My Ah-ha Moment

Yesterday I had an ah-ha moment. I discovered that when I start feeling miserable, upset, or unhappy, I’ve been thinking only about myself (ego) and not about God and His infinite love for me. It sounds so simple, but it’s so powerful!

I really like Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth. In this book, he teaches the reader how to move from ego-centered thinking to peaceful thinking. Tolle describes the fundamentals of Buddhist meditation, which are wonderful skills for anyone to learn. Although I disagree with many of his concepts about Christianity, I believe that his ideas on meditation can help anyone learn to live more peacefully and authentically.

Here are a few of his quotes that I like:

• The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly—you usually don't use it at all. It uses you.

• Love, joy, and peace cannot flourish until you have freed yourself from mind dominance.

• Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is Life itself, it is an insane way to live.

• Nobody’s life is entirely free of pain and sorrow. Isn’t it a question of learning to live with them rather than trying to avoid them?

• Knowing the oneness of yourself and the other is true love, true care, true compassion.

• So be true to life by being true to your inner purpose. As you become present and thereby total in what you do, your actions become charged with spiritual power.

• In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes a prediction that to this day few people have understood. He says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” In modern versions of the Bible, “meek” is translated as humble. Who are the meek or the humble, and what does it mean that they shall inherit the earth? The meek are the egoless. ..They live in the surrendered state and so feel their oneness with the whole and the Source [God, the Higher Power].

Meditation is an invaluable skill. As we clear our minds of fear, anger, and other negative emotions and focus on God’s perfect love for us and for all of His children, we can experience calm amid the storms of life. We can experience peace amid sorrow.


© Carol Brown