present force

Author: Eckhart Toll Translator: Hengame Azarmi Published: 1997 Number of pages: 260 Merit Al-Alam Publications Introduction The book "The Power of Now" offers a special way to end suffering and achieve inner peace, live only in the present moment and separate yourself from your mind. You also learn to separate yourself from the ego, the part of your mind that wants to control your thoughts and behavior. This book claims that by doing this, you can learn to embrace the present and reduce the amount of suffering you experience, improve your relationships, and generally enjoy a better life. Who is this book for? Those who seek peace and inner insight, those who have suffered and are not satisfied with their existence, and those who feel that they have reached a dead end. **About the author:** Eckhardt Toll is a German living in Canada who was depressed most of his life until something happened in his life that he calls an inner transformation....after which he calls himself a spiritual guide and writes a best-selling self-study book (The Power of Now). What is in this book for me? We spend most of our time either stuck in the past and full of regrets or worrying about a future that we have no hope of controlling, but at the same time hoping to somehow improve our lives, be happier, even if we don't have a clear idea of ​​how to do it. Eckhart Tolle offers readers a variety of ways to explore the complexities of our inner lives and their relationship to the past, present, and future. In Toll's highly practical philosophy, living in the present is emphasized as a way to avoid most of the suffering we often experience.. To this end, this book focuses on the connection between the mind and suffering, which sheds light on many aspects of the self-destructive methods we use with our minds, for example, trapping ourselves in cycles of suffering and preventing ourselves from being happy. The book claims that the present power book has helped millions of people improve their lives, including their relationships with others, and more importantly, increase their self-esteem and contribute to their lives Chapter One By focusing completely on the present and ignoring the past or the future, you can improve your life....Many of us are looking for inner peace and improving our lives...in other words, we are looking for clarity, but we don't know what steps to take to find it...well, the first step is easier than you think.. Now only the present tense is important because nothing happens in the past or the future, they only happen in the continuous flow of present moments.... Whenever you have a feeling, that feeling happened in the present because your senses can only give you information about this particular time, so when I say something happened in the past, it is not completely correct.. Moreover, what we call the past is a collection of past moments, a collection of moments spent in the future. which is a set They are from the moment.. it is going to come... as said in this book, there is no value in worrying about the future and living in the past... living in the present has many advantages. If you manage your life in the present moment, you will not experience any special problems, only small problems that you can solve as soon as they occur.. For example, a challenging task like writing a scientific paper that often seems difficult and complicated to achieve.. Solve it from someone else, for example by collecting data, creating a structure, writing the first chapter, you will do the job much easier. Just try to live in the present moment, stop clinging to the past and fear the future, and see that your life will improve dramatically. The second season Part of you needs suffering to survive, and that part of you creates most of the suffering you experience... Suppose you can live in the present and not worry about the past or the future, so what happens when you encounter suffering? If suffering is experienced in the present, how can you cope with its physical and mental torment.... Suffering is nothing but internal resistance to external issues that you cannot change... You experience suffering when you are not satisfied with what is, but you do not feel the power to change them... This issue itself shows a negative feeling on an emotional level. Because you think a lot about the past and the future, but you can only live in the present, you have no tools to change the many things you are not happy about, and as a result, you create an internal resistance to the status quo that you experience as suffering....Other aspects of self-inflicted suffering are the suffering body, that is, the part of you that needs to survive..Painful experiences grow and become stronger whenever you experience suffering, so try It makes you sad and frustrated... This cycle can go on for a long time until eventually suffering becomes a fundamental part of your being. You will become completely one with your suffering body, because then suffering will be such an important part of your life that you are afraid to let go of it, because by doing so you will be compromising your true identity. For example, when something annoys you or frustrates you and you feel angry, your suffering body has taken over....Anger overshadows your ability to think and act rationally and very easily leads to more suffering, even when all suffering seems to come from the outside world, but