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yogashaman21
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I liked part of the book, at least the parts I read, except for one part where he says something about how its easier for females to enter deep meditation than males because of physiological makeup or something. I found this to be a a gross generalization, or just flat out false.
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beforethedawn
Registered: 06/19/16
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Hey yogashaman. Sorry about facebook. I'm okay mate. 
Eckhart Tolle is a fantastic thing to have in the mainstream right now.
Same with Russel Brand.
Heroes, more or less.
The present is presenting the question -
Who am I?
Until you find the present, you are asking WHERE am I? Just watch - pay attention, don't be so rational, be sort of creative. You are asking everyone where to find yourself or find love.
So once you find it,
The question is WHO am I? And the present will present clues that lead you deeper into the infinite expanse of the present.
We think time is infinite, and the present is a blink of an eye. Inverted. Everything's inverted.
---
Thanatos -
YOUR STATE OF MIND
determines
WHAT YOU READ INTO THE WORDS/PAGES
edit -
not yogashaman, sorry, I can't remember who it was now...
-------------------- Hostile humankind Can't you see you're fucking blind?
Edited by beforethedawn (06/27/16 10:56 PM)
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Thanatos10
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Quote:
beforethedawn said: Hey yogashaman. Sorry about facebook. I'm okay mate. 
Eckhart Tolle is a fantastic thing to have in the mainstream right now.
Same with Russel Brand.
Heroes, more or less.
The present is presenting the question -
Who am I?
Until you find the present, you are asking WHERE am I? Just watch - pay attention, don't be so rational, be sort of creative. You are asking everyone where to find yourself or find love.
So once you find it,
The question is WHO am I? And the present will present clues that lead you deeper into the infinite expanse of the present.
We think time is infinite, and the present is a blink of an eye. Inverted. Everything's inverted.
---
Thanatos -
YOUR STATE OF MIND
determines
WHAT YOU READ INTO THE WORDS/PAGES
edit -
not yogashaman, sorry, I can't remember who it was now...
Who I am isn't really a question, I know the answer to that. It's something that's so in flux that it's pointless to hold onto anything definite. Even sociologists now have found the self to be an illusion (albeit a necessary one). It's no a matter of where you are as you can't be anywhere but now. The future is an unstable land of what ifs that is pointless to worry about. The past is set in stone, so there's no use in worrying bout it either. The present is a blinking moment. It's here for an instant and then it's gone, only to be back again.
I'm not asking where am I, I'm asking who I am. The past has some effect on that, but that doesn't mean I'm living it. Some things persist.
Life isn't about finding yourself but making yourself. That's why the self isn't stable. It's always in flux.
Asking someone to be creative isn't advice, it's more like a statement. Creativity is a very vague word that means different things to people.
I disagree with Tolle that thoughts are the problem, they aren't. It's how you relate to them. So far my thoughts and I have had a pretty good relationship.
Time is odd, that's all I can say about it. Just look at relativity.
And a final word, my state of mind doesn't affect what I read. If there are contradictions then they are there regardless of how I see it. An open mind doesn't mean accepting everything. I did read the book, but the way he put things and some of the things he said made it hard to take him seriously.
And love, well, that's nothing but another fading fact of life.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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Thanatos10
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Plus that video sounds like he's trying to sell you something. Giving enough promise of a salvation but withholding the important parts. In short it's bunk.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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Universaleyeni
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Quote:
Thanatos10 said:
Quote:
Life is suffering, Buddha made that pretty clear and I kind of accept it. It's not bad all the time, but it guess it helps when it feels like you NEED to be happy.
I interpret the Buddhist teachings slightly differently. Human life isnt doomed to suffering, but our imperfect, attached, human nature creates most suffering (unnecessary). This has nothing to do with pain caused by physical decay and breakdown of our bodies, obviously.
Tying this in with the original post on The Power of Now...this part of us that creates and interprets this suffering, the pain body as Tolle calls it. It all ties in with eastern thought on unnecessary suffering for sure. Same message!
Its the voice inside of us that interprets experience as suffering. Aka being attached to a specific outcome, expecting shit to go your way, etc...
The clutch concept of the book, to me, is that in the present there are no problems, just... IT. Our future millisecond interpretations, shape how we feel about it all. And since its a constant flow of events, well, you can understand a slight buildup of negativity or positivity depending which way youre flowing with it 
It all ties in man. Buddhism, meditation, be here now, the power of now, tao, whatever, etc, same key to the universe.
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Thanatos10
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Except that clutch concept is incorrect to an extent. The present does have problems based on the person. Starving, debt, illness, no job, can support yourself, false imprisonment, rape. There are many problems that take place in the now. To say they don't exist means you haven't know "real" suffering and don't have real problems. I'm willing to wager that's most of the audience who watch Oprah and can afford his talks. That and how he says problems like world hunger are a reflection of the inner issues of humanity, which isn't true (the problem is far more complex than that).
Also there is no pain body, I don't care what he says. It's just bad habits and behaviors, not some entity that feeds off you.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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Universaleyeni
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Quote:
Thanatos10 said: The present does have problems based on the person. Starving, debt, illness, no job, can support yourself, false imprisonment, rape. There are many problems that take place in the now.
That's all a personal interpretation..."based on the person". In this case you, your interpretation. But all of your proposed scenarios are neither problematic nor beneficial to a weather system or a season or a sea turtle... They just are. They only carry the weight of personal interpretation. The attachment to outcome and pending personal judgement creates the suffering.
Quote:
Thanatos10 said: There are many problems that take place in the now. To say they don't exist means you haven't know "real" suffering and don't have real problems.

