Power Of Now

[placebo]

I wrote to Steve on this topic few weeks ago and i didn't get his answer so i'm asking you guys now.
I read this book The power of Now by Tolle. I think it is a great book. In it his saying that we shouldn't regret about our past and not to be scared of our future. We should live in the present moment that he called the Now. He describing how to find Now in ourseleves and how did he managed that.

I also like Steve's approach, he is saying that we should strive to constantly improve ourselves by removing bad habits and developing new ones. It's cool thing to do.

My problem is that i don't know is it possible to combine these two approaches. If we want to change our habbits we are scared of our future with habbits we have and we're trying to change ourselves.

Can we live in the Now while in meantime we try to change ourselves?

[Maciek]

Originally Posted by placebo

Can we live in the Now while in meantime we try to change ourselves?

I think that we can and the process of changing ourselves depend on actions that we take NOW, it is easy to keep talking to yourself that I want to change this, I want to change that but it is not enough, the actions we take in present moment matters...

[sourceofmiracles]

Hi Placebo,

Keep Running!
Have you ever ran a couple of miles and got a sharp pain in your side? If you were not pushing yourself then it would be no big deal to stop and keel over until the pain subsides, but if you really want to push yourself, you have to keep running. And focus on the run. I found those challenging runs to be quite meditative. The next time you get that pain it will be much easier to run though. (for running, pain is something you have to really listen to your body about. I mean 'obviously', you don't want to try and out run a heart attack.. hehehe).

I've also read Power of Now. It was so good that I've bought it twice just so I could give them away. A New Earth by Eckhart is even better (IMHO). In it, he goes in more detail about the "pain body". He decribes the pain bodies need to seek out suffering to replinish this part of the ego/shadow (what ever you want to call it).

Bad habits are intimately tied to that process of the pain body/ego/victim/shadow replinishing itself. Some bad habits are even physiologically coded in our body so that not replenishing those vices are actually physically painful (i.e. drugs).

When defeating a bad habit, I've found that the pain is very real (well, DUH). An effective technique is to just feel the pain in stillness. Don't challenge it, Don't fight the pain, just allow it to be (I believe that is what Eckhart suggests in New Earth). Many times it will just fade away. (This works for me with headaches as well. The more stillness the quicker it goes away.)

Typically, when I get through it the first bout of painful withdrawl, the second, third and fourth pain of withdrawl are successively easier to overcome.

[demk]

One good thing I got from the power of now/practicing the power of now/a new earth, is that you can only ever be happy now. It sounds obvious but once you get the way that you have to sort of resonate at the right frequency in order to attract other things at that frequency you realise that you can't be happy by struggling.

Demk

[9gods]

Hi Placebo,

I think you can easily use these two ways. What Tolle says about future and the past is that they are no more than concepts. Only Now is real. Thinking about past failures or pain keep that pain alive. Thinking about future with fear of something traps you as well. But making plans is ok. What Tolle says is that only "emotional time" is a trap. Planning, making decision for a future is completly ok and we should do that to know where we are going and what we want to acheive.

Accept yourself, your life situation as it is, do not judge it in emotional way. But you can review your life situation and make plans to improve it. That's completly ok in Tolle's approach. Being in Now help us to see things without fear and worry and this is good place to start improving things we want to improve.

This is how I "feel" Power of Now. I guess other people can feel it in different way.

[sourceofmiracles]

Originally Posted by 9gods

Hi Placebo,

I think you can easily use these two ways. What Tolle says about future and the past is that they are no more than concepts. Only Now is real. Thinking about past failures or pain keep that pain alive. Thinking about future with fear of something traps you as well. But making plans is ok. What Tolle says is that only "emotional time" is a trap. Planning, making decision for a future is completly ok and we should do that to know where we are going and what we want to acheive.

Accept yourself, your life situation as it is, do not judge it in emotional way. But you can review your life situation and make plans to improve it. That's completly ok in Tolle's approach. Being in Now help us to see things without fear and worry and this is good place to start improving things we want to improve.

