Eckhart Tolle defines the ego as a false sense of self, based on mental concepts, which identifies itself with forms, ie, that which is seen. The ego is ever looking back, placing blame, and looking forward toward the acquisition of those things which will 'fulfill' it's desires. Because current possessions fail to provide the lasting happiness ego demands, it has no interest in being present in the Now moment.
The true self, the I Am of Christ Consciousness, has a free playing field in the Now and is free to experience the essential self without labels and pre-judgements. Instead of greeting friends and acquaintances with a lot of mental baggage, we meet them in the Now, free to discover what each of us has become. Tolle wrote:
When you don't cover up the world
with words and labels, a sense of the miraculous
returns to your life that was lost a long
time ago.
Tolle related judging a fellow commuter as crazy because she always talked out loud to herself, complaining and fussing as she went along her way. He, of course, was running a silent commentary about her insanity when he suddenly realized that the only difference between them was that he kept his thoughts to himself instead of talking out loud to himself as she did. I know I have done the same thing all too often--even though I am not verbally venting on the world, those same trash thoughts are chasing themselves around inside my head.
When we shift our attention from what is wrong when we are ill or injured to an external object, such as a flower, we can find and feel the wholeness and beauty in that flower and allow that feeling to wash over us. By connecting to and contemplating the aliveness of the flower, we can shift our awareness into the Now and draw strength and hope into ourselves. This 'transfusion' of aliveness helps us to reconnect with our true self, the eternal I.
Life will give you whatever experience
is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness.
How do you know this is the experience you need?
Because this is the experience you are having
at this moment.
Rev. Claudia Naylor