Yes I do have problems. And in case it's not clear, I'm as attached and imperfect as they come. I'm workin on it that's all.
And everything I label a problem is done so by my imperfect, silly, forgetful ass! Needless to say, I'm aware that my "problems" as well as my human body is irrelevant to nature and simply exists. Period. My interpretations are my conscious doing.
Quote:
Thanatos10 said: That and how he says problems like world hunger are a reflection of the inner issues of humanity, which isn't true (the problem is far more complex than that.)
I got a little extra time right now so I'll have some fun and argue this...just for fun. The most obvious example of how world hunger is a reflection of an inner issue of humanity...if any of the rich fuck individual multi millionaire billionaires looked deep in their hearts and thought: "how could I live like this knowing there are people starving to death in the world", and in numbers, rich corporations/ elite 1%, reacted similarly, world hunger wouldn't exist. That's just one example, for the heck of it. If no human could live with themselves knowing their neighbor is hungry...
Quote:
Thanatos10 said: Also there is no pain body, I don't care what he says. It's just bad habits and behaviors, not some entity that feeds off you.
Tomayto tomatoe right. Yea pain body, entity, the inner asshole, bad habits and behavior...all sounds synonymous to me.
I'll admit you know a lot more about this guy than I do. I swiped the audiobook off the internet, because reading is hard for me since the letters begin to swirl and dance around. Never even seen the guy or know anything about him. Just listened while cruising and smoking blunts. I did appreciate that the jist of his message is one that I've arrived at personally, and so have some of my favorite teachers, such as Buddha, Alan watts, ram dass, grof, personal friends, etc...they all seem to have touched upon a universal key...at least that's my interpretation 
It seems in most communications with you, the theme I keep sending your way, is that IMO, you shape your reality by means of your interpretation. You and only you decide how your experience is, and stack judgement up all day long. For example, a person saying dark stuff like nothing matters, everything is suffering, love isn't real, or any other similar jewels, is basically shooting themselves in the foot...unless thats personally interpreted to be a good thing 
It all ties in man, IMO of course.
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Thanatos10
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I got lost reading the book, and given certain personal leanings beyond my control my head winds up misinterpreting what I read. But I did read an article that said they aren't problems but situations, either to be dealt with or accepted. That labeling them as such doesn't bring you any closer to resolving them. They gave examples. Like if there is talk about layoffs at work and you wonder if it will be you, what will you do, and instead of getting off on things that aren't real and not happening you are distracting yourself from finding a productive solution.
What I got is that labeling a situation doesn't bring you any closer to taking action towards it and doesn't help solve it either.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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Universaleyeni
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Yes man I can dig it
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RJ Tubs 202


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Quote:
Thanatos10 said:
Also there is no pain body, I don't care what he says.
The concept of the pain body makes sense to me, as an explanation of why we as humans have meltdowns.
And why we emotionally over-react to certain things. If you have a better explanation, I'm ready to listen!
The PON is an ancient idea. The mind is prone to be depressed about the past and worry about the future.
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mt cleverest
clevendafodil

