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Eckhart Tolle Quote on Taking Responsibility and Making the Present Moment Your Ally

    “Maybe you are being taken advantage of, maybe the activity you are engaged in is tedious, maybe someone close to you is dishonest, irritating, or unconscious, but all this is irrelevant.  Whether your thoughts and emotions about this situation are justified or not makes no difference.  The fact is that you are resisting what is.  You are making the present moment into an enemy.  You are creating unhappiness, conflict between the inner and the outer.  Your unhappiness is polluting not only your own inner being and those around you but also the collective human psyche of which you are an inseparable part.  The pollution of the planet is only an outward reflection of an inner psychic pollution: millions of unconscious individuals not taking responsibility for their inner space.”

    Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 77)

    Beyond the Quote (82/365)

    It’s easy to point fingers, to yell at a screen, to identify all of the faults in other people’s decisions and actions—it’s hard to take responsibility and make positive decisions yourself.  What’s makes this harder is that you might even be right.  The mess of the world might very well be the fault of another—or the fault of many others.  But as Tolle points out, whether your thoughts and emotions about a given situation are justified or not makes no difference.

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    Humble the Poet Quote on Managing Expectations and Going From “High” to “Low” to “None”

      “Jumping into anything with low expectations is the best way to exceed expectations, so keep that in mind when deciding your next move.”

      Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 131)

      Beyond the Quote (79/365)

      Rather than low expectations, try no expectations.  When you hold a stance that maintains expectations, you are putting energy into a future result that will distract you from your present task.  Once you have made up your mind about what your next move will be, do just that.  And focus all of your resources on doing that task to the best of your ability—not into acquiring a certain result. Maintain the mindset of now and empty your mind of what might happen in the future.  This is how you will produce your best work and this is how you will best take care of the tasks you set out to do.  And as the saying goes, taking care of this moment is the best insurance you have for the next moment.

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        “Focusing on the rainbow instead of the pot of gold isn’t just one of many philosophies we can adapt—it’s the most sustainable way for us to keep going.  The present is all we have, and we can promise ourselves only so much contentment before we realize that the story doesn’t end until we take our last breath.  Once we accept that, we can enjoy the journey, celebrating every baby step we take, not toward a treasure on a map, but in a direction that steadily improves the way we feel about ourselves, our lives, and the world around us.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 95)

        Joseph Jaworski Quote on Beautiful Settings and How They Can Drive You Out Of Yourself

          “Part of the magic of the experience lay in the sheer beauty of the setting: the breathtaking sight of the high mountains, the sweep of the sky, the panorama of the great valley. The beauty drives you out of the self for a moment – so that for this time, the self is not.”

          Joseph Jaworski, Synchronicity

          Beyond the Quote (55/365)

          This is (at least in strong part) why we are so drawn to beautiful destinations.  The sheer beauty of the settings that we travel to pull us out of ourselves—and for that time, the self is not.  It’s an incredible escape that is so cherished because our “monkey minds” drive us crazy.  I’m sure you might be able to relate.  You know the feeling of being unsettled, restless, confused, indecisive?  That’s the monkey mind.  It’s our inner critic and the part of our mind that is most connected to the ego.  The monkey mind insists on being heard, is relentlessly talkative, is constantly pointing to all of our flaws and mistakes, and contends to keep us distracted from doing any kind of deep work all of the time.  It’s exhausting and it’s what makes us want a vacation so damn bad.

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          Eckhart Tolle Quote on Finding The Life Underneath Your Problems

            “Narrow your life down to this moment.  Your life situation may be full of problems—most life situations are—but find out if you have any problem at this moment.  Not tomorrow or in ten minutes, but now.  Do you have a problem now?  When you are full of problems, there is no room for anything new to enter, no room for a solution.  So whenever you can, make some room, create some space, so that you find the life underneath your life situation.”

            Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 63)

            Beyond the Quote (53/365)

            Empty your cup.  Before you can make room for new tea in your cup, you need to empty what tea you already have.  If you keep pouring, your cup will keep overflowing and you will never be able to drink your tea because your cup will still have tea being poured into it!  That, plus, the space around you will quickly start turning into a terrible mess which will result more in panic than it will tea drinking.  You need to stop pouring the tea, place the kettle down, and focus on drinking what you have.  You need to create some space.  And the same is true for your life situation.

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              “Your life’s journey has an outer purpose and an inner purpose.  The outer purpose is to arrive at your goal or destination, to accomplish what you set out to do, to achieve this or that, which, of course, implies future.  But if your destination, or the steps you are going to take in the future, take up so much of your attention that they become more important to you than the step you are taking now, then you completely miss the journey’s inner purpose, which has nothing to do with where you are going or what you are doing, but everything to do with how.  It has nothing to do with future but everything to do with the quality of your consciousness at this moment.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 88)

                “There is nothing wrong with striving to improve your life situation.  You can improve your life situation, but you cannot improve your life.  Life is primary.  Life is your deepest inner Being.  It is already whole, complete, perfect.  Your life situation consists of your circumstances and your experiences.  There is nothing wrong with setting goals and striving to achieve things.  The mistake lies in using it as a substitute for the feeling of life, for Being.  The only point of access for that is the Now.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 86)

                  “Waiting is a state of mind.  Basically, it means that you want the future; you don’t want the present.  You don’t want what you’ve got, and you want what you haven’t got.  With every kind of waiting, you unconsciously create inner conflict between your here and now, where you don’t want to be, and the projected future, where you want to be.  This greatly reduces the quality of your life by making you lose the present.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 86)

