The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
1) You are not your mind; you are not your thoughts. The problem of humanity is deeply rooted in the mind itself. The mind is an incredibly useful tool, but we have become identified with it. We believe that the mind and its constant stream of thoughts is who we are, but we are much more than that.
2) Your mind is constantly chatting away the voice in your head, speculating complaints, judges, compares, and so on. We habitually think and worry about the future and past. Most of us are on autopilot and we probably don’t even realize it.
3) There is much more to you than just that stream of thoughts. Asking what am I is one of the most important questions. You can ask yourself that is the beginning of self-inquiry, awareness, and mindfulness.
4) You start by listening to the voice in your head as often as you can instead of being consumed or identified with your thoughts. You take a step back and just observe them. You try to create a sort of separation from yourself in your thoughts. the more you are identified with your mind, the more you suffer
5) Be there as the witnessing presence of your thoughts and do so without judgment listen and partially throughout the day and take note of what your mind is doing.
6) When you observe your thoughts, you will see that there’s a higher level of consciousness at play here. You are that higher level of consciousness. Consider this if you’re observing your thoughts, can you be your thoughts? The answer is No, you’re much more than thought, you are beyond thought.
7) Over time and as you become better at observing your thoughts, you’ll feel a deeper presence behind the thought. When that happens, the thought loses its power over you. Because you have dis-identified from the thought stream, you have dis-identified from the mind. It’s quite the opposite you’re more aware awake alert and fully present in this state.
8) See things without the filter of your mind, look at things without labeling or judging them. It’s very challenging at first but don’t give up, keep doing this and you’ll eventually get a glimpse of ‘No Mind’. No mind is consciousness without thought.
9) The moment you are more conscious, your attention turns to the Now, you feel a presence, a stillness, a peace. You no longer depend on the future for fulfillment and satisfaction. You don’t look to it for salvation.
10) The mind is simply a tool to be used when necessary. You don’t need something in the future, you’re just happy being here now.
11) Minds like to be preoccupied with thinking about the past or thinking about the future. We are very rarely in the present moment, so our goal here is to be more grounded in the present moment. Yes, thinking and planning are necessary in today’s world but let’s be honest over 90% of our thinking is repetitive and useless and it’s often negative. The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step you are taking at this moment.
12) You may have an outer purpose and outer goals, but they should not take up so much of your attention that they become more important than the step you are taking now.
13) The moment you realize you’re not present you become present. When you observe it, you’re not trapped in it anymore be what. Another great point here is that you can always handle the present moment. You can always cope with the now. Problems arise when you get wrapped up in the what-ifs and I should have.
14) All these wants desires and regrets come from the mind’s obsession with the past and future. You can go back to the past or plan for the future when you need to, but your primary focus should be on the Now.
15) Use your senses fully be where you are, look around just look, don’t interpret. You need to give your fullest attention to the step that you’re taking at this moment.
16) Accept the moment as it is. Now when you resist what is, you create pain for yourself between what is and what your expectations are, there is a gap and that’s where resistance lies again. You may think that the situation creates the suffering but that’s not so, your resistance is.
17) Accepting the moment as it is means surrendering to the Now. Surrender is letting go of mental-emotional resistance to what is.
18) True surrender does not mean to passively put up with whatever situation you find yourself in and do nothing about it nor does it mean to cease making plans or initiating positive action. Surrendering is yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life. The only place where you can experience the flow of life is The Now. So, to surrender is to accept the present moment unconditionally.
19) When you acknowledge that there is resistance, you’re making resistance conscious, you’re no longer coming from reaction and resistance. Once you acknowledge it, ask if there is anything you can do to change and prove or remove yourself from the situation and then act.
20) Surrender strengthens the feeling of separateness on which the ego depends on for its survival. Surrender will move you closer to people. Through surrender, you’ll accept what is and that means accepting people as they are. You won’t judge, criticize, reject, label, or attempt to change people. When you accept resentment, moodiness, anger, and so on, you’re no longer forced to act them out blindly and you’re less likely to project them onto others.
Let’s summarize quickly in 3 points:
1. You are not your thoughts. Observe your thoughts to see them for what they truly are.
2. The present moment is all we ever have, so be more grounded in it.
3. Surrender to the now and accept what is, instead of fighting with the stream of thoughts.
These three lessons get deeper and deeper the longer you practice them.
