Life is always now, this present moment. When you are in present moment you are in alignment with the one consciousness. Surrendering to this present moment without any judgments is one of the most powerful practices to know your true self. Surrender to what is; just this moment; not the past, not the future or your life situation but simply what arises in the now.
Method 1 - Surrendering to What Is
1
→ Realize that mind is resistance. The automatic mental resistance or stories to situations or people or internal state(thoughts and emotions), is the greatest cause for human suffering and pain. It's the conditioned mind, false self, that resists what is, the reality, and inflicts torture and suffering on yourself through resistance.
→ The mind has this unconscious delusion that resisting to thoughts, reactions, undesirable situations and emotions, can neutralize or dissolve them. Otherwise who would offer futile resistance to life. In fact, resistance that mind creates is unintelligent and more disturbing than the original cause it's trying to dissolve. Its only purpose is that it feeds the egoic mind, that's why it loves it. Also, resistance(unhappiness or negativity in any form) not only re-energizes the reactions and patterns but also keeps the undesirable situation and mental patterns in place. When you see this truth, you realize how insane, futile and painful it is to stand in opposition to what is. Read Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings) for more insight.
→ "Whenever you are unhappy, there is the unconscious belief that the unhappiness “buys” you what you want. If "you"- the mind - did not believe that unhappiness works, why would you create it?" A Course in Miracles.
→ Human mind's (incessant voice in head) very nature is to relay mostly pointless, repetitive and painful thoughts as per the conditioning.
→ Form identification is in the very structure of ego. It doesn't care about the content as long as it has something to identify with, to ensure its survival. That's why, as a pragmatic practice, introducing spiritual pointers, which are no ordinary thoughts but are charged with spiritual power, in the continuous thought stream help dissolve the sickness of mind, if one is ready for it. Its cause spiritual pointers, in the incessant stream of thinking, can reverse the hypnotic and seductive effect of thoughts and forms, and take you back into the stillness where they come from.
2
→ Dissolve the ego. Ego is humanity's current state of consciousness. It's the identification with thoughts (voice in your head) and emotions. Ego was a necessary stage in the evolution of consciousness but now to advance into the next stage and ensure our survival, we must dissolve the ego. Its cause as per the current state of humanity, there is a sense of urgency, as sanity and insanity are rising at the same time. It is highly recommended that you read Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings) for more insight.
3
→ Surrender. Presence, the universal intelligence, can come into being only through enthusiasm, enjoyment and surrender. There are many 'negative', by conventional terms, things that happen in life and of course you cannot enjoy or be enthusiastic about them. It's precisely at these moments surrender needs to be practiced. So surrendering, or yielding internally to what is, is a simple but profound practice. It's because when you truly surrender to the present moment then a greater intelligence is in charge. Only through surrender do you have access to it.
→ Don't misinterpret 'surrender' as giving in. Surrender is purely an inner phenomenon. It means to offer uncompromising acceptance to the flow of life within, without any judgments or reservations. As if it was your choice.
→ What's the flow of life within? The thoughts, emotions and reactions that arise in response to anything at this moment. Allow them, let them be and let them go. Be the knowing that is aware and enables the thoughts and emotions to be. This doesn't mean you can't take action. Surrender is perfectly compatible with action. In fact, surrendered action is infinitely more powerful as it's in alignment with universal intelligence.
→ Surrender happens when you don't ask 'why is this happening to me'? Because you live in the totality of the universe where all events and forms are interconnected..
→ Here's a pointer: "Do you want to know my secret? I don't mind what happens." J Krishnamurti. This is the surrendered state when you relinquish inner resistance to circumstances or people or thoughts and hence find peace that has no opposite. Since surrender is an inner phenomenon, so you only need to be concerned with inner state and outside will fall into place.
→ "I am never upset for the reason I think" Course of miracles.
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→ Use the suffering at this moment as an opportunity to yield. When you suffer consciously, psychological resistance dissolves and a peace of presence emerges through you. Jesus's saying "Not my will but thy will be done" points to this truth. We are not talking about presence in abstract terms. When you surrender, you feel an aliveness, a transmutation of suffering into presence. This presence is always present within us, but buried under psychological baggage of past you carry in your psyche. Only through the act of surrender can you access the presence; which is intelligence itself.
→ If you can't surrender then bring surrender to your non-surrender. Accept that you cannot accept. "The moment you completely accept your non-peace, your non-peace transforms into peace. Anything you accept fully will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender" (Eckhart Tolle). If surrender's not possible, take action immediately or remove yourself from the situation. Anything else is madness and will cause suffering.
