Lessons and reflections from Module 5 of Eckhart Tolle’s Conscious Manifestation Course
Can we really manifest our own healing, a healthy body, and deeply meaningful relationships? Renowned spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle says we can . . . as long as we’re in touch with our Inner Being. In week 5 of Eckhart’s Conscious Manifestation Course, he takes an in-depth look at two areas that cause us the most suffering: health and relationships.
Health
Eckhart teaches the first step in manifesting health and healing is to recognize the human body is so complex that it must be a creation of Universal Intelligence. He’s not suggesting we throw out evolution, but rather to understand there’s an infinite intelligence guiding evolution and all of creation.
Scientists comprehend only a fraction of the complexities of the human body. When asked in a recent article how close we are to understanding the human brain, Chief Scientist and President, Christof Koch, Ph.D., of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, replied:
“We don’t even understand the brain of a worm.”
Understanding that our own bodies are examples of the creative power of the universe and are therefore portals to Universal Intelligence, gives us a direct link to manifesting healing.
Manifesting Healing
Illness is not a punishment and no one is immune from it, says Eckhart. Our human bodies are designed to wither and die. But when we’re in touch with our Inner Being, positive affirmations of health and wellness become empowered.
Spontaneous Healing
Spontaneous healing can and does happen. Harvard professor, psychiatrist, and Princeton theologian, Dr. Jeffrey Rediger, spent fifteen years researching and documenting cases of spontaneous healing from incurable illnesses. In his recent book, Cured: The life-changing science of spontaneous healing, he details people from around the world that have been miraculously cured of life-threatening illnesses.
“Rediger proposes a sweeping overhaul of the practice of medicine, and he makes a darned good case for it. The history he recounts, the clinical trials he cites, the personal stories of people with real names lend his argument the force of a hurricane….At the end of his book, Rediger issues a call to join him in his crusade. Demand a medical system that emphasizes health, not sickness. ‘Help us sound the revolution,’ he writes. It’s an utterly persuasive message.”
― Washington Post
Tools to Manifesting Health & Healing
- Eckhart teaches when an illness strikes it’s important not to deny the illness, but it’s vital not to build an identity around it. We can surrender and accept what we’re experiencing at the moment without surrendering to the illness itself. This is when positive affirmations of health and vitality become empowered.
- Don’t disregard the body’s core needs. We can’t manifest a healthy body when our diet consists of warm carbs, soda, and sugar. Likewise, positive affirmations of health and fitness aren’t going to work without regular exercise.
- Don’t create a negative or positive image around your body. Being proud of being overweight and unhealthy is also ego. The key is healthy. There is no one size fits all. Talk to your doctor about what’s healthy for you.
- Be careful about identifying with the body. For many of us, aging and wrinkles equate to anguish and suffering. This is a tough one for me. I know it’s completely egoic, but my ego isn’t ready to look old! Working on balancing acceptance with facial treatments and anti-aging products is the best I can do right now. 😁
Acceptance
It’s important to understand that healing is never guaranteed. Eckhart says it could be that the purpose of the illness is to bring about an inner transformation, which it often does. For some, it brings them closer to their Inner Being and they’re able to leave this life with acceptance and peace. For others, the illness drives them deeper into resentment, darkness, and fear.
I experienced the latter with my mother’s cancer and death. She resented cancer and all that came with it. Especially the “stupid feeding tube” (as it came to be known), despite the fact that it was keeping her alive. But even though she was miserable for nearly two years (from her diagnosis to death), she did not want to die. She said she wasn’t afraid of the afterlife. She loved God and said to me near the end of her life, “God knows me, Jackie. I’m not worried about that. I just don’t want to leave y’all.”
Mom never said to me that she was actually afraid of the act of dying, but I suspect she was. So many unknowns, so many uncontrollable factors, and so much fear. In her last few hours, she was conscious and trying desperately to communicate with us, but no longer capable. I don’t know what her last thoughts were, but I do know that experiencing the illness and death of the only parent I’d ever known, changed me. It was the final nail in the coffin of suffering for me and eventually led to my own inner transformation.
I don’t blame Mom or wish she had been able to accept her illness and die differently. She died exactly how she was supposed to. And I experienced exactly what I was supposed to. There are no mistakes.
You can read more about how I released resentment about my mom’s illness and death, here.
Relationships
The mother of all suffering — relationships. We can have wealth, fame, a fantastic career, and a “perfect” body and be lonely and miserable. Just look at the dysfunctional lives of many celebrities. Eckhart teaches, that we must first get in touch with the essence of who we really are, and enjoy being with ourselves before we can have a deep connection with another.
In order to have a lasting and truly loving relationship, the transcendent dimension must be present, says Eckhart. Otherwise, we’ll find ourselves in unhappy egoic relationships again and again. He teaches egoic relationships are characterized by three factors:
- Physical: your primary attraction to another is their physical appearance and/or sexual relationship
- Mental: the “idea” of the other person and what they offer or add to you. Are you looking for someone that’s wealthy, good-looking, and/or successful to enhance your sense of self?
- Emotional: needing the other person to “complete” you and make you happy.
Eckhart says egoic relationships cause such suffering because they lack the most important aspect of all: the spiritual dimension. When there is access to the spiritual dimension in you and your partner, he says, the physical, mental, and emotional components are transcended. There is a connection and oneness to another that is beyond the human form.
Affirmations
Even when we are conscious and in touch with our Inner Being, we can still feel a longing for a physical and emotional connection with someone. However, the longing is in the background, and the need to be fulfilled by another person no longer exists. We aren’t waiting to be happy once we have a relationship. We’re already happy and fulfilled. The relationship complements who we already are. It doesn’t complete us.
When you offer up your order to the universe for your perfect partner, you can ask for what you’re physically and mentally attracted to, but be sure to include the most important criteria: someone awakened to the pure consciousness within him or herself.
What if you’re becoming conscious and in a relationship with someone who isn’t? Should you end the relationship and move on? Not necessarily, says Eckhart. It could be that the light of your consciousness shines on your partner and prompts an awakening within him or her. Or, if your partner isn’t ready to awaken, your light may be intolerable to him or her and the relationship will end.
“If you are consistently … present in your relationship, this will be the greatest challenge for your partner. They will not be able to tolerate your presense for very long and stay unconscious. If they are ready, they will walk through the door that you opened for them and join you in that state. If they are not, you will separate like oil and water. The light is too painful for someone who wants to remain in darkness.”
Finding peace in difficult relationships
How do we consciously handle difficult relationships with our children, siblings, parents, or partners? Eckhart teaches that when the other person is unconscious and trapped in egoic thinking, to look past their behavior and remember the pure, perfect soul underneath their ego. It’s there. It just becomes difficult to see sometimes.
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