--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For awhile, I was left with nothing on…" description: "\"“For awhile, I was left with nothing on the physical plane. I had no relationships, no job, no home, no socially defined identity. I spent almost two y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/eckhart-tolle-81_benches_for-awhile-i-was-left-with-nothing-on-th_757245.jpg" --- # For awhile, I was left with nothing on the physical plane… ![“For awhile, I was left with nothing on the physical plane. I had no relationships, no job, no home, no socially defined identity. I spent almost two years sitting on park benches in a state of the most intense joy.” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/eckhart-tolle-81_benches_for-awhile-i-was-left-with-nothing-on-th_757245.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/eckhart-tolle-81_benches_for-awhile-i-was-left-with-nothing-on-th_757245.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/eckhart-tolle-81_benches_for-awhile-i-was-left-with-nothing-on-th_757245.jpg) > ““For awhile, I was left with nothing on the physical plane. I had no relationships, no job, no home, no socially defined identity. I spent almost two years sitting on park benches in a state of the most intense joy.”” [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even without material ties, profound joy can arise from inner stillness. **In simple terms:** Joy can exist without external things. Key Takeaway Seek inner peace beyond possessions. Themes joy detachment inner peace Mood peaceful uplifting Type spiritual philosophical When to use this quote - homelessness - spiritual retreats - creative solitude Key Concepts spirituality minimalism Questions to Reflect On - What inner resources sustain joy? - Can joy exist without external validation? A Different Perspective Joy may be fleeting without grounding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Benches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benches/) [Benches State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benches-state-5879320/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Mindfullness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mindfullness/) [Minimalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minimalism/) [Park benches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/park-benches/) [Sitting Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitting-park-2540227/) [Two years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-years/) [Years Sitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-sitting-3204221/) ## Related quotes > [I love just going out and sitting down in the park along with the thousands of other people who apparently have no work to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-radcliffe/i-love-just-going-out-and-sitting-down-in-the-park-along-with-the/) [Daniel Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-radcliffe/) > [Sitting on a park bench, eyeing up little girls with bad intent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jethro-tull/sitting-on-a-park-bench-eyeing-up-little-girls-with-bad-intent/) [Jethro Tull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jethro-tull/) > [I know my first years sitting on the bench, largely behind Rickey Green, was a great learning tool for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stockton/i-know-my-first-years-sitting-on-the-bench-largely-behind-rickey/) [John Stockton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stockton/) > [Now I can stand up on the stage again like I used to after five years of sitting down while I sang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/now-i-can-stand-up-on-the-stage-again-like-i-used-to-after-five-years/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [“Four years of sitting in your room reading, and now you're out here with the common folk," I say. "What did inspire you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-leitch/four-years-of-sitting-in-your-room-reading-and-now-you-re-out-here/) [Will Leitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-leitch/) > [I can sit back in 10, 15, 20 years, when I'm sitting with my kids, I'll be able to say that I'm sitting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weddle/i-can-sit-back-in-10-15-20-years-when-i-m-sitting-with-my-kids-i-ll/) [Eric Weddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weddle/) > [It takes hundred of years sitting together in the same boat. It takes thousand of years sharing the same bed with. It calls :…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/it-takes-hundred-of-years-sitting-together-in-the-same-boat-it-takes/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [You might be sitting at NXT for six years. 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To "Move On" is not to cut myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aditya-ajmera/to-move-on-does-not-mean-to-stop-caring-it-means-i-can-t-keep/) [Aditya Ajmera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aditya-ajmera/) > [“Living is what makes me feel like living”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-joy-garcia-hidalgo/living-is-what-makes-me-feel-like-living/) [Christine Joy Garcia Hidalgo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-joy-garcia-hidalgo/) > [“It has gone nowhere, you have gone somewhere. We are all nowhere until we go somewhere. Your mind is full again, but not because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kilman/it-has-gone-nowhere-you-have-gone-somewhere-we-are-all-nowhere-until/) [Michael Kilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kilman/) > [“To trust the slow work of the sacred is to discover that the ground has always been there. That it was holding us before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayisha-bhatti/to-trust-the-slow-work-of-the-sacred-is-to-discover-that-the-ground/) [Ayisha Bhatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayisha-bhatti/) ## More by Eckhart Tolle > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. I recommend that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/a-powerful-spiritual-practice-is-consciously-to-allow-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [To become aware of the subtlety of nature you need to be alert. The moment you become alert you become still... thinking subsides. