Live What You Know

Waking up is more than it seems. You KNOW more than you've ever been "taught"! You chose to be here now. Make yourTRUEself proud!

Tag: Eckhart Tolle

August 12, 2013

Mental Movie Making – Make Movies in Your Head or Live in Stillness and Inner Peace

“We can learn not to keep situations or events alive in our minds, but to return our attention continuously to the pristine, timeless present moment rather than be caught up in mental movie making.”
–Eckhart Tolle

When I first heard Eckhart Tolle talk about mental movie making some years back, I can’t say that I got what he meant right away.  It took some time and lots of mulling it over.  I remember hearing him give a talk and trying to figure it out on a conceptual level rather than the knowing inside me that would have understood right away.  Funny, I am sure the ego was wrapped up in all that mind chatter.

In a recent conversation I was having with a friend, I heard myself explain it so clearly.  I had been listening to my friend and feeling compassion for her suffering.  I was just really listening presently, I wasn’t thinking about what I would say, I was just really in the vibration of stillness and non-judgement and when it was my turn to respond to her, these words explaining the concept of mental movie making came through.  As she reacted with enthusiasm and excitement about how true and helpful that was, I also heard it and understood it so much deeper than I ever had before.  I heard my own words (or words borrowed from stillness really) and learned something more deeply from them.  It was like one of those hugs from the universe I believe in when you just feel so connected to everything.  It was such a lovely lesson that I thought I would share it here.

My friend had been describing dealing with a hard situation with a family member and sharing her disappointment over their actions, etc.  She felt very sure of her position and even more sure that the family member was doing others wrong.  The suffering she was creating for herself was obvious.  I wasn’t judging her for doing that or judging the family member for her actions (which can be easy to do), I was really just listening in presence and feeling compassion for her and then the right words came.

I said to her – We get to decide how we let things effect us.  When we interact with others, they have their perception of the situation, we have ours.  Neither one is true ultimately and neither one actually happened.  None of this “stuff” is actually happening, it is all in our minds.  It’s all a movie we are creating as we look through the veil of our perceptions.  In our movie we are the star and we have our supporting characters and guest appearances, etc.  In the other person’s movie, they are the star and we are their supporting actors or maybe just an extra.  Depending on the veil we look through and all the past experiences we bring with us, we decide how to interpret things and how much importance to give them.  Sometimes things just roll right out of our awareness and sometimes we obsess and keep the movie running and running and running.  We can make it get bigger and worse and keep it alive with all the movie creating in our heads.  None of it actually happened.  At about this point in the conversation she said “wow that is amazing, I never thought of it that way.”

We went on and had a lovely conversation, it is hard to explain the added depth in the discussion, it was just there.  When we concluded our conversation, I felt so peaceful and I had this knowing that we had really shared a moment of glimpsing a truer reality.  It was special and I was grateful.  Conversations and moments like this when we can ease suffering and grow consciousness are miraculous.

It can be easy to get caught up in mental movie making, it’s even thought to be normal and people go on consoling each other and adding to each others movies by agreeing with their version, etc.  Even in the exact moment of the very thing we think we are upset about, it didn’t happen.  It was just the way we created it in our head and someone else created a different version in their head.  No other mind saw it exactly the way we did.  Once we understand this we can step back and begin to figure out how we are creating these movies and keeping situations alive in our minds that never even happened.  We can begin to watch this happening and explore other options.  We can free ourselves from this false reality and gain peace and learn to dwell in the power of stillness rather than an ever-changing movie.

As I mentioned before, I had heard Eckhart talk about these things many times and I had been reading The Four Agreements and applying all of that wisdom as well.  I am so grateful for all of the great teachers presenting this information in so many different ways, yet saying the same thing.  We can continue to grow and grasp the teachings and then we can learn to live it.  When we hear ourself explain something more clearly than we had ever understood it, we know we tapped into the stillness that is Everything.  If we can listen and be still and let that voice come through then we can truly become more of our essential self and much less of our reactionary self…one response at a time.

