The Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle mentioned in his book, “The Power of Now”, that  he spent several years living in a park doing absolutely nothing, without having a job, without having any relationships, without money, but completely at peace and happy.  He also mentioned that his family couldn’t understand him and were quite upset about his behavior because he almost lived like a homeless. Can you imagine leading a life like that and being totally happy?

 Does one need to work very hard to be happy or can one just be happy without any reason and simply sit there?  Can one be happy just being by oneself, drifting aimlessly? It is hard for us to imagine that we can be happy without achieving some goals.  We are busy rushing from  target to target and cannot sense the beauty, silence, and happiness here and now. We also  cannot sit down and be with ourselves just for one single moment.  With our rushing in and rushing out, the Self inside of us is being neglected. We cannot sense and connect with our true nature.  Whenever this connection is missing, we are carried away by the wave of life and get lost in it.  We cannot sleep well because we are so out of equilibrium that we continue the wars and struggles even in our sleeping hours and all the repressions of the day have to be expressed in our dreams. And without a good night's sleep our next day starts on a bad foot. The vicious cycle continues.

There is deep peace, silence, love, and joy behind our daily existence if only we can sit down and connect with our true nature for one moment.  We can feel we are instantly different if we can manage to connect with the peace inside.  Look up from where you are right now. Aren't the birds  singing?  Aren't the insects dancing in the sun light?  Aren’t the flowers blooming? Aren't the clouds moving in the beautiful blue sky? What else do you need to be happy?

By Su Zhen