Now – Chapter 7

This is my interpretation of the book The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle.

Chapter 7

Meditation time! Sit in a non-sleep-inducing position. Eyes closed, body relaxed, breathing: in, out. Notice the breath and then notice the sensation inside the body. Feel the body, know that it’s there through sensation alone. Try to feel the sensation as energy emanating from within. Focus on that energy to the point of becoming one with it.

Remember that meditation is the practice of not-thinking. And this practice shouldn’t be limited to the duration of each session. While outside of meditation, continue guarding against the thinking-mechanism of the mind and continue feeling the inner sensation of the body.

You want to develop a connection to the dreamer of this dreamworld. This connection can be called enlightenment. There are a few methods for maintaining this connection. One is through an awareness of the energetic-sensation within the body. Another method is by literally focusing on right-now — through the conscious experience of everyday activities. Another method is through the purposeful suppression of thought — maintaining gaps between mental commentary. And another method is by surrendering to life and whatever it is you’re resisting.

Then once this connection is well-established, it becomes a portal for love to flow through — this is the bliss and elation that comes with living in the now. Additionally, silence and empty space can be used as reminders of the unmanifested — the source from which the world springs forth.

Through you, the unmanifested lives within the world, experiencing embodied existence and performing the many activities of life. Eventually you become aware of the illusion, realizing the dream. Then through you, the unmanifested transcends the world, reuniting with its source.

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Thought Tolerance

Dear Rich, should I actively suppress my thoughts? That seems kinda harsh, shouldn’t I be more tolerant towards them — a bit more peace, love, and harmony? Maybe just observe them non-judgmentally?

Dear reader, have you not been listening to your thoughts? They’re straight-up evil. You can’t reason with them. They fling sh*t just to watch it stick. Being tolerant of intolerance leads to a cesspool that nobody wants to swim in. It doesn’t work, and years of Internet-based-forums has proven this point. With anything high-traffic, you absolutely NEED strong moderation.

Imagine a public restroom, now imagine some guy pinching a loaf right into the sink. Freedom of expression right? Why not? You just gotta be more tolerant bro. Or is it wrong to poop in the sink? And if that’s wrong, and a certain level of decorum must be maintained, then you shouldn’t allow your thoughts to sh*t on EVERYTHING within this world.

Your thoughts are NOT the end-product, they’re simply the byproduct of a creative mind. In other words, they’re the waste that must be disposed of properly lest that sludge pollute the environment. Don’t believe me? Just take a bit of time to watch those thoughts oozing by — notice how you feel — take ’em all in too, every last piece of pessimistic excrement.

Sick of the stink yet? Are you ready for some law and order? Then shut that sh*t down! Your goal is pure unadulterated consciousness — experiencing, without thought. Eating an apple? Then just eat an apple. “Hm, it’s an okay apple but I’m wondering…” NOPE. Shut it down — just savor the flavor. Walking down the street? Then just walk down the street. “Huh, I hope that…” NOPE. Walk — no internal talk.

And lastly dear reader, if you don’t actively control the toxicity emanating from your mind, you’re passing the burden onto everyone else. You’re like the guy randomly sh*itting in the sink expecting everyone else to just “deal with it”. If change starts within, your thoughts are ground-zero. So yes, you need to suppress that sh*t.

Now – Chapter 6

This is my interpretation of the book The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle.

Chapter 6

You’re under the delusion that you’re an isolated body within a physical world. This delusion leads to anxiousness and suffering. You would know your true self if it wasn’t for the mind constantly distracting you. So constant are its mental musings, that you identify yourself as the thoughts emanating from your mind.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to establish consciousness as your primary mode of being (thus diminishing the thinking-mechanism of the mind). Consciousness, instead of rumination, should become your default. One method for making this change, is by transfering focus away from the mind and into the body.

Here’s some practice: Focus on your fingers and notice the sensation, a slight pressure or tingling or just the feeling that they’re there. Then move up the arms and into the chest and head and around the body all the way down to your feet. Feel the sensation individually and then as a whole, pervading the entire body — focus on this sensation.

Although you aren’t a solitary creature crawling around a giant rock in constant struggle for survival, you aren’t beyond the body either. You have a body after-all, so you can work with it rather than fight it. And by maintaining attention within the body, you’ll have a reference point keeping you from getting lost in thought or life.

For the time being, while going about your normal activities, maintain some awareness of the energy/aliveness-feeling pervading the entire body. Focus on the task at hand but widen your scope to include the sensation within the body as well. And when not doing anything in particular, instead of getting lost in thought, focus on that energy/aliveness-feeling within.

And whenever you start losing yourself to an alleged problem, go into the body. By focusing on an inner sensation, your focus leaves the thinking-mechanism of the mind. From that steadier base, your reaction will be more grounded. If strong emotion overwhelms your ability to focus, simply observe the emotion without judgement and accept its presence.

Typically, emotions should quickly come and go. If they linger, you’re likely lacking forgiveness. Instead of grasping tightly to a hot ember, release it. Forgive people, yourself, and even life. Trust in life and stop fighting against it. Let go and let your narrative continue on a steady course.

Essentially, you are consciousness, the experiencer of existence. Yet typically, you spend much of your time unconscious, lost in a dream. But you want to become present and aware within the dream. The dream won’t end, you’ll simply become lucid. You want to switch this from a turbulent nightmare to a delightful fantasyland. And this process requires you to realize that the foundation of your dream-self as well as everything else, is a dreamer — the source of all consciousness.

And when you move focus into the body and become aware of the inner sensation, it can serve as a reminder for all this — a way to maintain a deeper state. From this depth, the external gets easier. The body feels better, lighter, no longer like a poorly aging contraption rife with decay and subject to the ills of others.

