How to Live in the Present (Spiritual Way)

If you want to know your true self, Now is the key. It's because now is the only point to access and realize yourself as the formless consciousness that you are beyond your psychological and physical form. So you are essentially Now. Below are some guidelines to access and abide in formless spiritual dimension within; which is actually the most vital. As it alone can give meaning to your life.

Method 1
Method 1 of 7:

Practice Dis-identification from the Mind

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    Deeply realize that you are not your mind. You are not the incessant, reactive and compulsive stream of thoughts, reactions and emotions[1] . Most of your pain and suffering is self-created due to identification with the automatic and hypnotic 'voice in your head' (conditioned thoughts) and emotions. In other words, you believe that the voice is You, follow it and take the stories and its distorted narration and narrow interpretations as truth. This identification makes thinking compulsive and is the primary cause of suffering. That's the Egoic dysfunction; the greatest obstacle to awakening.
    • When someone else's or your own mind is mean to you and you feel hurt, notice that it's not because of the words they said but due to automatic conditioned mental-emotional interpretation of those words and the extent to which you identify with it. Even if the words and/or actions were intended to hurt or reaction seems justified.
    • "There's nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." William Shakespeare.
    • Deeply realize that you are not your conditioned mind (thoughts, reactions, emotions and mental patterns) or Ego or incessant 'voice in the head' but the sacred Knowing or awareness or observer that is aware of them[2] . That's when Ego, false self, begins to dissolve. It's because when you recognize false as false, it dissolves. Read Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings) for more depth.
    • It is true that words have great power to put hypnotic spells on you, but it's only because you see yourself as no more than name, labels(name) and form(psychlogical and physical), which are ultimately thoughts in your mind. Unaware of your formless essence.[3] .
    • Often ask questions like "Who's talking here? Me or the voice in head", "Do I need to be lost in thoughts?", "Who am I?", "Am I these thoughts, reactions and emotions?" etc. Feel the inner body for answer. If you tried to understand intellectually or ask the mind, you will not find a true answer because thought (mind) by its very nature is limited, can at most show you the relative truth and point to the absolute truth.
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    Observe that Ego, to ensure its survival, needs to identify with content, conditions and people. This could be physical appearance, beliefs, life stories, victim identity, situation, relationships, experiences, who you know, wealth, possessions, body, illnesses, age, and collective identifications like nationality, religion, political party, sports team, region where you come from, race, caste, ethnic groups etc. It's because Ego is a derivative sense of self. It doesn't care if the content, stories, relationships or forms it identifies with are good or bad, as long as it has a story or something to identify with to complain, feel less or more, guilty, ashamed, proud or indifferent about.
    • If you look more deeply, on a fundamental level, it's all identification with thoughts and emotions.[4] As all outer forms, your perception of your body, your possessions, achievements, personality, life situations, conditions, culture, stories, beliefs and so on are ultimately bundle of thoughts or images in your mind that are attached to the 'I' thought and its other forms, contributing towards your illusory sense of self. This 'I' thought, which is Ego created, is what you equate yourself with. In other words, you see yourself as no more than an 'I' thought, which is a mental concept, and what it identifies with, and thus forget your essential nature that is the infinite awareness that you are beyond your ephemeral name and form (physical and psychological).
    • For example: Your house becomes a thought form in your head and gets attached to primordial 'I' or 'my' thought forms and becomes part of Egoic self. This identification or attachment says 'I have a house' or 'my house'. Remove the 'house' thought from primordial 'I' or 'my' or 'mine' thought forms or concepts and this would cause immense suffering. Even if the house is in a dire condition and better to get rid of.
