The Power Of The Now is possibly the greatest, the most life-changing book of our times. It is a key to awakening and liberation. A key to freedom from your own mind. An end to all your suffering.
Yet – only for some % of the readers.
Why is that you may wonder. What is it that people miss in understanding The Power Of The Now?
What is the difference between the people that have read the book and it has changed their life forever and the people that have read it and feel nothing special about it?
Understanding The Power Of The Now
The Power Of Now is not a normal regular fiction book. It is not enough to pass by it and put it on your book shelf. Take time to pause when needed, take a moment to realize that there is possibly something wrong in the thinking process that we all human beings have. Pay attention when you read. The author Eckhart Tolle is even marking moments in the text where you should possibly pause for a moment and have a reflection.
Try to practice and implement what he is telling you.
For the whole your life you were taught to think in a certain way. You thought that you are your mind and you should identify with it. Possibly if you came so far and you are reading this article you feel somehow that it is not entirely true.
I will tell you more – it is not true at all.
Possibly you have already the “aha” moment when you saw that you can actually observe your own thinking. If you are observing your own thinking then who is the observer? Who is the one observing?
If you are observing your thinking then who is the one observing the mind? So are you the mind? Are you the observer? Or are you both?
If you came this far – you are already waking up. You will start to see the bigger picture.
How To Access The Now
In order to be fully present you have to stop thinking for a moment. It is easier to say than to do.
Your mind is a compulsive thinking machine. It hardly ever stops. It is a very noisy thing. You can hear the constant noise, thoughts, internal dialog.
Eckhart Tolle gave us a few methods on how to access the present moment more easily. You can’t really be present by thinking about it. Deep and real presence is not an another thought. You have to stop thoughts for a moment to see it.
At the beginning you may experience kind of bliss or a pleasant inner peace or a feeling of freedom and deep joy. After so much time, maybe years or possibly even your whole life of constant mind activity it may be a pleasant moment of a rest for you.
Maybe it won’t be long at the beginning but it will be a big first step.
There are a few techniques / methods / portals (nevermind the name) that can help you to be in the NOW.
The key is to take attention out of your mind and move it to the reality – to the present moment. There are few portals that can root you in the NOW, usually they would be your senses or simply a parts of your body. Your body and your senses are simply rooted in reality, they are real and they are here and now. They will help you take the attention out of you mind and in the effect – they will bring you to the NOW.
Portals that you can try out are as following:
- Feel your own hands. Feel the energy within them. Feel them as they are. Focus on them. This is an easy exercise for the start.
- Feel your whole body. Scan your body. Don’t think about it. Feel it internally. Feel the energy within your body. Focus on it for a moment.
- Focus on your breath. Take a few breaths in and out. Focus on the feeling of breathing.
- Listen to the silence around you. There is always some silence around you. Hear the silence. Listen to it. Look for the silence among the sounds, behind the sounds. The dimension of the silence is there. Look for it. It also takes away your attention from the mind.
- Observe your own mind like a rabbit hole and wait for your next thought. Wait as it will appear and let it go. What thought will come out next? Wait and observe. Observe your mind. When the thought will arise – just let it go. Do it for few minutes.
- Accept everything as it is. Surrender to the reality as it is. Accept everything for the moment. Accept everything as it is this moment. Don’t asses it or judge it. Just take it as it is. Surrender to everything. Just let it go.
Try all the mentioned above portals. Some of them may work better for you. You may have better understanding of some of them and they will bring you to the presence more easily.
When you are practicing being present – try to look around. See the things around you. Go for a walk. Observe. Don’t think or try to asses anything. Just be there. Rest in the present moment. You will see that suddenly everything looks more alive.
You may find it easier possibly when you will keep in touch all the same time with your body.
For example while walking try to feel your hands, or your whole body. This will help you stay rooted in the present moment.
We have a completely free online game on this website – it is called The Observer – you may find it as a very pleasant exercise for you. I really encourage you to try and to practice it.
The reality – the feeling of presence – will eventually stay longer with you. You will see also the amazing benefits of it very soon. Every area of your life will improve.
With time maybe you will find it as a good idea to read The Power Of Now again to have better understanding of it. I myself have read it few times as well as I have listen to the audio version. It won’t be for sure a wasted time. Here you can find the introduction to the book if you want to feel more inspired to read it again.
After the awakening I would suggest you to read one more book – it will help you with understanding what has actually happened to you and how to take it from there.
The author Adyashanti, the book “The End Of Your World”.
Also later with time you may find interesting to watch Eckhart Tolle (the author of The Power Of Now) YouTube videos. One of them I will place here below to inspire you and to feel hos energy.
Good luck and practice being present!