The Power of Now

[theuprising]

REALLY read this book, it has so much that could help an SA sufferer:

Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now
Go yahoo search: the power of now e-book

I'm half way through, and nodding my head in like every page, as he's saying things that I've felt, discovered myself through introspection, or concluded from eastern religions, and wondered if it all lead somewhere. Well this guy got it down to where it leads. It resolved so many of the lingering questions I had of eastern philosophy.

To people not versed in eastern philosophy, it might take a leap of faith, but it doesn't have a religious message so don't worry (as in you can continue to practice your own religion, there are spiritual messages, though they are used very practically).

[sash]

I can't wait to read this book, but right now I'm reading "The Power of Intention" by Dr. Wayne Dyer - a good read as well.

[jook]

on The Power of Now. First time I read it it was like a bomb went off in my head. Great inspiration for dealing with life in general, and certainly for dealing with mental/emotional problems.

[freshjive]

Agreed. Excellent ideas presents in it and its very useful for overcoming SA.

[theuprising]

Ah, just read through the part about how problems were all illusions.

Wow this is a beautiful book, I'm probably going to buy it.

For those who want more info in what I'm talking about, it said problems are illusions because they depend on time to survive. In the now, there are no problems, and unless one is caught up in the illusion created for you by the mind, one is in the now, and in the now there are only things to be dealt with or accepted, why make them them problems?

You cannot, by definition, change the unchangeable. Worry is fruitless (that wasn't in the book, it was my own conclusion :P ).

[strawberryjulius]

I keep forgetting to get this..

[freshjive]

uprising how are you going to apply this to get over your SA?

I benefitted from it because it taught me that the past really doesnt matter. I used to think that because I've always been shy and low self esteem person that I'll always be one.

Like he said the ego is constantly trying to hold on to you by remembering past events, projecting about future events...etc. Once you let go of the ego you realize that you can be what ever you want to be. Very helpful stuff.

I was just wondering how you've applied this to your life.

[PickleNose]

The funny thing about "inspirational" messages is that they go through our own personal filters. You never know how someone is going to interpret "NOW!".

[icemanspyda]

just started reading this. i dont like it! haha. he is saying to abandon thought, that its a trap to try to think you way out of problems. and this is what i have been doing for a few months and feel like its helped with sa. but this guys is telling me to stop thinking, and just live in lala land where the world doesnt really exist. sure in this worl you have no problems buts like fake, ignoring reality. dunno its hard to abandon the world and take this path. il keep reading but the beginning has scared me. it is a powerful concept though, just not sure i want to embrace it.

[epril]

I read Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. Great book also; you need to keep an open mind while reading it, but it's very helpful in dealing with emotions, relationships.

[freshjive]

Originally Posted by icemanspyda

just started reading this. i dont like it! haha. he is saying to abandon thought, that its a trap to try to think you way out of problems. and this is what i have been doing for a few months and feel like its helped with sa. but this guys is telling me to stop thinking, and just live in lala land where the world doesnt really exist. sure in this worl you have no problems buts like fake, ignoring reality. dunno its hard to abandon the world and take this path. il keep reading but the beginning has scared me. it is a powerful concept though, just not sure i want to embrace it.

He actually address this exact issue that people have with not thinking and living in the now.

I actually thought that not thinking made a lot of sense. For most of the people here our mind is our worst enemy. When it had free reign it is constantly telling us we're dumb, we're not good enough, we cant do something..etc. Rather than sitting there constantly thinking negative thoughts lets just turn of our brain and live in the now.

Obviously not everybody is going to like "Power of Now" but it wouldnt hurt to check it out. It helped me immensely.

[theuprising]

Originally Posted by freshjive

uprising how are you going to apply this to get over your SA?

I benefitted from it because it taught me that the past really doesnt matter. I used to think that because I've always been shy and low self esteem person that I'll always be one.

Like he said the ego is constantly trying to hold on to you by remembering past events, projecting about future events...etc. Once you let go of the ego you realize that you can be what ever you want to be. Very helpful stuff.

I was just wondering how you've applied this to your life.

it was the opposite for me, it taught me that there was no point in ANXIETY (fear of the future/impending pain). If you live in the now , anxiety can't exist, its a useless emotion anyhow, if I give it my all NOW and things don't work out, it doesn't matter, since nothing could have been done.

