Hello fellow yogis.
It feels so good to becoming light-hearted and more present 
. Everything is becoming more beautiful and peaceful.
My life is beginning to make a turn to Peace.
It is a pleasure to share this with you fellow seekers of truth. We are each so unique, each one of us a gift
Iām enjoying Eckhart Tolleās āThe Power of Nowā. His work is very helpful to me. His exercises of being present in the moment I use constantly. They are also very helpful for centering in pranayama and meditation.
Anyone enjoying these writings?
Peace, alan
Hi Alan,
I really enjoy Tolleās writings/lectures as well. Iāve found his teachings similar in ways to those of Krishnamurtiās (The Now vs. Observing), but presented in a much clearer and easy to follow way. Iāve also tracked down a few of his video recordings and at times he almost seems like a child who has stumbled across enlightenment, which is to me both entertaining and beautiful to watch. He is certainly a gift to all on the path.
Brett
Hi Alan,
I have enjoyed Tolleā¦ His writing has helped me a lotā¦ There have been a lot of discussion on his books look hereā¦
http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=968
Another book that was recommended by many at the forum and I am currently readingā¦ very interestingā¦ very insightfulā¦ is Whatās Wrong With Right Nowā¦ by Sailor Bob Adamsonā¦
Happy reading
Thanks guys. I must have been busy the week all that was discussed on the forum. I remember reading some of the posts on self-enquiry.
Breathing is one of his techniques. I have been using breath throughout the day and āfeelingā connected inside my body with the breath; using that to be more present in the moment. It doesnāt work like a āthinkingā self-inquiry, though it does lend to clearer thought and a letting go of thought.
I wonder if anyone has discussed pranayama & etc. with Tolle?
Didnāt mean to re-hash a subject. Peace, alan
Hello. Not quite ready to drop the topic on Tolleās book yet 
The self inquiry part, where I watch my attatchments of thoughts and feelings to situations be they painful or otherwise and observe those reactions, and more often than not now choose to let go and remain in peace and accept the situation, has been very valuable. I employ a full and steady rythym breath and breathe the reality of those moments to metre my observation. Some real growth. And boy, when I get caught up and dragged it is painfully noticable. But still I exercise patience and acceptance and eventually come back around to detatchment. It is an all-encompassing experience wherein āIā become the total experience which includes myself and everyone and everything in the moment. Beautiful Itās certainly a rising above kind of thing. I feel like a whole new self in the making.
Of course my Kriya practice is my foremost tool for my evolution, but I believe I am becoming open to spirit giving me guidance and tools from everywhere, like Tolleās book and here sharing with you None of the tools rise above another, really. It seems the real ātoolā is my growing awareness that knows how to use anything available within the moment
Peace, alan
Ee-gads! You all went to town on the thread you refered me to Shanti. I just went over all the posts about Tolle and self-inquiry you all had a few weeks agoā¦howād I miss all that? I think Karunamayi was in town and I was absorbed in her visit So to wrap up my two cents on the subject: self-inquiry for me is taking the silence into daily life and observing, accepting and detatching from every exchange between myself and others, and between myself and the total environment, coupled with breathing the moment in and outā¦in and out, in a steady rythym Another important aspect is to practice kindness, appreciation and sympathy with those who are in the throes of āconflictā with me as it is observed that they are in a state of emotional/mental confusion that I can well relate to
Hi Alan,
Tolle is amazing. Heās the real deal. I dont know that he was ever really looking for enlightenment but boy did he get it! Someone mentioned that he often seems like a child who has stumbled onto enlightenmentā¦thatās a great description. I have a 2 disc DVD set of his as well as the audio version of āA New Earthā. If you havenāt already, Iād strongly recommend getting one of his books on cd or a DVD. Listening to him has had a very powerful effect on my practice and my life. Itās done the same with several family members Iāve recommended it to. In my opinion he is a modern day Buddha.
-B
Alan, I am glad this is working for you. I have been making a conscious effort too of staying in the present. This has really helped me with is my depressionā¦ or down moods. I am getting good at catching the slight breeze in my heart and stopping it before it becomes a tornado. During this watching thought I have realized there are two kinds of lowsā¦ One of them starts off in the heartā¦ the slight breezeā¦ it is triggered by really silly things like a thought, smell, words, a song ā¦ something the mind associates with a down timeā¦ it puts out little sparks in the heartā¦ and I am not carefulā¦ it becomes a full blown fire.
There is another kindā¦ that starts in my headā¦ its like an energy release or overloadā¦ I think this one is purification relatedā¦ and this one I cannot get a hold ofā¦ The thing I do with these though is ignore themā¦ get really busy with stuffā¦ and in about half a day or a day it goes away. If I put my attention to it thoughā¦ this too has a way of taking over my life.