This is how I "feel" Power of Now. I guess other people can feel it in different way.

Well Said.

[carney77]

When I read Tolle's books, I realized, first, that it takes practice to just be. Secondly, I realized that...IT TAKES PRACTICE!!

But keep at it!

I notice small changes in my life as I practice, but they are changes, none the less! Soon, the small changes all add up to a changed being. It's exciting!

carney77

PS. If you find yourself wrapped up in the past or future and you thought you had gone past that point in your life, don't get frustrated. Breathe. Don't be afraid to revisit the basic fundamentals. Breathe. (I'm only speaking from experience, here. )

[helgi]

There is a lot of helpful stuff in A New Earth about aligning the Power of Now teaching with everyday life, planning, taking action and operating in the world of form in general.

A fundamental realization in all of this is to get to a point where you don't mind what happens. I think J. Krishnamurti said something like this at one of his lectures, asking the audience "do you want to know my secret? I don't mind what happens."
It is the realization that "nothing matters but everything is honored", which is another Krishnamurti quote I think. A way of approaching your life in a playful way: you realize that nothing you could ever do or accomplish has the power to make you happy, but you do it simply because you enjoy it. And so when you decide to cultivate new skills and so on, you do it for the play of it and not because of some future projection in which it will have paid off.

[placebo]

thanks everybody, you helped me. And yesterday i finally watched The Secret. I think that i can draw paralels between things now

[tekart]

So Tony Parsons "view" is that our thoughts, feeling, etc, are just happening. That we are really not controlling them, there is just the apparently being controlled. We are not doing hearing, we are not doing seeing, these things are just apparently happening and it is the illusion, the dream, that "we" are actually in control. SO, in regards to changing how we think, act, and view the world, is this really happening, are "we" changing the world around us, or do we just think we are? I get more confused every day thinking about this but at the same time I've read that the mind will never understand it.

[flashlight]

The only place we can make changes to our habits is NOW.

When you can experience the moment, independent of past and future, you have the ability to step out of habit.

BTW, I agree that A New Earth takes the Power of Now and takes it to another level. It doesn't replace TPON. But it is an amazing read.

[ChrisC]

Placebo,

In answer to your original question, I'm not surprised that you have difficulty figuring out how to do both - how to cultivate being in the Now while at the same time working on your habits. The reason is that each of those approaches come from different directions.

When you work on habits, you are focusing on the idea that, by improving yourself, you will become happy - or happier. That is a future event that does not exist. Focusing on the Now is a way to be happy now, not after this or that is accomplished.

Another thing is that habits - true habits - come from the unconscious, which is the antithesis of being present, or conscious. When you are in the Now, then the habits have no control, and you become in a 'place' where life flows as it should - with ease.

[Argenberg]

Can we live in the Now while in meantime we try to change ourselves?

Those concepts are really contradictory - you're right.

Not 'Now' and 'changing', but 'Now' and 'trying'.

You can change in the Now if Now demands it but not Ego.

In Now all is natural, there's no trying hard or wanting or starving for whatever - including growth.

The whole concept of so-called "personal depelopment" as a means to an end actually seems to be an invention of Ego and prevents from entering the Now now and becoming enlightened. You don't need anything to live in the Now, including personal development.

When you reach a certain level of personal development, you may find that you no longer need any "personal development"

As to the book itself.

The Power of Now is a jem, a real trasnformer. I like it so much. This book really got me transformed. A New Earth on the contrary is simply a very interesting read about Ego, but not a transformer like The Power of Now is.

A New Earth was written with noticably less Presence behind it, that's why it's an interesting read about Ego mechanics, but not a revelation like The Power of Now is.

A New Earth is more conceptual and hense more illusory. The Power of Now is more real.

After all there could only be One Thing. That One Thing is the Power of Now.

