This is the first in my 'tribute series' of modern thinkers, whose Books and Talks have influenced me greatly. It is my journey of personal transformation and understanding of human nature, and I share the same with my readers.
Why share ? I understand that every one seeks personal transformation but are so preoccupied with their day to day living, that in spite of their best intentions, they are not able to devote much time, or the inclination and urge is not there.
But I am confident, that if just excerpts are shared, and just a few of the nuggets read may make an impact on some of my readers, I will consider it as a befitting tribute to the modern thinkers.
The nuggets of wisdom that I have managed to pick up - the 'Aha' moments may also help you my readers in better and compassionate understanding of life, and bring about personal transformation.
Short Introduction:
Eckhart Tolle is regarded as one of the most spiritually influential person.
His two most influential Books - The Power of Now ( 3 million copies sold till 2009) A New Earth ( 5 million copies sold till 2009) and approx: 35 million people around the world participated in a series of 10 web seminars held with Oprah Winfrey.
His childhood and growing up years were far from ideal, and he was depressed and had contemplated suicide, until one night at the age of 29 he experienced 'inner transformation' followed by wanderings, "in a deep state of bliss".
QUOTES :
You are here to enable a divine purpose of the Universe to unfold - That is how important you are.
Whatever the present
moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it
Realize deeply that
the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your
life.
The primary cause of
unhappiness is never the situation but thought about it. Be aware of the
thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always
neutral. It is as it is.
As soon as you honor
the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to
flow with joy and ease. When you act out the present-moment awareness, whatever
you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love - even the most
simple action
In today's rush we
all think too much, seek too much, want too much and forget about the joy of
just Being.
Be at least as interested in what goes on
inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside
will fall into place.
Wherever you are, be there totally. If you
find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three
options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally.
Life is now. There was never a time when
your life was not now, nor will there ever be.
Power over others is weakness disguised as
strength. True power if within, and it is available to you now.
The truth is: you don't have a life, you are life. The One Life, the one consciousness that pervades the entire universe and takes temporary form to experience itself as a stone or blade of grass, as an animal, a person, a star or a galaxy.
Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is birth. Life is eternal.
Death is a stripping away of all that is
not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die" — and find
that there is no death.
QUOTES :
Fear, anxiety, anger, bearing grudge, sadness, hatred or intense dislike, jealousy, envy - all disrupt the energy flow through the body, affect the heart, the immune system, digestion, production of hormones and so on.
Cleverness pursues its own little aims. Intelligence sees the larger whole in which all things are connected. Cleverness is motivated by self interest, and is extremely shortsighted. Cleverness divides, intelligence includes.
A genuine relationship is one that is not dominated by ego, which is image making and self seeking. In genuine relationship, there is an outward flow of open, alert attention towards the other person, in which there is no wanting whatsoever.
Whatever tragic loss occurs, you either resist or you yield. Some people become bitter or deeply resentful; others become compassionate, wise and loving. Yielding means inner acceptance of what is.
The small me that seeks security or fulfillment in things that are transient and gets anxious or angry because it fails to find it. Well at least now you know, who you really think you are.
The ego's unconscious core feeling of 'not enough' causes it to react to someone else's success as if that success had taken something away from me.
"One day I will be free of the ego" Who is talking ? The ego. To become free of the ego is not a big job but a small one. All you need to do is to be aware of your thoughts and emotions - as they happen. This is not 'doing' but an alert 'seeing'. When that shift happens, which is shift from thinking to awareness, an intelligence far greater that the ego's cleverness begins to operate in your life.
In the proximity of death, the whole concept of ownership stands revealed as ultimately meaningless.
CARRYING THE PAST :
The inability or rather unwillingness of human mind 'to let go' of the past is beautifully illustrated in the story of two Zen monks - Tanzan and Ekido, who were walking long the country road that had become extremely muddy after heavy rains.
Near a village, they came upon a young woman who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep that it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and carried her to the other side.
The monks walked in silence. Five hours later, as they approached their lodging, Ekido could not restrain himself any longer. " Why did you carry that girl across the road ? he asked. " We monks are not supposed to do things like that"
"I put the girl down hours ago" said Tanzan. " Are you still carrying her ?"
Now imagine what life would be like for someone who lived like Ekido all the time, unable or unwilling to let go internally of situations, accumulating more and more ' stuff' inside, and you get a sense of what life is like for the majority of people on our planet. What a heavy burden of past they carry around with them in their minds.
For readers who may be interested to read further, I share the following links from my earlier posts, based on my reading and reflection of modern thinkers.
http://mindmints.blogspot.in/2010/10/no-mind-in-namaz-natural-state-of-felt.html
QUOTES :
Fear, anxiety, anger, bearing grudge, sadness, hatred or intense dislike, jealousy, envy - all disrupt the energy flow through the body, affect the heart, the immune system, digestion, production of hormones and so on.
Cleverness pursues its own little aims. Intelligence sees the larger whole in which all things are connected. Cleverness is motivated by self interest, and is extremely shortsighted. Cleverness divides, intelligence includes.
A genuine relationship is one that is not dominated by ego, which is image making and self seeking. In genuine relationship, there is an outward flow of open, alert attention towards the other person, in which there is no wanting whatsoever.
Whatever tragic loss occurs, you either resist or you yield. Some people become bitter or deeply resentful; others become compassionate, wise and loving. Yielding means inner acceptance of what is.
The small me that seeks security or fulfillment in things that are transient and gets anxious or angry because it fails to find it. Well at least now you know, who you really think you are.
The ego's unconscious core feeling of 'not enough' causes it to react to someone else's success as if that success had taken something away from me.
"One day I will be free of the ego" Who is talking ? The ego. To become free of the ego is not a big job but a small one. All you need to do is to be aware of your thoughts and emotions - as they happen. This is not 'doing' but an alert 'seeing'. When that shift happens, which is shift from thinking to awareness, an intelligence far greater that the ego's cleverness begins to operate in your life.
The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.
Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won't die. You will come to life. And don't be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it's their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don't be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.
Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.
You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.
Living up to an image that you have of yourself or that other people have of you is inauthentic living.
What a liberation to realize that the “voice in my head” is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that.
What a liberation to realize that the “voice in my head” is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that.
In the proximity of death, the whole concept of ownership stands revealed as ultimately meaningless.
CARRYING THE PAST :
The inability or rather unwillingness of human mind 'to let go' of the past is beautifully illustrated in the story of two Zen monks - Tanzan and Ekido, who were walking long the country road that had become extremely muddy after heavy rains.
Near a village, they came upon a young woman who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep that it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and carried her to the other side.
The monks walked in silence. Five hours later, as they approached their lodging, Ekido could not restrain himself any longer. " Why did you carry that girl across the road ? he asked. " We monks are not supposed to do things like that"
"I put the girl down hours ago" said Tanzan. " Are you still carrying her ?"
Now imagine what life would be like for someone who lived like Ekido all the time, unable or unwilling to let go internally of situations, accumulating more and more ' stuff' inside, and you get a sense of what life is like for the majority of people on our planet. What a heavy burden of past they carry around with them in their minds.
For readers who may be interested to read further, I share the following links from my earlier posts, based on my reading and reflection of modern thinkers.
http://mindmints.blogspot.in/2010/10/no-mind-in-namaz-natural-state-of-felt.html
1 comment:
Very good summary
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