Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Does "The Power of Now" Turn You Into a Boring Zombie?

VacMan · 08-13-2007, 08:40 PM

Wow,

I just got through listening to "The Power of Now" 2 times through.

I've read a lot of forum posts on the subject of "Being in the Now" and similar concepts.

I also saw "The Peaceful Warrior" last night, and unknowingly that was actually about the power of being in the moment as well.

While I agree that the concept of being in the now is really intriguing, there are elements that I just can't seem to wrap my head around. (But I guess you're not really supposed to use your head anyway

)

Mainly, it seems to me that being in the "now" definitely has it's distinct advantages, such as better focus, clarity, calmness, etc. It also seems to have the potential to completely disconnect you from all "human" elements.

For example:

A rock is in touch with now, it lives in the now, and according to "The Power of Now" the rock even is connected to consciousness, and being in touch with consciousness is the ultimate goal of "now."

Now... a rock is still, calm, definite, and it exists now, and as far as we know it does not have any "thought" to clear out of it's mind.

So is a rock the ultimate example of living in the now?

If so... I don't think I want to take the "living in the now" stuff too far

That's an extreme example, but honestly it does seem that a major element/benefit of "being in the now" is to transcend our thought, problems, time, and feelings.

Much of the information I've read/heard/seen on this topic suggests that it is bad to feel "love" because love has an opposite "hate/apathy" that will eventually be felt as well, and that the only way to truly experience unconditional love is to connect to consciousness.

When you connect to consciousness you are living in the "now."

When you live in the now, you transcend time, thus you have no memory of past events, or any predictions about future events.

When you can do this, and connect to consciousness, you can also transcend your "ego" or physical form and no longer identify with your human body. And thus are not effected by any suffering, discontent, problems etc.

This type of thinking begins to seem less and less about living in the now, but it seems like trying to run away from being human.

I agree that greater focus on where you are right now, and truly experiencing everything that life has to offer is very important. And we should not dwell on things that we can't change in the past, and we should not worry too much about the future.

I also think one should keep the "now" in mind, and keep themselves connected to life.

But I don't think I want to "transcend human form" and deny myself all the wonderful things that come with being human. Pain/Pleasure/Or otherwise.

Why be a rock? I like being human.

08-13-2007, 08:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
VacMan Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 250	Does "The Power of Now" Turn You Into a Boring Zombie? Wow, I just got through listening to "The Power of Now" 2 times through. I've read a lot of forum posts on the subject of "Being in the Now" and similar concepts. I also saw "The Peaceful Warrior" last night, and unknowingly that was actually about the power of being in the moment as well. While I agree that the concept of being in the now is really intriguing, there are elements that I just can't seem to wrap my head around. (But I guess you're not really supposed to use your head anyway ) Mainly, it seems to me that being in the "now" definitely has it's distinct advantages, such as better focus, clarity, calmness, etc. It also seems to have the potential to completely disconnect you from all "human" elements. For example: A rock is in touch with now, it lives in the now, and according to "The Power of Now" the rock even is connected to consciousness, and being in touch with consciousness is the ultimate goal of "now." Now... a rock is still, calm, definite, and it exists now, and as far as we know it does not have any "thought" to clear out of it's mind. So is a rock the ultimate example of living in the now? If so... I don't think I want to take the "living in the now" stuff too far That's an extreme example, but honestly it does seem that a major element/benefit of "being in the now" is to transcend our thought, problems, time, and feelings. Much of the information I've read/heard/seen on this topic suggests that it is bad to feel "love" because love has an opposite "hate/apathy" that will eventually be felt as well, and that the only way to truly experience unconditional love is to connect to consciousness. When you connect to consciousness you are living in the "now." When you live in the now, you transcend time, thus you have no memory of past events, or any predictions about future events. When you can do this, and connect to consciousness, you can also transcend your "ego" or physical form and no longer identify with your human body. And thus are not effected by any suffering, discontent, problems etc. This type of thinking begins to seem less and less about living in the now, but it seems like trying to run away from being human. I agree that greater focus on where you are right now, and truly experiencing everything that life has to offer is very important. And we should not dwell on things that we can't change in the past, and we should not worry too much about the future. I also think one should keep the "now" in mind, and keep themselves connected to life. But I don't think I want to "transcend human form" and deny myself all the wonderful things that come with being human. Pain/Pleasure/Or otherwise. Why be a rock? I like being human.