Am I One or Two

More than a year ago, I picked up The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. It is a very enlightening book, not a book to be read once and put up on the shelf, but rather a book to be read, thought about and picked up again and again. It is more an ongoing course than a book. It took me a while to fully grasp the concepts illustrated in the book. One of the early parts of the book asks the question, Am I One or Two. The author, at a particularly depressive stage in his life, made this statement to himself, I can't live with myself any longer. With this statement, he realized that there are two of him: the one he couldn't live with any longer and the one who realized he couldn't live with the other any longer. This leads to the question, are we controlling our brains or is our brain controlling us. The two are NOT the same. After reading this, I realized that I have control of my brain, and therefore, my thought processes. I can control the outcome of my day, my life. It reminded me of those who say that people cannot hurt us; we can only allow people to hurt us. For a long time, I had trouble with that. I would argue that people very often do hurt us and we end up hurt not because we allow people to hurt us, but because we are hurt by the actions of others. Then, after much reflection, I understood. People and events can certainly aim to disappoint or hurt us, but it's up to us to allow the hurt or disappointment to occur. Our mind tells us: That hurts. That's disappointing. If we follow through on the "orders" from our mind, we experience that hurt, that disappointment. Think about it. Have there been times when you've resolved that a certain situation or person is not going to hurt or disappoint you – and they haven't? If so, you've taken control. We are not our mind.

We all hear "voices" in our head. Yet, we don't go rushing off to a psychiatrist nor send for the men in the white coats. These voices speculate, judge, compare, complains, like or dislike. These voices belong to our conditioned mind, often or usually based on past experiences or even cultural mindsets. Listen to that voice for a minute. Don't judge it or censor it, just listen to it. Then realize that there is the voice and you are listening to it. Two separate things, beings. Once you realize this, you can end involuntary and compulsive thinking. Tolle says that by doing this, you can direct the focus of your attention into the Now. This thinking is the essence of meditation. Instead of focusing on the past, you're focusing on the here and now.

I wrote in an earlier post about the concept of stillness, just letting our minds be still and enjoying the peace of the moment. Try it. You'll notice sounds and sights you've never noticed before. You won't notice the car horn blasting for your neighbor nor the airliner flying overhead, but instead will hear the chirping of the birds, the whispering of the trees, the brilliant azure sky. With this stillness comes a certain unshakable peace, a certain bliss.

 

Love,

T