The Power Of Now

Hello everyone.

I don't really know where to start on this forum as I don't understand a lot about some of the subjects raised here.

I have just finished reading this book "The Power Of Now" which has really opened my eyes to the possibility of a path to enlightenment. This is basically what led me here as I need to know more.

Has anybody else here read this book? Are there any other books that anyone can recommend that I should read as I don't know much about meditation and I'd like to learn more.

If anyone can help me learn, I am a complete novice and need to start at the beginning as it were.

I'd apperciate some help.

Phoebie. x

[daisy]

i've not read that book phoebie, please ask any questions you have a lot of people here will be able and willing to advise youxx

Thanks Daisy.

I have been reading the threads about Chakras. I have heard about chakras but I don't know about them. Are they a necessary part of meditation or only a particular type of meditation?

Sorry if this requires a lot of explanation but like I say, I am a complete novice at all of this!

[daisy]

no you don't need to know about chakras to meditate IMO, just as well or i'd never have cracked it lol, i'm not too clued up on chakra's but i know a lot of the others arexxx

Ah thanks!

So how do you meditate daisy?

In the book I have been reading it is described as being fully alert and concious of your inner self but deeply relaxed.

I don't feel I have enough info to give it a try. My mind always begins to wander.

Hi Phoebie,

Chakras are energy centres in the etheric and finer bodies which we humans occupy... In the average person, there are seven major chakras that are attached to the spine, and they generally correspond with a physical nerve bundle or nerve plexus. They look to the clairvoyant sight to be like spinning vortexes of coloured energies, and they are receivers / transmitters / transformers of finer energies flowing between the various bodies. They can be open or closed; and like physical parts of one, can suffer damage or distortion due to various causes. Such distortion of their functioning will, if not corrected, lead to a problem in the physical in due course, or a problem of consciousness; so it is useful to be able to know how they are faring and whether they are in good health or not. However, not critical for you to know about them initially in starting to meditate.

In meditation, the chakras are often enhanced or more open; and one can affect how they are by one's intention to do so. Sometimes they need our attention to heal them, and one may get into tracing and releasing the karma that has caused a chakra not to be at its best.

Try putting the word "chakra" into a search engine on the 'net, such as Google - you're bound to bring up all sorts of information that you can read at leisure!

There are heaps of other minor chakras all over our bodies, and in our grounding cords which ground us to Mother Earth and connect our Soul to our body.

Have fun in your research!
Pounamu

[daisy]

Originally Posted by Phoebie

Ah thanks!

So how do you meditate daisy?

In the book I have been reading it is described as being fully alert and concious of your inner self but deeply relaxed.

I don't feel I have enough info to give it a try. My mind always begins to wander.

i found it frustratingly difficult at first phoebie, like many here i found 'stilling the mind' almost impossible, music does help as long as it's not too loud or intrusive and i find long slow deep breaths helps too, although i cannot 'clear' my mind i have learned to push the chatter to the back of my mind. that said i've tried many methods over the years, this is the one which works for me, and i find i can slip quite easily into meditation now, practice and experimentation (to find what works best for you) is my best advice, hope that helpsxxx

Originally Posted by Phoebie

Hello everyone.

I don't really know where to start on this forum as I don't understand a lot about some of the subjects raised here.

I have just finished reading this book "The Power Of Now" which has really opened my eyes to the possibility of a path to enlightenment. This is basically what led me here as I need to know more.

Has anybody else here read this book? Are there any other books that anyone can recommend that I should read as I don't know much about meditation and I'd like to learn more.

If anyone can help me learn, I am a complete novice and need to start at the beginning as it were.

I'd apperciate some help.

Phoebie. x

Hi there Phoebie.

The point of the book is the exact opposite of what you are saying here. The power of NOW. It's all good right now at this very moment. Hell, there IS nothing else than THIS moment. The now in which everything happens, like Eckhart says.

But the mind can only understand processes, and if you live from mind, if you really feel to be a person with a life and such, you are always trying to make sense out of the things you experience(and read). Your world-image, your belief system, your background, everything is involved in this mind-interpretation of reality. This is the veil that, if I remember correctly, Eckhart mentions in his book.

But his book was not to be taken as knowledge to be applied, it was really a pointer to something else. Your mind has taken everything it read and made it into a process, a new objective to reach; to become enlightened.

