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
Imagine that each time you inhale, that the universe is breathing into you, and as you exhale it is breathing out of you.
The cleverer I am at miniaturizing the world, the better I possess it.
All things are in flux; the flux is subject to a unifying measure or rational principle. This principle (logos, the hidden harmony behind all change) bound opposites together in a unified tension, which is like that of a lyre, where a stable harmonious sound emerges from the tension of the opposing forces that arise from the bow bound together by the string.
Understand that thoughts are thoughts. If they are unreasonable, reason with them, even if you have no reason left. You are the observer of your mind, not its victim.
Let us take some event in the life of humanity. For instance, war. There is a war going on at the present moment. What does it signify? It signifies that several millions of sleeping people are trying to destroy several millions of other sleeping people. They would not do this, of course, if they were to wake up. Everything that takes place is owing to this sleep.
I believe that all is illusion and vanity outside the treasure of truths slowly accumulated, and which will never again be lost. I believe that the sum of these truths, always increasing, will at last confer on man incalculable power and peace, if not happiness. Yes, I believe in the final triumph of life.