The Problem
People aren’t being nice to themselves, each other or the planet.
The Solution
We have to remember who we are: the Source of all Life, individualized. Remembering this will also help us remember that we’re all one. We will then treat each other with love and respect all the time.
Barriers to remembering
The pain body and the restless mind.
Restless mind
In most of us the mind doesn’t stop thinking. Just try to stop for five minutes. You’ll probably find you can’t even stop for one, let alone five or the rest of your life. The restless mind keeps looking to the past and/or the future instead of being in the now. It thinks the past and/or future is more important and more powerful than the now, which is the opposite of the truth.
Pain body
The pain from the past accumulates and lives on in us as the pain body. If you imagine it as an invisible entity you are close to what it actually is. It gets “triggered” (you’ve heard of buttons, right? Well, these are the buttons.) and the pain body can take you over. You think it’s you, but it isn’t. You’ll recognize this when it happens. Just look for signs of negativity. It can be in your thoughts, feelings, and moods. The body getting aches and pains is a sign the pain body is awakening. Have you ever thought you knew someone and then they start acting crazy? It’s probably the awakened pain body.
Methods for being in the Now
1) Observe your thoughts by listening to the voice in your head. You must listen to it NON-judgmentally. Don’t judge your thoughts, just observe them. This goes for times when the pain body has been activated, too. 2) Feel the inside of your body. If you close your eyes and feel the inside of your body, perhaps one part at a time, you can feel the energy moving through your body. This is the inner energy field. No matter what you are doing make it a habit to keep some of your attention on the inner energy field of your body. If you need help being in the body, the breath can help you get there. Just pay attention to your breathe going in and out of your body and you’ll soon have your attention in the body. 3) Catch the pain body as it starts to awaken, before it arises and takes you over, by paying attention when negativity starts to fill your mind. Listen to the voice in your head and feel the inside of your body and the pain body will loose power. The negativity will subside and so will your reaction.
How it works
As you live more and more in the now you reclaim energy that is being used up by the restless mind and energy that is stuck in the pain body. Consequently they lose their power. Through continuing effort, patience and perseverance you will be at peace. The mind will be calm; the pain body will dissolve and won’t cause you or anyone else, pain anymore. You reclaim this energy by being in the now.
Benefits of using these methods while in a relationship
Eckhart Tolle points out that relationships aren’t meant to make you happy. Really?!? Unfortunately, that isn’t surprising. What is surprising is that they don’t cause pain and unhappiness. They bring out the pain and unhappiness that’s already in you, you just blame it on your partner so it seems like the relationship is causing it. The good new is intimate relationships can be used to achieve enlightenment. It isn’t east at first but fortunately all it takes one person to make it work. You don’t need your partner’s cooperation. So don’t stress if they won’t cooperate, just do it for yourself.
Be the Watcher
Obviously the best thing is not to react at all. Just observe the other person’s reaction, non-judgmentally, while keeping your attention anchored in the moment. Watching what I eat, practicing the methods in Transforming Stress as well as the methods in The Power of Now have helped me cut down on being moody and getting angry in the first place. (12/06-I’ve since been working with the teaching in Ask and It Is Given and have raised my non-reaction to a whole new level.) The healing work I’ve done, books I’ve read and courses I’ve taken have really worked tremendously to bring me to this place of emotional health and well-being. It’s been a hard, long 16 years since I started my own healing and spiritual journey and the road hasn’t always been easy. In fact it was hardly ever easy but it had to be done. Now I’m closer to being the change I want to see in the world. As we heal ourselves we help millions of others to heal as well. And now I can share the things that have helped me get to this place so you can get to it too
More than I can possibly write about here
There is so much more in and to this book: being in the body as a means of being more creative; finding inner-peace; healing the body; clearing the toxins in our body and planet and so much more. The author’s voice even works toward make people more conscious. I must tell you that there are probably a great many phrases in this writing that are direct quotes from the book. I have been listening to the audio CDs of both The Power of Now and Practicing the Power of Now for two years now so it’s hard for me to totally paraphrase everything. I hear Eckhart Tolle’s voice in my head and it really helps me throughout the day. It’s also merged with my own thinking so I remember the book in much the way it was written. No plagiarism was intended and I tried to change phrases as best I could.
Tips to successful practice
Listen to the CDs or read some of the book every day. Practice being in the body when you are doing everyday things like washing dishes, climbing the stairs or after getting in your car. There are meditations in the book to help if you have trouble feeling the inside of your body. What you can also do is try feeling your body after you have done some aerobic activity (if your doctor says you can do aerobic activity). I have found it 100 times easier to feel my inner energy field when my blood is really pumping. Accept where you are and be there fully. Even if the pain body is active in you, don’t try to be in any state other than the one you’re in. Wanting to be in a state other than the one your in is projecting yourself into the future. I’ve noticed that I naturally stop listening to the CDs for a little while. Other things just come up that I want to listen to but I always continue practicing. I just return to listening to the CDs when it seems right. I alternated between The Power of Now (7 CDs) and the abridged version, Practicing the Power of Now (3 CDs).