    • Another example: Your illness may become a story in your head that says something like "I have been suffering from migraines for last 2 years" and become part of your sense of self. When this happens, rather than taking action to remediate the illness or accept it, you would prefer to complain about it, run mental movies, feel self pity etc. because they strengthen your false 'sense of self' or label of being an ill person. Also, identification with the story or idea of illness actually make you suffer more than the actual illness.
    • None of that comes and goes is you. Who are you then? The formless awareness, that is aware of what comes and goes (thoughts, emotions, conditions, sensations, objects, these words, people, situations etc.) in the Now. Without that awareness there will be no perception or experience.
    • "The Master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings. He knows that he is going to die, and he has nothing left to hold on to; no illusions in his mind, no resistances in his body." Tao Te Ching.
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    See the unstable nature of all forms and situations. The very nature of the conditions, situations, forms and structures is unstable and fleeting. Buddha made it a central part of his teachings. He called it Anicca. From your thoughts and emotions to events or conditions to people to buildings to mountains to planets and so on; all forms arise, change and dissolve into the 'no thingness' of space where they came from.
    • Since Ego is based on identification with form, so it constantly feels like it's under threat because deep down it knows that all forms are transient and fraught to collapse or dissolve at anytime. As a result fear and desire become primary motivating forces of the Ego. This is also one of the reasons why mind continuously covers up the Now with compulsive thinking and seeks sensory and sexual pleasures, psychological gratifications, experiences and things of this world, one after another, with an unconscious expectation that they will fulfill it.
    • Only the space of consciousness or awareness, where all forms come and go, undergoes no change. You are that 'space of awareness' where all things and events come and go. For more depth read Know Your True Self and Become Mentally Flexible.
    • "There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. It is the mother of the universe." Tao Te Ching.
    • Dis-identification or detachment from forms does not mean to relinquish possessions, relationships, job etc. and live in woods or something. Which, most likely, will not work because Ego, which is clever and is based on identification with forms, will quickly identify with the mental image of you as a "spiritual person" or "saint" who relinquished everything. Therefore it is not a surprise to see some "spiritual" people having bigger egos than some millionaires.
    • Dis-identification, in this context, actually means to truly see and realize the fleeting and impermanent nature of all relationships and forms (including thoughts, emotions and experiences), and world cannot give you long lasting fulfillment or identity. That's when things or forms (world) naturally lose their seriousness and significance that they don't have because you don't seek yourself in them. Their passing nature is allowed to be. When craving or attachment with forms dissolves, you honor and enjoy them even more. Read Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings) for more depth.
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    Dissolve the Ego. Ego is current state of consciousness of humanity. A conglomeration of recurring thoughts and conditioned mental-emotional patterns that are invested with a sense of I, a sense of self[5] . In other words, Ego is identification with mind and form. This dysfunction is the root cause of unimaginable suffering humans have inflicted on themselves and each other for eons
    • To evolve into the next stage of conscious evolution and ensure our survival, ego must be dissolved. Which does not require any doing but an alert seeing. It's because seeing is freeing yourself from the dysfunction of Ego.
    • "Recognizing your own insanity is the arising of sanity. This is also the greatest discovery of humanity." Eckhart Tolle.
    • That's also what Nisargadatta Maharaj pointed to when he said "Meditation means recognizing the false as false. This must go on all the time." The 'false' in this context is the Ego (conditioned thoughts, patterns, reactions and emotions) in you.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 7:

