t have to be during a vacation or when the sun sets. We can always take five minutes to breathe and centre ourselves. We can think about nothing and it might lead to seeing things as they are for the very first time.
Enlightenment is what happens in between.
