Originally Posted by billyboy2674
I was reading where Tolle describes God as Being and it blew me away...(talk about mind identification),because I was raised in a christian family and you know how God is so human over there....I can resonate perfectly with what Tolle is saying,but after decades of thinking God was semi-human,I get caught up in thinking again...does this make God generic....I cannot speak to him or pray cause he's not really there....OMG the atheists were right etc,etc,etc.lol
So I suppose I haven't quite grasped what God is.
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Gonna leave this one to Giles
I've seen that movie too,you know,but my experiences are vague there as well....so I was wondering if there is a way to improve on the length or quality of presence.Thank you both for your detailed answers.
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It may seem as if I am putting you off with my answer, but it really is like this:
The only way to improve presence is to become enlightened, and the only way to become enlightened is to improve presence. The thing that is keeping you from experiencing the Self is a collection of thoughts, appearing in awareness
Ego is what you currently think is your identity, while it is not. Ego is just a collection of thoughts. And thoughts come up unfiltered. You might have noticed this as well during meditation, there is nothing you can do to stop thought from coming. You can only surpress thoughts, but this is an action you take
after the thought has appeared. Where do these thoughts come from ? Nobody knows, they come up. And we always seem to want to believe every thought to be true.
When realisation, or enlightenment has occurred, thoughts still arise, tho not as much, but there is the realisation that the thought " I " is not who you are.
Example:
When you think " I am tired " this is a thought that wants to describe a feeling of tiredness that is experienced in the body.
Your body may be tired, but are you ? Is the Self tired at the same time as your body ? If you really were tiredness, how would you know ? You couldn't, because you would be tiredness all the time.
Water is wetness, and can never be not-wetness, as it is wet all the time.
No, you, your awareness observes tiredness in the body because it is seperate from your body, not an integrated part of it. It can view from a distance. There is a space between the body and the Self. And as soon as the Self sees tiredness, mind comes along, and claims 3 things:
That these thoughts " I am Tired " are who you are, that this thought " I " is your self, and that the thoughts are tired. How can a thought be tired ? And even more amazing, how can the word " I " suddenly transform into you ?
Your awareness watches the words come by because it is seperate from your thoughts as well as your body. This awareness is the real you.
check out this site:
End of Seeking - End of Searching - Home Page
Specifically this page:
End of Seeking - End of Searching - Eckhart Tolle's Spiritual Practices
