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
What is commonly called 'falling in love' is in most cases an intensification of egoic wanting and needing. You become addicted to another person, or rather to your image of that person. It has nothing to do with true love, which contains no wanting whatsoever.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Falling in love is often driven by ego and desire rather than true love, which is selfless.
Eckhart Tolle suggests that what many people perceive as 'falling in love' is actually a manifestation of ego-driven needs and desires, where individuals become fixated on their image of another person. True love, on the other hand, is devoid of such wanting; it is characterized by a deep, unconditional connection that is not based on addiction or attachment to an idealized version of someone else.
Themes
LoveEgoAttachmentTrue LoveDesire
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a relationship workshop could use this quote to explain the difference between infatuation and genuine love.
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.
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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.
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Nothing that was real ever died, only names, forms, and illusions.
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Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego.
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Sometimes surrender means giving up trying to understand and becoming comfortable with not knowing.
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