SMSPIRITUALITY—MEDIA
▶ Video · Lecture · 2026

Why There Is Only the Now — and What That Means for Consciousness

By Eckhart Tolle · Eckhart Tolle

6mTranscribedNow, PresenceIndexed April 2026
Open on YouTube ↗

Opening a global meditation, Eckhart Tolle argues that even watched 20 years from now this moment will still be "live" because there is only the now. He links the experiential power of presence to the ancient names for the underlying reality — the Tao, the Logos, the divine emanation.

Transcript

What do you mean? There's only now. I had breakfast this morning. That it's not now. That was this morning. But of course, when you had the breakfast, it was the now. And now that you're thinking about it, it's still the now. Welcome to our global meditation which is live here and now. I'm using life in the conventional sense. Ultimately there's nothing that is not life. And even if you're watching this meditation 20 years from now, who knows? It may still be up on YouTube, it'll be live and it'll be in the present moment. I may be gone completely on this dimension. Who knows? Most likely if it's 20 years, but it'll be live. Because there's only the know. That's something you can perhaps agree with or disagree with conceptually. One could dispute it simply by saying what do you mean there's only now I had breakfast this morning that it's not now that was this morning. But of course when you had the breakfast it was the now. And now that you're thinking about it it's still the now. There's only the now. It can be an intellectual acknowledgement or it can be a more experiential deeper realization of the power that is one could say concealed hidden in the present moment. A silent hour. Now is only one term we could use. In ancient times, it's been referred to in various traditions as the the Dao in ancient China. The logos in ancient Greek philosophy and many other terms all pointing to one reality. A reality that underlies this physics, our so-called physical reality that is deeper, it transcends. Space and time, is inherent in every life form, is the essence of every life form. which means it is the essence of you, your essence. We could also call it consciousness. Not consciousness of something. Not consciousness that has become that has incarnated into some form because that's what consciousness does. It incarnates into forms and then the on the surface reality that we inhabit inhabit here as physical entities. We see the disguises of countless disguises of consciousness appearing as a multitude of life forms. And yet there's only one reality hiding behind it all. Do you call it God? I would call it the emanation of God. The divine presence. God is totally transcendent. Not God is not an entity that you can find in space or time.

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