I don't believe in an outside agent that creates the world, then

When Eckhart Tolle declared, “I don’t believe in an outside agent that creates the world, then walks away. But I feel very strongly there is an intelligence at work in every flower, in every blade of grass, in every cell of my body. And it is that intelligence that, I wouldn’t say created the universe. It is creating the universe. It’s an ongoing process,” he spoke with the calm vision of one who has gazed deeply into the mystery of existence. His words are not those of a philosopher seeking to define God, nor of a scientist seeking to explain nature — but of a sage seeking to unite the two. He speaks of intelligence, not as a distant architect, but as the living pulse of reality itself — a power not separate from the world, but woven through every part of it, breathing creation into being in every passing moment.

Tolle’s teaching arises from his lifelong exploration of consciousness, the eternal awareness that underlies all life. His insight echoes ancient wisdom from both East and West: that the divine is not apart from creation, but immanent within it. The mystics of every age have felt this — the hum of a hidden order, the rhythm of unity that moves through all things. When he says there is intelligence at work in every flower, he invites us to perceive what the eyes cannot see — that life is not random, but guided by a silent knowing, a force that unfolds with perfect harmony, even when unseen by the human mind.

This idea is not new, though Tolle gives it modern language. The ancient Greeks called this living order Logos — the rational principle through which the cosmos continually comes into being. The Hindus called it Brahman, the formless consciousness that manifests as the world. The Taoists named it the Tao, the way that moves through heaven and earth without effort. Tolle’s “intelligence” is their heir: it is the creative presence that is forever shaping reality, not in a single act long past, but as an eternal process unfolding now. Creation, he says, is not something that happened — it is something that is happening. Every breath, every sunrise, every heartbeat is an act of creation renewed.

Consider a single flower. It grows from a seed, drawn by sunlight, nourished by soil, shaped by laws invisible yet precise. Who commands this? Not a hand reaching from the sky, but the deep intelligence of life itself — an intelligence that knows, without thought, how to bring forth color and form from silence. The same force that moves in the flower moves in the galaxies, in the oceans, and in the atoms that make our blood. It does not sleep, it does not cease — it is creating the universe anew each instant. Tolle asks us to feel this not as a theory, but as a direct awareness: that the same life which animates the stars also beats within us.

History, too, bears witness to this living insight. The great Isaac Newton once described God as a clockmaker who built the cosmos and then stepped away — a vision of a distant creator, cold and mechanical. But centuries later, Albert Einstein glimpsed something far greater. He said, “The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.” In this he recognized what Tolle expresses: that intelligence is not outside the world, but within it — that reason, order, and beauty arise from the very fabric of existence. It is not a creation complete, but a creation continuing, in which we, too, participate.

And what does this mean for the human soul? It means that we are not separate from the divine process of creation. We are not mere witnesses to the unfolding of the universe — we are expressions of it. The same intelligence that spins the galaxies thinks through our minds, feels through our hearts, and breathes through our lungs. When we awaken to this truth, life ceases to be something happening to us and becomes something happening through us. We become conscious participants in the eternal act of creation, no longer estranged from the world, but united with it in sacred belonging.

So take this teaching to heart: do not seek the divine in distant heavens or ancient texts alone. Look instead at the flower, the blade of grass, the cell of your body, and the silence within your mind. There, you will find the living intelligence that Tolle speaks of — the ever-present process of creation that is both the world and the soul of the world. Align yourself with it. Move with it. Let your thoughts, your actions, your very being become attuned to that rhythm. For in doing so, you will not only glimpse the sacred — you will become part of its ongoing song, co-creating the universe with every breath you take.