A long time ago, I came across a book by Eckhart Tolley, entitled The Power of Now. Back then, when I read it, I found many of its insights quite enlightening, especially the one which says our minds don’t allow us to be in the present moment. They either keep us in the past or the future, and that’s why we miss a lot of what is happening in the present moment by not being fully present, thus pitting ourselves against something over which we have no control. Indulgence of the mind in the past or future is the first step to step into human suffering.
Eckart Tolley attributes suffering among humans to the ego. In simple words, what he says, humans suffer because of their egos. Ego, before Eckart Tolley, is an attachment on the part of humans to any particular form of life. To put it in simple words, he says that we humans have life around us in different forms or we experience life in different forms. If these forms are put in terms of age, we humans have forms like childhood, youth, and old age. If these forms are put in terms of relations, we humans at the same time might be playing the role of brother, uncle, son, husband and father. If these forms are put in terms of profession, whatever profession we have, it’s a form of life.
Before Eckart, when humans start defining themselves with a particular form of life or stick to it, that’s the best illustration of ego among humans and when this happens, it’s a recipe for human suffering.
Never assume or believe that whatever form of life you are experiencing is going to last forever. We are not forms of life we are experiencing, we are life, flowing through various forms of life but not defining itself with one particular form. Whenever we define or attach ourselves to one form of life, we suffer. When we define one particular form of life, it’s not we who are living life but these are our egos, and ego is the ultimate source of human suffering
Why? Because like life is mortal, the same are its forms. As life fluctuates, so do its forms. These forms are a part of life. They are not life. When we humans try to find permanence in any particular form of life, like forever we want to have it; we are not only challenging the mortality of life but are equating life with a particular form in which life itself does not believe. For life, a form is a part of life, not whole life.
We, humans, can’t tame life by sticking to one form of life. Yes, life shows up in a lot of forms in our life, but sticking to one form of life and wishing that it does not go away is something we can wish but, in reality, it does not happen. It’s a mistake to identify life with a particular form of life. The key to happiness is to experience various forms of life, but defining your whole life with one particular form may make you end at the door of suffering. In simple, live life; experience all forms of life but have this belief that just like we humans are mortal, in the same way, whatever form we are experiencing is also mortal. That form, no matter how dear it is to us, is not going to stay with us forever. It dies like we have to die one day.
Some general takeaways which I wanted to highlight in the context of insights I got from Power of Now are as follows.
Live in the present if you want to experience life fully. It seems easy to say, but it’s difficult to actualize. Each day, when life pits us against its vicissitudes, we unconsciously forget how to be in the present moment. I usually during my classes sometimes share insights of The Power of Now and especially this “being present in the moment” when I find students physically present and mentally not present in class, but I do confess that at times even after preaching this message of being present in the moment I sometimes forget and feel overwhelmed by life unfolding around me. The point I am trying to convey is that you have to consciously give a reminder to your mind by saying that although you like wandering in the past or future yet your job is to be present at the moment. If you tame your mind this way, it’s guaranteed that you are going to make each moment of your life count. If you don’t believe it, experience it yourself.
The second takeaway is; never assume or believe that whatever form of life you are experiencing is going to last forever. We are not forms of life we are experiencing, we are life, flowing through various forms of life but not defining itself with one particular form. Whenever we define or attach ourselves to one form of life, we suffer. When we define one particular form of life, it’s not we who are living life but these are our egos, and ego is the ultimate source of human suffering.
