Parallel Trains Off the Tracks: Listening to Ram Dass and Eckhart Tolle

 

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Parallel Trains Off the Tracks: Listening to Ram Dass and Eckhart Tolle

“The root of all satisfaction, that is Being itself… I Am, is the Way… the essence of who I am is timeless – Atman and emptiness are the same.”
– Eckhart Tolle

I’ve been listening to a conversation between Ram Dass and Eckhart Tolle on YouTube—it feels like watching two slow trains trying to parallel park off the tracks. Both are well into their years, and in Ram Dass’s case, visibly so, having suffered a minor stroke. Eckhart, by nature, speaks slowly and deliberately, so if one is to benefit from the depth of their wisdom, one must first embrace patience.

Despite their pace, their message is timeless and clear: Be Here Now.
Ram Dass famously titled his book just that, and Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now is its modern echo. These two have long been companions on my own journey—virtual gurus whose words have guided me at various crossroads in life.

I first encountered Be Here Now through a friend I fondly call Buddha Ron, who lived at Stinson Beach in the Marin Headlands near San Francisco. The Power of Now came to me through another traveler I met en route to Mount Bromo in Southern Java—a kind soul from Vienna who passed it on like a secret map.

Both books left their impressions on me in ways I might not be able to articulate clearly anymore. But they left marks nonetheless. Perhaps, in ways unseen, they helped shape who I am today. These men took the roads less traveled and returned with truth—not as doctrine, but as lived experience. They became respected elders in the wide, often tangled forest of spiritual seekers.

Now, listening to Eckhart speak, I jotted down a few phrases that seemed to drift out of him like leaves on a breeze.
“The root of all satisfaction is Being itself…”
He said it so casually, almost like it had slipped off his tongue without effort or premeditation. And yet, these are pearls. Not rehearsed, but flowing from the depth of presence. That’s the sign of an awakened being: when wisdom flows not from memory but from the stillness within.

Ram Dass shares the same space. An awakened mind—gentle, loving, and devoted to pointing the way home.

For those who haven’t yet sat at their feet—virtually or otherwise—I wholeheartedly recommend it. Not for the entertainment, but for the echo of truth that lingers long after the talk ends.