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-become-aware-of-the-subtlety-of-nature-you-need-to-be-alert-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you are not honoring the present moment by allowing it to be, you are creating drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-are-not-honoring-the-present-moment-by-allowing-it-to-be-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/on-a-deeper-level-you-are-already-complete-when-you-realize-that/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/life-will-give-you-whatever-experience-is-most-helpful-for-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/war-is-a-mind-set-and-all-action-that-comes-out-of-such-a-mind-set/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Whenever you step out of the noise of thinking, that is meditation, and a different state of consciousness arises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whenever-you-step-out-of-the-noise-of-thinking-that-is-meditation-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Get the inside right, and the outside will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/get-the-inside-right-and-the-outside-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It is very hard to tell when I started to be a spiritual teacher. There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-very-hard-to-tell-when-i-started-to-be-a-spiritual-teacher/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Let the end of the world be inside you, then you don't need to fear the end of the world out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/let-the-end-of-the-world-be-inside-you-then-you-don-t-need-to-fear/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Jeste li zabrinuti? Razmišljate li često: »Što bi bilo da sam...?« To znači da ste se poistovjetili s umom, koji se projicira u neku…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/jeste-li-zabrinuti-razmi-ljate-li-esto-to-bi-bilo-da-sam-to-zna-i-da/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) [Explore all 1,493 Eckhart Tolle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More Benches quotes > [No judge can stop us from praying for our country and I pray that on May 6, millions of Americans will join me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-graham/no-judge-can-stop-us-from-praying-for-our-country-and-i-pray-that-on/) [Franklin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-graham/) > [I don't think I've ever bench-pressed anything in my life. Until about two years ago I swam a mile almost every day. Then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-antosca/i-don-t-think-i-ve-ever-bench-pressed-anything-in-my-life-until-about/) [Nick Antosca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-antosca/) > [What if it turns out there really are witches and vampires and werewolves living right here alongside us? After all, what better disguise could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-lukyanenko/what-if-it-turns-out-there-really-are-witches-and-vampires-and/) [Sergei Lukyanenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-lukyanenko/) > [ A nominee \[to Supreme Court\] must possess the competence, character and temperament to serve on the bench. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-kohl/a-nominee-to-supreme-court-must-possess-the-competence-character-and/) [Herb Kohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-kohl/) > [Truly, the bench is a boon to idlers. Whoever first came up with the idea is a genius: free public resting places where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/truly-the-bench-is-a-boon-to-idlers-whoever-first-came-up-with-the/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [I'm not one of those actors who romanticizes his trials working out and brags that he can bench press a panda now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-reynolds/i-m-not-one-of-those-actors-who-romanticizes-his-trials-working-out/) [Ryan Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-reynolds/) > [ The model for an NHL without fighting is right there in front of us. The \[playoffs are\] the time of year that fans love… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-dryden/the-model-for-an-nhl-without-fighting-is-right-there-in-front-of-us/) [Ken Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-dryden/) > [We're just a fragile team right now. It seems like when we have a little bit of adversity, when something goes wrong, you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-walz/we-re-just-a-fragile-team-right-now-it-seems-like-when-we-have-a/) [Wes Walz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-walz/) > [There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/there-were-crimson-roses-on-the-bench-they-looked-like-splashes-of/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Every man in the game, from the minors on up, is not only fighting against the other side, but he's trying to hold onto…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ty-cobb/every-man-in-the-game-from-the-minors-on-up-is-not-only-fighting/) [Ty Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ty-cobb/) > [I was in a garden at the Rodin Museum. 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