Being the present moment

I have been reading Eckhart Tolle's book "A New Earth" and have really enjoyed the overall message of the book. It's always nice to be reminded of truth as it's spoken in many different ways through different teachers. While it wasn't exactly in line with how I have been experiencing life through my study of Tantra--it was good to be grounded in the message that the present moment is the only thing that is real.

My favorite moment from the book was when he talked about allowing ourselves to be OK with stripping away our "identity" and to be fine with not knowing who we are or what we are doing. Rather than finding who we are from what we do or what we have accomplished, to find the deeper truth that we are really the stillness and the space that is surrounding all of it.

My favorite quote from the book, although not from Eckhart is "It has been said that stillness is the language God speaks, and everything else is a bad translation.” I find that to be so true. Words and language lose through translation the depth, peace and space that can be found from stillness. An example he gave in the book is just look up at the stars at night when you can--especially in a place that doesn't have light pollution and just feel the sense of awe about how much space there really is. What we actually experience in our day to day is so small compared to all that is around us. Even what we see as space is so limited as there are things our eyes and our telescopes just can't see. He then goes on to say how that space is the same space that can be found within us. I have heard that said before in a book by Marianne Williamson in which she said the Universe is holographic meaning that everything contained within the whole is present in every piece--so literally we are what the stars are-so above so below.

It's nice to remember that spaciousness is what we are and while we have form even within the form our atoms and molecules have so much space between them. So while it appears that we are quite solid--we are actually much more spacious than solid. Our solidity is an illusion. The more we come to accept this--the more freedom it brings to us. I love applying it to the crowdedness I feel around me, in my body, in my life, and as soon as I remember this spaciousness my identity shifts from limitation to space. I do this in my practice as I find myself trying to get into poses to just be still for a moment, listen, feel, and grow into the space and realize that it's infinite. The boundaries of my body are an illusion--I am space. It changes everything because while my "body" in its form may have a boundary, my inner body which is formless and spacious does not. This is where I feel the yoga really gets interesting is through becoming more and more aware of that spacious place and moving and expanding from that.

I also like how paying attention to this inner body awareness completely grounds me in the present moment--which is the only thing that is real. Play with this idea in your life this week. Notice how often you are not in your body and just try to feel awareness in one part like your hands and just keep attention there. Notice how the mind takes you all over the place, and keep bringing yourself to "beingness" notice how often you want to be entertained and distracted and try to bring yourself to stillness and just allow all your senses to be drawn into that deeper listening. You are not trying to do anything--you are just allowing yourself to be. Notice how often your try to define yourself and what you base your worth on, and see if your worth can be based on the stillness you feel and the beingness, rather than on the doing and accomplishments. How freeing! We don't have to do--just be!

The best advice from the book I think was when asked what workshops this student should attend Eckhart replied that any of them would be great, however, all they would really need to do is pay attention to their breath as often as they could for one year and they would be transformed more than they would from attending any lecture, hearing any teaching, or doing anything else (and it's free!). That's a good challenge for us all--pay attention to your breath as often as you can when you notice your breath you are in the moment--the only thing that is real.....

Peace!