this suffering is actually self-inflicted and in most cases comes from within. Chapter Three The self is the part of your mind that prevents you from being happy.... Have you ever wondered why some people seem to hurt themselves and why so many people are unhappy even though no one wants to be miserable? It's the ego's fault... the part of your mind that controls your thoughts and behavior without you realizing it... For example, if you later think about an argument you had with someone, you may realize and perhaps regret that you overdid it, but in the middle of the argument, you were not aware of what was controlling or influencing your mind and behavior... Why does the breath do this? It depends on the constant presence of sadness in you, so that it constantly prevents you from being happy and acts against your best wishes.... The presence of a destructive part of your mind that creates sadness shows why so many people suffer when practically no one wants to live a sad life.. a sad story.... as seen in some small offices or families.... although people want to live in peace and tranquility with each other, their egos make them struggle with things. Insignificance annoys and makes them overreact. If you suddenly get into a heated argument over something as trivial as whose turn it is to clean the kitchen or whether a TV show is good or not, it's probably the ego... The ego is a destructive part of the human mind... It wants to be the most important part of you and has no limits... Chapter Four If you're looking for a richer, almost pain-free life, detach yourself from your mind and focus on your body. The power of the ego is just one of several reasons why it is so important to detach from the mind and pay more attention to the body.... In addition, many great masters have spoken about the importance of focusing on the body rather than the mind.... Why? Because the mind is responsible for suffering.... The mind creates suffering by constantly recalling the past or planning for the future to occupy your life with regretful memories of the past and worrying scenarios for the future.. Reduce and reduce some of its controls. How? By transferring your focus from the mind to the body. Your body knows what's good for you... By listening to your body, you can gain a clear understanding of what is good for your life. Jesus often spoke about the importance of the body and used it in proverbs and anecdotes, for example your body is a temple, the stories of his resurrection and ascension usually emphasize that his body did not go to the grave and that he ascended to heaven with his body and not just with his mind or spirit No one has achieved enlightenment by focusing on the mind and abandoning the body.. A clear example of this can be seen in the Buddha's austerity and six years of fasting to separate from his body... As a result, although he experienced separation from the body, not with peace and enlightenment, he only experienced enlightenment when he abandoned these practices and became one with his body once again. Chapter Five Examining the mind without judgment is the best way to detach from it and thus be free from suffering.... Once you realize that your mind is the cause of your suffering that prevents you from living your true life in the present moment, you must detach from it. How? To detach yourself from your mind, you must be fully aware of the power it has over you, otherwise you will never notice the countless ways your mind affects your thoughts and behavior and thus your happiness.... For example, if you want to examine your mind, ask yourself what will be my next thought. The second method available to you is to examine your mind without judgment..judging itself is a mental act, so if you are judging something, you are using your mind again..for example, if you want to run in the middle of work, just follow the movement of your body, your body knows what is good for it, so go out and run. Do not judge and Try to follow that advice... just laugh at it and accept that it exists... By doing this, you will learn to know your own mind without letting it lead you in any direction it wants. Sixth chapter Try to be in a constant state of awareness and at the same time try to be more successful in separating yourself from your mind. Active waiting This state is a special kind of waiting... like when you are aware that something important or serious may happen at any moment, in such a state all your attention is focused on the present. When you are in active waiting mode, you will not have time to daydream, plan or remember, which usually separates us from the present moment.. For example, when you take an exam, you should not waste time worrying about the result, but instead be fully present and pay very close attention to your work.... Getting into active waiting mode right before and during the exam can help you get through anything. Am. This focus on the body is also vital for living in the present....for example, Zen masters would slowly approach their blindfolded disciples and then try to strike the waiting disciples....waiting forced the disciples to focus on their bodies, and as a result, they were able to sense the approach of the masters and escape their attack....which can lead to a good life... For example, when the companions of Jesus asked him what they should do to have a good and peaceful life, he advised them to wait for