TOWARD A DIFFERENT ORDER OF REALITY - раздел Образование, Acclaim for THE POWER OF NOW
I Don’T Agree That The Body Needs To Die. I Am Convinced That...
I don’t agree that the body needs to die. I am convinced that we can
achieve physical immortality. We believe in death and that’s why the
body dies.
The body does not die because you believe in death. The body exists,
or seems to, because you believe in death. Body and death are part of
the same illusion, created by the egoic mode of consciousness, which
has no awareness of the Source of life and sees itself as separate and
constantly under threat. So it creates the illusion that you are a body,
a dense, physical vehicle that is constantly under threat.
To perceive yourself as a vulnerable body that was born and a little
later dies — that’s the illusion. Body and death: one illusion. You
cannot have one without the other. You want to keep one side of the
illusion and get rid of the other, but that is impossible. Either you
keep all of it or you relinquish all of it.
However, you cannot escape from the body, nor do you have to. The
body is an incredible misperception of your true nature. But your true
nature is concealed somewhere within that illusion, not outside it, so
the body is still the only point of access to it.
If you saw an angel but mistook it for a stone statue, all you would
have to do is adjust your vision and look more closely at the “stone
statue,” not start looking somewhere else. You would then find that
there never was a stone statue.
If belief in death creates the body, why does an animal have a body?
An animal doesn’t have an ego, and it doesn’t believe in death. . . .
But it still dies, or seems to.
Remember that your perception of the world is a reflection of your
state of consciousness. You are not separate from it, and there is no
objective world out there. Every moment, your consciousness creates
the world that you inhabit. One of the greatest insights that has come
out of modern physics is that of the unity between the observer and
the observed: the person conducting the experiment — the observing
consciousness — cannot be separated from the observed phenomena,
and a different way of looking causes the observed phenomena to
behave differently. If you believe, on a deep level, in separation and
the struggle for survival, then you see that belief reflected all around
you and your perceptions are governed by fear. You inhabit a world of
death and of bodies fighting, killing, and devouring each other.
Nothing is what it seems to be. The world that you create and see
through the egoic mind may seem a very imperfect place, even a vale
of tears. But whatever you perceive is only a kind of symbol, like an
image in a dream. It is how your consciousness interprets and
interacts with the molecular energy dance of the universe. This
energy is the raw material of so-called physical reality. You see it in
terms of bodies and birth and death, or as a struggle for survival. An
infinite number of completely different interpretations, completely
different worlds, is possible and, in fact, exists — all depending on the
perceiving consciousness. Every being is a focal point of
consciousness, and every such focal point creates its own world,
although all those worlds are interconnected. There is a human world,
an ant world, a dolphin world, and so on. There are countless beings
whose consciousness frequency is so different from yours that you are
probably unaware of their existence, as they are of yours. Highly
conscious beings who are aware of their connectedness with the
Source and with each other would inhabit a world that to you would
appear as a heavenly realm — and yet all worlds are ultimately one.
Our collective human world is largely created through the level of
consciousness we call mind. Even within the collective human world
there are vast differences, many different “sub-worlds,” depending on
the perceivers or creators of their respective worlds. Since all worlds
are interconnected, when collective human consciousness becomes
transformed, nature and the animal kingdom will reflect that
transformation. Hence the statement in the Bible that in the coming
age “The lion shall lie down with the lamb.” This points to the
possibility of a completely different order of reality.
The world as it appears to us now is, as I said, largely a reflection of
the egoic mind. Fear being an unavoidable consequence of egoic
delusion, it is a world dominated by fear. Just as the images in a
dream are symbols of inner states and feelings, so our collective
reality is largely a symbolic expression of fear and of the heavy layers
of negativity that have accumulated in the collective human psyche.
