THE POWER OF NOW by Eckhart Tolle

There is a novel by Aldous Huxley called Island, written in his later years when he became very interested in spiritual teachings. It tells the story of a man shipwrecked on a remote island, cut off from the rest of the world. This island contains a unique civilization. The unusual thing about it is that its inhabitants, unlike those of the rest of the world, are actually sane. The first thing the man notices are the colourful parrots perched in the trees and they seem to be constantly croaking the words, “Attention. Here and now. Attention. Here and now.” We later learn that the islanders taught them these words in order to be reminded continuously to stay present.

So whenever you feel negativity arising within you, whether caused by an external factor, a thought or even nothing in particular that you are aware of, look on it as a voice saying, “Attention. Here and now. Wake up.” Even the slightest irritation is signiÞcant and needs to be acknowledged and looked at; otherwise, there will be a cumulative build-up of unobserved reactions. You may be able to just drop it once you realize that you don’t want to have this energy field inside you and that it serves no purpose. But make sure that you drop it completely. If you cannot drop it, just accept that it is there and take your attention into the feeling.

As an alternative to dropping a negative reaction, you can make it disappear by imagining yourself becoming transparent to the external cause of the reaction. I recommend that you practise it with little, even trivial, things Þrst.

Let’s say that you are sitting quietly at home. Suddenly, there is the penetrating sound of a car alarm from across the street. Irritation arises. What is the purpose of the irritation? None whatsoever. Why did you create it? You didn’t. The mind did. It was totally automatic, totally unconscious. Why did the mind create it? Because it holds the unconscious belief that its resistance, which you experience as negativity or unhappiness in some form, will somehow dissolve the undesirable condition. This, of course, is a delusion. The resistance that it creates, the irritation or anger in this case, is far more disturbing than the original cause that it is attempting to dissolve.

All this can be transformed into spiritual practice. Feel yourself becoming transparent, as it were, without the solidity of a material body. Now allow the noise, or whatever causes a negative reaction, to pass right through you. It is no longer hitting a solid “wall” inside you. As I said, practise with little things Þrst. The car alarm, the dog barking, the children screaming, the trafÞc jam. Instead of having a wall of resistance inside you that gets constantly and painfully hit by things that “should not be happening,” let everything pass through you.

Somebody says something to you that is rude or designed to hurt. Instead of going into unconscious reaction and negativity, such as attack, defense or withdrawal, you let it pass right through you. Offer no resistance. It is as if there is nobody there to get hurt anymore. That is forgiveness. In this way, you become invulnerable. You can still tell that person that his or her behaviour is unacceptable, if that is what you choose to do. But that person no longer has the power to control your inner state. You are then in your power, not in someone else’s, nor are you run by your mind. Whether it is a car alarm, a rude person, a ßood, an earthquake or the loss of all your possessions, the resistance mechanism is the same.

Don’t look for peace. Don’t look for any other state than the one you are in now; otherwise, you will set up inner conßict and unconscious resistance. Forgive yourself for not being at peace. The moment you completely accept your non-peace, your non-peace becomes transmuted into peace. Anything you accept fully will get you there, will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender.

Adapted from The Power of Now, copyright 1999 by Eckhart Tolle. Reprinted with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA, 800-972-6657 (ext. 52). Visit www.eckharttolle.com.