The biggest one was for me to act in the face of fear, fear affects the way you act if you identify it, if you focus part of your consciousness on observing the fear, the rest of your consciousness can be spent on acting normally. Some moments still overwhelm me and it takes practice to control really strong fear.

Another thing it taught me was to enjoy life in the present, the flowers of your events will come on their own. The real joy is in the action. This is a major teaching in buddhism, it didn't make sense till I read this book.

[theuprising]

Originally Posted by icemanspyda

just started reading this. i dont like it! haha. he is saying to abandon thought, that its a trap to try to think you way out of problems. and this is what i have been doing for a few months and feel like its helped with sa. but this guys is telling me to stop thinking, and just live in lala land where the world doesnt really exist. sure in this worl you have no problems buts like fake, ignoring reality. dunno its hard to abandon the world and take this path. il keep reading but the beginning has scared me. it is a powerful concept though, just not sure i want to embrace it.

Read a bit more lol.

In a nutshell he is not advocating "thinking" at all, but more of living in a constant meditation with your mind "off" and only using it when you need it like a tool. Most people are masted by the tool itself. If you master this skill of mindfullness there will be no anxiety, and no guilt.

[Smitten]

new age philosophy ****s me.

[Lex Love]

I bought this book as a gift for my mother last year Christmas. She said it was definately a good read, the only thing I have to say about reading alot of these books like "the secret" etc is that if you suffer with SA whereby your likely to be thinking alot anyway, that these books just enhance how much more you think about stuff. You then start to convince yourself that all situations you have been in has been a result of your thought pattern, which in some ways I belive is true, but not to the point you monitor every single one of your thoughts. You just want to go out there and enjoy yourself have fun in all situations whether on your own or with an army full of people. You want to care less and do more. These are really good reads (from what ive heard) but dont let them make you care more about everything you do. I agree you should sit there and take responsibility for everything that has happened to you, but not to the point that you blame yourself entirely for it happening in the first place! Thats my opinion anyway

[trumpeter]

I've been in possession of the book for some year now, always turning to it, always drawn to it, convinced that it contains within it all the answers, and that perhaps with more reading, more contemplation, more attempts at applying his ideas to my life, they may come to fruition in me.

However, four years have gone by now. My copy has sat on my bedside all this time, it's tattered, dog-eared, scribbled over, I've written a précis of every chapter, bought Practising the Power of Now and A New Earth, but, sadly, still nothing significant has changed in my life despite my best efforts re-reading, contemplating and attempting to apply his ideas.

I think, ultimately, his book is a bit too wishy-washy for my mind to digest. Everything kind of makes sense and has you nodding along, but the way the ideas are expressed somehow lacks the clarity needed for systematic application. Further, his ideas are mixed up to some extent with some questionable religious and metaphysical claims and assumptions.

Anyhow, without wanted to make a post that comes off as entirely negative, I'll tell you that the ideas in his book are, for the most part, not actually his at all. Mindfulness is an idea that's as ancient as the hills. And if you read Power of Now and come away feeling the same as me, may I recommend to you a book called, The Mindfulness Way Through Depression, co-authored by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mark Williams and several other professional psychologists.

TMWTD takes the insights of cognitive behavioural therapy along with the Eastern approach of mindfulness to tackle emotional problems directly. I've found it much clearer than Tollé and because it lacks the religious/metaphysical dimension, much more palatable. In the last few weeks I've slowly begun to apply each individual practice as per the eight-week course the book recommends. It's written with depression in mind, but the ideas can be applied equally to any emotional issues.

[freshjive]

Originally Posted by trumpeter

I think, ultimately, his book is a bit too wishy-washy for my mind to digest. Everything kind of makes sense and has you nodding along, but the way the ideas are expressed somehow lacks the clarity needed for systematic application. Further, his ideas are mixed up to some extent with some questionable religious and metaphysical claims and assumptions.

I was the same way. I'd read book after book on how to get over anxiety but I was still sitting in my room on the weekends and hardly interacting with people. Some how I thought that if I read enough books that I'd be "cured".

What I learned is that books can only give you the tools to prepare you face your anxiety. Eventually you need to go out and internalize the material you've read. Interacting with people might be really painful at first but it gets better with time and with the help of the knowledge in the books its gets much much easier.

The point Im trying to make is that a book can only help you so much, eventually you need to go out, armed with the knowledge that you have, and face life. Its hard work getting over SA. It wont be a walk in the park, that for sure.