Like Tolle said:

In the Gospel story of Mary and Martha, Jesus says to Martha, "You are
anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is
important." (Luke 10:41)

[starseed]

I'm about halfway through this book, and so far I love it. It's amazing how much better you are at things when you stop all the constant mind jabber and focus on the presence and stillness of now/being. I was working on some art of mine, and got into the flow of now it's starting to turn into something amazing! Also I gave a massage while in the now and I could actually "feel" the energy of the massage and where I needed to focus on, without thinking. It's amazing what kind of things you can do when you realize your thoughts can only get you so far, when you go beyond them into the now.. An amazing stream of energy and joy flows through you, and you just "know" what to do. Some call it instinct, others, divine inspiration, whatever you call it... it's a lovely way to be.

Now I just need to be in the now every moment, working on it

[Argenberg]

Now I just need to be in the now every moment, working on it.

The point is that you don't need to work on it, just be there.

As Tolle said:

Allow this moment to be. Just allow it.

It's that simple.

I have a practical advise for you. If you really like this book, and you feel it has a profound effect on you - don' t accelerate reading. Read it slowly, very slowly. Meditate on every page.

I personally had been reading it for two months, two hours each day, meditating on some pages for hours, contemplating them, gazing at them, feeling the ribbing of paper, feeling the space that surrounds all of this. I've been reading this book like I'm normally listening to music.

Remember - when reading this book - you're actually not reading Tolle's writing - you're reading yourself. Give yourself time to read yourself.

That would be the most rewarding experience.

[starseed]

Great advice, thanks

[ChrisC]

On the concept of "working on it".

I can see how someone might intellectually understand the idea of focusing on the Now, but still have no idea of how to do it, primarily because there is no reference point. How can you focus on something when you don't know how it's supposed to feel?

That is where other spiritual practices come in, such as meditation, or chanting. These activities give you the opportunity to practice letting go of thoughts so you can experience the stillness. Once you have experienced it, then it is easier to go there at other times.

[AndyMartin]

There is striving and there is being. Striving seeks to change the moment, is attached to the result later of doing now, and thus is not in the moment. Being is, now. This is what is referred to as doing and non-doing. To do something, non-doing, is considered "right practice." Every moment is practice because there is no judgement of the outcome, no changing the moment; only being, now.

Just be.

I want the shoes that sell with that slogan!

[babuji]

Currently I'm in the middle of "The Power of Now" and found it to be quite powerful as I've found that every so often I was practicing being in the now even before I picked up the book, but not realizing what I was doing.

Nevertheless, I wanted to know whether anyone in here has become proficient in being in the present moment, and what type of effect it's had on you. Also, how did you go about making the change?

I believe this is definitely the way to go, but like any challenge, it takes some effort.

[impaul99]

Placebo: I ran into the same problem as you did in that I was wondering about how I could live "In the Now" while at the same time advancing my life. Most of the success in my life came out of visualizing a future that is better than today and raising my standards to reach that kind of future. Most of the people around me, like friends etc. just live their lives day to day and complaing about it all the time.

The hard part for me was to understand how you're supposed to Live in the Now while at the same time not becoming complacent and satisfied with mediocrity. Also, what if you're at work and you feel like taking a nap? Do you just live in the "now" and take the nap even though you know you'll get fired? But who cares, if you're truly in the now who cares what happens five minutes from now.

I can see how not caring about anything except the current moment, the current NOW can be beneficial but I can also see how it can lead to crime, pain, getting fired, etc.

After reading "The Disappearance of the Universe" and especially "Your Immortal Reality" (Part Two of Disappearance of the Universe), I finally understood how The Power of Now fits in.

Think of it as a tool, just like a hammer in your toolbox. The author points out that most of us are so busy using screw drivers and pliers that we never take the time to use the hammer. Once we read the book, we start to use the hammer to fix some problems we've had in the past like the nail sticking out of the wood etc. However, I see it only as ONE tool. It is just one tool that we can use to help our lives get better, however it shouldn't replace your entire toolbox, otherwise you'll try to hammer everything even when a screwdriver or a pair of pliers would do a better job.

It is because of this that I see The Power of Now as an incomplete book by itself. It points out a flaw that most of us fail to see in ourselves, and that is that we are pre-occupied with the past and the future and don't pay attention to the present enough, but there are times when we must think about the future in the present moment so that we can plan to have a better now in the future.