Some more practice: Focusing on a single part of the body, feel it, notice the sensation, it’s there and you’re aware of it. Do this for every part of your body. Once you’ve gone through them one by one, start at the bottom and move up the body like a scanner, from toes to head and back down again. Then, concentrate on the sensation of the entire inner body at once — focus and feel it.

If focusing within the body is tough, start with breathing. Observe the breath: in… out… in… out… follow and feel the breath. Also, whenever creativity is required, presence is the best way to encourage it. And of course when listening to others, presence makes that process a whole lot easier. And a method for becoming present, is focusing on the sensation of the inner body.

Mottled Darkness

What do you see when you close your eyes? For me, I see imagined images. For example, if showering with my eyes closed and washing my arm, I see an imagined hand scrubbing an imagined arm. Or if I close my eyes right now, I see an imagined window where the real window is. In other words: when I close my eyes, I try to recreate the real world within my imagination.

But I believe this type of imagining violates the concept of being-present and living-in-the-now. So for the last few days I’ve been practicing NOT seeing imagined things when I close my eyes. When showering and my eyes close for instance, I now focus on what I can actually see, which is nothing, or more accurately: mottled darkness.

Even with my eyes open I’ll oftentimes imagine I can see something I can’t. If I wash my back for example, I’ll imagine seeing my hand scrub my back from a third-person perspective. But now I try to see the shower door in front of me and simply feel the sensation on my back — without trying to “see” it take place within my mind.

I asked my friend what she sees when she closes her eyes, and she said: yellow or red or white. Through further questioning, she did seem to corroborate a mottled nature to the color — so not a complete solid. I found it odd that it was a brighter shade instead of darkness like my experience. And, she said she did not tend to imagine things when her eyes closed.

My over-imagining probably contributes toward my tendency for sleeplessness as well. When I close my eyes at night, my mind wanders through an imagined world instead of turning off. Whereas if I simply saw the mottled darkness that was there, my mind would naturally quiet-down and drift-off to sleep.

Another issue with seeing an imagined world, is my tendency for negativity. When making-up a world in my head, it tends to be filled with the worst stuff I can imagine. Whereas the world outside my head is actually a cheerier place. So because of this, it behooves me to stop imagining a pseudo-world inside my head.

Frequency Conduction

Why resign yourself to weakness? Is there not power flowing through you? Are you not literally the embodiment of electrical energy? Stop a moment in your acquiescence, and consider the minuscule feeling inside. A force that when focused on, flourishes. Know it as pure power, the potential energy that becomes. Use it against itself to induce weakness, and it will.

But allow creative frequencies to flow, and a world is born. A world comprised of wavelengths, bands of energy waiting to be conducted. You hold the antenna in your hand, orchestrating a composition of your own design. Lead and it follows. Become derelict in your duty: cacophony the consequence. Your world awaits its conductor.

Though you see yourself as pawn, a pawn reaching an end rank becomes whatever it wants. A piece initially constrained, yet full of potential. If you begin as slave, persevere to become master. The constraints you find yourself contained within, are of your own invention. Everything you see is the fantasy you’ve fabricated. You cannot not-create.

But you’ve created a dissonance unpleasant to your own ears. Know that emptiness is the stage upon which creation commences. Clear the mind to begin anew. Start with what you know, which is nothing. Silence springs forth successful seeds. Potential-energy unleashes upon the infinite. Parts then align in harmony forming the symphonic whole, dawning the sound of something you love.

Nonpresent Punishment

I shall now regale you with a tale of misery. A plague brought about by the power of un-presence. Think of a powerful force in the universe… now triple it — THAT is the power of un-presence. An energy so strong that it will outright ruin your day. BOOM!

Picture it, it’s night and you’re lazily lying there. Too lazy in fact to bother with awareness — but woe to him whose lackadaisical ways lead to his own demise. If only you’d have summoned up the fortitude to remain aware. But no, you revel in sloth.

And so it happens, you’re swept away by the current of turbulent thought. Off you go, bashing against rocks as your mind blathers on. The pain is real and the wounds will last. Then the day begins and you’re weary from the abuse.

You shuffle along, barely communicating — unaware of your own unawareness. Too far gone to know you’re gone. You’re sore from the night before so anything out-of-place stings and further sours your spirit.

Interactions are exercises in tight-rope walking — one tiny sway, and its disaster either way. BOOM! You just f*cked up, tried to cover it up, but the evidence is everywhere. You finally try to scramble to the present but you’re so swept up that it’s not easily reached.

The moral of the story my friend: do not take mindlessness lightly. It is the one and only force with the power to outright end you. Do not stray far from the present lest you get lost and not find your way back.

Entering Now

Your thoughts act as a smoke-screen obscuring the entrance to awareness. The only way to enter, is through pure presence. As you focus on nothing, it comes into focus.

Why should you even care to come in? It’s the treasure that treasure-seekers seek. Everything your heart desires, everything you’re looking for — it’s here, now. And the only cost to you, is complete and absolute dedication — a bargain to be sure!

Give up your thoughts. ALL of them. No more past, no more future — only present. What have your thoughts done for you? Frighted, intimidated, hindered — they’ve only served to torment you as you tried to live your life. Well there’s a remedy for that poison-of-the-mind — a simple fix: cut them out!

Thought targeted, thought terminated. Sitting watch with constant vigilance, you are now a hunter whose prey is each and every thought attempting to settle in your mind. The longer you remain thought-free, the more the door to right-now opens.

Imagine it, a paradise on Earth. Better yet, don’t imagine it and you’ll actually experience it. A simple choice to make, yes? At each moment that you notice yourself lost in thought, acknowledge it. Then as long as you dare, remain aware — and soon, you’ll be there.