The Wisdom of Eric

Some thought provoking words from Eckhart Tolle got me thinking how world peace and well-being can feel really out of our grasp right now and it sometimes feels like we have nothing in common with one another.

“Many people who are going through the early stages of the awakening process are no longer certain what their outer purpose is. What drives the world no longer drives them. Seeing the madness of our civilization so clearly, they feel somewhat alienated from the culture around them. Some feel that they inhabit a no-man’s land between two worlds”. – Echart Tolle

Eric asked me about these thoughts. I said I felt completely Ignorant. Not true, said Eric. Think and feel deeper. As usual I had provided a broad brush response avoiding the hard work of reflecting deeply about my feelings, both internally and in relation to others. It always seems easier to avoid the deeply personal and to stay in the safety of the social and political ‘big picture’.

I thought for a while, and I said I feel like I am trapped in a wheel going round and round.  I feel that I am getting nowhere, yet I know this is not true on an instinctive level. I am going nowhere and yet I am still moving forward on my personal journey,

Eric asked me to think about the taxonomy of learning.  Going from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence, moving into conscious competence and finally unconscious competence.  The penny dropped.  I was at the stage of conscious competence.  I am aware and I am striving. I guess I am not ignorant, yet it is still a hard place to be.

Perhaps chasing enlightenment is a fool’s errand but I am compelled to strive for it. For me, the easier option is to escape and numb my pain through the allurement of being somebody I am not or addiction.  I can choose to stay unconsciously incompetent so to speak.

Eric talked about Robert Frost, when he  ‘stops by a wood dark and deep, but I have promises to keep’. Perhaps the poet is imagining that we answer our personal call at different times.  Maybe it’s not about striving to find peace and perfection, but allowing it to come to us when we are ready to receive it. Eric asked me what I had learned from this.  I thought for a moment and remarked ‘Rosamund Zander. Rule number 5, not to take myself so bloody seriously’

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