TheHealer

Allow the darkness in. Get to know it. Assimilate it. Make it your best friend. Then, when it turns on you and begins to suck you into itself like a black hole, don't resist. It knows all the tricks in the book, but there's a better trick up your sleeve... and although it may seem powerful, it's terrified of you because it knows you have the better hand. It can see it in your eyes - there's a spark there. Undeniable. It can't tolerate it, because it's the light of Truth and there is nothing that can be hidden. In the light, the darkness ceases to exist, and that's what it's most scared of.

@mandyjw ? Loved sesame Street as a kid

???

@mandyjw Did you actually read my original post, and do you have anything useful to say, or are you just gonna repeat platitudes and tell yourself that you're making a worthwhile contribution?

@mandyjw I didn't mention conflict.

Very good, well done, But I don't need to be given a lesson on presence, like I said I've studied Eckhart Tolle a lot. Not only that, but for the past two years, I've meditated every day for long periods and even had enlightenment experiences. However, it has only gotten me so far, and I am an independent thinker. My main point was about Jesus and Eckhart Tolle. If Jesus' message was really about living in the moment, he wouldn't have used the future tense so much!

I've been reading The Bible recently and getting a lot out of it. Over the years I have paid more attention to the teachings of Eckhart Tolle. I have found them extremely beneficial in some regards. However, I find inconsistencies in his teachings. He uses examples from The Bible to reinforce his basic message of "being in the now", such as: "Jesus speaks of the five careless (unconscious) women who do not have enough oil (consciousness) to keep their lamps burning (stay present) and so miss the bridegroom (the Now) and don't get to the wedding feast (enlightenment)." Yet he also decries the teachings of Jesus by stating "belief in a future heaven creates a present hell" Throughout the book of Matthew, Jesus often speaks in the FUTURE tense, and is clearly warning of a FUTURE heaven and hell, that we need to PREPARE for... So why is ET contradicting himself, by using Christ to reinforce his own beliefs, yet also denouncing Christ's teachings? I happen to disagree with him that belief in a future heaven creates a present hell. Belief in a future heaven *can* inspire people to live a decent, moral, pure life. Whereas living constantly in "the now" *can* create so much evil and suffering - this is an extreme example - but: a "spiritual" person who murdered someone could soothe his conscience by meditating and believe that what he'd done is unimportant because it's in the past. Then his proclivity for evil might cause repeat offences, and then for a while he might feel deep guilt and regret... but then he could just meditate and forget about it all. His core belief that living "in the now" is the most important thing is something he could use to absolve himself of any wrongdoing he might commit. And this applies to other less extreme examples. Something to think about. ?

You quoted me and put "thinking" in italics and said this was an issue. So it is clear that you believe thinking in general is an issue.

Yeah, unfortunately, due to spiritual teachers like Eckhart Tolle, thinking is not encouraged these days. ? Some people meditate so much that their mental faculties become impaired and they neglect practical things like washing themselves and doing household chores. If you "think" thinking is a problem, you have been misled. ?

I've been thinking about two different things that the owner of this site has said in separate videos. One is "there is no such thing as free will"... The other is "god is indifferent" and then he goes on to say that "God doesn't care if you go and murder someone" . For a mentally unstable person, these two messages could lead to actual homicide. Leo is basically saying that murder is not only OK, but that if you murdered someone, it wouldn't be your fault. Very dangerous. I remember seeing a post which said Leo could be the devil and I didn't take it seriously. But thinking about it... Didn't the devil try to convince you he didn't exist... Just like what Leo is doing?

I don't know.

@Austin Actualizing position is not important. It was mostly lying on the couch, which is fine as long as you don't fall asleep.

Thankyou. My level of commitment is parallel to the level of necessity. I started with 1 or 2 hours, but quickly progressed to 5 and beyond. I did not take many breaks.....after all, how hard is sitting still for 5 hours? Not hard in my book, after all you don't have to do anything!!!!

It's always the present moment, but this "present moment" business is nuanced. Get in touch with your emotions and try to separate your awareness of the emotions from the emotions themselves. Keep doing that until something clicks, and then you won't suffer any longer.

@Leo Gura