Meditation Amsterdam - Introduction to The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle
Awakening might be impossible to explain or understand, but a serious step in that direction can be made by understanding the basic mechanism of the untrained mind.
This became clear to me once again as I read The Power of Now for the first time as hard copy surrounded by spiritual seekers in San Marcos Atitlan, Guatemala.
Hi everyone and welcome to this entry of the Meditation Amsterdam blog!
This became clear to me once again as I read The Power of Now for the first time as hard copy surrounded by spiritual seekers in San Marcos Atitlan, Guatemala.
Hi everyone and welcome to this entry of the Meditation Amsterdam blog!
On this entry I'd like to dive into one of my favourite books from 2016, which is The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle. I had stopped blogging for quite some time and I postponed the review of this book by a full 9 months!
Part of the reason is I really wanted to do the book justice and the first few times I covered it, took place on Audio Book format, read by Eckart himself. It's a great listen but it prevents me from forming an organised idea of the book in my head and also I can't underline which is a major issue when doing these reviews.
Part of the reason is I really wanted to do the book justice and the first few times I covered it, took place on Audio Book format, read by Eckart himself. It's a great listen but it prevents me from forming an organised idea of the book in my head and also I can't underline which is a major issue when doing these reviews.
What's the big deal with this book?!
The book is highly related to the topic of meditation and even though it can be criticised due to its lack of scientific rigor and occasional use of esoteric or spiritual language, the book did something life changing for me, which was to explain the default dynamic taking place in the mind, why and how to counter it.
Tolle essentially took concepts of Zen Buddhism and removed, I would say 80% of allegory, metaphor and mysticism, brining things down to a highly understandable level and by doing so has made enormous changes in many people's lives. The book seems to have also been picked up by semi-general public due to its new age vibe, despite the fact that many of the concepts he explains in it, have already been exposed by philosophers, psychoanalysts and also other proponents of Zen philosophy such as Allan Watts and J. Krishnamurti.
It's importance to the field of meditation is quite central because of its ability to explain the fundamental problem that we as humans are faced with. It doesn't necessarily offer a wide variety of solutions, or a detailed account of those that are in fact mentioned, but then the book is not a problem-solving recipe, but rather an essay on the subject of mindfulness.
Having said all this, it took a 10,000 mile trip and a joining of the selfie stick gang to record a vlog on the book, and begin unpacking it. To my surprise the planned "book review" turned into a series of episodes in which quite a few of the key concepts exposed by Eckart are explained and exemplified.
Awakening might be impossible to explain or understand, but a serious step in that direction can be made by understanding the basic mechanism of the untrained mind.
This became clear to me once again as I read The Power of Now for the first time as hard copy surrounded by spiritual seekers in San Marcos Atitlan, Guatemala. The town is well known as a spiritual center and to my surprise it seems to have worked quite well. One of the biggest surprises was how I remember a couple of basic ideas from the audiobook, but as I read it this time I underlined passages in almost every page.
Needless to say it is not the book which had changed.
Half way through the book the first vlog episode was created and this is a summary of that introduction to the book.
So, what is the book essentially does is to take a meta-perspective to the mind. It is a perspective that is outside of the mind's operation and therefore superior to it. As Einstein said "you have to go a paradigm higher".
Problems of the mind cannot be solved at the level of mind.
So at the core of all our issues is the fact that we are caught in the operations of the mind, its random repetitive ideas, memories, impulses. We confuse who we are with those operations. Incidentally meditation helps us break that identification. But while we don't meditate, our overactive mind, the instrument of mind as a great tool to solve problems has started to create problems of its own.
The mind is constantly worrying/hoping on future or regreting and reminiscing on the past. For those interested in neurology, the Default Network of the brain is the part responsible for such activity and it is espeically active when the mind is idle. The energy consumed by this rumination and unhappiness it creates.
This means that unless you've "found the off button" to the endless voice in your head, or a way to change the stories it tells, you are being ran by your mind.
Your disbelief has been suspended, and you're making the movie real
Your heart pounds, you sweat and jump, laugh and cry. If the director is good you'll be at the edge of your seat. You will have "forgotten your Self".
Turns out your brain is the most amazing movie screen, and your mind is the best director you can imagine. It presents you with virtual reality every waking hour and unless you have understood meditation and mindfulness, you'll be totally caught in the movie of the mind.
These movies can sometimes be pleasant daydreams but often they will be endless insecurities and old baggage replaying on your head over and over again, determining the quality of your life. The free stream of mind is often totally random or repetitive. It keeps you away from reality and life, and instead you're caught in a world of mental movies, concepts and conceptual rabbit holes with no answers.
If this wasn't enough, the movies created by the mind tend to be about topics which have an emotional grip on you, and you're caught in their energetic field. It drags you in by poking at your emotions.
Whether it is about things that shouldn't have happened in the past or stressful events that are looming, you are in your head instead of in your body in the now.