Fact is that YOU will never become enlightened. You ARE the veil. Your sense of self is messed up. And so you tend to cling to his words and try to be and do everything he mentioned in the book. There are many many teachers who point to exactly the same, but with other words. These words are not ment to be remembered as knowledge. You either see what they point to, or don't.

You don't have to do anything, you can't do anything. Because behind the veil, there is already enlightenment, presence, whatever pointer you like to use. Your mind might be trying to make a process of this text you are reading right now, can you notice it? What is noticing it?

If you can perceive without thought, then who are you really? Can't you already look without the use of thought? What is looking? What is having the DIRECT experience? Without a story in the mind there really is only one thing left, it is the perceiving that is always happening. It's the source, it's what you are. Through your entire LIFE, which by the way is only an imagination in your mind whenever you think that it exists, there is only 1 thing that never changes: consciousness. Not some consciousness that was 'created' by the brain, but consciousness that created the brain, and everything else there is. The consciousness that has experienced so many things through the form you seem to have. This consciousness IS everything. All is one. This consciousness is 'doing' you (and everything else), it's a play of phenomenal existence.

So, you can submit to all kinds of training and worshipping of this and that but the true freedom lies just in front of your nose already, so to speak. All these things are for the seeker, the seeker has all those choices in order to become this or that. It will prolong the existence of the seeker, the ego. How can the ego get rid of itself? Every action taken only prolongs it's existence.

If I ask you who you are right now, aren't you imagining something in your head which you call 'me'? Don't you really see yourself somewhere in the mind, and associated ideas perhaps about what you did/do/want/etc etc?

If this is being seen somewhere, then what is seeing it is you. Not in a person sense, but simply consciousness. You are only a person if you look through that mind-structure of who you think you are.

Our mind is a tool, we've been taught to use it to speak, but it started it's own life in the head. There is no reason to speak in your mind, because who is there to listen? If you are saying 'I' am listening, then you can't be the one speaking can't you? There's the observer, and the observed...

Forget about all those things created by mind such as chakra's and the likes. The power of NOW is not called the power of NOW for nothing!

Enlightenment is already your natural state, no matter what thoughts you have about it. Forget about all the concepts from books and stuff, it's all mind stuff that will keep the ego going. As long as you expect something, you're in thought. There is no process of becoming enlightened, you are already that. Don't try to get rid of the ego. It's just ego trying to get rid of ego, it won't work. Let it be, it's there no problem. It's in your mind. It's imagined.

I have to admit that there has been a lot of frustration here, because I was trapped in this seeking for a very long time. But once 'you' get it, you'll see that it's absolutely normal, natural, and nothing special at all. But at the same time, noticing that 'you' are not at all trapped in this 'life' of who you seemed to be, is amazing. But really this is just a mind-way of expressing this. It can't be really explained in words, it really can't. And everything continues. Like the Zen saying: "Before enlightenment chop wood carry water, after enlightenment chop wood carry water" (or something like that) But it's not 'you' in life anymore, it's life in you.

Now don't make THIS into a process. It's pointing to something beyond mind, beyond analyzing this text and seeing if it fits into your belief system. Belief systems are mindstuff, imagined. Reality can't be expressed in words.

Greets,

Fiddle!

I've been meditating for about 50 years, and I've distilled everything down to a list of pointers you might find helpful Phoebie. Starting out, the hardest thing seems to being able to relax, and to clear your mind. As with most things, meditation is a process you need to practice to succeed doing. To relax, try deep breathing, visualization. Think of something serene and peaceful.

My list of pointers include being open to whatever you receive, don't be judgmental, avoid all expectations, and stay relaxed. Clear your mind, focus inward into your heart/soul center, and keep a journal, writing down every detail. I also have a micro-cassette recorder I use. Don’t be disappointed, instead appreciate any dreams you experience.

John

Hi Phoebie - yes, I've read this amazing book and have gleaned a lot from it (have had to make notes, to re-read). If you're just starting out, spiritually, this book must be hard for you to digest; it's very deep and directional - kind of similar in philosophy to Zen. What did you get from it? There's a lot to be said for finding/reading a book at the right time - like a film, you get something different from it each time, depending on where you currently are.