Eckhart Tolle discusses 'The Power of Now' on Oprah Soul Series

Hi Everyone!

I thought I would share this great interview I came across from Oprah's Soul Series. Eckhart Tolle discusses 'The Power of Now' and the situation that brought him to the moment where he began questioning the understanding he had of himself. He also discusses the ideas behind his call to start living in the present moment.

You can find out more from Oprah's Soul Series and listen to other speakers by visiting www.oprah.com


Happy Manifesting!

Julieanne



Part 1



Part 2



Part 3




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Life vs Life Situation

‘To be free of time is to be free of the psychological need of past for your identity and future for fulfilment.’

Eckhart Tolle

Tolle begins now to speak about finding the ‘life’ underneath the ‘life situation’. This is one way we can recognise when we are reacting to a situation rather than approaching it as an observer of the world of form. He quotes from ‘A Course in Miracles’ that ‘nothing real can be threatened’.

We have heard the statement before that the past no longer exists and the future does not exist yet so the only ‘time’ that is real is the present moment. To understand this allows us the opportunity to become free from illusions. The illusions being that we consider the past and the future to be real.

This is something that takes practice and may only be a fleeting feeling at first but with practice it will become more and more automatic.

In the present moment we are in touch with our true self. When we are in touch with our true self we are able to follow the inner guidance that is given and have faith that our true self is able to see the bigger picture. Some situations we may find ourselves trying to control again but if we choose to release them and not label them as good or bad we free ourselves to experience love past that point and enable ourselves to move closer to our true nature.

Some situations we may not recognise as being ‘not that important’ to our true self. This is where trust comes to the forefront. We can, over time, learn to trust ourselves and our intuition again when we choose not to attach it to stories from the past or project fear of possibilities for the future.

When Tolle is speaking about finding the life beneath the ‘life situation’ this is what he is referring to. Surrender... Surrender to your true self. Trust that you know.

When we no longer fear the past or the future we are able to choose to observe from a position of love. We are able to be and feel the presence of love.

Then we are able to feel the joy of being. We are no longer working on a schedule but are moving to heal ourselves and our illusions of fragmentation and separation. We can relax knowing that we choose to bring love to every situation. We choose to bring life to every situation. Then we can stand back and know that we have found the life underneath the ‘life situation’ and know that we cannot be harmed or hurt when we stand in love. This is when we can really feel life... as the only ‘time’ there is ever life in the true sense is Now!


Happy Manifesting!



Julieanne

Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson

I shared this recently in the Be Inspired Today Forum and thought I would share it here as well.


“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”


This quote was taken from 'A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles' by Marianne Williamson

Happy Manifesting!

Julieanne

Practising Presence

‘Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.’

Eckhart Tolle
‘The Power of Now; pg41’



This chapter is great for gaining clarity about what the present moment truly is.

When you start to practice looking around at your every day surroundings, and observing your activities from the point of the present moment, everything changes. Life comes to life! Life brightens; it becomes what it is in its essence.

We can also easily apply this practice to our relationships. When we choose to look at our relationships from the point of the present moment something beautiful happens. We see our loved ones, or anyone for that matter, in a new light. They are no longer attached to the identities we give them. They are no longer causing us feelings that were in the past. We are no longer concerned with what they could do for us or be for us in the future.

You allow them and see them to be their True Self.

This is the power of forgiveness and the true meaning of it. Forgiveness is being able to see past what we think a person is and treat anything we may consider that happened as though it never happened. We have all said at some point ‘Well... I forgive, but I won’t forget’, however this unconscious statement takes the power of forgiveness away from us. True forgiveness is being able to see our relationships in a new state at all times.

This does not mean that we need to stay in ‘unhealthy’ relationships but we can use these relationships to grow and learn about ourselves. In the case of remaining in relationships that we may consider unhealthy, we can really take the opportunity to understand why we stay there and to what benefit is it to us.

One exercise you might like to practice forgiving is to say out loud ‘I forgive______ for _____ and I forgive myself for ______.’ Forgive yourself for exactly the same thing as you are forgiving the person for. It will seem strange at first but it will cause a very powerful shift in perception. It is a really simple way to see things in an honest light. We might not like what we find out about ourselves but we will extend love to our relationships and to ourselves by discovering new ideas about ourselves.

As we continue through ‘The Power of Now’ there will be moments and opportunities to really feel the power of life in the present moment. Practice makes perfect – and in the present moment we are exactly that – perfect!



If you have been listening to Tolle read ‘The Power of Now’ then please enjoy Part 6



Subscribers please visit blog to watch video



Happy Manifesting!

Julieanne

Eternal and New

‘The secret of life is to ‘die before you die’ – and find that there is no death.’

Eckhart Tolle







I recently spoke to someone who is suffering from a terminal illness. She had asked why should she bother to study or save money or work towards building a better future for herself, in fact why should she do anything when she was not going to be here much longer?

I asked her ‘Why would anybody bother?’

Life is not about death. We will all pass – it is inevitable. Not knowing how long we have to experience this life is what keeps us going. There is a quiet sense of immortality that resides in us, although our focus on it is in different places.

Life is found in living, not in the expectation of inevitable death. If we all focussed on the fact that we would die at a certain age, how would it change our perspective on life and the way we live it?

When Tolle is speaking about death in the above quote he is initially speaking about the death of the ego. The ego distracts us from our true self and the present moment. When we are able to disidentify with the ego we are left with our true self – our eternal nature – and we come to realise that in truth there is no death of what is real – there cannot be, and anything that is not of our true self is not real.

This idea brings with it questions about perception, illusions and most significantly the illusion of separation. Past and future will maintain the illusion of separation from our true self which is why it is beneficial to consider the power that can be found in the present moment.

Whatever is eternal cannot die. So with the death of the illusion of death, and in this instance time, all that remains is the realisation that there is no death. Our true and real self is eternal in nature. Our essence is eternal in nature. Our source is eternal in nature. We are not real in the past, we are not yet in the future the only time we are our true self is in the powerful present moment which is eternal in nature also. It is always the present moment.

So when you think about Tolle’s quote above, the easiest way to understand his idea is to live for today – truly live for today, squeeze as much out of it as possible... and even more powerfully, remember to live for the Now!

Happy Manifesting!

Julieanne