                    “Are you stressed?  Are you so busy getting to the future that the present is reduced to a means of getting there?  Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there,’ or being in the present but wanting to be in the future.  It’s a split that tears you apart inside.  To create and live with such an inner split is insane.  The fact that everyone else is doing it doesn’t make it any less insane.  If you have to, you can move fast, work fast, or even run, without projecting yourself into the future and without resisting the present.  As you move, work, run — do it totally.  Enjoy the flow of energy, the high energy of that moment.  Now you are no longer stressed, no longer splitting yourself in two.  Just moving, running, working—and enjoying it.  Or you can drop the whole thing and sit on a park bench.  But when you do, watch your mind.  It may say: ‘You should be working.  You are wasting time.’ Observe the mind.  Smile at it.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 84)

                      “Are you resisting your here and now?  Some people would always rather be somewhere else.  Their ‘here’ is never good enough.  Through self-observation, find out if that is the case in your life.  Wherever you are, be there totally.  If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally.  If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now.  Then accept the consequences.  No excuses.  No negativity.  No psychic pollution.  Keep your inner space clear.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 82)

                        “Usually, the future is a replica of the past.  Superficial changes are possible, but real transformation is rare and depends upon whether you can become present enough to dissolve the past by accessing the power of the Now.  What you perceive as future is an intrinsic part of your state of consciousness now.  If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of the same.  The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence.  The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future—which, of course, can only be experienced as the Now.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 60)

                          “If you set yourself a goal and work toward it, you are using clock time.  You are aware of where you want to go, but you honor and give your fullest attention to the step that you are taking at this moment.  If you then become excessively focused on the goal, perhaps because you are seeking happiness, fulfillment, or a more complete sense of self in it, the Now is no longer honored.  It becomes reduced to a mere stepping stone to the future, with no intrinsic value.  Clock time then turns into psychological time.  Your life’s journey is no longer an adventure, just an obsessive need to arrive, to attain, to ‘make it.’  You no longer see or smell the flowers by the wayside either, nor are you aware of the beauty and the miracle of life that unfolds all around you when you are present in the Now.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 58)

                            “The reason why some people love to engage in dangerous activities, such as mountain climbing, car racing, and so on, although they may not be aware of it, is that it forces them into the Now—that intensely alive state that is free of time, free of problems, free of thinking, free of the burden of the personality.  Slipping away from the present moment even for a second may mean death.  Unfortunately, they come to depend on a particular activity to be in that state.  But you don’t need to climb the north face of the Eiger.  You can enter that state now.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 51)

                              “The eternal present is the space within which your whole life unfolds, the one factor that remains constant.  Life is now.  There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 49)

                                “To be identified with your mind is to be trapped in time: the compulsion to live almost exclusively through memory and anticipation.  This creates an endless preoccupation with past and future and an unwillingness to honor and acknowledge the present moment and allow it to be.  The compulsion arises because the past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation, of fulfillment in whatever form.  Both are illusions.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 49)

                                  “If you no longer want to create pain for yourself and others, if you no longer want to add to the residue of past pain that still lives on in you, then don’t create any more time, or at least no more than is necessary to deal with the practical aspects of your life.  How to stop creating time?  Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.  Make the Now the primary focus of your life.  Whereas before you dwelt in time and paid brief visits to the Now, have your dwelling place in the Now and pay brief visits to past and future when required to deal with the practical aspects of your life situation.  Always say ‘yes’ to the present moment.  What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to something that already is?  What could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now?  Surrender to what is.  Say ‘yes’ to life—and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 35)

                                    “Glimpses of love and joy or brief moments of deep peace are possible whenever a gap occurs in the stream of thought.  For most people, such gaps happen rarely and only accidentally, in moments when the mind is rendered ‘speechless,’ sometimes triggered by great beauty, extreme physical exertion, or even great danger.  Suddenly, there is inner stillness.  And within that stillness there is a subtle but intense joy, there is love, there is peace.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 29)

                                    The Power of Now [Book]

                                      The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

                                      By: Eckhart Tolle

                                      From this Book: 50 Quotes

                                      Book Overview: To make the journey into The Power of Now you need to leave your analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. Access to the Now is everywhere – in the body, the silence, and the space all around you. These are the keys to enter a state of inner peace. They can be used to bring you into the Now, the present moment, where problems do not exist. It is here you find your joy and are able to embrace your true self. It is here you discover that you are already complete and perfect.  Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle offers simple language in a question and answer format. The words themselves are the signposts to guide you on your journey. There are new discoveries to be made along the way: you are not your mind, you can find your way out of psychological pain, authentic human power is found by surrendering to the Now. When you become fully present and accepting of what is, you open yourself to the transforming experience of The Power of Now.

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                                      Post(s) Inspired by this Book:

                                        “This may be the one-sentence essence of what I learned in my year among the oldest old: to shut down the noise and fears and desires that buffet our days and think about how amazing, really amazing, life is.  Could I do this?  Before the year began, my answer would have been no, that the noise and fears and desires were life itself.  But as the year went along I found myself shifting my focus to the quiet beneath the noise—how unlikely the moment was, how each sliver contained a gift that might never return.  Maybe this was what it meant to think like an old person.  I couldn’t live wholly in the moment, because I had a future to think about, but if I had learned anything, it was to live as if this future were finite, and the present all the more wondrous as a result.” ~ John Leland, Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 210)