Practicing Acceptance

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    Offer 'No Resistance'. Most natural way to live life is to completely accept the present moment the way it is. In other words, offer no resistance to what is.[6] . When you truly realize that resistance is mad, futile, painful, dysfunctional, keeps the undesirable situation, condition and mental patterns in place, and is more disturbing than the original cause, then you naturally become yielding and non-reactive. That's when things and events lose their seriousness. As resistance is what make them seem more rigid and serious.
    • There is a saying in Zen: All that arises, passes away. This means that you cannot stop the flow of life. So practice to accept whatever arises in the Now, as if you have chosen it, without any judgment or labels. [7] . In case the judgment, labels or resistance arise, allow them to be because they are all ultimately conditioned thoughts, reactions and emotions. This doesn't mean you can't take action or use words, if needed. As you will read later.
    • If you can't accept the outer form of the moment then bring inner acceptance to incessant and compulsive thoughts, reactions, mental patterns and emotions that arise in the Now in response to anything (situations, conditions, people, mental patterns, thoughts etc.). That's surrender. As you will read later. There's great strength in surrender because in that state, you live in oneness with life and outer circumstances and inner conditions lose their power over you.
    • That's what J. Krishnamurti meant when he said "Do you want to know my secret? I don't mind what happens."
    • See if you can detect these resistive patterns (unconscious or conscious) within yourself. Content could be different but the underlying energy and mechanism are of the Ego, which is based on [[Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings)|resistance to 'what is'. This is because Egos differ only on the surface, deep down they are all the same.[8]
      • "Why did I get a bad grade?" It’s not going to change the grade and more likely to make you suffer. It's because you are resisting what is; the fact of the moment. As an experiment, why not accept 'what is' and/or have fun with it? Since resistance has not worked for you so far. For example: You can say something like "My teacher returned my test paper with a McDonald's job application stapled to it" in a fun manner. Having fun or laughing at what life throws at you is also a form of acceptance. Of course, you cannot have fun with everything in life because things go wrong often. That's when Surrender or inner acceptance needs to be practiced.
      • "I don't have to suffer" or "I don't want to be where I am. May be my resentment will dissolve this life situation". Which is actually delusional and mad because resentment or resistance or arguing with 'what-is' keep the undesirable thoughts and situation in place, and makes you and others unhappy. Resistive negative thoughts (unconscious or conscious) offer justification for your unhappiness but in reality cause it.
      • "Why are there so many ups and downs in my life?” Do you think resistance is going to change the situation? In fact, resistance makes you suffer even more than the original cause[9] , strengthens the ego and sense of separation with others, when there is none.
    • True acceptance comes when you don't ask "Why is this happening to me?" because you live in alignment with the totality where all conditions, forms and events are interconnected[10] .
    • "Behind every seemingly bad situation, person or condition lies concealed a deeper good, which reveals itself to you only through inner acceptance of what is." Eckhart Tolle.
Method 3
Method 3 of 7:

Surrendering to what is

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    Surrender or bring inner acceptance or yield to what is. If acceptance of conditions, situation and outer circumstances is not possible then bring inner acceptance to the Now. This means to yield or allow or accept the thoughts, reactions, mental patterns and emotions that come in response to anything in the present moment. Offering no inner resistance, which also means surrender to life, is one of the greatest practices to end suffering[11] . It's because when you inwardly accept or are one with 'what is', the reality, then outer dependency on circumstances and situations dissolves and they lose power over your state of consciousness. That's when greater good reveals itself to you, and outer circumstances tend to improve greatly without any doing on your part because world is just a reflection of your inner state. If action or words are required, they come from infinitely intelligent 'unconditioned consciousness', not from the limited conditioned mind. This is the miracle of surrender. Either way, no resistance.
    • This pointer can also be misinterpreted as your mind may ask "So how can I bring inner acceptance?" or "What does 'become one with 'what is' means?" etc. and come up with mental interpretations or concepts or answers on the basis of its past conditioning and knowledge. These would become your definition of mentioned pointers. That is to say clever mind will create more constructs to identify with, to ensure its survival.
    • Even suppressing content or using will power or trying or concept of 'negating all concepts' etc., in an attempt to dissolve the Ego are Ego's strategies to keep you trapped in the prison of thoughts and emotions. Its because problems of the mind cannot be solved at the level of mind. Only recognizing yourself as the awareness behind content can free you from Ego created suffering and dream of form. Awareness is true intelligence that is inseparable from universal intelligence.
    • Although, if you are stuck in concepts then allow it to be, as being stuck can also become part of your spiritual journey. It's because 'flourishing' of 'being stuck' has potential to eventually force you to disidentify from your mind and go beyond it.
    • "If you want to get rid of something, allow it to flourish." Tao Te Ching
    • However, deeply realize that words or concepts or practices are no more than stepping stones to be left as quickly as possible. Again, Truth is beyond any words or forms. You are the Truth. Read Inhabit Your Inner Body More Deeply and Stay Rooted in Being for more depth.
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    Don't confuse "no resistance" with "no action". It means take whatever action possible but at the same time accept what-is. Non-resistance is perfectly compatible with action[12] . In fact, non-reactive or surrendered action is infinitely more powerful, as it is in alignment with the One 'Life. Unlike Egoic or conditioned reaction which is short sighted, unintelligent, unoriginal, tainted with negativity, and eventually causes suffering. As by its very nature the mind is limited and subject to the 'law of polarities'.
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    • If acceptance is not possible, then take action immediately to bring about a positive change to the situation. [13] . Or remove yourself from it, if possible. Either way no resistance. Take responsibility of your inner state now.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 7:

