Presence and understanding

[Billy]

I imagine you guys are familiar with Eckhart Tolle and his teachings. He talks about anchoring yourself in the present moment and observing your thoughts. He also mentions that in order to understand your mind you must become present and that there is only so much understanding you can gleam about your mind from your mind itself.

So I'm wondering if you guys believe this to be true or not? How does being present help you better know yourself? Do impressions and understandings magically pop into your head as you are going about life in presence? Can you actually understand your mind without using it but instead through practising presence? Or is this just simply bypassing because people don't want to put in the effort in mind that is required to understand oneself?

Also, when Tolle talks about practising presence and inner body awareness, does he mean on a perpetual basis? What would happen if you put all your efforts towards remaining perpetually present? Would that result in some type of enlightenment as is mentioned in his books?

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Can you actually transform your life and live in truth simply by being present and nothing else?

[Steppingfeet]

So I'm wondering if you guys believe this to be true or not? How does being present help you better know yourself? Do impressions and understandings magically pop into your head as you are going about life in presence? Can you actually understand your mind without using it but instead through practising presence? Or is this just simply bypassing because people don't want to put in the effort in mind that is required to understand oneself?

Hey Folk-love,

I'm a huge fan of Tolle's work, feeling it a highly focused non-duality teaching that concerns itself with actual self-realization.

Tolle answers all these questions at various, repeated points throughout his work, much better, of course, than I possibly could. Butas I personally understand these things, I would start by looking at your question, "How does being present help you better know yourself?"

Who is the self that you are getting to know? Is it your memories, your anticipations, your fears, your thoughts, your physical sensations, your emotions, your intuitive perceptions? In other words, is it the content of your consciousness? Is it everything which occurs within the boundaries of space and time, the personal biography, the collective biography, and the whole cosmic story?

Or is it awareness itself that you are, shall we say, getting to know? Is it that source awareness within which the entire phenomenal universe arises?

Presence is vital because through its practice, you know both. By exercising disciplined presence, you become increasingly aware of the contents of your mind, the contents of your experience, and the constituent components that make up this entity you feel is a separate, self-contained, individual "i". You see the patterns of grasping and aversion, attachment and avoidance with which your fear-based, pleasure-seeking mind is continually engaged in the endless project to perpetuate, sustain, and enhance the individual "I".

But in holding the attention upon the Now, you begin to cultivate the witness. You begin what Tolle calls "the most important step on your spiritual journey", that is: dis-identification from your mind.

You find the background, witnessing awareness that is always present, always here, always spontaneously operating.

This is not to renounce responsibility for your mental patterns. It is to see that you have thoughts, but you are not these thoughts. Something within you is aware of these thoughts. What is that awareness? You have feelings, but you are not these feelings, something within you is aware of these feelings, what is that awareness?

EVERYTHING that can be seen (on an inner or outer level) is an object of attention, and not, in and of itself, ultimately real. So what is? What within you is aware? Is that awareness free of that which it witnesses?

You see your thoughts parading in front of your awareness, each thought saying, "I", "I", "I", "I". Each thought creating and reinforcing the illusion of the separate self. Each thought masquerading as who you are, stealing and compelling your attention and energy.

And as you learn to lovingly witness your own thoughts with equanimity, you realize that you are not these thoughts. You realize who you are is the vast stillness and silence behind the thoughts.

In that silence is the liberation from the tortures of the individual "ego" or "I". In that stillness is created the portal through which love, light, and peace move through you.

You are liberated because, through long-term, disciplined, responsible practice, you are not pulled to and fro by the contents of your mind. You are not chasing meaning and purpose through grasping and aversion of illusory mind-made constructs. You are no longer energizing or feeding the project of the small self.

Instead you rest, and relax, and abide in the present moment without creating resistance to what is. You *are*. This is an intensely alive and alert state or mode or experience of consciousness. It is beingness itself. And, as I understand this, it is a peace which cannot be shaken by any event, big or small, within the phenomenal world of space and time.

One of the most insightful analogies I've heard to differentiate the two is that of the movie.

