Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
quote:
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Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
[b]The Power of Now; Eckhart Tolle, Excerpt:
All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time
and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry
- all forms of fear - are caused by to much future, not enough
presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness,
bitterness, all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much
past, not enough presence.
Most people find it difficulty to believe that a state of
consciousness totally free of all negativity is possible. And yet
this is the liberated state to which all spiritual teachings point.
It is the promise of salvation, not in an illusory future by right
here and now.
You may find it hard to recognise that time is the cause of your
suffering or your problems. You believe that they are caused by
specific situations in your life, and seen from a conventional
viewpoint, this is true. But until you have dealt with the basic
problem-making dysfunction of the mind - its attachment to past and
future and denial of the Now - problems are actually
interchangeable. If all your problems or perceived causes of
suffering or unhappiness were miraculously removed for your today,
but you had not become more present, more conscious, you would soon
find yourself with a similar set of problems or causes of
suffering, like a shadow that follows you wherever you go.
Ultimately, there is only one problem: the time-bound mind
itself.
I cannot believe that I could ever reach a point where I am
complete free of my problems.
You are right. You can never reach that point because you are at
that point now.
There is no salvation in time. You cannot be free in the future.
Presence is the key to freedom, so you can only be free now.
Finding The Life Underneath Your Life Situation
I don't see how I can be free now. As it happens, I am extremely
unhappy with my life at the moment. This is a fact, and I would be
deluding myself if I tried to convince myself that all is well when
it definitely isn't. To me the present moment is very unhappy; it
is not liberating at all. What keeps me going is the hope or
possibility of some improvement in the future.
You think that your attention is in the present moment when it's
actually taken up completely by time. You cannot be both unhappy
and fully present in the Now.
What you refer to as your "life" should be more accurately be
called your "life situation." It is psychological time: past and
future. Certain things in the past didn't go the way you wanted
them to go. You are still resisting what happened in the past, and
now you are resisting the is. Hope is what keeps you going, but
hope keeps you focused on the future, and this continued focus
perpetuates your denial of the Now and therefore your
unhappiness.
It is true that my present life situation is the result of things
that happened in the past, but it is still my present situation,
and being stuck in it is what makes me unhappy.
Forget about your life situation for a while and pay attention to
your life
What is the difference?
Your life situation exists in time.
Your life is now.
Your life situation is mind-stuff.
Your life is real.
Find the "narrow gate that leads to life." It is called the Now.
Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be
full of problems - most life situations are - but find out if you
have any problem at this moment. Not tomorrow or in ten minutes,
but now. Do you have a problem now?
When you are full of problems, there is no room for anything new to
enter, no room for a solution. So whenever you can, make some room,
create some space, so that you find the life underneath your life
situation.
Use your senses fully. Be where you are. Look around. Just look,
don't interpret. See the lights, shapes, colours, textures. Be
aware of the silent presence of each thing. Be aware of the space
that allows everything to be. Listen to the sounds; don't judge
them. Listen to the silence underneath the sounds. Touch something
- anything - and feel and acknowledge its Being. Observe the rhythm
of your breathing; feel the air flowing in and out, feel the life
energy inside your body. Allow everything to be, within and
without. Allow the "isness" of all things. Move deeply into the
Now.
You are leaving behind the deadening world of mental abstraction of
time. You are getting out of the insane mind that is draining you
of life energy, just as it is slowly poisoning and destroying the
Earth. You are awakening out of the dream of time into the
Present.
[Pause and meditate]
[/b]
Jesus did say not to worry abt tomorrow & to forgive the
past hurts & to live in the NOW.
