--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whereas the notion of purpose before was…" description: "\"Whereas the notion of purpose before was always associated with future, there is now a deeper purpose that can only be found in the present, through de..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c45/eckhart-tolle-81_deeper_whereas-the-notion-of-purpose-before-was_1029110.jpg" --- # Whereas the notion of purpose before was always associated… ![“Whereas the notion of purpose before was always associated with future, there is now a deeper purpose that can only be found in the present, through denial of time.” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c45/eckhart-tolle-81_deeper_whereas-the-notion-of-purpose-before-was_1029110.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c45/eckhart-tolle-81_deeper_whereas-the-notion-of-purpose-before-was_1029110.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c45/eckhart-tolle-81_deeper_whereas-the-notion-of-purpose-before-was_1029110.jpg) > “Whereas the notion of purpose before was always associated with future, there is now a deeper purpose that can only be found in the present, through denial of time.” [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. True purpose is discovered in the present moment by letting go of future‑oriented thinking. **In simple terms:** Purpose lives now, not later. Key Takeaway Embrace the present fully. Themes mindfulness presence purpose Mood calm reflective Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - meditation - creative work - stress relief - decision making Key Concepts existentialism spirituality temporal perception Questions to Reflect On - How does letting go of time change your goals? - What does “present purpose” feel like? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on present can ignore future planning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Denial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/denial/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [You have a deeper purpose that drives you. You have to talk to yourself about what that purpose is. If you run through like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-lubetzky/you-have-a-deeper-purpose-that-drives-you-you-have-to-talk-to/) [Daniel Lubetzky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-lubetzky/) > [We were created for a purpose and when our underlying assumptions don't reflect this deeper purpose, we begin to whither as human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kim/we-were-created-for-a-purpose-and-when-our-underlying-assumptions-don/) [David Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kim/) > [Successfully completing a lesser purpose doesn't feel good very good for very long, because it is simply preparation for advancing toward a greater embodiment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-deida/successfully-completing-a-lesser-purpose-doesn-t-feel-good-very-good/) [David Deida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-deida/) > [Some of the greatest businesses operating from a deeper purpose have a real commitment to service, like Four Seasons, Joie de Vivre hotels, Southwest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mackey/some-of-the-greatest-businesses-operating-from-a-deeper-purpose-have/) [John Mackey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mackey/) > [“Worldly pursuits, attachments, all start to be left behind as you search for something new, a deeper purpose, a deeper meaning, and a fuller…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padma-aon-prakasha/worldly-pursuits-attachments-all-start-to-be-left-behind-as-you/) [Padma Aon Prakasha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padma-aon-prakasha/) > [To have your attention in the Now is not a denial of what is needed in your life. It is recognition of what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-have-your-attention-in-the-now-is-not-a-denial-of-what-is-needed/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The denial of "self" challenges only the notion of a static self independent of body and mind-not the ordinary sense of ourself as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-batchelor/the-denial-of-self-challenges-only-the-notion-of-a-static-self/) [Stephen Batchelor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-batchelor/) > [Evil is nothing but a word, an objectification where no objectification is necessary. Cast aside this notion of some external agency as the source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/evil-is-nothing-but-a-word-an-objectification-where-no/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [When you meet another human being, you meet the physical self, then you meet the psychological self that's behind it, which is their mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-meet-another-human-being-you-meet-the-physical-self-then-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Acceptance is the embracing of what happens. Acceptance is a way of getting in touch with the deeper, timeless dimension of aware presence, simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/acceptance-is-the-embracing-of-what-happens-acceptance-is-a-way-of/) [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/) > [A lot of people like the idea of eternal love and eternal romance. The notion of love that is more profound and deeper because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/a-lot-of-people-like-the-idea-of-eternal-love-and-eternal-romance-the/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [It is through suppression that hells are formed in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/it-is-through-suppression-that-hells-are-formed-in-us/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [A mistake doesnt make you a fool, but denying it surely makes you one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-mistake-doesnt-make-you-a-fool-but-denying-it-surely-makes-you-one/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) ## 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 Deeper quotes > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [Donald Trump is a different ball of wax. 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If you draw conclusions too quickly or too slowly, you’ll establish your self where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/your-deeper-sense-isn-t-a-springboard-it-s-a-landing-place-if-you/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [Forgiving the men who killed my parents and brother was a process, a journey into deeper and deeper prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immaculee-ilibagiza/forgiving-the-men-who-killed-my-parents-and-brother-was-a-process-a/) [Immaculee Ilibagiza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immaculee-ilibagiza/) > [I thought I knew a lot about music. 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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/) > [Each day my love grows deeper, deeper than I never thought before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/each-day-my-love-grows-deeper-deeper-than-i-never-thought-before/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You know what I was thinking about on my way home? How different my life would be if you’d made that gash a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffanie-debartolo/you-know-what-i-was-thinking-about-on-my-way-home-how-different-my/) [Tiffanie DeBartolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffanie-debartolo/) > [When we have the same thought again, the line of the original thought is deepened, causing what's called a memory trace. 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