Action Thursday - The Power of Now - Pursuing External Goals in the State of Wholeness

For our Action Thursday, we'll take a look at another excerpt taken from Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now - A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. It discusses how even as we're in the state of wholeness we can be willing and able to pursue external goals while living in the Power of Now.

"Of course, but you will not have illusory expectations that anything or anybody in the future will save you or make you happy. As far as your life situation is concerned, there may be things to be attained or acquired. That's the world of form, of gain and loss. Yet on a deeper level you are already complete, and when you realize that, there is a playful, joyous energy behind what you do.

Being free of psychological time, you no longer pursue your goals with grim determination, driven by fear, anger, discontent, or the need to become someone. Nor will you remain inactive through fear of failure, which to the ego is loss of self.

When your deeper sense of self is derived from Being, when you are free of "becoming" as a psychological need, neither your happiness nor your sense of self depends on the outcome, and so there is freedom from fear. You don't seek permanency where it cannot be found; in the world of form, of gain and loss, birth and death. You don't demand that situations, conditions, places, or people should make you happy, and then suffer when they don't live up to your expectations.

Everything is honored, but nothing matters. Forms are born and die, yet you are aware of the eternal underneath the forms. You know that "nothing real can be threatened."

When this is your state of Being, how can you not succeed? You have succeeded already."

To discover how you can use The Power of Now to overcome many of the daily struggles faced by mentally living in the past and in the future instead of Now (the present), click to learn more The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment.

The Power of Now - Focus on the Task at Hand

The following is an excerpt taken from Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now - A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. It discusses the importance of focusing on the task at hand instead of the results to experience the joy of being living in the Power of Now.

"So do not be concerned with the fruit of your action - just give attention to the action itself. The fruit will come of its own accord. This is a powerful spiritual practice."

Let's take a closer look at this statement and use a practical example for more clarity. As a gardener, it is your responsibility to sow the seed into the soil, water the garden, pull the weeds and ensure no pests devour your plants. That's the action that you give attention to. You cannot make the harvest come in, you cannot make the plant bear fruit, neither is it your responsibility to do that.

With that said, it would be very silly to frustrate yourself over the fruit and be mentally occupied in fear and worry about its appearance. But that's what we do all the time; become so mentally occupied with the fruit time, the results of what we desire, that we lose the joy of doing - the joy of nurturing the garden, the journey.

Excerpt continued

"When the compulsive striving away from the Now ceases, the joy of Being flows into everything you do. The moment your attention turns to the Now, you feel a presence, a stillness, a peace. You no longer depend on the future for fulfillment and satisfaction - you don't look to it for salvation. Therefore, you are not attached to the results. Neither failure nor success has the power to change your inner state of Being. You have found the life underneath your life situation."

As the gardeners of our lives, we can find fulfillment and satisfaction even in our mundane daily activities. We can be happy now and not wait for a future occasion, when the fruit appears, to be happy. Looking to the future event or circumstances for our current happiness only puts us in a position of giving our power away to something outside of ourselves. We are left standing on sinking sand and not on a solid foundation of inner peace and state of being.

Excerpt continued

"In the absence of psychological time, your sense of self is derived from Being, not from your personal past. Therefore, the psychological need to become anything other than who you are already is no longer there. In the world, on the level of your life situation, you may indeed become wealthy, knowledgeable, successful, free of this or that, but in the deeper dimension of Being you are complete and whole now."

Isn't it liberating to know that we are complete and whole now regardless of what our external circumstances display? We can start each day with a new slate freeing ourselves from the mistakes of the past and moving onward onto a better today. As a matter of fact, this state of being opens up the door for the life-giving flow of the Spirit to supply us with all we need.

To discover how you can use The Power of Now to overcome many of the daily struggles faced by mentally living in the past and in the future instead of Now (the present), click to learn more The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment.

The Power of Now - The Joy of Being

The following is an excerpt taken from Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now - A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. It discusses how being controlled by psychological time causes life to become laborious instead of joy and ease which comes with living in the Power of Now.

"To alert you that you have allowed yourself to be taken over by psychological time, you can use a simple criterion. Ask yourself: Is there joy, ease and lightness in what I am doing? If there isn't, then time is covering up the present moment, and life is perceived as a burden or a struggle.

If there is no joy, ease, or lightness in what you are doing, it does not necessarily mean that you need to change what you are doing. It may be sufficient to change the how. "How" is always more important than "what." See if you can give much more attention to the doing than to the result that you want to achieve through it. Give your fullest attention to whatever the moment presents. This implies that you also completely accept what is, because you cannot give your full attention to something and at the same time resist it.

As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease. When you act out of present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love - even the most simple action."

To discover how you can use The Power of Now to overcome many of the daily struggles faced by mentally living in the past and in the future instead of Now (the present), click to learn more The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment.

The Power of Now - Letting Go of Psychological Time

The following is an excerpt taken from Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now - A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment which discusses the difference between psychological time and clock time and how our identity with psychological time inhibits our being able to live in the Power of Now.

"Learn to use time in the practical aspects of your life - we may call this "clock time" - but immediately return to present-moment awareness when those practical matters have been dealt with. In this way, there will be no buildup of "psychological time," which is identification with the past and continuous compulsive projection into the future.

Clock time is not just making an appointment or planning a trip. It includes learning from the past so that we don't repeat the same mistakes over and over. Setting goals and working toward them. Predicting the future by means of patterns and laws, physical, mathematical and so on, learned from the past and taking appropriate action on the basis of our predictions.

But even here, within the sphere of practical living, where we cannot do without reference to past and future, the present moment remains the essential factor. Any lesson from the past becomes relevant and is applied now. Any planning as well as working toward achieving a particular goal is done now.

