I dowloaded an "audiobook" on iTunes which is actually a recording of a series of talks given by a Buddhist monk named Pema Chodron at a retreat she did. The download is called "Getting Unstuck".
WOW!!
Immediately I though "this woman has an incredible voice." If I was a cat, I would purr just listening to her voice. So soothing and pleasant.
Throughout the recording it becomes clear that the retreat is for people who have addictions of one sort or another, but the message she brings could be shared with any group of people and it would still be just as relevant and helpful.
Throughout my search I find that I keep hearing one message loud and clear. Our thoughts are not ourselves!! And this recording is focused on that very topic. The more often I remember it, the better my life is becoming!
Worries about the future, bad memories of the past, dwelling on loneliness or feelings of any kind in the present ALL stem from thinking. And thoughts are NOT REAL! They are illusions. If I am simply in the moment, EVERY moment, there is nothing to worry about. There are flowers to smell, delicious foods to eat, art and music to create, silence to enjoy.
Of course things come up, like work, or bills to pay, and when negative thoughts and feelings arise about those things I can acknowledge them, but know that those thoughts are illusions. They are not real. And by acknowledging them, they begin to disappear.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
A New Earth - finally!
I'm FINALLY over the hump with A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. I refer to the first 25 pages of the book as the "hump" because I have started reading the book at least 5 times but have never been able to get through those first 25 pages.
The book, like The Power of Now, is about how our thoughts and our minds have taken over and are pretending to be us. Ironically, every time I tried reading it, my mind was all over the map. Something about the way it's written made it almost impossible for me to comprehend on first read. I found myself reading the same paragraph 3 and 4 times over again and still not having any idea what I had just read. My theory is that there is SO MUCH information - every word has such meaning - that it can't be read like other books. Usually, I can read a book and even if I have been distracted for a while I can still get the jist of what it's about. Not this book!! So I decided to take it one sentence at a time - one word at a time at some points - to make sure I comprehended each word, in hopes that that would add up to comprehension of the whole.
It worked!
And now that I got past the "hump", the book has opened up into this amazing world of its own. It's hard to describe. Let's just say that I thought "The Power of Now" was the most mind-opening and eye-opening book I had ever read, but this book is already surpassing it. No wonder Oprah loves this book! And if it's good enough for O, it's good enough for me!!
I'm really enjoying this time in my life. I feel so inspired and hopeful! I know that my "search" is really not just about the destination, but more about the journey. The search itself is helping me to realize that I ALREADY have the glorious life. I just need to learn how to open my eyes and see it!
The book, like The Power of Now, is about how our thoughts and our minds have taken over and are pretending to be us. Ironically, every time I tried reading it, my mind was all over the map. Something about the way it's written made it almost impossible for me to comprehend on first read. I found myself reading the same paragraph 3 and 4 times over again and still not having any idea what I had just read. My theory is that there is SO MUCH information - every word has such meaning - that it can't be read like other books. Usually, I can read a book and even if I have been distracted for a while I can still get the jist of what it's about. Not this book!! So I decided to take it one sentence at a time - one word at a time at some points - to make sure I comprehended each word, in hopes that that would add up to comprehension of the whole.
It worked!
And now that I got past the "hump", the book has opened up into this amazing world of its own. It's hard to describe. Let's just say that I thought "The Power of Now" was the most mind-opening and eye-opening book I had ever read, but this book is already surpassing it. No wonder Oprah loves this book! And if it's good enough for O, it's good enough for me!!
I'm really enjoying this time in my life. I feel so inspired and hopeful! I know that my "search" is really not just about the destination, but more about the journey. The search itself is helping me to realize that I ALREADY have the glorious life. I just need to learn how to open my eyes and see it!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Busy Bee!
My life is getting glorious-er and glorious-er by the day!
I am reading...you guessed it...The Power of Now again!! For the Nth time!! And loving it just as much, if not more than ever. I decided I am just going to read it over and over again as many times as it takes for me to begin living it on a daily basis. I am also reading Deepak Chopra's The Book of Secrets. Coincidentally The Book of Secrets, like The Power of Now, talks a lot about how our thoughts are not us and if we are able to quiet our thoughts we can glimpse our true nature.
Up until this point I have not been meditating each day. I guess I have been sort of meditating every once in a while by trying to focus on the Now but I have not set aside time every day in a quiet space to officially meditate. I am stating here and now that I intend to set aside time every single day to meditate starting today. Maybe if I say it here it will be extra motivation for me to actually follow through and do it!!
I am seeing how all things really are connected and how simple a concept it really is. The CONCEPT is simple; internalizing the concept is not as simple. But the beauty is that we have our whole lives to work on it!!
I have been working on flowing with the current of my life instead of trying to swim upstream all the time and I am learning so much about myself!! I never imagined it, but I LOVE screenwriting!! I had a really neat idea for a movie and decided I would write a screenplay based on the idea. I am having a BLAST!!! It is work, but it is joyful work and it is my favorite thing to do right now. I don't know what I will do when it is completed, but maybe I will try and find a way to make a movie with zero budget. Who knows? I know I can do it if I want to - we'll see how it looks when it's done.
Oh, one more thing before I go...I am following P Diddy on Twitter and I have to say I LOVE his philosophy and his outlook on life. He tweeted yesterday about how he went for a walk with his son and told his son about how a person has creative control over their own life. He is so positive! It's The Secret! And P Diddy is preaching it!!
Cool, right?
I am reading...you guessed it...The Power of Now again!! For the Nth time!! And loving it just as much, if not more than ever. I decided I am just going to read it over and over again as many times as it takes for me to begin living it on a daily basis. I am also reading Deepak Chopra's The Book of Secrets. Coincidentally The Book of Secrets, like The Power of Now, talks a lot about how our thoughts are not us and if we are able to quiet our thoughts we can glimpse our true nature.
Up until this point I have not been meditating each day. I guess I have been sort of meditating every once in a while by trying to focus on the Now but I have not set aside time every day in a quiet space to officially meditate. I am stating here and now that I intend to set aside time every single day to meditate starting today. Maybe if I say it here it will be extra motivation for me to actually follow through and do it!!
I am seeing how all things really are connected and how simple a concept it really is. The CONCEPT is simple; internalizing the concept is not as simple. But the beauty is that we have our whole lives to work on it!!
I have been working on flowing with the current of my life instead of trying to swim upstream all the time and I am learning so much about myself!! I never imagined it, but I LOVE screenwriting!! I had a really neat idea for a movie and decided I would write a screenplay based on the idea. I am having a BLAST!!! It is work, but it is joyful work and it is my favorite thing to do right now. I don't know what I will do when it is completed, but maybe I will try and find a way to make a movie with zero budget. Who knows? I know I can do it if I want to - we'll see how it looks when it's done.
Oh, one more thing before I go...I am following P Diddy on Twitter and I have to say I LOVE his philosophy and his outlook on life. He tweeted yesterday about how he went for a walk with his son and told his son about how a person has creative control over their own life. He is so positive! It's The Secret! And P Diddy is preaching it!!
Cool, right?
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