Currently we identify with the images on the screen, becoming frightened when fire appears, happy when a positive circumstance arises. Meanwhile and already, the movie screen itself is witnessing EVERYTHING that happens on the screen, in any density, any octave, any place, any entity. The screen itself is unmoved and untouched by that which occurs within the movie, be it fire, flooding, or planetary destruction. The screen embraces everything, equally. And is always available, always present, always here no matter where in the movie the characters seem to be.

Presence is dis-identifying from the movie images and the narrative. Presence is merging back into the source awareness: the substratum of the screen itself, to continue the analogy. Whatever happens in the movie, the screen can neither be enhanced nor diminished.

This is the same with your true identity. Whatever you do in this incarnation, the one infinite Creator that you are, that we are - cannot be diminished or enhanced. It is *already* whole, already complete, already perfect. This is the paradox of spiritual seeking, and why the path always and eventually ends in surrender to what already is.

We exercise will and faith, we reach and strive, only to, eventually, release the striving and the reaching, realizing that we already are what we've been seeking all along. We cannot attain what we already are, because we already are that. We cannot reach what we already are, because we are already here.

Presence is recognizing that. Living that. And releasing the illusory notions that obscure the ever-present, already present one truth.

With love/light,
Gary

[Jade]

Gary! I love that movie analogy. I am not an actor, nor am I the movie itself. I am the screen upon which it is projected.

[Steppingfeet]

Gary! I love that movie analogy. I am not an actor, nor am I the movie itself. I am the screen upon which it is projected.

Like all analogies it is limited, but in a single frame of reference it helps to clarify and orient so freaking well. Glad you dig!!

Btw, though I expanded upon it, the analogy comes from Ramana Maharshi. His life was an exposition of discovering the self as the screen (liberation), then discovering the self as screen *and* movie (non-dual realization), and ultimately completely dissolving the illusion of separation or the individual "I", and with it eradicating the seeds of suffering (Buddhahood, as far as I'm aware).

It was years into studying Ramana that I discovered that Tolle feels a special kinship with RM's work, feeling that he (Tolle) is working in the same lineage or spirit.

[Adonai One]

I don't know about all this spiritual terminology.

I do know that expressing awareness of all things that cause "suffering", that are considered "suffering" (catalyst) no longer are suffering once the awareness is retained indefinitely, embracing the "suffering" as-is. I consider this being aware of the present moment, as in the end, once bliss is found, there is no potential to cling to outside of the present; Balance is found and every negative orientation, avoidance of something is balanced with a positive orientation, an attraction towards such and vice-versa; Peace is experienced.

So, yeah, if something brings you "suffering", think about it, face it, continually be aware of it until you no longer feel an emotional charge, letting all of the emotion out. You will be in the present and happy in no time.

[Billy]

I'm just trying to understand how simply being present will result in me better knowing my seperate self and its workings, as well as my true self. The I AM. Maybe I should stop trying to understand with my mind and instead be present. But my mind has questions.

How long do you have to practice presence for before you have the same type of awakening experience that Tolle describes he had? Is there that aha moment where everything falls into place? If so, once you have had such an experience, will the workings of your mind and seperate self be understood fully? Don't we have to use our minds to understand our minds, or can we simply practise presence, connect with our true self, and have the answers flood magically to us without putting in any effort in mind?

Phew it felt good getting that off my chest. I ask these questions because I am trying to find the same peace that Tolle describes and appears to have, but I have reservations about whether that can be achieved through presence and nothing else.

[Adonai One]

There is only mind, awareness, conciousness according to Ra. The mind is the true self according to Ra.

79.20: Ra: I am Ra. The Matrix of Mind is that from which all comes.

[Charles]

Folk-love asks:

Don't we have to use our minds to understand our minds, or can we simply practise presence, connect with our true self, and have the answers flood magically to us without putting in any effort in mind?

Dunno about you, but I live with a crazy roommate. It angers easily, it thinks negatively, it expects disasters, it’s depressed and frightened, and it never shuts up.

I live in the country, and when I walk the dog on a beautiful day, I can easily find myself in a fury fighting with someone who done me wrong when I was 14 years old. (In my 60’s now.)