Hard to imagine but thinking and rumination is an addiction and the mind is a highly seductive pusher.
While it might take plenty of mindfulness to step out of it, the thing to remember is that as with any nightmare, the only real solution is to wake up. The disidentification of the movies in your mind is therefore often referred to as awakening or enlightenment. As soon as you notice the situation even if for a brief moment, an opening has been created.
The core of the book is to make the reader realize that he or she is identified with the mind and caught in mental movies.
This identification doesn't need to be with ideas in the mind. It can also happen with material posessions, talents, jobs, relationships, and so on. The invitation from Eckart is to stop placing our sense of self on things outside of us.
These external things (including thoughts, memories) are part of the World of Form, where things are constantly in flux. If your sense of self is attached to these, you've placed your sense of self to very shaky things, which in turn will make you fearful, angry and unhappy.
Once I read and understood this, my life began a transformation that has not stopped since, so in addition to being a review, this is certainly an invitation to read the book at least once per year and keep growing into it.
Namaste
www.meditationamsterdam.com
Having said all this, it took a 10,000 mile trip and a joining of the selfie stick gang to record a vlog on the book, and begin unpacking it. To my surprise the planned "book review" turned into a series of episodes in which quite a few of the key concepts exposed by Eckart are explained and exemplified.
The Nuts and Bolts, Mind your Mind
This became clear to me once again as I read The Power of Now for the first time as hard copy surrounded by spiritual seekers in San Marcos Atitlan, Guatemala. The town is well known as a spiritual center and to my surprise it seems to have worked quite well. One of the biggest surprises was how I remember a couple of basic ideas from the audiobook, but as I read it this time I underlined passages in almost every page.
Needless to say it is not the book which had changed.
Half way through the book the first vlog episode was created and this is a summary of that introduction to the book.
So, what is the book essentially does is to take a meta-perspective to the mind. It is a perspective that is outside of the mind's operation and therefore superior to it. As Einstein said "you have to go a paradigm higher".
Problems of the mind cannot be solved at the level of mind.
So at the core of all our issues is the fact that we are caught in the operations of the mind, its random repetitive ideas, memories, impulses. We confuse who we are with those operations. Incidentally meditation helps us break that identification. But while we don't meditate, our overactive mind, the instrument of mind as a great tool to solve problems has started to create problems of its own.
The mind is constantly worrying/hoping on future or regreting and reminiscing on the past. For those interested in neurology, the Default Network of the brain is the part responsible for such activity and it is espeically active when the mind is idle. The energy consumed by this rumination and unhappiness it creates.
This means that unless you've "found the off button" to the endless voice in your head, or a way to change the stories it tells, you are being ran by your mind.
The Cinema Analogy
The issue described above is not too different of how once we sit in a movie theatre, we quickly forget we're in a dark room looking at a canvas screen and we start to experience emotions based on what we see in the movie.Your disbelief has been suspended, and you're making the movie real
Your heart pounds, you sweat and jump, laugh and cry. If the director is good you'll be at the edge of your seat. You will have "forgotten your Self".
Turns out your brain is the most amazing movie screen, and your mind is the best director you can imagine. It presents you with virtual reality every waking hour and unless you have understood meditation and mindfulness, you'll be totally caught in the movie of the mind.
These movies can sometimes be pleasant daydreams but often they will be endless insecurities and old baggage replaying on your head over and over again, determining the quality of your life. The free stream of mind is often totally random or repetitive. It keeps you away from reality and life, and instead you're caught in a world of mental movies, concepts and conceptual rabbit holes with no answers.
If this wasn't enough, the movies created by the mind tend to be about topics which have an emotional grip on you, and you're caught in their energetic field. It drags you in by poking at your emotions.
Whether it is about things that shouldn't have happened in the past or stressful events that are looming, you are in your head instead of in your body in the now.
Hard to imagine but thinking and rumination is an addiction and the mind is a highly seductive pusher.
While it might take plenty of mindfulness to step out of it, the thing to remember is that as with any nightmare, the only real solution is to wake up. The disidentification of the movies in your mind is therefore often referred to as awakening or enlightenment. As soon as you notice the situation even if for a brief moment, an opening has been created.
In Short
The core of the book is to make the reader realize that he or she is identified with the mind and caught in mental movies.
This identification doesn't need to be with ideas in the mind. It can also happen with material posessions, talents, jobs, relationships, and so on. The invitation from Eckart is to stop placing our sense of self on things outside of us.
These external things (including thoughts, memories) are part of the World of Form, where things are constantly in flux. If your sense of self is attached to these, you've placed your sense of self to very shaky things, which in turn will make you fearful, angry and unhappy.
Once I read and understood this, my life began a transformation that has not stopped since, so in addition to being a review, this is certainly an invitation to read the book at least once per year and keep growing into it.
Namaste
www.meditationamsterdam.com
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