In June of 2001, the Esalen Institute hosted Eckhart Tolle for a weekend workshop. By that time, Tolle’s book The Power of Now had already begun an improbable ascent, exploding from a totally unknown into something of a cultural phenomenon. The central insight of Eckhart Tolle’s work is that the future doesn’t hold your salvation, and it doesn’t pay to get lost in the past, either. What we long for, what we chase after, what we regret, all of it obscures the deeper truth: the only real place life exists is in this living present moment.

In this archival talk that Tolle gives in the Leonard Pavilion at Esalen, he moves through his major themes. He talks about:

• Identification with thought: that most of us unconsciously believe we are our thoughts and emotions, which creates suffering and an endless search for fulfillment.
• Surrendering and saying ‘yes’ to what is: what can happen when you stop resisting the moment and accept exactly what arises, even if it is painful.
• The relief that comes in resting in presence.

Visit Tolle online at eckharttolle.com.