How Does Being Only in the Now Work?
Only the now matters in the grand scheme of things.
Yes, we can learn from the past and do things to prepare for the future…but this moment is the most real moment we will have.
Only the now is the place of true reality. The actual, factual place where anything exists. Each individual moment, right here and right now, are where reality lives.
My latest reading material has been Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Yes, for those of you who find these things to be hooky-spooky new-age bullshit, I am sure there is much skepticism here. However, there are some really good points that he makes, and it is winding its way into my overall thought processing.
The biggest takeaway thus far has been the idea that the self we have created in our minds is not the TRUE self. The self in our minds is made up of the past, notions about the future, while barely acknowledging the present. Our true self, our inner being, exists outside of the mindful self.
My interpretation, thus far, is that we get so caught up in who the mind has built us up to be from the past and eyeing the future, that we only spend the briefest of moments in the now. Yet only the now is where our true beings exist.
Isn’t this contradictory to the notion that consciousness creates reality? No, because the idea of taking our consciousness to create reality functions most efficiently and effectively when we are in the here-and-now. This is because consciousness is awareness, and we are most aware when we are most in the present. Really, Eckhart Tolle’s concept not only applies to conscious reality creation, but also drives it.
How does being only in the now work?
For a while I have been working on practicing daily meditation. Meditation helps to quiet the mind, and allow me to connect with source energy, which is everywhere, all the time. During meditation, while I am focusing on my breathing and sinking into source energy, I am aware. I am aware of the moment, and I am ultimately in the now.
Because we all have our daily routines, it is easy to allow them to carry us along. We allow our subconscious to take over our thoughts, and we cruise along. Much of what we do every day becomes as seemingly inconsequential as breathing. You don’t think about breathing, you just do it…most of the time.
Everyone has an inner dialogue, and I am pretty sure that most of us let it run in the background more often than not. This means that we frequently are giving attention to past matters, some of which are good and some not good. At the same time, we are looking ahead to future matters. Again, some good, some not good.
I know that I will look back at past things that were not good, and possibly fret about them. What would things be like now had I acted differently? On the other side of the same coin, anticipating future events, when we are concerned something will not go as we need or desire it to, creates anxiety.
It was the philosopher Lau Tzu who said, “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.” I think that this perfectly explains how being only in the now we are our most true selves.
Conscious Reality Creation and the now
Consciousness creates reality. The process involves taking thought, giving it feeling, and from there taking intentional action. When we are conscious, we are aware, and when we are aware we are actively thinking, rather than passively thinking. Active thought is present thought, and by this definition exists only in the now. The thought itself is in the now.
The feeling is generally what takes a thought out of the now and puts it into the mind. And this is where, at least for me, it tends to break down somewhat. Because feeling is often colored by past actions and recollections as well as future anticipation and anxieties. Feeling opens up new thought, which is feeling based, in the mind.
Yup, found a new paradox here. Yet this is what I believe Eckhart Tolle is getting at. The mind will draw us out of the now, and in an effort to remain in existing comfort zones, slide us away from true awareness.
How do I better remain only in the now to consciously create reality? This has been this week’s new challenge. Aside from meditation, this is what I have come up with:
Be Aware of Where You Are
In this very moment, where am I? This is the point to stop and take stock of my surroundings. What do I see, what do I feel, what do I hear and smell? Give my complete and total attention to precisely this moment, what is around me and what I am experiencing, and I find this nearly instantly calms me.
I am often surprised by little things I regularly do not notice. Ambient air temperature, general background noises, subtle odors and more.
Take It All In
Breathe deep, look around, and really BE in this present moment. The calm that this generally produces in me is really pleasant.
Why? Because generally, in the present moment, fully and only in the now, we simply are. I AM. Right here and now there is nothing to worry about, and no feelings to feel apart from just being.
That is the whole point. When we can be only in the now we find that we simply ARE. As we work with conscious reality creation to manifest the life we desire, we help make ourselves more aware. When we are aware, we are less apt to allow our subconscious thought processes to drive us.
As I delve deeper into the reading and gain more insight into this concept, it really speaks to me. In terms of Pathwalking and conscious reality creation, I will continue to share how this new tool in the arsenal can make it all even more effective. As such, how this works in manifesting the life I desire to have.
Right now, where are you, and what do you see and feel?
This is the three-hundred thirty-fifth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas for, and my personal experiences with, walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available here.
After more than 6 years of Pathwalking, I have launched a Patreon to garner support for these works, and more.