We are not separate from our world, so when the majority of humans
become free of egoic delusion, this inner change will affect all of
creation. You will literally inhabit a new world. It is a shift in planetary
consciousness. The strange Buddhist saying that every tree and every
blade of grass will eventually become enlightened points to the same
truth. According to St. Paul, the whole of creation is waiting for
humans to become enlightened. That is how I interpret his saying that
“The created universe is waiting with eager expectation for God’s sons
to be revealed.” St. Paul goes on to say that all of creation will
become redeemed through this: “Up to the present. . .the whole
created universe in all its parts groans as if in the pangs of childbirth.”
What is being born is a new consciousness and, as its inevitable
reflection, a new world. This is also foretold in the New Testament
Book of Revelation: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for
the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.”
But don’t confuse cause and effect. Your primary task is not to seek
salvation through creating a better world, but to awaken out of
identification with form. You are then no longer bound to this world,
this level of reality. You can feel your roots in the Unmanifested and
so are free of attachment to the manifested world. You can still enjoy
the passing pleasures of this world, but there is no fear of loss
anymore, so you don’t need to cling to them. Although you can enjoy
sensory pleasures, the craving for sensory experience is gone, as is
the constant search for fulfillment through psychological gratification,
through feeding the ego. You are in touch with something infinitely
greater than any pleasure, greater than any manifested thing.
In a way, you then don’t need the world anymore. You don’t even
need it to be different from the way it is.
It is only at this point that you begin to make a real contribution
toward bringing about a better world, toward creating a different
order of reality. It is only at this point that you are able to feel true
compassion and to help others at the level of cause. Only those who
have transcended the world can bring about a better world.
You may remember that we talked about the dual nature of true
compassion, which is awareness of a common bond of shared
mortality and immortality. At this deep level, compassion becomes
healing in the widest sense. In that state, your healing influence is
primarily based not on doing but on being. Everybody you come in
contact with will be touched by your presence and affected by the
peace that you emanate, whether they are conscious of it or not.
When you are fully present and people around you manifest
unconscious behavior, you won’t feel the need to react to it, so you
don’t give it any reality. Your peace is so vast and deep that anything
that is not peace disappears into it as if it had never existed. This
breaks the karmic cycle of action and reaction. Animals, trees, flowers
will feel your peace and respond to it. You teach through being,
through demonstrating the peace of God. You become the “light of
the world,” an emanation of pure consciousness, and so you eliminate
suffering on the level of cause. You eliminate unconsciousness from
the world.
This doesn’t mean that you may not also teach through doing — for
example, by pointing out how to disidentify from the mind, recognize
unconscious patterns within oneself, and so on. But who you are is
always a more vital teaching and a more powerful transformer of the
world than what you say, and more essential even than what you do.
Furthermore, to recognize the primacy of Being, and thus work on the
level of cause, does not exclude the possibility that your compassion
may simultaneously manifest on the level of doing and of effect by
alleviating suffering whenever you come across it. When a hungry
person asks you for bread and you have some, you will give it. But as
you give the bread, even though your interaction may only be very
brief, what really matters is this moment of shared Being, of which
the bread is only a symbol. A deep healing takes place within it. In
that moment, there is no giver, no receiver.
But there shouldn’t be any hunger and starvation in the first place.
How can we create a better world without tackling evils such as
hunger and violence first?
All evils are the effect of unconsciousness. You can alleviate the
effects of unconsciousness, but you cannot eliminate them unless you
eliminate their cause. True change happens within, not without.
If you feel called upon to alleviate suffering in the world, that is a very
noble thing to do, but remember not to focus exclusively on the outer;
otherwise, you will encounter frustration and despair. Without a
profound change in human consciousness, the world’s suffering is a
bottomless pit. So don’t let your compassion become one-sided.
Empathy with someone else’s pain or lack and a desire to help need
to be balanced with a deeper realization of the eternal nature of all
life and the ultimate illusion of all pain. Then let your peace flow into
whatever you do and you will be working on the levels of effect and
cause simultaneously.