I don't think it would serve anyone to NEVER think about a past moment or a future moment. It just doesn't serve us to ONLY think about Past/Future, which is how most of us are starting to act nowadays.

As an example, in my martial arts training I come to class and do my best to pay attention to the present moment. I know some of our newer students are often pre-occupied with everything else except the present moment and often this slows their learning progress. Trying to learn a new technique while your mind is pre-occupied with what happened at lunch that day, or the arguement you had with your friend is useless.

[tekart]

I believe Eckart talks about this in The Power of Now. He said that it is OK to use the mind for tasks, when needed. If you need to find food, you are going to find food. It is OK to think of the future and the past, but not to "live" in the future and past.

Many people spend all of there time reliving things over and over again in their minds. They also tend to make the stories worse as they go along. They are so wrapped up in the story (unconscious) that their minds have a hard time distinguishing between what is real and what is the truth (the Now).

Just be careful not to get wrapped up in the process. Don't judge progress. Have faith and it will come. Once the journey starts, there is not stopping it.

[cedc]

Placebo, there is no contradiction. Living in the "Now" just means to focus completely on and be fully aware of the task at hand. So when you are planning for your future do just that, when you're doing something to change a habit, do just that.

Living in the Now does not mean that if you're tired and you're at work you take a nap. It means you are fully focused on the work to the exclusion of all else. So you would not feel tired because as soon as you feel tired you are no longer focused on your work.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by cedc

Placebo, there is no contradiction. Living in the "Now" just means to focus completely on and be fully aware of the task at hand. So when you are planning for your future do just that, when you're doing something to change a habit, do just that.

Living in the Now does not mean that if you're tired and you're at work you take a nap. It means you are fully focused on the work to the exclusion of all else. So you would not feel tired because as soon as you feel tired you are no longer focused on your work.

But isn't "feeling tired" something that is happening to you in that present moment? Why would you try to drown out what you're experiencing in that moment? That doesn't make sense to me. If his body is telling him that it is tired, because he didn't get any sleep as an example, and he's yawning, and finding it hard to concentrate, yet he continues to work because he has to get something finished before 5pm, to me that sounds like you're NOT living in the now, because in the NOW you feel tired. If there were no social rules of conduct, wouldn't the natural thing to do be to stop your work, find a place to take a nap for 20minutes and then come back to your work refreshed?

Isn't it only our society's rules that prevent us from living in the now by imposing limits on what we do? As another example, at my current job when I need to go to the washroom I just stop and go and come back, but when I used to work at McDonald's a long time ago I used to have to ask the manager if it's ok for me to go and he would look around to see who's working, how many people are waiting in the line-up, how busy it is and then either let me go or tell me to wait 10-15mins before he lets me go once things quiet down. However, during that 10-15mins, I was half focused on work and half focused on the fact that I have to go to the bathroom so isn't that kinda dumb? Wouldn't it be better to go to the washroom and come back and focus on your work 100%?

I don't know, I'm still somewhat confused about the concept because I don't see how someone can NOT live "In The Now". Even if you're thinking about the future, you're still doing it in the now, so how is someone daydreaming about tomorrow different then someone who formally sits down and does a goal-setting session? They are both doing it "in the now", no?

I do agree with the fact that too many people don't pay attention to the present moment in their lives. Meaning, if you go to see a movie, SEE the movie, don't sit there half watching the movie and at the same time thinking about your taxes because you wont' experience the movie to it's fullest. Maybe we're even saying the same thing, I don't know.

[Keith]

Placebo, Steve P actually addressed exactly your concern in this blog post:

How to set goals you will actually achieve.

I dunno that Echart Tolle would agree with his conclusions, but it's an answer...

