Eckhart Tolle's Simple Guide to Stopping Overthinking and Finding Peace

One realization came to me first when I talked to a Zen monk. I happened to see a Zen monk and he. We talked a bit about spirituality and Zen. And he said quite simply. Well, he said, zen is really quite simple. You stop thinking. I had expected a more complicated answer. But then I realized that's actually happened to me. I stopped thinking, especially overthinking. I could still think and stop thinking, of course, still happened. But there were long stretches, but there was just very peaceful awareness. And there was then what was building up was out of that awareness came a deep joy. And that was very strange. Sometimes the joy was so intense that it was incredible. And I was just sat there forever on a bench in the park for long periods. That really is what's called bliss. And it's just that intensity of bliss that I had for two or three years. I don't seem to have any more. I have peace. But the intensity of bliss now, I don't know what it could be. That when you get used to something, it doesn't stand out that much anymore and it becomes quite normal. And perhaps I experience bliss because there was still the contrast. I remember my previous state of consciousness then. I was that one. Who knows? But this is the main teaching then of all spiritual teachings come down to this question. Consciousness has to be rescued from where it's been. Consciousness has been kidnapped by thought. It's trapped in that. And this is your task, is to free consciousness from where it's been trapped in involuntary compulsive thinking. That's always thinking. That is imbued. We identify with imbued. So every thought is imbued with a sense of self. So that's the spiritual practice. Is that the stepping out of the movement of thought so that I is no longer confused with the movement of thought? That would be the surface I. So the cessation of thought. And when you practice present moment awareness and make that the main, the central focus of your life, whether you are active or passive in that moment, it doesn't matter if you are active. You give your attention to the doing. You honor it. You give it attention so that it doesn't become stressful. That sounds almost impossible. I know to many people, if you give your fullest attention to the doing, it's not really stressful unless your mind projects itself to some future point or your mind, while you're doing something, thinks of several other things that you really should be doing also at the same time, of course, you can't. You can only do one thing at a time. Another definition of Zen that the master gave is. Zen is doing one thing at a time. That's too simple, isn't it? Too simple one. So you give. If it's doing, you give your attention to it. Then, as I said yesterday, high quality. It's a high quality. If inspiration is helpful in that particular activity, it will flow into what you do. Because you are connected with the unconditioned consciousness, the presence. With some doings, you don't need any inspiration. You just need to get it done. You do the dishes or whatever it is. You don't need particular inspiration. All the while, you do it in a place of giving it your attention, honor it rather than do something, but would rather not be doing it, but I'm doing it anyway. That's how many people live all the time. If you have a work situation where you work for your daily work, you need to decide, is it possible to honor the work that I'm doing? Or even if it's something simple and may not be what I ultimately want to be doing, but right now I need to honor the present moment, whatever it is, in whatever form it arises. My responsibility is to honor life by honoring the present moment. And if your work situation is so dysfunctional that the environment in which you work, for example, or the kind of work that is demanded of you may be what is perhaps conventionally called soul destroying. So that this is not a work that you could do and honor it because it's just very unpleasant. If it's that kind of thing, then you need to remove yourself from that situation. Even though you may be stepping into uncertainty, you cannot remain in a toxic situation like that where you. The honoring of what you do seems impossible. Because, for example, you might be surrounded by people who are in very negative states. There are many situations like that. But in other situations, you may be able to say, okay, this is not the ultimate thing that I want to be doing, but for right now, this is what I'm doing, and I'm able to honor what I'm. And I do it carefully and consciously. So only you can know whether you're able to do that or whether you need to remove yourself from that situation in order to seek something else that is more compatible, that is compatible with presence. Many, many things are compatible with presence, and quite a few other things are not. So when your attention is in the present moment, let's say now we've been talking about activity, then there are other, many moments when you're not actively doing something. You're just sitting somewhere or standing somewhere or walking and, and that is a more kind of passive state of presence. And that's very important too. Are you the observing presence at this moment as you're sitting on a plane looking out of the window or looking at the aisle, don't have a window seat, and you're sitting there? Now you might say, well, this environment on a plane, maybe you don't have a window seat. It's not particularly inspiring. And after you've looked at it for a few minutes, you say, okay, what else is there to look at? Nothing. And then you might get drift off into something else. So it's important to realize there's not just present moment awareness is not just the awareness of what is around you. It is more fundamentally the awareness of yourself in that moment. So your environment does not need to be particularly interesting. And if it's not interesting, like as it would be if you're going out into nature, these wonders are all around you. But if it's not particularly interesting, like you're trapped on, you're sitting on a plane or on a bus or wherever, or at the airport, then direct your attention to yourself. This is the essential part. The deeper part of being present is to be consciously to realize that you are not to realize who you are, but to realize that you are. And that is the sense of beingness or presence present within. When you are conscious of your surroundings, you are present without then being conscious of yourself as the presence being present within. One could say Sam.