# Quote — Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

> Choice implies consciousness - a high degree of consciousness. Without it, you have no choice. Choice begins the moment you disidentify from the mind and its conditioned patterns, the moment you become present. Until you reach that point, you are unconscious, spiritually speaking. This means that you are compelled to think, feel, and act in certain ways according to the conditioning of your mind. That is why Jesus said: "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." This is not related to intelligence in the conventional sense of the word. I have met many highly intelligent and educated people who were also completely unconscious, which is to say completely identified with their mind.

- Author: [Eckhart Tolle](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle.md)
- Book: [The Power of Now](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/the-power-of-now.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Now#Chapter_10._The_Meaning_of_Surrender) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/the-power-of-now/choice-implies-consciousness

## More from this book

> Jesus referred to this energy when he made his famous prophetic statement in the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the gentle; they shall have the earth for their possession." It is a silent but intense presence that dissolves the unconscious patterns of the mind. They may still remain active for a while, but they won't run your life anymore.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/the-power-of-now/jesus-referred-to-this.md)

> Through forgiveness, which essentially means recognizing the insubstantiality of the past and allowing the present moment to be as it is, the miracle of transformation happens not only within but also without. A silent space of intense presence arises both in you and around you. Whoever or whatever enters that field of consciousness will be affected by it, sometimes visibly and immediately, sometimes at deeper levels with visible changes appearing at a later time. You dissolve discord, heal pain, dispel unconsciousness - without doing anything - simply by being and holding that frequency of intense presence.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/the-power-of-now/through-forgiveness-which.md)

> You accept the "isness" of this moment. Then you take action and do all that you can to get out of the mud. Such action I call positive action. It is far more effective than negative action, which arises out of anger, despair, or frustration. Until you achieve the desired result, you continue to practice surrender by refraining from labeling the Now.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/the-power-of-now/you-accept-the.md)