That constant “mind thought” and emotion is not me.
I am not that that anger, and I am not that thought.
I am the one who can observe that “mind thought” and detach from it.
“Oh, okay, you feel like going there and freaking out, well go right on ahead. I choose not to join you. I’m doing something else, I’m thinking something else, I’m feeling something else, I expect the light to shine about me, and I’m calming down.”

The weight off my shoulders is tremendous. There is no fight, I just detach.
I am not that negative psychotic . . . though if I choose to let go of my awareness, it is soooo easy to think that I am terrified or furious or depressed.

Tolle’s a brilliant writer, he’s helped me tremendously. And when I am present, I easily and calmly manage to get a lot of good work done.

[1109]

...
How long do you have to practice presence for before you have the same type of awakening experience that Tolle describes he had? Is there that aha moment where everything falls into place? If so, once you have had such an experience, will the workings of your mind and seperate self be understood fully? Don't we have to use our minds to understand our minds, or can we simply practise presence, connect with our true self, and have the answers flood magically to us without putting in any effort in mind?
...

I read The Power of Now several years ago when I was semi-confused and semi-depressed. I got great benefit from it, I began to observe, not identify with, thoughts etc. This didn't last though. I eventually slipped back into the maelstrom of the mind and lost that peace. Then after a while a had a massive "dark night of the soul" period in which I was basically lying on the floor crying/laughing in despair. But then suddenly something "clicked" and I experienced some "space" around the thinking, I then remembered The Power of Now and began listening to it again (the audiobook is awesome) and the peace returned. I believe the awakening Tolle had came about through a similar experience of suffering. I think that the space created by presence allows the mind to start investigating itself. There are many levels in the mind and the awareness can be focused on any one of them or even above them.

[Stranger]

I'm just trying to understand how simply being present will result in me better knowing my seperate self and its workings, as well as my true self. The I AM. Maybe I should stop trying to understand with my mind and instead be present. But my mind has questions.

Folk-love, you are asking excellent questions. In my experience, presence or mindfulness serves two main purposes. First, it allows us to be aware of our emotions and thoughts as they arise, so that instead of being dragged around by them, we are able to manage them, e.g., seek to understand what is causing them, and then act to find love in their place. Without mindfulness, we are slaves to our thoughts and feelings, and they drag us wherever they please as instincts do in the animals; we will love when we feel loved, hate when we feel hated, and no spiritual growth can take place when this happens.

The training method to develop the skill of mindfulness is meditation, and indeed once the chatter of the conscious mind has diminished, the Universe can speak to you directly, if you are seeking and yearning for it to do so. However, I would suggest focusing on love rather than answers, because once you have love, the answers will be given. And Unbound did an excellent job of explaining that loving and caring about others is not something that you either are or aren't, but rather a moment by moment choice. Once you discover that loving and caring are the answer to everything you currently dislike, both in yourself and your surroundings, the choice becomes obvious.

To summarize, it has not been my experience that, by itself, being present will produce miraculous results. However, it is vital and necessary as a foundation for conscious spiritual evolution.

[Billy]

I agree that the choice is obvious. I fully believe that love is the answer or at least opens the door for the answer to come in. But sometimes I simply do not feel it, and that is okay. I very much like what you said about taking things moment by moment.

[Stranger]

I agree that the choice is obvious. I fully believe that love is the answer or at least opens the door for the answer to come in. But sometimes I simply do not feel it, and that is okay. I very much like what you said about taking things moment by moment.

That is definitely okay, Folk-love. It's not the feeling that matters initially, but the intention to be compassionate toward whoever is offending you -- to put your own rightness or hurt aside for the moment, and instead focus on the needs of the other person, even while they are being unfair or unjust toward you, even in that moment. Mindfulness makes this choice possible. You may not be able to create the feeling of love, but you always have full control over that intention to be compassionate, although the ego will pull you like ten pissed-off mules the other way, towards focusing on and satisfying your own needs and your own hurt.

