Hi Matt!
I just finished reading the book also, and I must say that i wholeheartedly agree with you on recommending this book!
I too am a "searcher" (and a speed-reader *LOL*), but I have to admit, that I think I will read this book again, and again, and ....
To all others I would like to present some "hints" on what this book is about, as I understand it. (Also helps me clarify these thoughts, and their deeper meaning for my self).
The main topic of this book is, that enlightenment is possible each and every moment of your life - it is merely one step away. Enlightenment is NOT at the end of a very long journey - The enlightenment (In Tolle's view) is to be able to BE ABSOLUTELY IN NOW. Nothing more, nothing less [
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But, that is also the tricky part of it!... There are numorous obstackles, that we each put up as barriers for our self - and Tolle has (IMO) a GREAT understanding of these barriers - and what "tools" we as humans can use to help us!
Like time ... Huuu ?!?, how can Time be a barrier? Well, how much can you be in NOW, if you are thinking about the Exams TOMORROW, or how you SHOULD have presented your studies yesterday?. (Or how much you REALLY want to achieve enlightenment when you are good enough, educated enough, etc. etc).
Tolle introduces Clock-time (used when planning how you will do your work, or using the knowledge from an earlier situation, wich is OK), compared to Emotional-time, that is when you are somewhere in the future, or in the past (through Thoughts or feelings), instead of being in NOW - like the Exams example.
The Mind .... Yup, the one and only - our thoughts, our Ego-defence - the one we (my self included!) actually use to find "enlightenment" with. Here i found a piece of information, that our mind and/or Egodefence CAN NOT SURVIVE without us beliving in the "illusion" of time, and that our mind egodefence is one of the MAIN obstacles for us finding peace and enlightenment.
The (I am not sure how to translate this from Danish - here it is called <Smertelegemet>, but something like "The Emotional Pain-body" or something like that ... Where we store the resistance of the moments, where we did NOT accept the WHOLE NOW. (Like if you are in great emotional pain, and you try to "run" from that pain, years later you are in a similar situation, that the new pain gets mingled with the OLD pain, and creates a much stronger pain/feeling).
One of the main tools that Tolle describes is the "Observer" inside of us - the ability to silently stand by, and observe what goes on inside our mind, and our emotions - without judging or analyzing(!), just accepting NOW.
A person asks Tolle - "How can I achieve what you got?" (meaning the peace and enlightenment), and Tolle answers "You allready got it, it's just you mind that is creating to much noise for you to feel it"
I allready look forward to reading this book again!
I just finished reading the book also, and I must say that i wholeheartedly agree with you on recommending this book!
I too am a "searcher" (and a speed-reader *LOL*), but I have to admit, that I think I will read this book again, and again, and ....
To all others I would like to present some "hints" on what this book is about, as I understand it. (Also helps me clarify these thoughts, and their deeper meaning for my self).
The main topic of this book is, that enlightenment is possible each and every moment of your life - it is merely one step away. Enlightenment is NOT at the end of a very long journey - The enlightenment (In Tolle's view) is to be able to BE ABSOLUTELY IN NOW. Nothing more, nothing less [
]But, that is also the tricky part of it!... There are numorous obstackles, that we each put up as barriers for our self - and Tolle has (IMO) a GREAT understanding of these barriers - and what "tools" we as humans can use to help us!
Like time ... Huuu ?!?, how can Time be a barrier? Well, how much can you be in NOW, if you are thinking about the Exams TOMORROW, or how you SHOULD have presented your studies yesterday?. (Or how much you REALLY want to achieve enlightenment when you are good enough, educated enough, etc. etc).
Tolle introduces Clock-time (used when planning how you will do your work, or using the knowledge from an earlier situation, wich is OK), compared to Emotional-time, that is when you are somewhere in the future, or in the past (through Thoughts or feelings), instead of being in NOW - like the Exams example.
The Mind .... Yup, the one and only - our thoughts, our Ego-defence - the one we (my self included!) actually use to find "enlightenment" with. Here i found a piece of information, that our mind and/or Egodefence CAN NOT SURVIVE without us beliving in the "illusion" of time, and that our mind egodefence is one of the MAIN obstacles for us finding peace and enlightenment.
The (I am not sure how to translate this from Danish - here it is called <Smertelegemet>, but something like "The Emotional Pain-body" or something like that ... Where we store the resistance of the moments, where we did NOT accept the WHOLE NOW. (Like if you are in great emotional pain, and you try to "run" from that pain, years later you are in a similar situation, that the new pain gets mingled with the OLD pain, and creates a much stronger pain/feeling).
One of the main tools that Tolle describes is the "Observer" inside of us - the ability to silently stand by, and observe what goes on inside our mind, and our emotions - without judging or analyzing(!), just accepting NOW.
A person asks Tolle - "How can I achieve what you got?" (meaning the peace and enlightenment), and Tolle answers "You allready got it, it's just you mind that is creating to much noise for you to feel it"
I allready look forward to reading this book again!