The Final Book

I just finished reading The Power of Now, by Eckart Tolle. This is the last "spiritual" book I'm going to read until Summer. I know that sounds weird, being on a spiritual journey. You would think I'd want to read every single spiritual book I can get my hands on. The problem is, I've been so caught up in READING about enlightenment, that I haven't been DOING anything to get there. The Power of Now is an incredible book, I would highly recommend everyone read it, but honestly, it told me things I already know. Granted, it put them in ways I needed to hear right now, I realized while reading it that I need to stop reading. By constantly seeking answers in books I'm not staying present in the now. I'm giving into my mind's trick that enlightenment is something to be found in the future. Enlightenment can only happen now. No exceptions. Because only now exists. This is not a spiritual journey. Journey implies distance and time, neither of which exist. It's time to stop searching and find.

I Am, No Matter What

I've been dealing with a "dilemma," a "problem," since we moved to Connecticut in June. I wanted to re-open my business, but couldn't find a location right away so I start changing my business plans, then got caught in this state of....stalling. I know it's based in fear - fear of failure - but I haven't been able to get past it.

Today, while reading The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle, I had what can best be described as an "ah-ha moment" (thanks, Oprah). It doesn't matter what I do, it doesn't change who I am. I can teach at gyms, I can teach at other studios, I can have my own studio, I can teach private lessons, it doesn't change my Being. The "right action" spoken of in The Bhagavad Gita isn't about what venue I teach in, it's simply that I teach. My mind has created this ego-based image of "who I am". It's just an illusion. I don't have to fit in any mold, I just have to Be. And, I need to stop planning out all these elaborate ideas because they're based in time, which is based in ego. I have a situation right now - I'm not working - and it is time for me to take actions to change that. Actions that I can do right now, in the Now. I need to focus on what to do right this moment to start the momentum of right action.

"You can never reach [the point where you are completely free of problems] because you are at the point now. There is no salvation in time. You cannot be free in the future. Presence is the key to freedom, so you can only be free now." - Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now