First of all I would like to say that I find Eckhart Tolle's
books to be very transformative and inspiring. I still refer back
to some of the pointers in it from time to time, just a reminder of
the ever-present Nowness/Presence. I would recommend it to those
who have not read his books -- even non-Buddhists, since it is
written in a non-religious context yet embraces the truths of all
the world's contemplative traditions.
Now regarding meditation, it should be noted that it is not the
length of one's meditation that determines the quality and success
of that meditation.
As Ajahn Chah replied,
Q: Is it necessary to sit for very long stretches?
Answer: No, sitting for hours on end is not necessary. Some
people think that the longer you can sit, the wiser you must be. I
have seen chickens sit on their nests for days on end! Wisdom comes
from being mindful in all postures. Your practice should begin as
you awaken in the morning. It should continue until you fall
asleep. Don't be concerned about how long you can sit. What is
important is only that you keep watchful whether you are working or
sitting or going to the bathroom. Each person has his own natural
pace. Some of you will die at age fifty, some at age sixty-five,
and some at age ninety. So, too, your practice will not be all
identical. Don't think or worry about this. Try to be mindful and
let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become
quieter and quieter in any surroundings. It will become still like
a clear forest pool. Then all kinds of wonderful and rare animals
will come to drink at the pool. You will see clearly the nature of
all things (sankharas) in the world. You will see many wonderful
and strange things come and go. But you will be still. Problems
will arise and you will see through them immediately. This is the
happiness of the Buddha.
But certainly 30 min to 1 hour of sitting meditation every day
is recommendable everyday, but beginners may start with something
less. But in any case 'quality' is more important than the 'length'
of meditation. 1 hour of non-mindful meditation amounts to little
or nothing. Eckhart Tolle himself recommends spending time each day
practicing inner body or breathe awareness meditation.
On the other hand there's a Zen story which goes:
Day after day Ma-tsu sat
in meditation, until his Master finally questioned him about it.
Ma-tsu explained that he was hoping to attain Buddhahood. The
Master picked up a piece of tile and began to rub it with a stone.
When Ma-tsu asked him what he was doing, he replied that he was
polishing the tile to make it a mirror.
"How can you polish a tile into a mirror?"
Ma-tsu
asked.
"How can one become a
buddha by sitting in meditation?" the Master shot
back.
Even though meditation is very important, we should not view it
as a gradual way of seeking to 'contact' spirit. Our Buddha-Nature
is not something that can be reached after periods of practice, it
has never been lacking nor will it gain anything after realisation
-- it is already fully complete, right here and now. We only
'overlook' it but it is actually very obvious and intimate, like
space, but our attention always 'absorbs' in the particular (i.e.
attached and identified to our thoughts, emotions and feelings) and
overlook the obvious and simple. Our ever-present Presence is never
lost at any single moment, and if we do meditation to seek Spirit
instead of noticing the Obvious, then we are like sitting on a bull
searching for the bull. We should not seek anything (including
'enlightenment' which is just our mental projection arising from
the false notion of a 'separate self' that can 'have' an
'enlightenment experience').
Just notice Presence Awareness and rest in that. It is always
here and can be noticed at all moments, that is why 'spontaneous
awakenings' can occur. Presence being Ever-Present is not the
result of a gradual process -- though through practice we rest in
Presence more frequently and easily and
automatically/effortlessly.
Eckhart Tolle may not have done formal sitting meditation, but
his intense suffering (almost to the point of suicide) led him to
deeply inquire 'Who am I'? That inquiry finally resolved all doubts
and he gained an intuitive insight into his true nature.
This is the mental 'dialogue' that happened right before his
realisation:
‘I cannot live with myself any longer.’ This was the thought that
kept repeating itself in my mind. Then suddenly I became aware of
what a peculiar thought it was. ‘Am I one or two? If I cannot live
with myself, there must be two of me: the ‘I’ and the ‘self’ that
‘I’ cannot live with.’ ‘Maybe,’ I thought, ‘only one of them is
real.’
It should be noted another case of spontaneous awakening, Ramana
Maharshi, who experienced rigor mortis and similarly did
self-inquiry that led to his spontaneous awakening at 16.
Our forum moderator Thusness also did the 'Who am I' inquiry for
some time, and then one day realised pure presence. (see
http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/thusnesss-six-stages-of-experience.html)
But even that is just an initial realisation, the start of the path
to greater unfolding of insights into the nature of reality or
Presence.
