Eckhart Tolle’s Findhorn Retreat Seminar Part 6 of 6: A Fool and Enlightenment
December 11, 2009 by dr. lam
Tolle closed his retreat by fielding questions from the audience. The last question that was asked was the most cogent in my opinion: “Can a fool achieve enlightenment?” Tolle rephrased the question to say that “Can someone with limited mental faculties become enlightened?” He then used the example of Forrest Gump, the fictional character who seemed always to be bumbling into something wondrous without ever knowing it. Tolle likens this foolish consciousness almost to be equivalent to the enlightened consciousness that is void of ego and self-retribution but that is rather imbued with love, kindness, and compassion. In many respects, we become like the fool when we become enlightened at least to this world.
Tolle does not mean that we should act foolishly or become a fool. He only says that in many respects what the world considers foolish, lack of ego and openness, can actually be our own salvation from our woes. When we achieve this kind of mystical consciousness, we leave our own “pain body” as Tolle calls it and enter a deeper sense of connectedness with the world. He says that amazingly in the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest always seemed to be at the right time and at the right place. Doors seemed to open for him without effort. This could be interpreted as blind luck or in fact as being connected to a divine source so that things just happen for you because you are open to them happening. When we don’t know we can’t, then we can. There was a blog that I published several months ago, exhorting all to “Be Child-Like”, a declaration that is often proffered during one of my yoga sessions. Christ also said for us to be child-like so that we can enter the kingdom of heaven. When we become open and receptive like a child, nothing is impossible.
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2 Responses to “Eckhart Tolle’s Findhorn Retreat Seminar Part 6 of 6: A Fool and Enlightenment”
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This is very true! Great blog! I think this also goes with your blog on being like water and not forcing. Great point about being childlike, open and receptive. Too often adults tend to be stubborn and set in their ways and beliefs and not open to what might be beyond those ideas, so they hinder themselves from being able to see beyond that. Great point!
Thanks, Dr. Lam!!!