Archive for the ‘The Power of Now’ Category
BEING
“Being is born of not being.” — Tao te Ching
Being is what IS — the Creative Intelligence, the Ultimate Reality that underlies the physical reality that you perceive with your senses. It is there — always there — whether you are consciously aware of it or not. When you shift your focus from the cares and activities and problems of the day to your authentic inner self, you will discover Being — the rock-solid core of joy, peace, love, and contentment that resides within you — which is available for you to draw upon and gain strength from every moment of every day. When your nerves are frazzled or you are frustrated or otherwise disturbed and you feel the need to center yourself and find your calm inner core, shift your focus inward — and you will find every resource that you need available in abundance.
Please feel free to check out today’s newsletter, which is available at the link below, and subscribe if you wish!
http://channelsforthelightnewsletter.com/2009/12/14/newsletter-12-14-2009/
Have a blessed and wonderful day!
Namaste!
What You Think, You Become
One of the things in my own personal life that I am really trying to focus on right now is awareness — awareness of each moment, awareness of what is happening in each moment, and awareness of my reactions to events of the moment. Those who teach mindfulness meditation refer to being consciousness or unconsciousness. If you are conscious in the moment, then you have the ability to be fully aware in the moment and you have the ability to consciously choose how to respond to events as they happen. If you are conscious in the moment, then you can watch your thoughts and watch your reactions to your thoughts, and change them if you wish to.
One thing that I see as vital to our happiness and fulfillment in life is awareness of our thoughts. We must become consciously aware of our thoughts, and we must learn how to control our thoughts. As Buddha pointed out:
The mind is everything, what you think, you become.
Or, as the Bible says in the Book of Proverbs:
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
“ Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
(Proverbs 23:7, New King James Version)
Or, as Earl Nightingale put it:
You become what you think about.
Of course, this timeless truth has been stated in much the same way by other well-known historical figures as well.
What I would like to encourage you to do is to work toward becoming conscious — conscious of each moment, conscious of your thoughts in each moment, and conscious of how you can change your thoughts to react in a healthier, happier way to events of the moment.
If you have an interest in learning more about mindfulness meditation, I can wholeheartedly recommend the following two books:
What you think, you become. So think your best thoughts today! 
Be Blessed!
Namaste!
Cutting Up an Ox
I’m currently reading a great book on mindfulness meditation called Wherever You Go, There You Are
Prince Wen Hui’s cook
Was cutting up an ox.
Out went a hand,
Down went a shoulder,
He planted a foot,
He pressed with a knee
The ox fell apart
With a whisper,
The bright cleaver murmured
Like a gentle wind.
Rhythm! Timing!
Like a sacred dance,
Like “The Mulberry Grove”
Like ancient harmonies!“Good work!” the Prince exclaimed,
“Your method is faultless!”
“Method?” said the cook
Laying aside his cleaver,
“What I follow is Tao
Beyond all methods!“When I first began
To cut up oxen
I would see before me
The whole ox
All in one mass.
“After three years
I no longer saw this mass.
I saw the distinctions.“But now, I see nothing
With the eye. My whole being
Apprehends.
My sense are idle. The spirit
Free to work without plan
Follows its own instinct
Guided by natural line,
By the secret opening,
The hidden space,
My cleaver finds its own way.
I cut through no joint, chop no bone.“A great cook needs a new chopper
Once a year – he cuts.
A poor cook needs a new one
Every month – he hacks!
“I have used this same cleaver
Nineteen years.
It has cut up
A thousand oxen.
Its edge is as keen
As if newly sharpened.“There are spaces in the joints;
The blade is thin and keen:
When this thinness
Finds that space
There is all the room you need!
It goes like a breeze!
Hence I have this cleaver
Nineteen years
As if newly sharpened!“True, there are sometimes
Tough joints. I feel them coming,
I slow down, I watch closely,
Hold back, barely move the blade,
And whump! the part falls away
Landing like a clod of earth.“Then I withdraw the blade,
I stand still
And let the joy of the work
Sink in.
I clean the blade
And put it away.”Prince Wen Hui said,
“This is it! My cook has shown me
How I ought to live
My own life!”– Chuang Tzu
Deep, but wonderful stuff… I hope you find meaning in it as I have. When our whole being apprehends, when we are fully engaged in the Now — living in the moment, our spirits are free to embrace the joy of the work of life!
The Beginning of Freedom
THE BEGINNING OF FREEDOM is the realization that you are not the possessing entity — the thinker. Knowing this enables you to observe the entity. The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated.
You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter — beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace — arise from beyond the mind.
You begin to awaken.
– Eckhart Tolle, Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from The Power of Now