This also applies if you are supporting a movement designed to stop
deeply unconscious humans from destroying themselves, each other,
and the planet, or from continuing to inflict dreadful suffering on other
sentient beings. Remember: Just as you cannot fight the darkness, so
you cannot fight unconsciousness. If you try to do so, the polar
opposites will become strengthened and more deeply entrenched. You
will become identified with one of the polarities, you will create an
“enemy,” and so be drawn into unconsciousness yourself. Raise
awareness by disseminating information, or at the most, practice
passive resistance. But make sure that you carry no resistance within,
no hatred, no negativity. “Love your enemies,” said Jesus, which, of
course, means “have no enemies.”
Once you get involved in working on the level of effect, it is all too
easy to lose yourself in it. Stay alert and very, very present. The
causal level needs to remain your primary focus, the teaching of
enlightenment your main purpose, and peace your most precious gift
to the world.
CHAPTER TEN
THE MEANING OF
SURRENDER
Все темы данного раздела:
A GUIDE TO SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT
Eckhart Tolle
NAMASTE PUBLISHING
and
NEW WORLD LIBRARY
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA
CHAPTER THREE: Moving Deeply into the Now
Don’t Seek Your Self in the Mind
End the Delusion of Time
Nothing Exists Outside the Now
The Key to the Spiritual Dimension
Accessing the Power of the Now
CHAPTER SIX: The Inner Body
Being Is Your Deepest Self
Look beyond the Words
Finding Your Invisible and Indestructible Reality
Connecting with the Inner Body
Transformation through the Body
About the Author
AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO
THE PAPERBACK EDITION
Six years after it was first published, The Power of Now continues to
play its part in the urgent task of the tr
THE ORIGIN OF THIS BOOK
I have little use for the past and rarely think about it; however, I
would briefly like to tell you how I came to be a spiritual teacher and
how this book came int
THE TRUTH THAT IS WITHIN YOU
This book represents the essence of my work, as far as it can be
conveyed in words, with individuals and small groups of spiritual
seekers during the past ten year
THE GREATEST OBSTACLE TO ENLIGHTENMENT
Enlightenment — what is that?
A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years.
One day a stranger walked by. “Spare some change?” mumbled the
FREEING YOURSELF FROM YOUR MIND
What exactly do you mean by “watching the thinker”?
When someone goes to the doctor and says, “I hear a voice in my
head,” he or she will most likely be sent to a
ENLIGHTENMENT: RISING ABOVE THOUGHT
Isn’t thinking essential in order to survive in this world?
Your mind is an instrument, a tool. It is there to be used for a specific
task, and when the task is co
EMOTION: THE BODY’S REACTION TO YOUR MIND
What about emotions? I get caught up in my emotions more than I do
in my mind.
Mind, in the way I use the word, is not just thought. It includes your
emot
CREATE NO MORE PAIN IN THE PRESENT
Nobody’s life is entirely free of pain and sorrow. Isn’t it a question of
learning to live with them rather than trying to avoid them?
The greater part of human pa
PAST PAIN: DISSOLVING THE PAIN-BODY
As long as you are unable to access the power of the Now, every
emotional pain that you experience leaves behind a residue of pain
that lives on in you. It merges
EGO IDENTIFICATION WITH THE PAIN-BODY
The process that I have just described is profoundly powerful yet
simple. It could be taught to a child, and hopefully one day it will be
one of the first things c
THE ORIGIN OF FEAR
You mentioned fear as being part of our basic underlying emotional
pain. How does fear arise, and why is there so much of it in people’s
lives? And isn’t a certain
THE EGO’S SEARCH FOR WHOLENESS
Another aspect of the emotional pain that is an intrinsic part of the
egoic mind is a deep-seated sense of lack or incompleteness, of not
being whole. In some peop
DON’T SEEK YOUR SELF IN THE MIND
I feel that there is still a great deal I need to learn about the workings
of my mind before I can get anywhere near full consciousness or
spiritual enlightenment.
