eckhart tolle

Peace in Unlikely Places

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“Instead of seeking liberation in some future moment, realize that the “limitations” you are experiencing right now are openings into presence…into space. When you surrender to that, you are rooted into the formless and deep peace.

Nothing in the world of form matters that much.”

Eckhart Tolle

 

Today’s Challenge

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Next Book Title Votes from my sixth graders

Can you stop thinking?

Try it.

Say, I will stop thinking now. Then, wait.        Wait.                 Wait.

How long before a thought comes?

Try it again.

This is practice and you’ll get better.

We grow up believing that people who think are smarter.

Of course, one needs to think in order to achieve or produce.

But most of the time, we have 12,000-60,000 thoughts a day and research has shown that over 90% of those thoughts are repeated thoughts from the day before. Completely unnecessary.

This is the gateway to personal power and inner peace.

 

Frivolity

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We have a natural tendency to be preoccupied with things and competition (Mine is better than yours, I make more than you, I’m good at this, what are you good at?)

But there comes a time when this comes to a natural conclusion (perhaps a little after adulthood), and can be replaced by something deeper: Finding your essence identity (spiritual dimension).

The material and form identities still exist, but they should no longer give you a sense of who you are.

Lighten up. It’s just form. You never cease being you and there’s no need to get excited or stressed about the forms that happen in your life.

(Eckhart Tolle)

Wanting

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“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”  Dalai Lama

Sometimes, we want something very badly: a new job, a promotion, a raise, or an award of some kind. It’s usually because obtaining it would give us meaning, value or respect in the eyes of others.

It’s good to strive for better. It’s good to push yourself. But it’s in the effort that the reward sits, not in the fruit.

Eckhart Tolle says, “How do you let go of attachments of things? Don’t even try. Effort creates attachment. Attachment to things drops away by itself when you no longer seek to find yourself in them.”

Byron Katie reminds us that (for example) when it comes to working hard to get a new job (crafting your resume and cover letter, preparing for the interview), that is YOUR business. But when it comes to deciding whether you get that job, that is THEIR business and all the rest is up to “god” (her definition of god is reality).

So stay in your business. Live each moment fully. And let everything else go.