Therefore, we should not make the mistake of thinking that the
experience Eckhart Tolle had on that day, or Ramana Maharshi, or
anyone, is the 'final experience'.
Also, for most people even though there are glimpses of the
ever-present Presence, it usually takes a period of 'settling in'.
For example in the account of awakening of Candice,
"She then went through an profound personal crisis which led
her into states of intense fear, alienation and despair. During
that period she found that everything she had learned through
psychology, philosophy, religion, and all other belief systems she
had studied were of no help to her whatsoever.
Furthermore, every remedy she had previously relied on to give
her relief, including alcohol and marijuana, now gave her no relief
at all. During that extended period of being overwhelmed by
negative emotional states, she somehow
discovered that beneath all those states, there was a “basic space
of pure awareness” which was free from suffering, a space of
complete relief. She gradually familiarized herself with that basic
space by resting as awareness for short moments, repeated many
times, and soon she was able to rest in that awareness for 10
continuous days. At that point “awareness rose like the sun”, and
from then on that unchanging space of pure awareness became her
primary reality, and the painful thoughts and emotional states
which had tormented her faded away like stars in the light of
day. Her discovery of all-encompassing pure
awareness, and the complete relief that comes with it, proved to be
permanent. From this profound awakening the Great Freedom teachings
have come, offering a simple and direct path for others to gain the
same realization, and the same permanent relief from
suffering."
"Candice says that all that is needed to realize the timeless
freedom that is our true nature is to “rest as awareness”. To “rest
as awareness, for short moments, repeated many times until it
becomes automatic” is her one and only recommendation for the
attainment of complete happiness and well-being, which she has been
living in for more than 25 years, and which she says a number of
others have gained through following her teachings."
Even Eckhart Tolle talked about deepening of his experience over
the course of years after his initial experience. People like
Ramana Maharshi (I've read somewhere) also talked about this.
Douglas Harding author of "On Having No Head: Zen and the
Rediscovery of the Obvious" also said:
"while this simple in-seeing is potentially all we have
claimed for it (and much more), it is actually -- for almost
everybody -- just another passing experience among the myriads that
go to make up a human life. You couldn't even call it a first step
along the Way; or, if you could, it's the sort of first step that
doesn't count. Some, however, do go on."
"Now the 'hard' part begins, which is the repetition of this
headless seeing-into-Nothingness till the seeing becomes quite
natural and nothing special at all; till, whatever one is doing,
it's clear that nobody's here doing it."
"At first, the essential practice requires much effort of
attention. Normally, one takes years or decades to arrive at
anything like steady and spontaneous in-seeing. Nevertheless, the
method is quite simple and the same throughout. It consists of
ceasing to overlook the looker -- or rather, the absence of the
looker. Some find the practice very hard going for a very long
time. Others -- notably younger seers who have devoted fewer years
and less effort to building the fictitious person at the centre of
their universe -- take to it more readily."
Ken Wilber also wrote in the article
Constant Consciousness:
"Sitting here on the porch, watching the sun go down. Except
there is no watcher, just the sun, setting, setting. From purest
Emptiness, brilliant clarity shines forth. The sound of the birds,
over there. Clouds, a few, right up there. But there is no "up," no
"down," no "over," and no "there"-because there is no "me" or "I"
for which these directions make sense. There is just this. Simple,
clear, easy, effortless, ever-present this."
"...I had had several kensho or satori-like experiences
(glimpses of One Taste), but they were all confined to the waking
state."
"...I was on an intensive Dzogchen retreat with my primary
Dzogchen teacher, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. Rinpoche also stressed
the importance of carrying the mirror-mind into the dream and deep
sleep states. I began having flashes of this constant nondual
awareness, through all states, which Rinpoche confirmed. But it
wasn't until a few years later, during a very intense eleven-day
period-in which the separate-self seemed to radically, deeply,
thoroughly die-that it all seemed to come to fruition. I slept not
at all during those eleven days; or rather, I was conscious for
eleven days; or rather, I was conscious for eleven days and nights,
even as the body and mind went through waking, dreaming and
sleeping. I was unmoved in the midst of changes; there was no I to
be moved; there was only unwavering empty consciousness, the
luminous mirror-mind, the witness that was one with everything
witnessed. I simply reverted to what I am, and it has been so, more
or less, ever since."
In another instant he said "The constant consciousness
through all states -- waking, dreaming, and sleeping -- tends to
occur after many years of meditating; in my case, about twenty-five
years."