Is it Possible to be Busy Without Getting Stressed? | Eckhart Tolle Teachings

Hello, Eckhart. A year ago, at this time, it was discovered that I had stage 3 colon cancer. A 4-inch tumor was removed from my colon, half my colon and 16 lymph nodes, and they discovered that cancer was throughout my body. I went through extreme chemotherapy treatments for over 6 months, and during that time I became bedridden, and I was in extreme physical pain. It was the best time of my life, spiritually. During that entire time, I was in a spiritual retreat within myself. It was profound, and I experienced during that time what you have been sharing during this conference, during this retreat, and I thank you. My question to you is, now that I'm healthy, I'm not in chemotherapy, I'm not bedridden, and I'm finding myself adding activities into my life and going back into the busy life that I had before. And I wanted to ask what advice you would give to me or someone else in how to maintain that beautiful inner spiritual retreat of oneness while entering back into the world. Well, thank you. That is an amazing example of the potential transformational value, awakening value that a serious illness can have if you allow it to work in that way. It's just amazing. And in your case, there has been a kind of healing, perhaps, or probably, because of the shift in consciousness and the deepening. Even if there had been no healing, it would have been worth it, even if you were no longer here in this form, and yet it had taken you into complete surrender. And then an illness like that actually, as it forces you into presence, burns up the ego in you, fuel for consciousness. Now you have to be careful if you do go back into your busy life, don't allow stress to arise, ever. It is possible to be busy without stress. If you find it's not possible for you, then it's better not to be busy at all. So being busy without stress means just being totally focused on whatever you happen to be doing right now, never focused more on the outcome that you want to achieve through whatever activity you're doing right now than the activity itself. So there can be high energy in the doing. There needs to be, if there's no stress, there's actually a heightened sense of aliveness as you are active. That heightened sense of aliveness could be called enjoyment of what you're doing. You enjoy not only the outer doing, you enjoy the energy behind the doing. Even if you might have heard the Zen saying, hurry slowly. So it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be slow. You can be fast. The slow is the inner state. The slowness is the stillness and the peace that is still there even while externally you may be very active. But as you're not focused on the outcome, you're focused on the doing, you enjoy not only the external activity, but more importantly, you enjoy the energy that is behind it. The energy movement. And then you can be working very fast or doing whatever you're doing very fast and yet in a state of enjoyment rather than stress. So extreme vigilance is required so that you don't fall back into any kind of stress, which always means you're not fully in the doing. You're mentally somewhere else. If you find it impossible or if whatever activity you're engaged in, if you cannot perform your function, if you endeavor to be without stress and several, many times you see if you can't do it, stress keeps coming back, then you should leave that activity and do something else. So it's because stress will pull you back into the old consciousness. Anxiety, stress, thinking that what you're doing is terribly important. It's secondary. What's terribly important is your state of consciousness behind the doing. So it's fine to be active again, but not if you don't enjoy it. So the enjoyment needs to be there. Then you're not going to lose the presence that has already burned up a large part of your ego or the entire ego. Ego simply meaning complete identification with form. So this is a very inspiring. What you just told us is a very inspiring example of what is possible, how an illness can be the great awakener. And it helps, of course, if before somebody becomes ill, he or she has already had some contact with spirituality, but even that's not necessary. I have seen people that had not the slightest glimpse of spirituality, and yet at some point in their illness, the awakening happened. I've also seen people who shortly before their death through illness became utterly and completely present so that they actually felt joyful. There was no fear anymore. There might have been fear initially, but fear is when you think about what's going to happen to you or the body. So anything like that, if you allow it to force you almost into utter and complete presence, then what looks as a terrible curse actually is transformed into blessing. And one more thing for the questioner just now. Also, not just talk about your activity for a moment. Wherever you are at any time, don't ask, don't wait for life to have to force you again into presence. Just choose the presence that is already powerfully in you and continuously invite that intense presence that you had when you were facing almost, one could say, imminent death. That intense presence that arose there, choose it even when you're not being challenged now so that even when you go from your home to your workplace or drive or go or walk, whenever there's nothing in particular to do or you're waiting, that intense presence can be there now. You don't have to be forced into it any longer. So that's a wonderful thing. There may be some others of you that are also facing an illness right now. So allow that condition to force you into presence. Healing may happen, but that's not why you do it. It's not because in itself that is the purpose of your life is to embody the arising of that consciousness. So anything that happens as a result of that is a byproduct of the arising of presence. The arising of presence is not so that you can be healed physically. You may or you may not. In some cases, you are healed physically. But even if you're healed physically, eventually you die anyway. The body goes at some point. So presence isn't a means to an end. It is the ultimate end, but it has certain side effects which are beneficial. And if you work with people who are seriously ill, you can also teach that. You can teach presence. You can teach, but not necessarily even by using that word presence. You can start, for example, by teaching somebody to feel the energy field in the body. And so you can show them what is possible. Never give them more than they can take. And not even then, not everybody, even facing an imminent death, not even then, not everybody will be ready to hear you. But that's okay. Everybody learns at their own pace. Some are a little slower than others. But eventually, really, every human being is a manifestation of the one consciousness that is awakening. This mind-made sense of self is also much more focused on the negative than the positive. To be free, you awaken to who you are beyond your history and your life situation.