END THE DELUSION OF TIME
It seems almost impossible to disidentify from the mind. We are all
immersed in it. How do you teach a fish to fly?
Here is the key: End the delusion of time. Time
NOTHING EXISTS OUTSIDE THE NOW
Aren’t past and future just as real, sometimes even more real, than
the present? After all, the past determines who we are, as well as
how we perceive and behave i
THE KEY TO THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION
In life-threatening emergency situations, the shift in consciousness
from time to presence sometimes happens naturally. The personality
that has a past and a futur
ACCESSING THE POWER OF THE NOW
A moment ago, when you talked about the eternal present and the
unreality of past and future, I found myself looking at that tree
outside the window. I had looked
LETTING GO OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME
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 m
THE INSANITY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME
You will not have any doubt that psychological time is a mental
disease if you look at its collective manifestations. They occur, for
example, in the form of ideol
NEGATIVITY AND SUFFERING HAVE THEIR ROOTS IN TIME
But the belief that the future will be better than the present is not
always an illusion. The present can be dreadful, and things can get
better in the future, and
FINDING THE LIFE UNDERNEATH YOUR LIFE SITUATION
I don’t see how I can be free now. As it happens, I am extremely
unhappy with my life at the moment. This is a fact, and I would be
deluding myself if I tried to c
ALL PROBLEMS ARE ILLUSIONS OF THE MIND
It feels as if a heavy burden has been lifted. A sense of lightness. I
feel clear. . . but my problems are still there waiting for me, aren’t
they? They haven’t be
A QUANTUM LEAP IN THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS
I have had glimpses of this state of freedom from mind and time that
you describe, but past and future are so overwhelmingly strong that I
cannot keep them out for
THE JOY OF BEING
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
LOSS OF NOW: THE CORE DELUSION
Even if I completely accept that ultimately time is an illusion, what
difference is that going to make in my life? I still have to live in a
world that is complete
AND DEEP UNCONSCIOUSNESS
What do you mean by different levels of unconsciousness?
As you probably know, in sleep you constantly move between the
phases of dreamless sleep and the dream sta
WHAT ARE THEY SEEKING?
Carl Jung tells in one of his books of a conversation he had with a
Native American chief who pointed out to him that in his perception
most white people have tens
DISSOLVING ORDINARY UNCONSCIOUSNESS
So how can we be free of this affliction?
Make it conscious. Observe the many ways in which unease,
discontent, and tension arise within you through unnecessary
FREEDOM FROM UNHAPPINESS
Do you resent doing what you are doing? It may be your job, or you
may have agreed to do something and are doing it, but part of you
resents and resists it. Are yo
WHEREVER YOU ARE, BE THERE TOTALLY
Can you give some more examples of ordinary unconsciousness?
See if you can catch yourself complaining, in either speech or thought,
about a situation you find you
THE INNER PURPOSE OF YOUR LIFE’S JOURNEY
I can see the truth of what you are saying, but I still think that we
THE PAST CANNOT SURVIVE IN YOUR PRESENCE
You mentioned that thinking or talking about the past unnecessarily is
one of the ways in which we avoid the present. But apart from the
past that we remember and
IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS
You keep talking about the state of presence as the key. I think I
understand it intellectually, but I don’t know if I have ever truly
experienced it. I wonder — i
BEAUTY ARISES IN THE STILLNESS OF YOUR PRESENCE
What you have just described is something that I occasionally
experience for brief moments when I am alone and surrounded by
nature.
Yes. Zen masters use
REALIZING PURE CONSCIOUSNESS
Is presence the same as Being?