Method 2 - Being in the Present Moment
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→ Make present moment your best friend. On the surface, each day of your life appears to consist of thousands of moments where different things happen. Yet if you look more deeply, is there not only one moment, ever? This one moment, now, is the only thing you can never escape from. The one constant factor in your life. No matter what happens. No matter how much your life changes. One thing is certain. It's always now. Since there is no escape from the now, why not welcome it, become friendly with it.
→ Regardless of the form of the present; doesn't matter how bad it looks, like some illness, disastrous life situation, torturous job, etc. What is the problem now? You are reading 'this' now. There's no suffering in the now because there are no problems in the now. As suffering needs time.
→ Your problems are no more than psychological burden or mind made stories from past, future or current life situation which need to be dealt with or accepted as part of the suchness of 'now'. Mind loves problems and personalize things(and events) because they strengthen its illusory sense of self. Which is soon coming to an end. Whether it's 1, 5, 15 or 50 years, it's soon. All of your problems, life situations and drama would be denoted as a "dash" between your birth and death date on your tomb-stone and not even that in some cultures where they cremate the body. Read Know Your True Self to learn more.
2
→ Become one with life. When you are one with life then everything around you becomes friendly because you are in alignment with it. You are one with the greater whole, where all events and things are intrinsically connected. Its the mind that label things as good or bad and fragments things. However, seen from higher perspective, things always are as they are. When you are in inner alignment with whatever happens, outer dependency on forms and events dissolves and things loose their seriousness and power over you. If action is needed, it comes through the "core of your being", as Tao Te Ching puts it. This action is in alignment with the totality of the universe. For example: if you have a torturous job, you might find yourself walking out of there or you might find yourself in a state of acceptance. Either way you would be at peace. Read Know Your True Self for more depth.
3
→ Observe that ego is very clever and short-sighted. The deeper you try go into the now, more and more thoughts and emotions will come, as if they are a priority and must be dealt with immediately. As ego gets most of its food from past and future and present moment is its death. Mind thinks that dwelling on past and future through thinking will somehow dissolve the pain, which is delusional as more you try to get rid of the pain or unease, stronger it becomes.. While the paradox is that only now can free you of the pain and suffering. You will only lose yourself in thinking and doing.
→ In addition, to ego mental noise is 'familiar', despite how dysfunctional it is. Which is one of the primary reasons ego dislikes or ignores the present moment, because it adheres to the known (mental noise). While unknown(the present moment), to ego, is dangerous or death. That's why it is often seen people stuck in dysfunctional relationships with no apparent intention of getting out or accepting it. Its cause doesn't matter how dysfunctional it is, at least it's familiar. . To ego, death is always around the corner, because deep down it knows that all forms are impermanent and its identification with them will soon come to an end.
→ Awareness helps to dis-identify with your thoughts and see the truth that most of our thinking is automatic, compulsive, repetitive, pointless, resists what is and primary cause of suffering. When you see this truth, naturally you become non-reactive, surrendered and allow whatever arises to come and go because it is as it is. Mind's impersonal nature is recognized. Yielding and disidentifying from your thoughts becomes a constant practice. That's how you heal the sickness of mind identification with compassion.
→ When you are aware a new dimension of consciousness emerges, that is not part of thinking but which enable the thinking to be. You are that. Read Stay Rooted in Being and Dissolve the Ego (According to Eckhart Tolle's Teachings) for more insight.
4
→ See that thoughts come in your absence. The moment you miss the present moment, thoughts(mind) take you over. So an intense alertness is needed to be there as the silent witness. As a practice, when you catch yourself lost in thinking, especially negative thoughts, ask, "Who's talking here? Me or the mind?" Then become still, take a few conscious breaths or ask your intelligent body. However, don't ask the mind, false self, or it will most likely say "Of course it's you who's talking" or "Think about your problems, they are more important", "May be later you can be present". That "later" will never come. This is the most basic dysfunction i.e. identification with this voice that treats the now as a obstacle or means to an end or enemy. . Read Stay Rooted in Being for more depth.
→ Watch the thoughts to come and go, even if it makes you indulge in unconscious behavior because of some level of unconscious identification. When you watch, you recognize yourself as the Knower behind thinking and impersonal nature of ego is revealed i.e the basic structure of identification with content and mind. Ego loves personalizing or reacting to what is, as they strengthen it. Here's a factual pointer: you acted on the level of your consciousness at that moment. You couldn't have acted any differently. This liberates you from psychological baggage of resentment and guilt. With this realization comes forgiveness and compassion for yourself and others.
