Maybe this German-born Canadian can help you become less distracted
If you think these titles sound new-agey and corny you are absolutely right. But if you can get past your first impressions, there\’s some good stuff in these books.Basically, Eckhart Tolle thinks presence is the key to a good life. He distills and reiterates many ancient spiritual teachings into these books for modern culture that touch on about every topic central to the human condition(time, joy, pain, relationships to name a few).I read Power of Now before I read A New Earth and during the time I was reading it, I felt noticeably calmer and more present in my everyday life. Whenever I came back to the book, it felt like I was recharging in this presence even more. While I don\’t think about these books often, they have definitely made me more thoughtful and start taking slow breaths every so often, which has had a long term positive impact on me.I highly recommend reading one of these books. I read A New Earth after The Power of Now and it felt kind of repetitive but if you are more of a skeptic or want more down-to-earth language I\’d recommend reading A New Earth. Here are my notes from both books. A lot of these terms won\’t really make sense without the full context so I do recommend reading them fully.
A New Earth
Words can cast a hypnotic spell on you
You think you know what something is when you have attached a word to it…but you don’t know what it is
“I”-fundamental illusion of identity if you can recognize illusions as an illusion, it dissolves
The ego isn’t wrong; it’s just unconscious
Make it a habit to feel your inner body, life energy, aliveness, as much as you can
There is a consciousness behind your thoughts, an awareness that views them.
A thought can at best point to the truth but it never is the truth
The more shared past there is in a relationship, the more present you need to be
You become most powerful in whatever you do if the action is performed for its own sake rather than a means to protect, enhance or conform to your role identity
Be one with whatever you are doing, fully conscious and in the now
When work is no more than a means to an end, it cannot be of high quality
Don’t let your personality, which is conditioned by the past, become your prison
You can’t receive what you don’t give
Awakened Doing
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Acceptance-accept that this is what I have to do, being at peace
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Enjoyment-deep sense of aliveness flowing into your activity from within you, you bring joy
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Enthusiasm-deep enjoyment plus added vision of a goal
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The Power of NowBeing- eternal, ever-present one life deep within every form as its innermost, indestructible essence, it can be felt but it can never be understood mentallyidentification with your mind, incessant mental noise keeps you from BeingEnlightenment-natural state of felt oneness with Being, it is essentially you and yet much greater than youego-false self caused by unconscious identification with the mind, a formed image of who you are which survives through constant thinkingego is a derived sense of self that needs to identify with external things, possessions, work, physical appearance, relationships-none of these are YOUemotion- a reflection of your mind in your bodyThe less identified you are with your mind the less you will get carried away with your emotions.Pleasure comes from outside the body, joy arises from withinTrying to have power over others is weakness disguised as strength. Have true power over yourself and your thoughts.To be identified with your mind is to be trapped in time.
The Now is all there is. The eternal present is the space within which your whole life unfolds. There was never a time when you life wasn\’t now, nor will there be.
The moment you realize you are not present, you are present.Anxiety, tension, stress, and worry are all forms of fear and caused by thinking too much about the future and not being present enoughGuilt, regret, resentment, sadness and bitterness are all forms of unforgiveness and caused by thinking too much about the past and not being present enoughNothing or no one will save you or make you happy. You are already complete.Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain.Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life! Accept the present moment unconditionally.
