https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcsgCytw1BA
I listened to an audiobook by Eckhart Tolle and took notes. The above video is a random clip from YouTube, not from the same program. A lot of interesting ideas. Lately I’ve been trying to spend time not working — relaxing, being able to turn off my constant information processing in my mind. The constant work. This is leading me to explore some of these “Eastern” philosophies. Tolle is a fantastic speaker, and kind of kooky. Some of these bullet points are my own thoughts, some are just verbatim quotes from the program.
• The Ego is fed by fighting against it’s enemy, The Now.
• The Now is the enemy of The Ego.
• The Ego is always looking for it’s next enemy. Because without an Enemy, it does not exist.
• Emptiness is who we really are. The space.
• We are scared that if we accept The Now, we will become trapped in it forever and never achieve anything.
• We must focus on The Now or else we will continually be living in our Ego, which is threatened. We believe we are not The Now, but the Past and Future.
• Emptiness in The Now is good. Emptiness is a clean desk.
• We must learn how to play with The Form. Play with things. Don’t deny The Form, but play with it.
• Inner alignment with life. Life is Now. Not to make this moment into an Enemy. Allow it to be.
• Whatever happens in your life appears to be a separate event. But physicists look beyond the surface appearance… the separation of things does not actually exist.
• The Light is not separate from the Sun.
• The simple act of Surrender, great beauty and power. The Little Me is The Ego.
• Death is the end of a form.
• Accept this moment.
• You already have abundant life. “I want you to have life and have it abundantly.” -Jesus. The depths of aliveness.
• What is it that stays the same throughout your life? The Now. The Future and The Past are only thoughts.
• Memory: The Main Street Bookstore, and that feeling of timelessness. There were new things, old things. Old post cards. Old building. New books. Cats. Old records. Old radio programs, unable to tell whether they are old or new. The smell of the place. I liked that.
• The dances and forms of your life continue. Why not participate? It’s not deathly serious. Just play with the things of your life, and give attention to this, what is. There is a depth in What Is, that is deeper than The Form. That’s what gives it the beauty. The Depth is in you. Yes to what is connects you to that depth. The Inner Yes connects you with that depth. That is where you and The One Life are one. No separation. Formless form. You are the bridge. Your home is THe Formless. But for a little while, you move between the Form and The Formless. But you need to accept The Forms in The Now. Even if they appear limiting, accept first and see what happens. No matter how limiting. There is nothing you need to remember. Allow this moment to be.
• Who am I right now? I don’t have any of my past victories or my future plans, only me, sitting here, what I have with me all the time.
• We don’t need to know anything else, other than focusing on The Now, because that’s the portal to ourselves.
• The “I’m not really me yet” thing. I’ve felt this a lot. Like I am constantly trying to develop into something more than I am. Never there. Never complete, never good enough. Strange. How much of my life is motivated by this? How much of it is healthy vs. unhealthy?
• Moral Superiority to traffic jams. We seek enemies to create our identity, to be opposed to something.