[cedc]

Impaul99, living in the Now does not necessarily mean you do what you want when you want. It does mean that whatever you are doing you do with full awareness. Having said this, it doesn't mean that this is easily achieved however when you do it right life is much easier to cope with. In your example of being tired at work, if you cannot take a nap at work then you must focus on your work. This may not be easy but if you do it you will automatically forget that you are tired. It can't be any other way since you can't focus on two things at once.

I once had a day at home nursing a very sore throat and feeling very sorry for myself. My son who was only three wanted to play outside and I let him watching him from inside still feeling very sorry for myself. Suddenly he screamed out and I saw that he had walked into a wasps nest and was being stung. For the next half hour I was totally focused on administering first aid (fortunately I knew exactly what to do and he wasn't allergic to the stings). It was hours later that I realised I hadn't once noticed my sore throat. While it wasn't intentional, this experience made me realise the true power of focused awareness, living in the Now.

As for daydreaming, daydreaming by definition is usually done while doing something else like driving or sitting in a boring meeting. So daydreaming is not living in the Now. Conciously sitting down to plan your future and focusing all your awareness on this task is living in the Now.

I hope this makes sense.

[ludlow]

I don't know, I'm still somewhat confused about the concept because I don't see how someone can NOT live "In The Now". Even if you're thinking about the future, you're still doing it in the now, so how is someone daydreaming about tomorrow different then someone who formally sits down and does a goal-setting session? They are both doing it "in the now", no?

Fascinating thread.

Impaul99, I totally see your problem. Here's my attempt at an answer:

Tolle's whole point is that we are all, unavoidably, living in the now, yes, but that we all too easily slip into a way of existing that tries to deny that fact rather than fully accept it.

Thinking about the future in an emotionally invested way - because you think you'll be happy in the future, or that you are scared that you will not be happy in the future - is one central example of this, because it is logically contradictory. You will not be happier in the future for the simple fact that the future will never arrive. When it does, it will be now.

As others have said, that doesn't mean you can't use planning for the future as a practical tool, something you choose to do in the now because you perceive that it is beneficial for determining how you choose to act in any given unfolding present moment.

So actually I'd argue you're right - a formal goal setting session would be the same as a daydreaming session, IF the goal setting was done as part of a fantasy that achieving the goals would bring happiness in the future.

That's where the article Keith linked to comes in: we can choose to set goals based on what might prove fulfilling in each present moment, rather than based on some hazy future situation of having "finally got there".

[cedc]

Ludlow, time, like everything else in our physical universe, is one of our creations. We create time to experience growth and change. So when Tolle talks about us unavoidably living in the Now he is saying that is all we can do because time is an illusion. There is only the present moment. However we have come to accept our creations, including time, as the only reality and so most people live their lives in the past and pin their hopes in the future leaving the present moment unattended.
Having said that, we are here to experience time (along with our other creations). There is plenty of joy to be had in seeing your children grow up or seeing your garden bloom or watching the sun set on the horizon or even writing up a really good report for your manager. These things happen over time (albeit not real) or as you say, over "unfolding present moments". The point is to do these things with focused awareness. This is where the power is, focused awareness. This is what meditation helps us develop. This is what helps us cut through the illusion. This is what allows us to consciously create.
Of course I could just be talking S.O..B. ... or not ... you gotta love life!

[sunshinelady]

I have a cool link for 2 free audio downloads of Eckart Tolle about the topic:

click here

and enjoy

[Erock]

It's amazing. I totally feel like I already knew the stuff in this book and somehow he was reminding me, just like he said. I'm only about 20 pages in, but I am really enjoying it so far.

I have a question:

Do you keep observing the mind, and then eventually it just becomes infinitely silent? Is that what we're shooting for here?

Eric

[Erock]

Just wanted to add one more thing I noticed after reading the first 20 pages of the The Power of Now. I think that extroverted people are people that can "get out of their own head" when around other people, because when other people are around it is easier not to cling to your mind's self-created identity. Introverted people are those who still cling to their self-created ego/identity when around other people.

I'm not saying that extroverted people are enlightened when around other people, but they are clinging to their ego to a lesser degree. I think it is more difficult to stay present when you are by yourself.

Any thoughts????