As you continue making the choice to maintain peace and a compassionate attitude, especially in more challenging circumstances, the more your heart will open, and the pull of the ego diminish; the more your heart opens, the easier it becomes to maintain peace and a compassionate attitude, even in more challenging circumstances. "To him who has, more shall be given." And thus we progress.

Meditation is also sort of the emotional reset button that allows us to clear out emotional/energetic debris and find peace. How long we manage to hang on to that peace depends on what we do in each subsequent moment - the ultimate aim is a continuous compassionate mindfuless which my wife calls "living meditation."

[Adonai One]

"There must be something more. Love must feel like something above me."

This is false and this will always fail the seeker in its search because all things love all things, not one thing above all things.

[Diana]

This is my understanding of the Power of Now.

The mind has its use. But that use is limited. It's good for organizing linear time and its obligations. But beyond the mind we as beings are much more powerful. In order to access that power, we must disengage from linear time—in other words, past, present, future thinking. We must be in the moment, without the phantom projections of the future and judgments of the past.

I will give you an example in my own life. Several years ago, I went through a financial crisis for the first time in my life. It was a new experience for me and really scary. I was basically freaking out daily. I couldn't sleep. Stress was my constant companion.

I ended up moving into one of my investment properties. This property is on a dirt road on a mountainside.

There were many animals around the property. It was fascinating to watch them. I ended up feeding snacks (carrots, apples) to a javelina and a deer herd.

What I began to notice was that when I was interacting with the animals, a hush seemed to wash over me. A calm and serene state of being. It was a respite in my otherwise stressed state.

What was happening to me was that I was in the now when with the animals. The peace I felt then, and every time I was with them, took me outside of time and the stress it held.

This can be achieved of course, by meditation. But an easier way is to do anything creative—draw, paint, write, play music, etc. There will be a point at which you will cease to be aware of time. This is when you have entered the now. It coincides with the cease of chatter in the mind.

The mind has it's place. In an friend of mine's book, Keys to Your Inner Power, Kelly Larsen talks about the job of the mind. And I'm paraphrasing, this includes blocking us from accessing those higher realms to protect us, until such time that we are ready to explore and evolve from 3D; but at that point, we must disengage from our protector.

So, disengaging from the mind chatter and linear time as much as possible, through meditation, or communing with nature, or doing something creative, will bring us closer to to our higher selves.

[Billy]

I guess a good question to ask myself, which Unbound suggested, is why do I wish to be compassionate? I believe that compassion for all life is a natural consequence of growing in love for yourself and realising the oneness of everything. Would you hurt yourself or inflict pain on yourself? Of course not. Having compassion towards others rather than resentment or even indifference is much more fulfilling.

[Adonai One]

Because you are pure compassion at your core; Everything is pure compassion, love for all things as the self.

[Billy]

Is anyone here able to practice constant presence? I've tried but by the 3rd or 4th day it's get a bit much. Is there any benefit to practising awareness 24/7? Tolle mentions reaching a state of perpetual living in the now, so I wonder.

[Adonai One]

I haven't been keeping direct count but I can reasonably say I have been in a "perpetual present" for the past 2 months (probably longer) or so, with only intermittent hiccups lasting less than 10 minutes at a time about, I guesstimate, 2-3 times a week.

You just have to remember you want, desire, choose every moment you are in, completely. You have to believe and know you have created every experience you have and not in some abstract, "I read new age books" kind of way but in that you can trace your conscious back to the central sun and truly feel you created the universe and the very moment you are in.

You have to feel and believe you are all things, all moments. The Law of One, shiznit.

In summary, if somebody is going to stab you with a knife, to maintain immersion in the present, you have to believe you are the knife and the person behind it, you have to feel yourself as him. This is difficult. Just simply remember under The Law of Free will, he has a universal right to stab you and kill you. It's easier to maintain infinite peace with that knowledge.

[Billy]

What do you think is the cause of the resistance that I'm feeling? Trying to maintain this awareness feels like a burden at times. Tolle mentions that awareness is like a light, and when you are aware you are shining light on your being, including the darkness. Maybe the resistance is me struggling to accept and cope with my shadow.