Realizing Your Inner Purpose

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    Realize your primary purpose. Unmanifested (universal consciousness) comes into this world through you, when you are present. As when you are completely and utterly in the Now, you are connected to unfathomable depth of universal consciousness present in every being. That's when whole external world and mind become insignificant in comparison to it. [14] . And yet it's not a selfish but selfless state. What is actually happening is that Consciousness that you are is becoming conscious of itself.
    • In essence you are formless consciousness and your primary purpose is to re-connect with it, and bring it into this world. Every other purpose, even if it is to create heaven on earth, is of the Ego. Read Know Your True Self for more depth.
Method 5
Method 5 of 7:

Realizing that thought is limited

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    Realize that (mind)thought is limited. Our mind insists upon fragmenting what we experience through conceptualization, analysis, labeling etc. because that's all it knows and is familiar with. However, by their very nature the words, concepts or thoughts offer a limited interpretation of things; one of many viewpoints. While reality is a unified whole and can only be realized when you step out of your mind[15] . In other words, when you perceive through inner space.
    • Tao Te Ching pointed to this truth simply "Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things".
    • The word 'orange' isn't orange. You can write essays or articles about orange but you won't really know it until you taste it. In the same way, you conceptualize or label yourselves and others as no more than a finite body and name. Thus missing your essence entirely. This is no different than covering up the mystery with a label, which is a thought, to get a false sense of 'I know'. Unaware of the divine sacredness within.
    • "Everything, a bird, a tree, even a simple stone, and certainly a human being, is ultimately unknowable. This is because it has unfathomable depth. All we can perceive, experience, think about, is the surface layer of reality, less than the tip of an iceberg." Eckhart Tolle.
    • Just like when you taste orange, the word becomes less important, similarly once you had few or several experiences of awakening, realization of "one life" within and without, the world and pointers that point to the formless dimension within become less important. It's because you would have glimpsed a reality within that is not of this world (i.e beyond form, thoughts and words) and is infinitely more than anything that this world has to offer. Abiding in that state of 'feeling realization' or One Life is enlightenment. Which is your natural state of felt connectedness with Being and not some superhuman accomplishment that you need to work hard to attain.
    • Here's another sign post: Do you think combination of a few letters and words of a language can define the timeless and eternal Stillness that you are?
    • On the level of form, it's necessary to use beauty of language for easier verbalization and communication, but deeply realize that words at most can be pointers or signposts to the formless truth and never the Truth. [16] . Truth is beyond any words, belief systems and mythologies.
    • Truth is within you. It'd be more accurate to say that you are the Truth. Jesus's saying "I am the way and the truth and the life." points to this. If you look elsewhere, that is to say in world, teachers, texts (words), experiences, you will not find it.
    • Even if you feel the emanation of formless presence from a spiritual teacher or book or text, its the presence or Truth within you that recognizes that.
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Method 6
Method 6 of 7:

Meditating and Anchoring to the Now

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    Meditate. If you look deeply, meditation is all about being present i.e to create a gap between the incessant stream of thinking and emotions. As when you are present, you are aligned with timeless One life underneath all forms. Since time is always Now, and you can be present, fully or to some degree, while doing anything, so dedicated meditation is not always necessary or else it may become a crutch. Here are a few 'structure-less' meditation practices that don't require you to dedicate time:
    • Feel your body from within. Can you feel the inner energy field of your body? Your arms, shoulders, face, head, neck, heart, chest, belly, pelvic region, legs, feet etc.? This is your ever present being or life energy that animates your body and runs its incredibly complex functions in a synchronous manner[17] . Never lose touch with it. It's the stream to your true home. Focusing your attention on the inner energy field or space not only anchors you to the Now, but rapidly deepens and transforms your life, as through inner body you are forever one with Being; One consciousness underneath all forms. This practice also strengthens your immune system and slows down the ageing process. It’s because timeless presence dissolves the accumulated psychological time in you.[18]
    • Watch or allow or accept the thoughts, reactions (verbal or non-verbal) and emotions to be. We have talked about this already.
    • Become aware of sense perceptions and breathing.
    • Give complete attention to anything you are doing in the Now. Read Stay Rooted in Being for more insight on these meditation practices.
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    Stay rooted in being. It is very possible to be in the now or stay rooted in 'being' throughout your life. Whatever you are doing, keep a fraction of your attention within your body and/or breath and/or sense perception and/or awareness itself and/or give complete attention to anything you are doing and/or watch the mind and/or accept what is. Whichever practice or combination feels natural and easy in the Now. As these practices can help you become present and get in touch with radiant and simple joy of being within[19] .
    • This also helps you to be more non-reactive because when you are in the Now [20] , attention is withdrawn from reactive Egoic mind and remains in its unmanifested and formless state. Which means more wisdom and intelligence during challenging situations, as you are connected to Being or inner space or unconditioned consciousness that is infinitely more powerful than mind. Plus, when situations go wrong or some challenge arises, you don't react to them but remain calm and at peace.
    • Being is the 'mind of God' as Einstein pointed when he said "I want to know the mind of God, rest are details". Read Stay Rooted in Being for more depth.
    • Again, be very aware as the pointers like 'Keep some attention within' or 'Accept what is' etc. may become mental constructs or concepts. We spoke about this earlier.
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    Give. On a universal level 'giving' is the same as 'receiving'. If you feel that people are withholding something from you like respect, forms, affection, praise, etc., you give it to the them. You don't have it? Just 'act as if you have it'[21] . If you feel that you already have it, you will almost certainly get it. This also includes abundance. As abundance is inseparable from who you are in essence.
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Method 7
Method 7 of 7:

Staying Present

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    Stay present. Here are a few practices to stay present.
    • Take action. Have you noticed, when you replace your worries, underlying unease or incessant thinking with a productive and/or constructive and/or a joyful task, their magnitude reduces drastically? It's because this practice helps withdraw attention from the mind (psychological time) and brings you into this pristine present moment. And there's no suffering in the Now because suffering needs time and a mind made story. On the other hand, when attention gets off from the task at hand, that is to say when you get lost in mind or psychological time, you feel uncertain and discontentment. It's because by implication you are denying 'what is', the reality, which is always 'Here and Now'. Read Watch the Mind (Meditation) for more on this.
    • Deeply realize that you have never escaped and will never escape from the present moment. Since there is no escape from the Now, why not become friendly towards it? And the miracle is when you make peace or accept the Now or when Now is the primary focus of your life, people become helpful, conditions and outer circumstances tend to improve greatly without any doing on your part, life becomes friendly, synchronistic and chance encounters happen more frequently. [22] . It's because you are connected to emptiness beneath all forms that sustains and runs the universe. We spoke about this earlier.
    • Simply observe. Just observe things, people, the environment around you, thoughts, emotions, reactions etc., without adding any mental labeling or commentary. When the automatic mental and emotional interpretations, reactions and labels arise, observe and allow them to be, because they are no more than thoughts or Egoic patterns and you are not your mind. We spoke about this earlier. When you simply observe, you allow the suchness and simplicity of the moment, without seeing it through the screen of limited conditioned mind. This practice withdraws attention from the mind to the Now. That's how you reclaim trapped consciousness from mind and realize yourself as the still awareness behind it. Awareness is a new dimension of consciousness that is not part of thinking.
    • Become aware of awareness. Have you ever asked yourself that who is observing the thoughts? Who is aware of sensations, reactions and emotions as they come and go? What is it that enables seeing, listening, smelling, touching and tasting? It's the ever-present 'I am' or pure awareness or consciousness prior to incarnating into a thought or emotion. You are that. Only in the Now can you come out of that cycle of reincarnation that's happening every moment. It’s because when thought arises, it’s the consciousness or formless attention that incarnates into a thought. When thought subsides, attention returns to its formless state then quickly reincarnates into another thought. That is to say attention gets identified with the mind (thought and emotion forms). There needs to be some degree of presence or awareness in you to recognize this cycle of birth and death that's taking place every moment and realize yourself as the knower or the witness behind mental content to go beyond this cycle. Read Surrender to the Present Moment and Know Your True Self for more depth.
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    Go deeper into your pain. Go deeper into negative emotions (like pain body) and reactions. If you single out the moment, you will notice that negative emotions and reactions such as anxiety, despair, grief, anger, frustration, resistance etc., are no more than intense pressure, tension, energy movement, sensations or muscle movement that you experience somewhere in your body and head, and they don't make you unhappy. It's the conditioned mental interpretations or stories that come in response to them make you unhappy. While situations and conditions are always neutral, seen from greater scheme of events[23]
    • Experiment: To see the power of "no judgement" or "no mental interpretation", try this: Stand under a cold shower and focus only on the sensation of stream of water touching your body. Go deeper into the sensation. If conditioned thoughts, reactions and emotions arise, allow them to be. Notice that the water touching your body is just a sensation. It's the conditioned mental-emotional reaction and interpretation that labels it as good or bad, dictates your response and magnitude of your reaction. For example: Some people may react to cold water more strongly as compared to others because of their conditioning and tolerance level to cold water.
    • You don't need conditioned mind to tell you what's good or bad for you. Minimum of intelligence, knowledge and common sense is enough. For example: You don't need fear (conditioned emotions and not the primordial emotion) to tell you to not put your hand in fire because you know that you will get burned.
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    Smile and laugh. When thoughts and emotions become tense, hyperactive, too serious, sad, anxious or fearful, then use this negativity as a reminder to disidentify from the mind and become present. One practice is to become friendly with your pain and smile or laugh at the ego, as if watching the antics or amusing tantrums of a child. Also, smiling and laughter are extra-ordinarily liberating and help in withdrawing or shifting energy away from negativity to sense perceptions and other present moment anchors i.e Now.
    • Although, it's not an effective practice, in the long run, to use or wait for only a negative situation or condition to smile or become present because you will unconsciously attract more negative situations and people. However, as long as the pain and negativity are there, use them as a reminder to become present and alert.
    • "Enter the Now from there" Eckhart Tolle.