→ Light of presence will grow within you, if you just allow or accept or watch what is to be, without interference.. Because it is as it is and resistance is futile. Then one day you may realize that you have a choice to not follow conditioned thoughts; that is to say power to choose peace rather than drama. Until then, as long as you are your mind, you have no choice. Watching doesn't mean to judge or analyze, or it would be the conditioned thinking that came through the back door, but impartially listen and see the thoughts and events to come and go.
→ Alternatively, when find yourself lost in thinking, simply shift your attention away from thinking to inner body or other present moment 'anchors'. Being aware of inner body is essential to be the witness of your thoughts and emotions. If that's not possible, take action immediately or remove yourself from the situation. Read Stay Rooted in Being for more depth.
→ It's pragmatic and possible to keep a balance or combination of above practices, depending upon the degree of awareness in you at that moment until presence becomes your predominant state. Read Stay Rooted in Being for more depth.
5
→ Go deeper into your pain. Instead of escaping from the emotional pain, go deeper into it and feel it fully. Don't let it rise up and turn into thinking. What could be more normal than you don't want to feel what you are feeling? However, there is no escape; the only way is through.
→ Bring the unobserved thoughts and emotions(pain body) in the light of your consciousness. If you didn't, they will continue to guide your behavior as if you are in a hypnotic spell. To be more alert, it helps to be aware of your breath and inner body at the same time. You can also verbalize(as it's seen in therapy) or inquire into your psychological state, as it helps bring unobserved mental patterns into the light of awareness or knowing. However, deeply realize that your 'presence' is primary and dissolves the past, or exploring your past may become a bottomless pit. There's always more stories. Read Stay Rooted in Being for more depth.
→ Also, be aware that pointers like 'going deeper into your pain', 'watching the mind' etc. don't become mental concepts. As you will read in step 12.
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→ Just watch the 'why'. "Why am I getting these thoughts or emotions?", "Why am I not doing this?", "Why was I not conscious enough before?" etc. Futile conditioned reactions to reactions and so on. These reactions not only feed the ego but seem to offer justification for your unhappiness but in reality cause it. This is the dreadful dysfunction that most of humanity is suffering from to a varying degrees i.e. resisting what is and keep seeking yourself in mind and fleeting world, even though it lies at the root of suffering.
→ “The greatest difficulty is the mental resistance to things that arise, and the underlying assumption is that they should not” (Eckhart Tolle).
→ Resistance can be in form of any negative state such as anger, resentment, grievance, sadness, etc. Also, many forms of resistance such as boredom, irritation, etc. are so common that we think that it's normal.
→ Just like you cannot fight the darkness, you cannot fight unconsciousness. So invite the light of presence to become aware of these unconscious or unobserved thoughts, patterns and emotions within you and others. Watching is enough. As when you are simply watching, momentum of thoughts and emotions, diminishes naturally and a different dimension of consciousness emerges through you. Far more intelligent than human mind. You are that. Only recognizing yourself as the awareness behind thinking can free you of the dysfunction of compulsive thinking that has caused unimaginable suffering on yourself and others.
Method 3 - Some Practices to Surrender
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→ Practice Inner acceptance. This means relinquish the inner resistance you have been offering to the undesirable circumstances, thoughts and other stimuli. Say an 'inner' yes to the present, doesn't matter what you say or do externally but there should be an 'inner Yes' or an inner alignment to what is, as if you have chosen it. What does it mean to say 'inner Yes'?
→ It means say 'yes' to the thoughts and emotions that arise in your consciousness by allowing, watching, accepting or giving them full attention, etc. However, you don't have to follow them. As thoughts create a lot of problems too. When there is true inner acceptance, circumstances no longer have the power to make you happy or unhappy. You transcend the drama of world. You rest in god. Compared to that happiness and unhappiness are quite shallow. Now do you see the deeper significance of recognizing yourself as the awareness behind your thoughts and emotions. As when you are watching the thoughts(self-talk) and world, you are not participating(identifying) in world of forms(the drama or dream). As thoughts are about world of form. If response is need, it comes from a deeper place and not from conditioned mind.
2
→ Start with little things. Give your full and unconditional attention to anything you are doing. Like brushing your teeth, cooking, washing your hands, walking, etc. Most people are lost in thoughts while doing these chores, but these simple chores can be great opportunities to be present and practice surrender. It helps to be aware of inner body while rooted in inner-body.
→ "Everybody's life really consists of small things. Greatness is a mental abstraction and a favorite fantasy of the ego. The paradox is that the foundation for greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment, instead of pursuing the idea of greatness" (Eckhart Tolle).
