What story are you telling yourself?

Do not seek the truth; simply cease cherishing illusions.
Adyashanti

Eckhart Tolle never had a guru. He mentioned that he was depressed as a student, and in one ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ episode felt like he was sucked into a vortex. The next morning when he woke up it seemed like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders and that’s when he started exploring and writing about what ‘The Power of Now’ is all about.

How come that countless spiritual travelers aspire to be enlightened like Eckhart Tolle? He  himself admitted that he started reading all the spiritual literature only after his Awakening had taken place to learn what exactly happened to him. Do you spot the irony though, he himself never aspired to get enlightened, he just somehow stumbled on it. So why should we have an aspiration that Eckhart Tolle himself never had?

What is the process of leaving the ego behind for good? God only knows! Awareness comes when it comes. When Eckhart Tolle says, ‘rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them’, all of us nod enthusiastically, but this reminder doesn’t get us anywhere. Sometimes we are aware and sometimes we are not. Our awareness arises in proportion to the layers of our story that we manage to leave behind.

Let’s live an authentic life; that’s the only degree of freedom that we really have. Let’s start from what is, not from what could be, and see where it gets us. Let’s listen to the stories that we are telling ourselves and let us find out how authentic they really are. Life is in charge. Life sets us free. It’s our job to question the illusions we carry with us and we will awaken to unconditional love accordingly.

The three three pillars of spirituality are authenticity, awareness and love. Authenticity is what everyone overlooks, while awareness and love is what everyone aspires to possess. Awareness comes when it comes and unconditional love streams in once we leave the story we tell ourself behind. Time to get rid of some cherished illusions. That’s all we can do anyway. What story are you telling yourself these days?