What to do in the middle of a dark night of the soul | Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle tells Ron from Halifax that a dark night of the soul is built on a mental narrative you've fully believed, which creates matching fear or sadness in the body. The way out is to observe the repetitive thoughts without believing them, notice the heaviness, and accept it. This witnessing presence can gradually or suddenly shift the internal energy field that creates the unhappiness.
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And realize the unhappiness is just in, in, in, in— is an energy field that lives in you. It's not in the tree. The tree is fine. The sky is fine too. And the water is fine. There's no unhappiness in the water I'm drinking. We have Ron with us here live from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Ron will go ahead and bring you on and you can ask Eckhart your question. Hi, Ron.
Hi, Eckhart. Thank you. Yeah, I'm wondering when you're in this, right in the middle of the dark night, what would be the most important message you could hear? It just seems like the wisdom that comes with through this journey is described by people who have been through it and they're already on the other side. You know, they've benefited. But when you're caught in it, where things have no meaning or purpose at that moment, what can, what can help when you're at, say, the midnight of the dark night?
Right. Thank you. Thank you. Well, um, it would probably help to become aware of the thoughts in your— that go through your mind. continuously. What kind of thoughts are going through my mind? Just have a look at the thoughts and you will find that the thoughts are, are extremely painful. If the dark night of the soul was triggered by an event, maybe going back several weeks, months, or even years. It was— if it was triggered by an event, something bad, very bad happening, some kind of great loss, uh, An event that would normally be considered very unpleasant, perhaps will create emotions of sadness that would be quite normal. But this event is being kept alive and interpreted in a particular way. that creates the dark emotions that you feel. So what are, what are the thoughts that go through my mind? And you may discover that you were in the grip, that you are in the grip of these thoughts. And most importantly, You completely believe in the narrative that goes through your mind. You can't— do you? What are the thoughts? What are you thinking on a daily basis? What are the main repetitive thoughts in your mind? And you most likely will find they are very, very negative about the world and how awful, how meaningless it all is. and you would rather die. The, uh, the— what these thoughts— you were in the grip of these thoughts. You believed completely in the narrative in your mind, and your body interpreted this, which the body does. The body, as we prob— you probably know, the body cannot tell the difference between an actual event Or a thought that you have. That's, for example, when you are in a fearful situation, a dangerous situation, you experience fear. But often your mind creates a fearful thought and you experience the same kind of fear because the body cannot tell the difference between an actual event or something that's just happening in as a thought. So when these thoughts go through your mind, they're not being— there's a complete lack of awareness. You completely, you're completely in the grip of that particular narrative, and it's very dark and awful, and you completely believe in every thought that comes into your mind, and they are repetitive. And that produces the body's reaction, which is the emotional reaction to those thoughts, is the same frequency, so to speak, vibrational frequency, as those thoughts— very dark and heavy. So there's the The darkness of the— this— the energy field of dark night of the soul has a mental aspect and the emotional aspect. You look at the mental aspect, then awareness can come by looking at it and asking yourself, realizing that you completely believe in that particular narrative. Isn't that interesting? I completely believe in what I'm telling myself. I've been telling myself for months how awful my life is, how pointless it is, how whatever it is the narrative is. You're in the grip of that interpretation, and then you suddenly become aware of it. And then the next thought that arises will say, but it's true. That's another thought that comes in. And then awareness comes in, and then some other thought will come in. But you know very well that this is exactly about it. Okay, another thought. Thought will come in to defend the structure, the existing structure of thought. But you continue to be there as the witnessing presence.
Hmm.
That means the possibility of awakening out of that darkness is suddenly there. What is that? The awareness is there, the ability to observe your inner state.
Wow.
And then you— at that moment, all you need is to realize that there are certain thoughts in your mind. Are they all totally true? If you ask yourself that question, another thought will come in, yes, of course they are true. But you continue to observe. So some awareness comes in, and then you observe the heaviness in your body, the emotion, and you accept that this is what you feel in your body right now without demanding that it should be different. That's just— this is what is. That could be the beginning of coming out of it. If you're ready, you may be able to at some point look at a tree without the interference of Thought or the sky, and realize the unhappiness is just in in in is an energy field that lives in you. It's not in the tree. The tree is fine. The sky is fine too, and the water is fine. There's no unhappiness in the water I'm drinking. It's all in here. You become aware of the unhappiness. That awareness is the key. Whether it then from blend, or it may— you may awaken gradually or suddenly, we don't know.