→ Eckhart Tolle — 'Don't let a mad world tell you that success is anything other than a successful present moment.'
3
→ Give. On a Universal level, 'giving' is the same as 'receiving'. The more you give, the more you will receive. If you feel like you are lacking something in life then ask yourself, "What can I give in this situation?" Try this for a couple of weeks and see how it changes your reality: Whatever you think people are withholding from you -- praise, appreciation, assistance, loving care, and so on – give it to them. You don't have it? Just act as if you had it, and it will come. Then, soon after you start giving, you will start receiving. You cannot receive what you don't give. Outflow determines inflow. Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you already have, but unless you allow it to flow out, you won't even know that you have it. This includes abundance.
4
→ Stay Rooted in Being. Be aware of your mind, breath, inner body or sense perceptions, that is to say be present as much as you can. Our inner body is a bridge between form and formless (Universal intelligence). So keeping some attention within, which is essential aspect of being present, while doing anything, keeps you connected to being. That's when you are aligned with the intelligence itself. It is highly recommended to read Stay Rooted in Being for more depth.
5
→ Recognize the interconnection between mind, emotions and body. If you are aware enough you would have noticed physical reactions to your thoughts in body and vice versa. Like face or brain or heart muscles becoming taut in response to a thought or incident.
→ Similarly, have you noticed emotional reactions to your fearful thoughts or circumstances in body? Like anxiety, fear, anger, etc?
→ If you single out the moment, you will see that physical pain and emotions are simply intense pressure or tautness or energy you feel somewhere in the body. For the most part, that doesn't make you unhappy. It's the automatic reactive thoughts and resistance in response to them that make you unhappy.
→ If you could shift attention from negative emotions and accumulated psychic patterns to inner-body or other present moment anchors or awareness, you may notice that reactions dissolve or atleast their intensity reduces. As mental attention or dwelling, which becomes resistance, feeds them and keeps them in place. Its the silent but intense presence that dissolves the pain, unease and psychological past and future (fog of thoughts) in you.
→ "Past and Future veil God from our sight; burn up both of them with fire" Rumi.
6
→ Experiment. Mental labeling happens automatically on the basis of conditioning your mind had. Have you noticed when you see some person or experience something, there is a small pause and then mind kicks in with the automatic mental labeling or random thoughts? Try it now: Look away from the screen and watch your inner self with high alertness. Did you notice a pause of no thought and then the 'heavy mind machinery' started, causing a taut feeling in your body and brain muscles? Did it feel as if resisting or judging what is? This is mind in its habituated resistive and automatic labeling mode, draining you of life energy via compulsive thinking.
→ "Colors blind the eye. Sounds deafen the ear. Flavors numb the taste. Thoughts weaken the mind. Desires wither the heart." Tao Te Ching.
→ Many people are not even aware of this automatic mental labeling or painful impulse because of excessive mental noise or because they consider it "normal". They cannot separate their thoughts and reactions from the situation(or condition). It may seem like situation is causing the unease, but in reality its the automatic mental interpretation or resistance.
→ Similarly, we automatically judge or label people or a group of people. This is the reason why it becomes easier to vilify people, because we have already vilified them in our mind by labeling or conceptualizing them. "To reduce the aliveness of another human being to a concept is already a form of violence" (Eckhart Tolle). This does not mean you don't see what they do. However, you see their actions and words as mentally conditioned and not who they truly are.
→ You don't awaken spiritually unless automatic labeling and habitual naming stops or atleast you become aware of it.
7
→ See the suchness of this moment and let the right action arise from deep within you. Can you refrain from adding mental stories to situation or people and just see the "isness" of the moment?
→ 'She didn't have the decency to return my call', 'He gave me a bad review, I could lose my job', 'the soup is so damn cold, I am never coming back to this place again', 'I have been feeling fatigued for a while now, do I have cancer?'.
→ How simple life would be without these mental stories. 'She did not call', 'He gave me a poor review', 'the soup is cold', 'There's a tautness in my body'.
→ "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." William Shakespeare.
→ Any story, even if people agree with you, is still no more than a concept or bundle of thoughts in your head. You will suffer, if you make an identity out of the story or 'movement of thought', or to say when you take the story as the truth rather being the watcher.
8
→ Smile and laugh at it. When you notice yourself being taken over by mind or any egoic pattern, then smile, laugh and have fun with it..
→ Thoughts and emotions is energy that arises in your consciousness. Since energy can only be transmuted, so practices like verbalizing, inner body awareness, breath meditation, having fun and primarily no inner resistance to what is, help transmute 'negative low frequency stagnant energy' to high frequency of consciousness. Read Stay Rooted in Being for pragmatic practices.
