Can this stuff rub off on me?

A long time ago there were two students who were studying with a master. The only problem was that they never got to actually talk to the man. All the other students would get to sit in on these wonderful discussions and teaching sessions, and these two students were always left to do menial servile tasks. They would clean up after the master's dishes when he ate, and wash his clothes and linens before placing them out for him in the morning, etc.

One of the students really hoped that if he did enough he would eventually be allowed into the "inner circle" of students so he too could participate in all the cool discussions that were going on, and to actually LEARN something. The other student accepted his tasks and just did them.

This went on for a couple of years. Finally, the first student began to think that he would never be allowed to do the special stuff, so he left. The other student stayed.

20 years later, the first student returned from his journeys and found his old mate in charge of the whole place! He was astonished, and he asked, "What happened? How long did it take you to get into that inner circle of students and learn from the master directly?"

The new master answered, "I never got in there. One day, the master got ill and before he died he declared that I was now the teacher."

I always thought this was an interesting story because it demonstrates a principle. That is, Consciousness spreads a bit like fire going from one candle flame to another. The student who stayed with the teacher for 20 years and cleaned up his mess was able to develop more Presence than any of the other people in the school. Why? Because he was simply in the teacher's Presence. Simply by being there and doing his tasks he got somewhere. It really didn't matter what his tasks were, so long as he was there, and that he had the conscious intent to evolve.

This was a common occurrence in ancient schools, and it still works today.

When you are near someone who is Present, their Presence brings out your Presence. You are able to be more Present when you are in their Presence. That's what I mean by "Consciousness spreads a bit like fire." There really is no grand plan or schedule of things you must DO to become Present. You either do it or you don't, but being near others who are Present can accelerate it.

I think this is what Eckhart Tolle is getting at when he talks about people who are ready to awaken and people who are not. Let me explain.

Today is a little different than ancient times. There were relatively few awakened beings, so the process of spreading Consciousness by simply having awakened beings stand next to unawakened ones was extremely inefficient. It was done, but it was a slow process. Thus, maybe back then there were some things that people needed to do to push themselves towards the point where they would awaken without necessarily being around lots of other awakened individuals.

Nowadays, there are many individuals that are in touch with their true natures, and more every day. Therefore, it is much easier to enact this process today. Perhaps that is why Eckhart does not seem to advocate preparation for awakening via getting in touch with the emotions, i.e. that first method of training I explained. Perhaps most people don't need to do formal exercises anymore? Perhaps we've reached a critical mass where all they have to do is stick around on the planet and get there eventually on their own?

Whatever the case, one thing is clear. Awakened individuals have an obligation to be Present around others, so that Consciousness may continue to find itself.