Book Surgeon No. 6

My apologies for posting in the evening this week, but I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and Easter. I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend a wonderful day with my family and am thankful for all of the amazing people in my life.

Let me start this newsletter by saying I greatly enjoyed this week’s book, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. As you may guess from its name, this book is all about the power we can derive from living fully in the present, in the Now. Tolle is a German philosopher and teacher who uses insights from a variety of Western and Eastern religions and philosophies to convey the power of full awareness of the current moment. The book is full of lofty and religious words (such as enlightenment, suffering, eternal), which may evoke feelings of hesitation in some readers because of the polarizing connotations they have in our current culture. However, moving past one’s personal religious and cultural biases, Tolle’s insights offer an incredibly powerful perspective for learning to live fully present, which can be practically applied to every single day of our lives. What could be more important to pursue than our own inner peace and contentment?

Tolle asks early in the book, “can you be free of your mind whenever you want to? Have you found the ‘off’ button?” He argues that the mind, which is a powerful instrument when used properly, has taken control for many people, leading to an abundance of thoughts that prevent us from living in the present and cause unnecessary distress. Specifically, much of the anxiety or unease we may feel comes from our thoughts of the past or of the future. However, we are not experiencing the past or the future in the present, so why do we let them affect our present lives so much? Why do we allow scenarios that have already happened or have not happened at all to make us feel unwanted emotions, such as fear or anxiety? In Tolle’s words, “the psychological condition of fear is divorced from any concrete and true immediate danger. It comes in many forms: unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension, dread, phobia, and so on. This kind of psychological fear is always something that is happening now. You are in the here and now, while your mind is in the future. This creates an anxiety gap.” The worst part about this mentally constructed anxiety is our helplessness against the nonexistence of the future: “you can always cope with the present moment, but you cannot cope with something that is only a mind projection–you cannot cope with the future.” The only moment of our life that we can control is the present moment. Yet, our mind likes to live in the past or the future, which fills our minds with thoughts that only weigh us down. In order to live in the present, we have to be aware of when our mind is thinking of the past or future, and this awareness will automatically bring us back to the Now. When you are truly focused on the Now, you can ask yourself what is the problem you are facing now, not an imagined past or future problem created by your mind. 

One of my key takeaways of this book is similar to a piece of advice we often hear: enjoy the journey. As Tolle puts it, “do not be concerned with the fruit of your action–just give attention to the action itself. The fruit will come of its own accord.” Practically, however, learning to live in the present can be an extreme challenge because of its novelty relative to how we currently live our lives. Despite the challenge, tactics to live more presently in the world around us have begun to become more widespread in our cultural community; for instance, meditation groups and apps like Headspace or Calm have become increasingly accessible and have become useful tools for many to begin to notice the beauty of the present moment. An app or group, however, is not always necessary for learning to live in the Now. As Tolle notes, “in your everyday life, you can practice this by taking routine activity that normally is only a means to an end and giving it your fullest attention, so that it becomes an end in itself. For example, every time you walk up and down the stairs in your house or place of work, pay close attention to every step, every movement, even your breathing. Be totally present. Or when you wash your hands, pay attention to all the sense perceptions associated with the activity: the sound and feel of the water, the movement of your hands, the scent of the soap, and so on … There is one certain criterion by which you can measure your success in this practice: the degree of peace that you feel within.” Ultimately, these small reminders that we can implement in our lives to live more fully and presently is what The Power of Now is about to me. These small behavior changes in our lives have almost no downside but can be incredibly powerful in helping us achieve small moments of internal peace and to better appreciate the beautiful world around us.