When you become conscious of Being, what is really happening is that
Being becomes conscious of itself. When Being becomes conscious
CHRIST: THE REALITY OF YOUR DIVINE PRESENCE
Don’t get attached to any one word. You can substitute “Christ” for
presence, if that is more meaningful to you. Christ is your God-
essence or the Self, as it is
BEING IS YOUR DEEPEST SELF
You spoke earlier about the importance of having deep roots within or
inhabiting the body. Can you explain what you meant by that?
The body can become a point of a
LOOK BEYOND THE WORDS
I don’t like the word sin. It implies that I am being judged and found
guilty.
I can understand that. Over the centuries, many erroneous views and
interpr
FINDING YOUR INVISIBLE AND INDESTRUCTIBLE REALITY
You said that identification with our physical form is part of the
illusion, so how can the body, the physical form, bring you to a
realization of Being?
CONNECTING WITH THE INNER BODY
Please try it now. You may find it helpful to close your eyes for this
practice. Later on, when “being in the body” has become natural and
easy, this will no longe
TRANSFORMATION THROUGH THE BODY
Why have most religions condemned or denied the body? It seems
that spiritual seekers have always regarded the body as a hindrance
or even as sinful.
Why
SERMON ON THE BODY
What you perceive as a dense physical structure called the body,
which is subject to disease, old age, and death, is not ultimately real
— is not you. It is a misp
HAVE DEEP ROOTS WITHIN
The key is to be in a state of permanent connectedness with your
inner body — to feel it at all times. This will rapidly deepen and
transform your life. The more c
BEFORE YOU ENTER THE BODY, FORGIVE
I felt very uncomfortable when I tried to put my attention on the inner
body. There was a feeling of agitation and some nausea. So I haven’t
been able to experienc
YOUR LINK WITH THE UNMANIFESTED
What is the relationship between presence and the inner body?
Presence is pure consciousness — consciousness that has been
reclaimed from the mind, from the world
SLOWING DOWN THE AGING PROCESS
In the meantime, awareness of the inner body has other benefits in
the physical realm. One of them is a significant slowing down of the
aging of the physical body.
STRENGTHENING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
Another benefit of this practice in the physical realm is a great
strengthening of the immune system, which occurs when you inhabit
the body. The more consciousnes
LET THE BREATH TAKE YOU INTO THE BODY
At times, when my mind has been very active, it has acquired such
momentum that I find it impossible to take my attention away from it
and feel the inner body. Thi
CREATIVE USE OF MIND
If you need to use your mind for a specific purpose, use it in
conjunction with your inner body. Only if you are able to be conscious
without thought can you use y
THE ART OF LISTENING
When listening to another person, don’t just listen with your mind,
listen with your whole body. Feel the energy field of your inner body
as you listen. That takes
GOING DEEPLY INTO THE BODY
I can feel the energy inside my body, especially in my arms and legs,
but I don’t seem to be able to go more deeply, as you suggested
earlier.
Make it int
THE SOURCE OF CHI
Is the Unmanifested what in the East is called chi, a kind of universal
life energy?
No, it isn’t. The Unmanifested is the source of chi. Chi is the inner
DREAMLESS SLEEP
You take a journey into the Unmanifested every night when you enter
the phase of deep dreamless sleep. You merge with the Source. You
draw from it the vital energy
OTHER PORTALS
The Now can be seen as the main portal. It is an essential aspect of
every other portal, including the inner body. You cannot be in your
body without being intense
SILENCE
Are there any other portals apart from those you just mentioned?
Yes, there are. The Unmanifested is not separate from the
manifested. It pervades this world, but
THE TRUE NATURE OF SPACE AND TIME
Now consider this: If there were nothing but silence, it wouldn’t exist
for you; you wouldn’t know what it is. Only when sound appears does
silence come into being
CONSCIOUS DEATH
Apart from dreamless sleep, which I mentioned already, there is one
other involuntary portal. It opens up briefly at the time of physical
death. Even if you have m
ENTER THE NOW FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE
I always thought that true enlightenment is not possible except
through love in a relationship between a man and a woman. Isn’t this
what makes us whole again? How
LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIPS
Unless and until you access the consciousness frequency of presence,
all relationships, and particularly intimate relationships, are deeply
flawed and ultimately d
ADDICTION AND THE SEARCH FOR WHOLENESS
Why should we become addicted to another person?
