"Twilight Traveler"~ by Duy Huynh ~
From The Power of Now
by Eckhart Tolle
by Eckhart Tolle
Deal with the past on the level of the present. The more attention you give to the past, the more you energize it, and the more likely you are to make a "self" out of it. Don't misunderstand: Attention is essential, but not to the past as past. Give attention to the present; give attention to your behavior, to your reactions, moods, thoughts, emotions, fears, and desires as they occur in the present. There is the past in you. If you can be present enough to watch all those things, not critically or analytically but non judgmentally, then you are dealing with the past and dissolving it through the power of your presence. You cannot find yourself by going into the past. You find yourself by coming into the present.
As you become more conscious of your present reality, you may suddenly get certain insights as to why your conditioning functions in those particular ways -- for example, why your relationships follow certain patterns -- and you may remember things that happened in the past or see them more clearly. That is fine and can be helpful, but it is not essential. What is essential is your conscious presence. That dissolves the past. That is the transformative agent. So don't seek to understand the past, but be as present as you can. The past cannot survive in your presence. It can only survive in your absence.
4 comments:
Pat, I'm just catching up from yesterday. Thank you. I think I get it. Meaning, I think I get how I choose to embrace the concept. I will see beauty in a meal of a fish head in water. I will do so not so I can fool myself into thanking my captor, but so I can settle my mind and spirit enough to create a thoughtful plan ready for use when the door cracks and I can get the hell out.
Hopefully we never have to apply these lessons in such dire circumstances. I think you and I both would burn the place down.
Now on to more pleasant thoughts!
My pleasant thought is "Bunnies and Butterflies". Martin and I say it everytime we get upset or frustrated. Thinking of pleasant things like cuddly bunnies and brightly colored butterflies always improves my mood!
I always enjoyed the quote, "God gave us memories so that we might have roses in December." I am not sure who said it, but it reminds me to use the memory for postive results, not to keep me stuck in the same old places.
Byron, I say to myself "Flutterby Butterfly!" when a negative emotion or thought approaches, I agree replacing negative imagery with positive, beautiful things helps a lot! Pat I see you are reading W. Dyer, I have read his book "Your Scared Self" I find it very uplifting and helped me a lot when I was going through some changes. I like his idea of creating a postive environment, energy.
This is interesting what is says about "The Past" I like the thought of not feeding the past, but flourishing in the present.
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