You Are Part of the Whole
Picture a single drop in a vast river, struggling against the current, trying desperately to move backward or forward. This drop wages an impossible battle, fighting against the very flow of which it is an integral part. Many of us live our lives like this drop – clinging to the past, unable to accept what has already happened, allowing guilt, regret, and resentment to fester our soul. Or we fixate on the future, imagining catastrophic scenarios that will never materialize, generating anxiety, tension, and stress.
“Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now.”
– Eckhart Tolle
Resistance to the Present Moment Creates Suffering
Our negative emotions stem from our resistance to the present moment. We desperately want reality to be different from what it is, failing to recognize that the entire universe has conspired to create this precise moment. Each time we reject the present, we inevitably create our own suffering.
“When I argue with reality, I lose—but only 100% of the time.”
– Byron Katie
Consider those we label as mentally ill, who walk the streets talking to themselves. In truth, there’s little difference between them and those we consider sane. Our own madness simply occurs internally – if we could record the constant chatter in our minds, we would be astounded by the absurdity of our thoughts.
The problem lies in our collective blindness to this dysfunctional way of living. We accept it as normal. Just observe people’s faces in any major city: everyone rushing, many heading to jobs they hate. We’ve become so accustomed to this state that genuine joy seems suspicious – haven’t we all occasionally wondered, “What does that person have to be so happy about?”
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation itself, but your thoughts about it.”
– Eckhart Tolle
The Illusion of Fear
We lose ourselves daily in a maze of self-created fears, anxieties, and regrets. It’s no wonder happiness escapes us. Yet if we ask ourselves honestly: how often have our deepest fears actually materialized? Rarely, if ever. Our fears are merely ghosts that exist only because we feed them with our attention.
These fears and anxieties are like the monster under the bed we imagined as children – they exist only in our minds. Much of this madness we consider normal stems from deriving our sense of self-worth from external factors. It’s impossible to maintain constant control over external reality to fulfill our desires.
The Cycle of Achievement and Emptiness
When we fail to achieve our goals, we torment ourselves, feeling devoid of meaning. Yet even when we succeed, satisfaction proves fleeting. Our minds quickly begin craving the next achievement to reaffirm our worth. We’re essentially feeding an insatiable beast.
Finding Balance: Desire Without Attachment
It’s crucial to understand that there’s nothing inherently wrong with having desires. The problem arises when we depend on external validation to reinforce our self-worth. We must learn to act without the chronic need for external results to confirm our value. We should strive to achieve our goals without desperate need, for need invariably implies lack.
“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think”
– Rumi
The Present Moment: Our Gateway to Peace
To break free from this self-imposed prison of thoughts, we must learn to observe and quiet our minds. When we’re lost in thought, we sacrifice what’s most precious – this moment, the present, the only time in which we can experience true happiness. The power of now is our innate ability to focus on the present moment, releasing what no longer exists and what may never exist, to rediscover the inner peace we all seek.
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.”
– Eckhart Tolle
The Prodigal Son: A Journey to Conscious Presence
One of the most compelling aspects of Eckhart Tolle’s teachings is his fresh interpretation of biblical parables. His reading of the prodigal son, for instance, describes humanity’s journey from unconscious perfection through apparent imperfection to conscious perfection.
A tree cannot worry about what might happen, nor can a cat feel remorse for past actions. A flower exists perpetually in the present moment – in paradise – though it cannot know this. Our situation is the inverse: we are conscious beings who believe something is fundamentally wrong with the world and ourselves. Our task is to rediscover what animals and plants experience naturally but cannot comprehend.
Living in the Present Moment: A Practical Approach
“Accept – then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.””
– Eckhart Tolle
Some might think this philosophy only applies to those seeking to abandon modern life for mountain solitude. This is a misconception. The happiness we all pursue doesn’t reside in achieving goals but in the daily journey toward them. We can only find this happiness when our internal dialogue quiets, allowing us to discover the power of the present moment.