→ Allow, remain non-reactive and smile, even if it makes you indulge in unconscious behavior. Learn from the past but don't feel guilty about it; else it becomes psychological pain and you miss "now" -- the most precious thing there is.
9
→ When you are stillness, what can you resist?. Most of us don't know who we truly are. Trapped in the dream of life, seeing reality through limited view of sense perceptions and automatic narration of thoughts; without even knowing that none of that comes and goes is us. That's the reality of the majority of people, i.e completely identified with mind and form. With fear being an inevitable consequence of this illusion. They are not even there. Feeling a deep peace? Or thinking it's nonsense?
10
→ Channel the reactive energy. Have you ever noticed that before you start running or any other challenging task, mind activity is high? For example, conditioned thoughts like "this is going to be tough", "I don't want to run", "this is a mistake", etc., will start arising in your space of consciousness. However, when you just take action that takes away attention from that initial static of thoughts and emotions to 'activity of running', then the thoughts from the beginning fade or disappear. If you had believed your mind in the first place, would you have run? The initial thoughts we get are what we are conditioned to think. This is why instead of giving too much 'mental attention' or fighting the conditioned thoughts, which usually gets misinterpreted as interference and on the contrary makes them stronger, simply acknowledge or allow them to be. You can also practice immediately shifting attention from reactions or conditioned responses to inner body or other present moment anchors or constructive activities as they occur.
→ It's like withdrawing attention from resistive reactions in a pragmatic, creative and constructive way to allow the thoughts to flow freely.
→ "Greatest challenge is the mental resistance to the things that arise and the underlying assumption is, it shouldn't." Eckhart Tolle. Read Stay Rooted in Being and Become Mentally Flexible for more depth.
→ One of the reasons for high thought activity is because of the unreleased surplus energy in us. Cause mind acts out this surplus energy via thoughts. So some form of thorough physical workout(constructive action) helps to release this surplus energy, as physical exertion reduces mind activity. So try different experiments and activities to withdraw attention from mind.
11
→ Enter 'now' from there. The time is always now and this present moment is only point of access to who you are beyond name and form.
→ Feeling regret or guilty about something you did or didn't do, enter now from there.
→ Feeling sad because of some loss, enter now from there.
→ Feeling resentment, enter now from there.
→ Too excited or anxious, enter now from there.
→ Lost in thought, enter now from there.
→ Feeling unforgivable or self pity, enter now from there. This decision you'd have to make again and again and again until now becomes the primary focus of your life. Being intensely in the Now cuts through heavy psychological baggage of past you carry in your psyche, like a sword. This is the essence of zen.
→ Again, even if you are going through a bad situation or stuck in past or future, feeling guilty etc., what's stopping you to become present now? You have power only in the now. You access it now or not at all. You will need time until you realize that you don't need time. Nothing that happened in the past can prevent you from being present now.
→ Suppose you got lost in mind then instead of feeling guilty about it, can you become present now? Just forgive yourself and enter now from there. If that's not possible, take action immediately. Negativity is contagious and contaminates your beautiful and sacred Being. Plus, it keeps the undesirable situation in place.
TIPS
→ If this article does make some sense then the process of awakening has begun.
→ Don't use any method as a crutch. As you practice along there should be no method.
→ Again, don't look at the thought but look where it points to.
→ There is no doing or trying required from your side, but just an alert seeing. As that's when a deeper dimension of consciousness emerges.
→ Being present is infinitely more powerful than anything. If words and actions are required they come through presence and not from conditioning of your mind.
→ Presence doesn't make any situation or condition an enemy but simply creates a space around the situation and becomes one with it. Just like it transforms suffering into itself. That's the esoteric meaning of alchemy.
→ These words are just pointers, pointing to the formless dimension. Like signposts pointing the way, they are not it. Read Live in the Present (Spiritual Way) for more.
→ If you tried to understand the pointers via mind, you will get lost. There's nothing to understand.
→ Its quite effective to keep some attention within as you read.
→ 'Being present' may get mentally interpreted as to suppress thinking in a mind's short sighted attempt to become free of thinking. That doesn't work.
→ Some of the pointers in the article may not make sense to you at this time, but they may make sense in the future as you suffer more and new events in your life unfold. Suffering has a noble purpose.
→ We are destined to evolve as conscious beings but not how the ego thinks we would.
→ Ego thinks resistance will get what it wants or free you from the pain. This belief is opposite of the truth. Only your presence can free you of pain.
→ Thought is much more creative and intelligent when it is rooted in awareness.
→ The quality of your present moment determines the quality of your future.
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