I believe our judgements can block the real answers from coming through.  If I had been judging my friend for her feelings or the family member for hurting her so much, we may not have had that special moment when we could grasp a deeper truth.  It’s so worth all the searching and practicing and trying to chip away at the ego to have true moments of stillness like this one.  It wasn’t the little false sense of me that was able to stay away from judgments and touch the stillness, it was the big Me that is connected to everything.  It was the one that I have been trying to spend more time with and get to know more in stillness.  It was beautiful.  I highly recommend it and I know that it is always there waiting for us to enjoy.  We ALL have the ability to touch that very same stillness!

As we go out into the world today and always, lets practice living in stillness and turning towards presence rather than creating movies in our head that trap us in the past or take us to future worries.  Wishing you all love and joy!!!

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August 9, 2013

Make Your Weekend Last Longer and Have More Joy – With Timeless Presence

“The ego’s greatest enemy is the present moment, which is to say,
life itself.”  –Eckhart Tolle

We can all agree that it would be wonderful to have the weekends last longer.  Lets try it this weekend.  It is a good idea (or the most important thing in life…depending on how you look at it) to practice living in the moment whenever you can.  We all hear the buzz on it and try to do it at whatever stage in our journey we are at, maybe we can kick it up a notch this weekend.  Practicing presence can take the time out of the weekend and make it last so much longer.   It can bring more joy and peace to us and bless everyone and everything around us.

Ego work is required for true growth.  You can’t battle your ego, it will just grow with the extra attention and even if you do seem to win for a bit, it sneaks in the backdoor and grows itself by assuming the new identity of the one with the smallest ego and the most presence.  I want to use Live What You Know to share and try little ways of chipping away at the ego.  I believe that you can shrink your ego simply by turning the other way – towards love.  This weekend, lets turn completely towards the greatest enemy of the ego – the present moment.  In doing so, we will access Love and Life.  Everything will feel better and time will cease to exist, hence a longer weekend.  I know that true presence doesn’t know it’s the weekend…but, since our thinking mind does love a weekend, lets just give it a try!  Yay!

Wherever you are in your path of discovery, you can always improve your ability to access stillness in the present moment.  You may be simply noticing the silence between the words in a conversation or adding a breath before you speak or you may be meditating for two hours every morning.  We are all at the perfect place in our journey!  I am not an expert on these things but I have been profoundly interested in adding more present moment awareness since I heard about it seven years ago.  I have read and heard many of the experts and masters on the subject and I want to share their wisdom in little doses here whenever I can, both for bringing more peace and joy to others and also to keep myself in the spirit of growth and presence.

Knowing this stuff because I read it and heard it from the masters and living it are, of course, two different things, hence the whole Live What You Know focus.  To practice truly living what I know about presence this weekend, here are some helpful little tips I would give myself (and you if you’re open to the idea):