Registered: 08/19/12
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Constantly trying to be in the now is a sure way to not be in the now. All talk about the now is nonsense as we are never not in the now. The whole thing is silly. Mind chatter,worry, and depression are all part of life and cannot be avoided. These "in the now" type seekers are just making things worse for themselves by their resistance of the inevitable, aka seeking enlightenment.
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Thanatos10
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Quote:
RJ Tubs 202 said:
Quote:
Thanatos10 said:
Also there is no pain body, I don't care what he says.
The concept of the pain body makes sense to me, as an explanation of why we as humans have meltdowns.
And why we emotionally over-react to certain things. If you have a better explanation, I'm ready to listen!
The PON is an ancient idea. The mind is prone to be depressed about the past and worry about the future.
Subconscious influence as a result of unresolved past trauma, it's psychology not spirituality. It's like when people blamed things on demons in the past.
People react like that because they have unresolved issues, when they work past and resolve them then the problems stop. The trick is finding the source.
But there is no monster inside you that feeds on this and makes you do things. That's just stupid, no tradition I have known believes that. People say it's a metaphor but the way he writes doesn't convince me it is.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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Thanatos10
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To be honest I think he's just taking us for a ride by watering down past teachings and putting them in a book. Even his story of "awakening" seems off to me, as well as other parts of his story. I mean he charges people $400 to attend his talks. If that's not money grubbing I don't know what is.
I don't like the whole instant enlightenment thing he's pushing either.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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BrendanFlock
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Well I think the concept of the power of now..is indeed true
We are only in one instant which is eternal and present.
We still project and think about things as seperate but we are always going to be here in a perfect instant regardless...That is the power of now!
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RJ Tubs 202


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Quote:
mt cleverest said:
Constantly trying to be in the now is a sure way to not be in the now. All talk about the now is nonsense as we are never not in the now.
The whole thing is silly. Mind chatter,worry, and depression are all part of life and cannot be avoided.
Of the many thousands of thoughts we have every day, most are focused on the past and the future.
You can believe anxiety and depression are inevitable, but many have experienced they are optional.
Anxiety and depression fuel our ego and make us feel as if we are the center of the universe.
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RJ Tubs 202


Registered: 09/20/08
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Quote:
Thanatos10 said:
But there is no monster inside you that feeds on this and makes you do things.
The pain body is not a "monster". Where did you hear that!? You missed the whole point.
Trauma has repercussions. You've never emotionally blown up about an insignificant incident? We all have.
Quote:
Thanatos10 said:
That's just stupid, no tradition I have known believes that.
You've never heard of Satan or the Devil, that tempts you to do harmful things and suffer?
Do you live in a cave?
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Thanatos10
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Quote:
RJ Tubs 202 said:
Quote:
Thanatos10 said:
But there is no monster inside you that feeds on this and makes you do things.
The pain body is not a "monster". Where did you hear that!? You missed the whole point.
Trauma has repercussions. You've never emotionally blown up about an insignificant incident? We all have.
Quote:
Thanatos10 said:
That's just stupid, no tradition I have known believes that.
You've never heard of Satan or the Devil, that tempts you to do harmful things and suffer?
Do you live in a cave?
I don't believe in Satan or the devil.
As for it being a monster, you clearly didn't read the same book I did. He makes it sound like a parasite feeding of and controlling you. No other eastern philosophy I have read makes it sound like that. That sounds like Christians saying the devil is in you, is just not true. All they are are experiences and thoughts whose power is from what you give them. You say it's a metaphor but from what I read he doesn't seem to feel the same about it.
All it is is trauma that is unresolved. The only times I have blown up is when I have a stressful day and it's the straw that brakes the camels back. Not by some parasite that compels me to react negatively and feeds off me, and attracts bad things to me (which is just not true by the way, stuff happens regardless of how you feel).
Honestly the way he preaches about the now is the same way I hear evangelists talk about God. Except he's only speaking from his own experience and might be overestimating it. There are better books out their but this one got popular because Oprah got to it.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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cez

Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 5,854
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What Eastern philosophies have you read that don't preach about the now?
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Thanatos10
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Re: Power of Now [Re: cez]
#23435333 - 07/12/16 03:58 PM (7 years, 6 months ago) |
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They don't preach. They casually speak of it while offering practical advice for obstacles,
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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cez

Registered: 08/04/09
Posts: 5,854
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Why would you read a book titled, "The Power Of Now" if you didn't want the author to preach about the now?
I'm still curious as to what philosophies you are referring to? Is mantra practical to you? Or believing in various Buddha forms that are extensions of yourself?
Is the story of Hanuman practical?
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