Now, about living in the presentā¦ every thing I read tells me that is what helps the most in the spiritual pathā¦ esp. after reading Frankās post on the conversations he is having with John http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1138, and reading Sailor Bobās bookā¦ I feel it is very important being here in the present. This has not been easy for me, I try but most of the time my mind is on the runā¦ when I do realize this, I come back, but I donāt realize it too often (I think). Being conscious of my breathā¦ that is one thing that gets me in trouble during meditationā¦ so I try to stay away from itā¦ but I do try to be involved with what I am doingā¦ reading has been a big help for meā¦ esp. Yoganiās books.
Meditation has helped me a lot in understanding how to work through theseā¦ the increase in inner silence definitely has a lot to do with our progress in self inquiry.
Do continue to tell us about this self discovery journey of yours.
Oh! by the wayā¦ thanks for sharing your 2 scents.
Thanks Shanti
It appears that you are very aware (in the moment) of the pulls you describe. Most excellent! Iām new to this; not in being somewhat aware of my ādownwardā pulls, but in the ever-refining of the attention process (being more in the moment). What you describe in heart and head sounds like my experience. Iāll pay attention more to the origin of these and see if that is so.
What I have been practicing to keep me from being carried away is to completely accept what is. It keeps me one step ahead. Like this: I feel this~accept; I did this~accept; I judged harshly~accept; I lost my temper~accept, and etcā¦ The accepting is a combination of forgiving myself, choosing a new path, and moving forward. It becomes somewhat surreal as I observe myself stumble along; stumbling and accepting, stumbling and accepting. It becomes a kindness that propells me beyond the downward pull. In its best it becomes slightly humorous, which helps. I begin to view myself and others as āmy childrenā who are doing the best they can as I patiently lend a guiding hand.
Jai Guru, alan
P.S. you all are very kind, thank you
Alan,
What you are doing is wonderful. This is what Katie talks about in her book āLoving What Isāā¦ I have been doing a lot of this tooā¦ but more to accept personal relationshipsā¦ and also at times when I start feeling low because I get caught up in how I think other people should treat me or have treated me. Yes, you cannot change what isā¦ accepting and forgiving a situation is the best solutionā¦ But there are times when this feeling of being low has no reasonā¦ that is when I have nothing to reason withā¦ when that happens I find it important to get myself busy and make a concious effort to contain that feelng in my heart and not let it take over my bodyā¦ if I let it slip it willā¦ like Jim put itā¦ āfly off into flights of fantasy, mulling over the past and fantasizing about the futureā. if you know what I mean .
Yes I do know what you mean. I have so utterly destroyed my life so many times over (though it could be worse) that it makes no sense anymore to mull over the past. To have a future, or more importantly the now, is a blessing. Our daily pranayama and meditation keeps us centered and awakening so that we can bring greater awareness into our day
Alan,
There is one more thing that gets me downā¦ if I say something that is not true, or something that may hurt someone. It is funny thoughā¦ we get so used to little white lies, I did not even notice them till recently. A few days back my friend calledā¦ and asked if I had looked at a catalog and if I wanted to order something from itā¦ I said nah!! there was nothing good in itā¦ in reality I had not even looked at the catalogā¦ after I hung upā¦ I could feel this thing in my heartā¦ I called her back to apologize and told her the truthā¦ she was so confusedā¦ it was really funny, she could not believe I called her back to apologize for thatā¦ you could tell from her voice she was confusedā¦ she must have been wondering what I had been drinking for breakfastā¦ 
It was so sillyā¦ however, I felt better
Crazy Huh!!! 
Yes. More and more nothing will get past our scrutiny. As the truth becomes a reality in every moment everything is watched and pulled in-line so that we continue to grow. It is good that we expect such of ourselves
Hi Alan,
I really enjoyed Tolle as well, he helped me to be more present in my daily life. He also helped bring my awareness to the many subtle ways the ego can manifest into our thoughts and actions.
Wise words, I see this on my path as well.
Hi Shanti,
Seems like we are on the same reading list!
I am currently reading Katie as well, I really like her approach. I have been using the work whenever I have a chance (on all those annoying people who push my buttons, thereās a lengthy list so I will be at it for a while! ) and love the release it can bring. Great stuff!
I have been thinking of either Krishnamurti or Nisargatta next, though I heard N smokes etc. and I find it hard to understand how an apparently realized person could willingly poison himself or have a strong attachment like that, seems contradictory.
Any one have any comments on this?
Anthem11
Hi Andrew,
I am reading Sailor Bob now. The next book on my list is Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa.
I sneaked in āThe Heart of Understandingā by Thich Nhat Hanh while I was reading Sailor Bob. It was a real tiny bookā¦ but really good. Both these came recommende by Meg and Jim.
Yes, Katie has helped me deal with a lot of annoying people in my life. It is so easy to let things just goā¦ I still have a few big ones to get overā¦ Hopefully in two year I will have this āworkā perfectedā¦ that is when I meet the two people who push my buttons the mostā¦ If I can get through 2 months with these peopleā¦ I can take on anyone.
Let me know what you read nextā¦ the same kind of books seem to be helping usā¦
-Shweta.
another good one from thich nhat hanh is āBeing Peaceā, a true classic.
Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement