Hi there! Welcome back to another Eckhart Tolle Friday.
Eckhart Tolle is the author of Power of Now. It is a book about how to practice mindfulness. It is an amazing book and it’s one of those books that makes you think.
“The good news is that you can free yourself from your mind. This is the only true liberation. You can take the first step right now. Start listening to the voice in your head as often as you can. Pay particular attention to any repetitive thought patterns, those old gramophone records that have been playing in your head perhaps for many years. This is what I mean by ‘watching the thinker’, which is another way of saying: listen to the voice in your head, be there as the witnessing presence.”
-Eckhart Tolle, Power of Now, page 18
When I was reading this paragraph, it really spoke to me. Because sometimes my mind tells me I should do something like take a shower the minute I wake up instead of taking one later. And whenever my mind tells me to do that, my boyfriend would tell me that his coworker (who is also my sister’s boyfriend) wants to know what my afternoon plans because they finished work early and invited us over for dinner. I would only be given 10 to 15 minutes to get ready. I would be glad that my instincts told me to take an early shower since it would be one less thing for me to do when I get back home.
Although, sometimes my mind tells me more serious things like what I should do career wise. I find when I meditate, I receive a lot of answers that I am seeking.
What I find helpful is when you learn to quiet the mind, the answers find you. Meaning if you stop worrying about trying to always think of the answers, let the answers to come to you, instead.
Mindfulness may take time to get use to. My suggestion is start small. Begin or end the day with five minutes of sitting still, silencing your mind. And then when you have mastered that, you can begin to your increase your time of practicing stillness. Only you know when you are comfortable to increase your time. So there’s no need to put yourself down for not mastering 45 minutes of stillness on your first attempt. I’m sorry to say, but that isn’t a realistic approach.
The answers that you are seeking, may or may not come to you right away, and that’s okay. Just know your answers always come to you at the right moment when you need to know.
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