A Lesson from South Korea

Every day Spiritual Insight from Eckhart Tolle’s Stillness Speaks

How calm, present, and non-anxious can you stay in a life-threatening crisis?

A BBC News report from John Sudworth in Seoul, South Korea, says that the recent skirmish between North and South Korea “is of a distinct order” from the usual exchanges between the two nations. It appear that civilians were killed in the shelling of the South Korean island by the North.

So how are men and women handing this? Realizing it could escalate into all-out war on the peninsula that would wreck the South Korean economy, what are individuals doing to prepare?

Nicely, actually, absolutely nothing.

The BBC report goes on to say that “there is no sense of panic here in the capital Seoul. This busy, bustling city has been going about life as normal…”

There’s no hoarding of provisions or desperate flurry of last-minute flight bookings out of South Korea. Says the BBC reporter, “North Korea is merely a truth of life that South Koreans have learned to live with for a lot of years.”

If we get into our thoughts and let them have free of charge rein, there are so a lot of feasible tragic scenarios we could picture for our own life, ranging from becoming a victim of terrorism to being in a vehicle crash, losing our income, a fire devastating our residence, or becoming traumatized, injured, or killed in a crime.

In contrast to the people of Seoul, a lot of in countries like the United States arehoarding, expecting a collapse of the economy. And there are blogs and newsletters on-line that promote the fear that drives this.

Years ago on the Tonight show, Johnny Carson did a piece that was tongue-in-cheek about a toilet paper shortage. There was no shortage—until the day right after the show.

Do you don’t forget back when there was an announcement of a shortage of oil, and gas stations were emptied due to the fact individuals came in droves to fill up, lining up for blocks?

Most of the crises we find ourselves in are created by thought—ours, or that of someone else.

In his second book, Stillness Speaks, Eckhart Tolle comments:

Thinking that is not rooted in awareness becomes self-serving and dysfunctional. Cleverness devoid of wisdom is very hazardous and destructive. That is the current state of most of humanity.

Eckhart adds:

The next step in human evolution is to transcend thought. This is now our urgent job.

If consciousness prompts you to a certain action, such as vacating a city or country, that is one thing. But if actions come from thought, they are bound to backfire.

There is a lesson in the behavior of the men and women of Seoul. It’s not that they are living in a peaceful scenario that never evokes worry, or that they are especially conscious, but that they are able to go on with life regardless of this type of threat. There is a measure ofpresence in this.

Following all, one isn’t either not present at all or completely present. Presence happens to diverse degrees, at various levels in distinct situations. The universe has lots of shades of gray, little that’s either black or white.

Elsewhere, Eckhart asks, “What issue do you have at this moment?” Not when you get to the office in twenty minutes, but proper now in this minute.

The only thing that takes us out of this moment is thought.

Consciousness operates in the now, not in speculation about the future. So if the South Koreans can go about their lives in the face of a significant threat, can we not live our life without becoming so anxious and spreading such panic, with its loss of confidence, that we bring down an economy?