Eckhart Tolle/ Byron Katie:living in the now

hughhSun 29/07/07 00:14

I would be very interested to know whether there is anyone out there who shares my belief system, which is influenced by the above authors as well as my yoga practice.

I believe that words are often quite inadequate to describe reality . We speak in awful generalisations about people, who are often far more complex than we give them credit for.
Many of my thoughts cause me a lot of misery, because they are based on what I think the world should be like rather than what it is. My Partner should be more tidy but he is not. My mother should see the good side of people but she doesn't.

By getting rid of my stressful thoughts by challenging the truth of them, and through Yoga and meditation, I am finding that I am achieving a truly wonderful change in consciousness, in that I am losing my psychological baggage when I approach people .i.e. I stop wondering what they think of me and how to get their approval etc.,and enjoy being with them in the present. I also get knocked out by blissful feelings of enjoying the now which I thought were reserved for advanced Yogis only. Does anyone share/ understand my views?

al32Sun 29/07/07 05:14

I very much agree with your views, Hugh. Living in the Now is very important for me, as helps me to stop worrying about the future and feeling guilty, angry or resentful about the past. I don't always manage it straight away LOL, but I do get there. By living in the past or future it stops us, as you say, enjoying the present - but living this way does take patience and tenacity.

In terms of judging others - I do my very best not to do this because in adopting this way of thinking I stop judging myself. As long as we continue to judge others and their behaviour we judge ourselves. It is my view that it's not helpful to compare ourselves with anyone else, and only compare ourselves with ourselves (i.e. where are you now, compared to where you were, say, year ago). The more we compare ourselves to others, the more we will find ourselves wanting. There will always be someone else we consider to be "better" or "worse" than ourself.

As for needing others' approval, yes, I struggled with this for years (never having received approval or disapproval from my own mother). A phrase I quite like is one I heard earlier this year "what other people think about me is none of my business". I've about 90% given up worrying what people think about what I look like, or my accent, or what I believe. As long as I know that I'm doing the very best that I can, to be the very best that I can be that's all that matters to me. Of course I 'll listen to others views if they express them to me - but what they say about me behind my back is none of my business :shrug:

::Sits back and waits to be torn to pieces for these beliefs:: LOL

hughhMon 30/07/07 21:44

I agree. I don't think I can change other people, but I can change myself and the whole world changes around me.