Tolle's method is wrong

[BlueSky]

'The correct method is the following:

If I am not conscious of the present moment, this is normal. I have problems, I must solve them and my mind will naturally come back to the Now without effort' 3dnow

I'd like to concentrate on 'your' method and forget Tolles for a moment.
What if you remove the following from your mind altogether:
"If I am not conscious of the present moment" and "my mind will naturally come back to the Now without effort"
And what if you just observe yourself, your problems, your thoughts, your relationship to life itself...without the thought that you must solve them.

This way you remove the 'goal' of becoming present, which IMO is a block in itself and also this way, by simply observing, you become aware of your problems..as problems...and that IMO is enough for you to be free of them or for you to begin being free of them. What we resist, persists.

Originally Posted by WhiteShaman

'The correct method is the following:

If I am not conscious of the present moment, this is normal. I have problems, I must solve them and my mind will naturally come back to the Now without effort' 3dnow

I'd like to concentrate on 'your' method and forget Tolles for a moment.
What if you remove the following from your mind altogether:
"If I am not conscious of the present moment" and "my mind will naturally come back to the Now without effort"
And what if you just observe yourself, your problems, your thoughts, your relationship to life itself...without the thought that you must solve them.

This way you remove the 'goal' of becoming present, which IMO is a block in itself and also this way, by simply observing, you become aware of your problems..as problems...and that IMO is enough for you to be free of them or for you to begin being free of them. What we resist, persists.

Good observation! In just staying with the issue -without an agenda - what's actually truly going on is revealed/played out (along with factors that may have been overlooked) and a solution may naturally present itself out of this. This process is not dissimilar to the focused attention of Buddhist mindfulness where openness, acceptance and curiousity are employed - not trying to change anything...seeing what's there.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by amy green

Good observation! In just staying with the issue -without an agenda - what's actually truly going on is revealed/played out (along with factors that may have been overlooked) and a solution may naturally present itself out of this. This process is not dissimilar to Buddhist mindfulness.

Yeh, it's like simply becoming aware that you twirl your hair everytime a good looking guy comes in the room is enough for it to stop.....

The irony of all this is that by staying with the issue or whatever is happening and observing it, that that IS being present?
See we want something more and that wanting inhibits us. We want what we think being present is.
The good news is that even the wanting of something more is an issue and one we can observe and one that will fall away.

Originally Posted by WhiteShaman

Yeh, it's like simply becoming aware that you twirl your hair everytime a good looking guy comes in the room is enough for it to stop.....

The irony of all this is that by staying with the issue or whatever is happening and observing it, that that IS being present?
See we want something more and that wanting inhibits us. We want what we think being present is.
The good news is that even the wanting of something more is an issue and one we can observe and one that will fall away.

Ah but this is the beauty of The Power Of Now (Tolle). He explains how we can go beyond the ego in the present/now, i.e. to find a serene place. Again not unique, e.g also available via meditation so it's another way to get there but probably more quickly! (Not everyone seems able to meditate, for instance).

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by amy green

Ah but this is the beauty of The Power Of Now (Tolle). He explains how we can go beyond the ego in the present/now, i.e. to find a serene place. Again not unique, e.g also available via meditation so it's another way to get there but probably more quickly! (Not everyone seems able to meditate, for instance).

I have to run but let me add my thoughts on that quickly.

'I' can't 'go' anywhere. I can see that and it can end and that is the beginning.

Originally Posted by WhiteShaman

I have to run but let me add my thoughts on that quickly.

'I' can't 'go' anywhere. I can see that and it can end and that is the beginning.

Maybe I'm just not explaining it very well....we are more than ego, i.e. spirit. This can be contacted in certain spaces.

[in progress]

amy green, I like that you mention meditation as another helpful method. I was thinking of meditation, observing the mind as WhiteShaman suggests and also energy work (removing blocks) as I was looking through this thread.

I'm going to add another tool to the tool box. It's something I heard recently which I liked it a lot. It's that in the present moment we ask ourselves how we're feeling.

The idea is that we don't have to necessarily identify specific mental programming or beliefs. That these are stories we tell ourselves to explain how we feel. If we address the feeling state that led to the stories we allow for greater clearing since it doesn't involve the limiting mind w/ its stories.

Then I understand that we can take this a step further and look at it from a more energetic POV. See feelings as frequency states and know that in each now moment we can make frequency choices, because we are not victims of our emotions but are making choices as to how we feel. From personal experience, it's certainly easier to make the choices we desire once we become present and have started re-integrating the blocked energy we have in our energetic fields that keeps us from feeling whole.

And to address 3Dnow's concern that it all happen naturally, it eventually will but it can take a little practice and effort up front to get the ball rolling. Taking the attitude as you have already that it occur easily and naturally will certainly help. If you think about the idea that you are living in a dimension of duality it will take a balance of both doing and being.

[norseman]

Must admit I have no time for Tolle and his ilk [angels at their beck and call !] Write the book, sell the merchandise !
Spirituality is individual. You will not find answers in what someone else has said - find you own, don't parrot others ! [to paraphrase Krishnamurti]

Your spiritual answers lie in your own life experiences.

[Xan]

Originally Posted by 3dnow

From wikipedia:

The basic message of Tolle's book is that our mode of consciousness can be transformed. The key to becoming free of the egoic mind, with all its consequences, is to become deeply conscious of this present moment, or, as Tolle often calls it, "the Now."

From the Now book:

"In your everyday life, you can practice this by taking any routine activity that normally is only a means to an end and giving it your fullest attention, so that it becomes an end in itself. For example, every time you walk up and down the stairs in your house or place of work, pay close attention to every step, every movement, even your breathing. Be totally present. Or when you wash your hands, pay attention to all the sense perceptions associated with the activity the sound and feel of the water, the movement of your hands, the scent of the soap, and so on. Or when you get into your car, after you close the door, pause for a few seconds and observe the flow of your breath. Become aware of a silent but powerful sense of presence. There is one certain criterion by which you can measure your success in this practice: the degree of peace that you feel within."

This is bad self-treatment. This is exactly How I interpreted his book -> Forcing oneself to stay in the now, the get rid of this "ego".

The correct approach is...

3d... Your selections are a good overview of the Now teachings.

I find it a bit strange that you interpret "pay attention" and "become aware" as forcing... but I guess that is how you tried to do it, so of course it failed. For me shifting my attention is a relaxing and easing with my breathing.

If you have found an approach that works for you to shift away from the usual past-future mind activity and just be present in life as it is for you in each moment... that's a good thing.


blessings
Xan

[Xan]

Originally Posted by 3dnow

The problem is not his language, the problem is the idea: "I should stay in the now". This is bad self-treatment.

You are right. This 'add on' to a teaching - Tolle's or any other - is a mistake in one's own mind... which can be corrected.

A friend had a poster on her wall that said, "I shall not Should on myself today."


Xan