  • Meditate first thing in the morning – whatever skill level you are at, even one minute to touch stillness to feel what it is like to return to it throughout the day.
  • Pray – set your intention for presence and awareness, ask for help to stay in that vibration and truly experience each moment in awareness rather than mind activity.
  • Listen – use listening for a presence practice. Truly listen whenever anyone is speaking.  You can keep a present energy in the background and feel that while you listen, let any thoughts that try to creep in just float by.  Don’t think about what you are going to say next, just listen without thinking and still feel some presence.  Don’t give all your presence away while listening, just enough to listen well and stay present.  Great practice – changes how you experience yourself and others…and everything.
  • Breath – add more breath all the time.  It’s not really adding breath, because you’re already breathing, its noticing your breath.  Noticing one breath before you speak can take you from reactionary living to present living.  It is a great practice to remain present and be.  Reactions are not present, they do not have the power of presence behind them.  Reactions to what others say and do give your power of presence away.  One breath to bring you to presence before reacting or speaking can change everything.  It’s a great way to take the ego out of your interactions.
  • Joyful Living – get all the way into the moment and find the joy there.  It is there!  I promise.  Even if it’s tying your kids shoe or doing the dishes, there is something to enjoy.  You can look your kid right in the eye and get a giggle and a connection as you tie their shoes or you can appreciate the way the water feels on your hands and the sunlight comes in the window as you do the dishes.  Whatever you do, the joy is there somewhere.  Isn’t it awesome that it was designed this way.  Do the joy experiment all weekend, you’ll find it.
  • Doing Meditations – You can turn anything into a meditation.  You just pick what it is and practice staying completely present the whole time.  It may be sorting the laundry, vacuuming the living room or brewing a cup of tea.  It may be a walk or writing a poem.  You truly can turn anything you do into a meditation.  Let any thoughts float by, you are the sky and the thoughts are the clouds – they pass.  Don’t jump on any of the clouds (thoughts), don’t resist them either, just watch them float by and your peace of mind increase.  This is also a great way to start watching your thoughts without being attached to them – they’re just thoughts…only the power you give them or don’t give them makes them what they are.
  • No waiting – waiting is awful.  If you find yourself in the situation where it seems like you’re waiting for something – a long line or the time for your next event, etc., just don’t do it.  BE instead of waiting.  Enjoy the present moment and realize the perfection in it as it is.  Realize that you do not need to add anything to it and life will not start once you are done waiting.  Life is already happening, waiting takes you out of it.  Not waiting is a great practice, you can focus on the breath or smile or just be and observe without adding a bunch of thoughts to it.  Waiting gives time so much power and takes you right out of the present.
  • Try something new – get into the unfamiliar.  It brings a heightened focus to what you’re doing and takes you out of the thinking mind.  Even if you just cook a new recipe that challenges you or take a walk on a new path, anything that is new and unfamiliar will bring more presence.  Simple excitements in the little things are the best!
  • Create – write, draw, color a picture, anything creative.  Releasing your creative energy and making something in presence is like offering a prayer.  The still place inside you is incredibly creative, touch it and be with it and see what happens.  Even just looking up how to draw something on the computer and following along can be a great experience if you’re not super confident in your artistic abilities.  Just make something, even a fabulous meal is a creative endeavor.  Touch the joy of creating!
  • Look without labeling – practice looking at the world around you without the lens of judgement.  Try to let go of labeling good or bad or even naming everything.  Even on a drive in the car, just be with all the things you see going by, you can experience the world in a whole new way without labeling what you see.  You can gain a lot of energy too because all the labeling we do is exhausting, just being and seeing without labeling can be a really comforting feeling and can bring us to a heightened sense of awareness and presence.
  • Embrace the uncomfortable – don’t turn away from feeling uncomfortable.  Often we feel a little uncomfortable and we cover it up quickly with one distraction after another.  Don’t resist the uncomfortable feeling, sit with it a minute in silence and watch it transform into joy!  It will!  The joy is in the stillness!
  • Smile – I love the simple practice of smiling.  When you truly feel your genuine smile, it does something to your heart.  You feel it deep in your heart and it changes how  you see everything.  Smile a lot and smile at everyone and everything!

Okay, that is my incomplete list of some tips that may help us have more joy and presence this weekend.  We may be able to have an ego-free weekend if we are doing all of this stuff.  Wouldn’t that be lovely!  Remember, presence isn’t something we can get better at later or when we’re more evolved.  The only time to get better at presence is NOW.  Flexing this skill and embracing these ideas can only have positive implications for the effects on our weekdays!  But, we will deal with that in that moment.

I just have to take a moment to thank you for reading this!  I am so very grateful for this platform and opportunity to share myself and encourage myself and others in this way.  I am just getting started and I can already feel the difference in my life!  I am so very grateful to you for taking the time to read my words from the heart…it is my true to desire to help us all live with more peace and joy!  I am also profoundly grateful for connecting with others who find these topics meaningful!  Thank you!

I send this with so much love!  I think I will read it several times this weekend to help me stay in the moment too!  I hope it helps you find more peace, joy and love!

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