In this podcast, Eckhart talks to a live audience in Hawaii.

He ponders the paradise surrounding them, the sun, the palm trees, and the sea.

And then quotes famous French philosopher Albert Camus, who said,

In the midst of winter, I found there was within me.

An Inventable Summer.

Eckhart explains that Camus is referring to the spiritual dimension or what he calls

the alive inner peace at the core of our being.

Eckhart says it's inevitable that life's hardships will pull us off center

and dark thoughts about the past or the future will divide us from the light of consciousness.

He explains that if we learn to push past the darkness, returning to our inner refuge again and again,

it will become a practice.

Eckhart believes this is what having a spiritual life is all about.

I'm almost six minutes late.

Unforgivable.

The reason is the internet seems to be down for the live streaming.

And we were waiting for the internet to come back up, it still isn't up.

And of course I was getting more and more stressed.

So I said I would just begin with silence.

Well, we do that anyway quite often.

So we'll be in stillness for a minute or two or three.

And that's a good thing.

And then they will let us know if the internet is working or not.

...