Living In The Now

On my bike ride home, I stop by my usual Peet's Coffee on Larchmont to revive myself with a little somethin'. I decided to indulge in a vegan chocolate chip cookie. There were many people hanging out in the front of the place and I see the infamous orange book: Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth". I smiled inside because I was having a discussion with my friend about the book (she had just read it; she reads alot of spiritual books so we always tend to discuss them) over dinner and drinks.

Mike is almost done with the book. A friend of his had recommended it to him because he knew that Mike is very much into spirituality and knew he would enjoy the book. Naturally, Mike took to this book like fish to water and feels that this is probably one of the most in-depth books out about the "ego". We talked a bit about the ego and how Tolle talks about it in his book. I brought some tidbits I'd learned from the night before and he was kind enough to elaborate on some points a bit more. For instance, Mike tells me that the ego survives if you are "unconscious" about it. However, if you are conscious about your world and how you interact in it then your ego has no way of "surviving".

Ex. You're walking down the street and you see an overweight individual. You may automatically just start judging them. This is your ego thriving. If, however, you stop and realise that we are all part of the same human race, etc. and don't judge them then you are ego-less.


We talk more about living in the "now" and by living in the present one will not worry too much about what is to come, what has already happened...just enjoying "now". And we talk more about "pain bodies" (a term from the book).

So has Mike always been interested in spirituality? He tells me that he had a "shift of consciousness" in 2005 sometime around the time he watched a film called "What The Bleep Do We Know". A friend of his (who studied kinesiology) recommended this movie to him and he found himself crying after he watched the movie because that was when "it" hit him and everything just made sense. For the next eight months after that he started to really study physics/quantum physics because "it is all tied to the teachings of Buddhism and Hinduism. People don't realise it but science and spirituality are very similar to each other than we think." He then informs me that the greatest scientists have become very spiritual later on in life because they "give in" to a higher being - science is sometimes just so great and incredible and it all just...astounds them!

Mike finds himself more enlightened these days and feeling at peace. He has stopped killing bugs. He makes sure he doesn't judge people anymore because it all stems from fear so he goes through life being less afraid, being more accepting. "It is very important to stop the internal chatter in our brains. We say/hear things in our minds all the time, usually judgmental or negative things. Once you read a point where that internal dialogue stops then you are on your way to an enlightened state." My friend said the same thing...that we all talk in our heads and, in some ways, are schitzophreniac! When we hear people talking out loud to themselves, we tend to think they are crazy or weird. If you stop and think about it, we do the same things but in our head.

We also had the most interesting conversation about water + kinesiology + spirituality! It was all tied to that movie he watched. The movie talks about how is you expose a drop of water to positivity then it will transform into something positive and beautiful. If it is exposed to negativity then it becomes deformed. We are made up of 90% water so we do the same. He told me to try holding a bottle of water close to my chest. I will see that my body will lean towards it. Do the same with a can of soda, for example, and our body will tend to lean back and away. Hmmmmm

His friend also showed him some kinesiology exercise. Mike held his arm out and his friend said something positive then pressed down on Mike's extended arm. The arm remained firm. Now, when his friend said "Hitler" and pressed down on his arm, Mike's arm went a bit limp and weak. Why? Because our bodies/selves hear that term as negative and we do not want to be associated with it, hence our limp arm. With the positive, our arm remains firm because we believe it in, we "support" it. Interesting, indeed.

Next book on his list to read? "The Nothing that Is: A Natural History of Zero" by Robert Kaplan.
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I feel like everyone is reading or has read "The New Earth" by Tolle. Are you one of them? Have you also read his book, "The Power Of Now"?