The reason why the romantic love relationship is such an intense and
universally sought-after experience is that i
FROM ADDICTIVE TO ENLIGHTENED RELATIONSHIPS
Can we change an addictive relationship into a true one?
Yes. Being present and intensifying your presence by taking your
attention ever more deeply into the Now:
RELATIONSHIPS AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
As the egoic mode of consciousness and all the social, political, and
economic structures that it created enter the final stage of collapse,
the relationships betw
WHY WOMEN ARE CLOSER TO ENLIGHTENMENT
Are the obstacles to enlightenment the same for a man as for a
woman?
Yes, but the emphasis is different. Generally speaking, it is easier for
a woman to
DISSOLVING THE COLLECTIVE FEMALE PAIN-BODY
Why is the pain-body more of an obstacle for women?
The pain-body usually has a collective as well as a personal aspect.
The personal aspect is the accumulated res
GIVE UP THE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOURSELF
When one is fully conscious, would one still have a need for a
relationship? Would a man still feel drawn to a woman? Would a
woman still feel incomplete without a
THE HIGHER GOOD BEYOND GOOD AND BAD
Is there a difference between happiness and inner peace?
Yes. Happiness depends on conditions being perceived as positive;
inner peace does not.
Is it not
THE END OF YOUR LIFE DRAMA
In that state of acceptance and inner peace, even though you may not
call it “bad,” can anything still come into your life that would be called
“bad” from a perspe
IMPERMANENCE AND THE CYCLES OF LIFE
However, as long as you are in the physical dimension and linked to
the collective human psyche, physical pain — although rare — is still
possible. This is not to
USING AND RELINQUISHING NEGATIVITY
All inner resistance is experienced as negativity in one form or
another. All negativity is resistance. In this context, the two words are
almost synonymous. Negat
THE NATURE OF COMPASSION
Having gone beyond the mind-made opposites, you become like a
deep lake. The outer situation of your life and whatever happens
there is the surface of the lake. So
ACCEPTANCE OF THE NOW
You mentioned “surrender” a few times. I don’t like that idea. It
sounds somewhat fatalistic. If we always accept the way things are,
we are not going to make any
FROM MIND ENERGY TO SPIRITUAL ENERGY
Letting go of resistance is easier said than done. I still don’t see
clearly how to let go. If you say it is by surrendering, the question
remains: “How?”
SURRENDER IN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
What about people who want to use me, manipulate or control me?
Am I to surrender to them?
They are cut off from Being, so they unconsciously attempt to get
TRANSFORMING ILLNESS INTO ENLIGHTENMENT
If someone is seriously ill and completely accepts their condition and
surrenders to the illness, would they not have given up their will to
get back to health? Th
WHEN DISASTER STRIKES
As far as the still unconscious majority of the population is concerned,
only a critical limit-situation has the potential to crack the hard shell
of the ego and f
TRANSFORMING SUFFERING INTO PEACE
I read about a stoic philosopher in ancient Greece who, when he was
told that his son had died in an accident, replied, “I knew he was not
immortal.” Is that surre
THE WAY OF THE CROSS
There are many accounts of people who say they have found God
through their deep suffering, and there is the Christian expression
“the way of the cross,” which I s
THE POWER TO CHOOSE
What about all those people who, it seems, actually want to suffer? I
have a friend whose partner is physically abusive toward her, and her
previous relationship w
Document Outline
Author’s Preface to the Paperback Edition Introduction The Origin of This Book The Truth That Is Within You CHAPTER ONE : You Are Not Your Mind The Greatest Obstacle to Enlightenment Freeing Yourse
Новости и инфо для студентов