The Power of Now

From a talk at the Bodhi Tree bookstore in Los Angeles
by Eckhart Tolle (author of "The Power of Now") in November 1999

The world is full of interesting ideas, but none of these have saved the world from its madness. So if you have come with expectations of learning new and fascinating things, you may be disappointed. We are here to become acquainted with a state of consciousness that, since ancient times, has been pointed to by masters and teachers and teachings. Many different labels have been attached to that state of consciousness: enlightenment, salvation, liberation, self-realization, the end of suffering, the kingdom of heaven, the pearl of great price... they all point to the possibility of transcending the ordinary human state of consciousness, which has been running the world since the beginning of history. In fact, almost all of human history is a reflection of that ordinary, and in many ways dysfunctional state of consciousness. If there's still anybody left who doubts the dysfunction of the human mind, I suggest two things: You can either read a book on 20th century history, or you can watch TV tonight.

Sadly, most of history has been about watching the dysfunctional human mind in action. The great teachers have recognized this, and called it different names: the Buddha said humans are in dukkha, a state of suffering or dissatisfaction. Christianity talks of a state of sin. Hinduism speaks of a state of illusion. They also all point to the possibility of entering a different state of consciousness that is beyond the dysfunction of the human mind. A few people in history actually understood all of this and were able to live the message and enter than new state of consciousness that is free of suffering -- free of unhappiness, a state of deep connectedness with being, great creativity, and continuous inner peace.

Now, for the first time, this enlightenment is happening on a large scale, not just to one person in ten million or less, as it did before. It is emerging now because it has to emerge: The planet would not survive another hundred years of the present human consciousness.

People believe that their unhappiness is due to the content of their lives, that they will be happy if they obtain certain things. This is the belief, but it's not true. You'll be happy for a while, and then your old unhappiness will return in another form. This is because unhappiness is about the structure of your thinking, and not the content of your life. Realizing this is already the beginning of liberation. As long as you are trapped in the egoic mind, you can never be free, no matter where you go, who you meet, what you
achieve, or what planet or galaxy you reach.

Interestingly, the mind structure operates in the same way for a so-called spiritual person as for a so-called materialistic person, since most so-called spiritual people carry their dysfunction into their spiritual work. The are spiritually unhappy, and they say, "One day I will be good enough at my meditation," or "One day I will attain enlightenment." This approach is no different from the one which says, "I'm going to have 50 million dollars, and then I'll be somebody."

Though seeing this dysfunction may come as a shock, there is a way out, and that is to realize that the dysfunction of the human mind ceases to operate when the root of the dysfunction is removed. And that root is the mind's refusal, or unwillingness, to open itself up to this moment, to embrace life now, and say yes to what is. That would be the end of the egoic, even if it sounds impossibly simple -- just relinquish your warfare with life, because that is what constitutes the madness of the human mind. Nothing is ever outside of the now. Life and the now are one.

It means entering a state on continuous deep peace, aliveness, a state where you are no longer trying to figure out how to control the future. You open yourself up to the power of the greater consciousness that lies beyond the limited human mind, which then can flow and live through you, and the intelligence that created the galaxies, the flowers, the blade of grass -- everything -- can then express itself fully through you. It is no longer restricted almost to zero by the madness of the little egoic entity, which is like a knot. When the human mind is no longer an egoic mind, it will be continuously inspired by that great intelligence, and will give form to all the insights, intuitions, realizations and creative ideas that arise from the deeper level within yourself.

The moment you say yes to what is, and fully embrace it, you become flooded with an intense aliveness. People often feel it in every cell of their body. It suddenly feels good to be alive, and what is happening, or not happening, is no longer important. You are one with the aliveness and intelligence that lives in every cell of your being. And if you take action, that action will arise out of the deep sense of connectedness with being that occurs when I accept the now, and the action will be a hundred times more effective than action that arises out of my resistance to what is.

This is the simple truth and the simple transformation that all the great teachers talked about. Jesus said, take no thought of the morrow, the morrow will take care of itself. Surrender to the now, and then watch life unfold around you. This is the end of suffering, the end of unhappiness. Accept whatever arises in this moment as if you had chosen it, and your whole life will be miraculously transformed.