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    Don't 'try' to be present or aware. Being present doesn't mean to 'try' not to think or try to watch the mind or use effort to become present', which doesn't work anyway. It's because trying, resistance, will power, control etc. imply that you are attempting to dissolve the dysfunction of mind at the level of mind. Again, problems of the mind cannot be solved at the level of mind. Trying to do so will only lead to further suffering in form of resistance, unease, frustration, guilt, any other form of emotional pain etc.; which strengthen the ego.
    • So pointers in the article are not saying to 'try to not indulge in unconscious behavior' or 'try to watch your thoughts and emotions' or 'control or suppress your thoughts' etc. but simply become aware and accept the compulsive, impersonal and insane nature of mind, to dis-identify from it'. This also implies to recognize yourself as the still awareness behind the mental content to free yourself from the egoic dysfunction. Which is not a doing but an alert seeing or recognition.
    • "Recognizing the false as false is meditation. This must go on all the time." Nisargadatta Maharaj.
    • Although if you are trying then allow yourself to 'keep trying'. We talked about this earlier.
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    Be aware. Being aware also means that even if compulsive thinking happens or conditioned reactions take you over then watch or allow them to be and/or recognize them as false in you without trying to dissolve them, while you are in their grip or after they pass away. As you practice this, light of "presence" or awareness will deepen within you and one day you may realize that you have a "choice" to drop a conditioned reaction as it arises or in the middle of it. Instead of being take over by it. You recognize the reaction as false in you and not who “You” are. [24] .
    • You can also immediately shift attention from mind to present moment anchors and/or take constructive action, when a reaction arises. Shifting attention to the Now becomes easier when you truly realize that you are not your mind but the formless presence or awareness behind it.
    • Light of awareness or presence is more than enough to shine away or dissolve the unnecessary psychological baggage of time (past and future) you are carrying in your body and mind.
    • But again, if you are stuck or trapped in concepts, resistance, controlling mode, etc. which are aspects of mind, then accept and allow yourself to be stuck. As it can also become part of your spiritual journey. It’s because allowing yourself to be stuck deepens ‘’presence’’ and has the potential to eventually force you to surrender and go beyond them.
    • To be more precise, you detect and allow the resistive thoughts, emotions and reactions (physical and mental) that arise in the Now. It’s because being stuck is ultimately a mental-emotional state i.e it’s psychological or mind created.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How can I live in the present when I know I have to work the next day and need to go to bed early?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    There is thinking about what you have to do tomorrow and being prepared, and there is becoming absorbed in thoughts of tomorrow so much that you become lost in aimless thinking and worrying, and you miss the opportunity to experience life as it is now. Be mindful about your preparations for the next day, but focus on the now.
  • Question
    How about being present in the face of fear which is perceived - ego is involved... yes. But what can one do to help this situation?
    Unavowed
    Unavowed
    Community Answer
    Simply witness the fear, anger, loneliness, resentment, etc., which are ultimately conditioned thoughts and emotions. Allow them to be. Try it as an experiment by deeply realizing that resistance has not worked for you so far. In essence, there's nothing that you can do but allow it to be.
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References

  1. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 1999. Page 151
  2. ↑ A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 152
  3. ↑ A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 67
  4. ↑ A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 38
  5. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. A New Earth. Vancouver, BC: Penguin, 2005. Page 54
  6. ↑ A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, pg 177
  7. ↑ Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 67
  8. ↑ Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 82
  9. ↑ Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 67
  1. ↑ Stillness Speaks, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 25
  2. ↑ A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 198
  3. ↑ Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 98
  4. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 1999. Page 151
  5. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 1999. Page 15
  6. ↑ Mitchell, Stephen. Tao Te Ching., 1989. Page 6
  7. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 1999. Page 108
  8. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 1999. Page 195, 173
  9. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 1999. Page 87
  10. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 1999. Page 37,83
  11. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 1999. Page 64
  12. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. A New Earth. Vancouver, BC: Penguin, 2005. Page 116
  13. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. Power of Now. Vancouver, BC: Penguin, 1997. Page 124
  14. ↑ Tolle, Eckhart. Stillness Speaks: Whispers of Now. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 2003. Page 40.
  15. ↑ Tolle, Eckh art. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, BC: Namaste Publishing, 1999. Page 135
  16. ↑ A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 116
  17. ↑ A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, Pg 116

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