[Bruce Achterberg]

I've been where you are now (not really in terms of specifics, but more generally), so as someone who is familiar with the terrain that lies ahead, I'll share some recommendations, some of the things I've learned, as well as tell you about some things you'll probably learn/experience for yourself.

Firstly, I highly recommend reading Eckhart Tolle's second book, A New Earth.

There's a lot I could tell you, but there's a good chance that you haven't cultivated enough awareness for it to really have an impact. I don't say this to insult you, but it was certainly true of me. While The Power of Now gave me a few glimpses into presence, for me, "happiness/joy" became tainted by the ego. It wasn't until I read A New Earth that I found the book really bothered me. Why did it bother me? Because I was still very much identified with the ego -- my mental conditioning -- and that pure, unconditioned awareness was still yet to be found.

I'll also mention that there's a good chance you don't understand enough about Eckhart's teachings, the ego, how it works, etc, to effectively make reasonable changes in those areas. Why? Well, again, I say this not to insult you, but it's a side effect of ego itself. You may be different, but I think there's a good chance that you'll need more awareness. This may sound strange, but I couldn't even see some of my conditioning until I reached certain levels of awareness. It was still automatic and running "below" my awareness.

So, what can you do about your situation now?

Well, I'd give The Power of Now some time to sink in. A few months was a good period for me. It gave me enough time to put a lot of the ideas into practice, which was good, because when I read A New Earth, I realised that I hadn't really put any ideas into practice, and was just using another face of the ego to be happy, haha. "Conditional happiness", I would call it.

As for dealing with anger...

(continued in the next post)