the master's return like a servant, because the servant does not know when the master will return, he is always in a state of alertness, he does not plan for the future, and he always watches his surroundings so as not to lose the master.. Chapter Seven Living in the present can be difficult for your partner, but it can also improve your relationship. After doing the previous steps, you can now live in the present moment and you are no longer completely dependent on your mind, but how does this change your daily life, for example your relationships.. Why do they do this? The best answer can be given by comparing... Just as darkness cannot survive in the presence of light, it is difficult for a person who is still controlled by the ego to live with someone who lives in the present.. Powerful opposites cannot coexist. If you put a candle in the dark, the darkness will go away... If you pour water on the fire, the flame will disappear... But if you do it right, living in the present moment can greatly improve your relationship. The inner peace that living in the present brings, enables you to listen to your partner without judgment... If you live in the present, living with you can be difficult for your partner, it can even be a new test for your relationship... In the long run, this can create great opportunities for positive changes for both your partner and your relationship. **Chapter Eight** Not all suffering is avoidable, and surrendering to the present does not mean giving up uncomfortable and uncomfortable feelings....Even if you live completely in the present, some sad and painful feelings are unavoidable, but what to do about them? Just suppress them and pretend everything is fine? This doesn't sound like a good idea, although it's true that most suffering is self-inflicted, that doesn't mean we create it all.... A good example of inevitable suffering is suffering inflicted on you by people who are still under the control of their destructive minds, another example is the death of a loved one... since you certainly can't make death happen to those around you... it's clear that suffering is inevitable. So what can be done? When you experience a painful event that causes you real suffering, you can only accept it as it is.. For example, if you lose a loved one to death, you will definitely feel sad, but if you can accept it as it is and cannot be changed, you will avoid unnecessary suffering. Being sad is a normal feeling and something you don't need to feel guilty or ashamed about....everything is there as it is....accepting it means we don't constantly waste our time wishing it were different....by living in the present you can avoid most of the pain in your life and also living in the present doesn't mean ignoring or accepting the power of these difficult pains in life...it gives you. Chapter Nine Surrendering to the present does not mean living passively.... It is very nice to have inner peace, but when your life circumstances are bad, this inner peace is not worth much. Does accepting the present automatically lead to a passive life where you are indifferent to what is bothering you or unwilling to change it? Necessarily.... living in the present is an internal process of feeling and insight that does not force you to engage in passive external behavior.... For example, if you are stuck in the mud, you would never tell yourself that you always wanted to be stuck in the mud.... Instead, you could try to let yourself go without fear.. It is quite true that living in the present can bring new forms of strength and perseverance as you draw on your inner resources to create problems. You don't waste.. In fact, by living in the present you don't see any problems, you only see situations that are manageable and can be solved one by one.. This will make your work much more effective. Living in the present and accepting it does not mean living passively or not choosing to try for a better life, but by focusing on the present and keeping the past and future in place, you will be able to see the wrong issues clearly and change the situation for the better. Summary Don't focus on the past or the future, live in the present and try to separate yourself from a mind that is saturated with your past... Following this method will reduce your suffering and improve your life. Questions that this book has answered during the contents: **How ​​can I make my life better?** By focusing on the present and ignoring the past and the future, you can greatly improve your life.. The part of you that needs suffering to survive is the part that has the most suffering you experience. What is the relationship between mind and suffering? The breath is the part of your mind that prevents you from being happy.. If you want to live a richer and almost pain-free life, separate yourself from your mind and focus on your body.. Examining the mind without judgment is the best way to separate yourself from the mind and thus be free from suffering... Try to be in a constant state of awareness.. **How ​​will this affect my life?** Living in the present can be hard on your partner, but it can also improve your relationship. Not all suffering is avoidable...Surrendering to the present does not mean letting go of sad or hurtful feelings. Living in the present does not mean living passively. Simin Sadeghi Far (Bachelor of Psychology) under the supervision of Dr. Mansour Nikogutar