The enlightened person's main focus of attention is always the Now, but they are still peripherally aware of time. In other words, they continue to use clock time but are free of psychological time.

Be alert as you practice this so that you do not unwittingly transform clock time into psychological time. For example, if you made a mistake in the past and learn from it now, you are using clock time. On the other hand, if you dwell on it mentally, and self-criticism, remorse, or guilt come up, then you are making the mistake into "me" and "mine": You make it part of your sense of self, and it has become psychological time, which is always linked to a false sense of identity. Nonforgiveness necessarily implies a heavy burden of psychological time.

If you set yourself a goal and work toward it, you are using clock time. You are aware of where you want to go, but you honor and give your fullest attention to the step that you are taking at this moment. If you then become excessively focused on the goal, perhaps because you are seeking happiness, fulfillment, or a more complete sense of self in it, the Now is no longer honored.

It becomes reduced to a mere stepping stone to the future, with no intrinsic value. Clock time then turns into psychological time. Your life's journey is no longer an adventure, just an obsessive need to arrive, to attain, to "make it." You no longer see or smell the flowers by the wayside either, nor are you aware of the beauty and the miracle of life that unfolds all around you when you are present in the Now. "

To discover how you can use The Power of Now to overcome many of the daily struggles faced by mentally living in the past and in the future instead of Now (the present), click to learn more The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment.

2 Keys to Living in the Power of Now - Part 3

In order to become more successful at living in the power of now, these 2 important keys unlock the door to attaining this spiritual level of enlightenment.

1) Become more 'now' conscious

Develop the now consciousness by becoming more now conscious. Pay attention to what's in front of you, to what you're currently doing. E.g. when you're driving your car, you know your destiny but you need to be present; you need to be conscious now to the road that's directly in front of you, to where you're driving, to the street signs, to what the other drivers are doing and not on the destination.

You know you will get to your destination eventually which will become your now. But until you get there, pay attention, be alert to what you're doing now and that will get you safely to your future destination.

2) Apply the formula for success

R=IOT - Repetition = Imprint Over Time

Success in anything requires repetition. You don't get good at riding a bicycle by riding it only one time. It's the constant repetition of the principles of balancing that you master each time you get on the bicycle.

Similarly, practicing living in the power of Now needs to be a constant daily practice in order to change the old way of thinking and adopt the mindset of living in the present. Many of the memories of the past may come rushing back to the conscious mind fighting for a way to capture your attention again. Many of your future joys may entrance you and cause you to miss the moment of expressing gratitude for what you currently have. But be persist and in time the new habit will begin to create the imprint on your subconscious and ultimately expressed in your daily lifestyle.

As you rest and relax, become still and allow your mind and body to be absorb with the state of being and feeling inner joy and peace. Here you will draw the energy you need to vitalize every part of you and fill the void you feel within. There's power in stillness. There's power in silence. Practice silence and reap the benefits of a satisfying and enriched life.

Click on the Power of Now to find out how you can learn more of Living in Power of Now and achieve spiritual enlightenment.

3 Steps to Living in the Power of Now - Part 2

Living in the Power of Now enables you to activate the power that's available to you now. Power does not come to you for a past event. Neither does it come to you for something you're going to do in the future.

Power comes to you now! Now, when you need it to carry out the task that's immediately in front of you. Now, when you need to make a decision. Now, when you need wisdom to overcome your current situation. Being more in the present, in the Now, you can be in the constant flow of Infinite Energy to rise above any situation you face now.

What then can you do to embrace living in the power of now?

1) Observe your mind

Because the mind is the tool to express who you are through the law of thinking, take the time to observe how your current state of mind is controlling you as it runs on autopilot. If you're unable to stop thinking at will and just allow your mind to rest, your mind is in control of you. It's draining vital energy when you should be resting and energizing your body. This is the first step to taking control of your mind and not your mind controlling you - observing what your mind is doing.

2) Release the past

As you observe your mind, you can begin to filter out those thoughts and thinking patterns that are not in harmony with who you desire to be. Release the past negative experiences and don't allow them to be your present preoccupation to inhibit your future growth. Release the past positive experiences in gratitude so that you can embrace more new positive experiences that you'd never thought of by living in the power of now.

3) Release the future

Living in the future, for that moment when everything will become better, puts you in a state of being constantly absent from the present. There needs to be a balance - a time to think about the future, but then you need to become present so you can get wisdom and engage in the necessary steps, in the now, that will become your future results.

Click on the Power of Now to find out how you can learn more of Living in Power of Now and achieve spiritual enlightenment.

Living in the Power of Now - Part 1

What will you do with Now? Will you continue to live in the past, as good or bad as it was? 'Was' being the operative word here - it's gone. Or will you constantly live in the future - that which is not here yet?

Your past and your future only exist in your mind. All you have is here and now. Will you give your power to the past, releasing all your energies into something that no longer exists? Will you dwell in fear of the future that has not yet come?

Everything that is created has been created in the here and Now. When we allow our attention to be constantly preoccupied with the past and the future, we lose the energy for creative power in the Now.

What happens when we are preoccupied in the present with the past?

The Now becomes the past and presents itself with another missed opportunity to enjoy the peace and power that exists only in the Now.

What happens when we are preoccupied in the present with the future?

Preoccupation with the future robs us of consciously seeing and appreciating what the present, the moment of Now has for us. We miss when the Spirit brings answers to us because we're unable to immediately recognize it when it appears. We miss the still small voice of wisdom and the joys that the present holds because we're constantly looking for joy, peace and a better life somewhere sometime in the future.

Click on the Power of Now to find out how you can learn more of Living in Power of Now and achieve spiritual enlightenment.