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It's particularly hard when im going to sleep. It's hard to be aware of your body and try to sleep at the same time.

[Stranger]

What do you think is the cause of the resistance that I'm feeling? Trying to maintain this awareness feels like a burden at times. Tolle mentions that awareness is like a light, and when you are aware you are shining light on your being, including the darkness. Maybe the resistance is me struggling to accept and cope with my shadow.

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It's particularly hard when im going to sleep. It's hard to be aware of your body and try to sleep at the same time.

Folk-love, I don't think constant presence is necessary. You are already present if your thoughts and actions are in accord with your values, with who you want to be. It's important to be present in moments of choice of STO vs STS, so that your actions are chosen consciously and deliberately at those times.

Think of driving a car. If you are already traveling in the direction you want, you don't need to concentrate so much on steering. But when you come to an intersection, it's vital to be aware so that you can make sure you take the path that leads to where you want to go.

Developing a habit of being aware of your emotions as you go about your life is a very good tool for this. Your emotions will tell you if you've made a turn you might want to correct.

You can be like the oyster, and allow the constant irritants of life to polish you into a shining being of pure love.

[Adonai One]

What do you think is the cause of the resistance that I'm feeling? Trying to maintain this awareness feels like a burden at times. Tolle mentions that awareness is like a light, and when you are aware you are shining light on your being, including the darkness. Maybe the resistance is me struggling to accept and cope with my shadow.

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It's particularly hard when im going to sleep. It's hard to be aware of your body and try to sleep at the same time.

The lack of belief that your current moment is perfect as-it-is, Your lack of belief in your current emotions as perfect and complete; Accept your emotions, as-is. Accept your struggle, as-is.

Also, the idea of maintaining bodily awareness while trying to sleep is stupid. Come on, man. I don't know about this book but it sounds like new age crystal healing 3.0.

[Billy]

Haha I kind of extrapolated that from the book. I just assumed that maintaining constant awareness meant exactly that. That is, always being present of your inner body. Probably just a misunderstanding on my part. I've just been getting a little desperate lately. Am willing to try almost anything.

[Steppingfeet]

What do you think is the cause of the resistance that I'm feeling? Trying to maintain this awareness feels like a burden at times. Tolle mentions that awareness is like a light, and when you are aware you are shining light on your being, including the darkness. Maybe the resistance is me struggling to accept and cope with my shadow.

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It's particularly hard when im going to sleep. It's hard to be aware of your body and try to sleep at the same time.

Perhaps you might picture yourself just beginning to learn the scales on the piano and ask why you are not playing like Mozart.

Cultivating presence is a disciplined skill that, like most other skills, requires time, persistence, patience, study, and application of self.

Further, there is a incremental build up of being able to be in the flow of presence more reliably and dependably. One does not go to the gym on the first week expecting to pump away. There is conditioning to be undertaken, soreness and muscle tear to move through, and overall development that increases the capacity to work out.

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Tolle also equates mind with resistance. One of its essential functions - or at least the way it's been conditioned for use on this planet - is to resist what is. To resist surrender. To resist the reality that there is no separate, individual "I". To resist the infinite nature of things. To resist its own (seeming) death.

Therefore it's understandable that any attempt at presence or meditation will be met with resistance. Not only "met with resistance", but trying to abide in stillness with a mind long accustomed to turbulent non-stillness, will create some kickback. Attempting to abide in stillness may even accentuate the raging motion of the mind. Akin to how light makes the shadows sharper and seemingly more pronounced.

I think it takes gentle but persistent practice over a period of time, Folk-love. It is a long road. You can't do it all at once, and you are not going to start out from square one being in a state of presence all day.

Though presence can be practiced anywhere under any seeming outer circumstance, you might try pre-set times in conducive settings.

Meditation is essentially practicing presence. Perhaps finding times for formal meditation would be of aid.

42.9
Ra: "Patience is requested and suggested, for the catalyst is intense upon your plane and its use must be appreciated over a period of consistent learn/teaching."

Please of course ignore if this is unhelpful.

With love/light,
Gary