“A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle Presented By: Martha Creek Great Lakes Unity Churches

Chapter 1:The Flowering of Consciousness “To recognize one’s own insanity is, of course, the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence.” pg 14

Practices: Every time you walk up and down the stairs in your home or office, pay close attention to every step, every movement…even your breathing. Be totally present. When washing your hands, pay attention to the sensory perceptions of the activity; the sound and feel of the water, the movement of your hands, the scent of the soap, etc. When you get into your car, pause for a few seconds and observe the flow of breath. Become aware of the silent powerful sense of presence.

Chapter 2: Ego: The Current State of Humanity “Ego uses words and labels as a means of disguising the miracles with which we are continually blessed.”, pg 26 “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness.”, pg 41 Tools the ego uses to ensure its continuance are: making yourself right and others wrong, stimulating your appetite for “more” and identifying with the body.

Practices: Throughout the day, listen quietly for the voice in your head, the stream of continuous chatter/self talk. Pay attention to the gap between thoughts. Ponder these questions. Just be with the questions, without trying to answer them. Am I the thoughts in my head? Am I the one who is aware of the thoughts?

Chapter 3: The Core of the Ego “Egos only differ on the surface. Deep down they are all the same. They live on identification and separation.”, pg 60 “Fighting unconsciousness draws you into unconsciousness yourself.” Unconsciousness, dysfunctional behavior can never be defeated by attacking it.”, pg 75 “The underlying emotion that governs all activity of the ego is fear.”, pg 80 This is so because the ego arises by identifying with form—and it knows that all form is impermanent.

Practices: Be patient. Be a witnessing presence. Become aware of your breathing. Feel your inner energy field. Ask you what “problem” do you really have right NOW, not next year or tomorrow! What is wrong with this moment? Who would you be if you did not call it wrong? Give up waiting. Catch yourself and come into the present moment. Enjoy waiting.

Chapter 4: Role Playing: The Many Faces of Ego “Behind every positive self concept is the hidden fear of not being enough. Behind every negative self- concept is the hidden desire of being the greatest or better than others.” pg 86. “If there is unhappiness in you, first you need to acknowledge that it is there.”, pg 95

Practices: Use the negativity as a reminder to become more present. “alarm clock” When you notice negativity, say, Attention. Here and now. Wake up. Get out of your mind. Be present. Become transparent, without the solidity of the body. Allow whatever you are reacting to, noise, traffic, criticism – to pass right through you, no longer hitting a “wall inside you. Become like a deep lake. Surface may be rough and below in the depth---always calm. Focus on the whole system. Behavior seen as mutually influenced. Events seen as interrelated. Patterns identified – work at changing unhealthy patterns.

Chapter 5: The Pain Body “Although the body is very intelligent, it cannot tell the difference between an actual situation and a thought.”, page 134 “We can learn not to keep situations or events alive in our minds, but to return our attention to the timeless, present moment.”, page 141

Practices: Observe the pain-body, this breaks the identification with it. Catch the pain-body the moment it takes form as irritation, desire to hurt, impatience, anger, depression, a need to have drama. Observe the resistance within you. Observe the attachment to pain. Observe the compulsion to talk or complain. Resistance ceases if you make it conscious. Focus on the negative internal feeling without judging it or yourself. Accept that it is there and it is not who you are.

Chapter 6: Breaking Free of the Pain-Body Realize you have a pain-body and notice the pain-body is the source of negative emotions. “The energy that was trapped in the pain-body then changes its vibration and is transmuted into Presence.”, page 162 “It requires a high degree of Presence to avoid reacting when confronted by someone with an active pain-body. If you are able to stay present it’s possible that your Presence enables the other person to dis-identify from his/her own pain-body and thus experience awakening.” pg 174

Practices: Don’t try to become free or look for peace Accept your non-peace. Surrender. When you accept “what is”, every moment is the best moment. Live it. Stop deceiving yourself by saying there is nothing wrong with undesirable life situations. Take action to get out of situations without judgment, resistance or mentally labeling them.

Chapter 7: Finding Who You Truly Are “Who you are requires no belief. In fact, every belief is an obstacle.”, pg 189 “Nothing you can find out about yourSelf is you. Nothing you can know about you is you.”, pg 192 “The most important, the primordial relationship in your life is your relationship with the Now…with what is or what happens.” “There are three ways the ego treats the present moment: As an means to and end “I gotta do this before I do that”. As an obstacle “I will grit my teeth through this”. As an enemy “why me?”

Practices: Allow diminishment of the ego Step out the time dimension throughout everyday life. Become friendly with the present moment. Withdraw attention from the past and future. Become more interested in your reactions than the persons or situation that caused you to react. Use your senses fully. Be where you are. Look around, just look – don’t interpret. Listen to sounds – don’t judge. Touch something – acknowledge its Being.

Chapter 8: Discovery of Inner Space “This, too, will pass.” pg 224 “Can you feel your own Presence?” “In the first moment of seeing something or hearing a sound – and more so if it is unfamiliar – before the mind names or interprets what you see or hear, there is a gap of alert attention where perception occurs. That is inner space.”

Practices: Be aware of your breathing. Notice the sensation of the breath. One conscious breath is enough to make some space in the thinking. Breathing happens by itself. Be. Take two or three conscious breaths. See if you can detect a sense of aliveness that pervades your inner body. Sense various parts of your body. Sense the inner body again as a whole.

Chapter 9: Your Inner Purpose “Your inner purpose is to awaken. You share that purpose with every other person on the planet – because it is the purpose of humanity.”, pg 258 “Only the first awakening, the first glimpse of consciousness without thought, happens by grace, without any doing on your part.” pg 260 “When doing becomes infused with the timeless quality of Being, that is success.” pg. 271

Practices: Ask yourself “is there joy and ease in what I am doing?” Connect to your purpose of awakening. Change “how” you are doing things, not “what” you are doing. Give more attention to doing/being than to the results you want. Give fullest attention to the moment. Completely accept what is.

Chapter 10: A New Earth “Awakened doing is the alignment of your inner purpose – awakening and staying awake.” pg 294 “The modalities of awakened Doing are: acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm.” pg 295 “I am a hole in the flute that Christ’s breath moves through. Listen to the music.” Hafiz, pg 301

Practices: Knowing that “what is” cannot be undone, because it already is…say yes to what is and accept what isn’t. Then do what you have to do. Stay alert, stay present – present to your whole Being, every cell. Abide in a state of acceptance for longer and longer periods each day. In this state, you create no negativity, no suffering, no unhappiness. Live in a state of grace, gratitude, lightness, free of struggle and suffering. Be a gift to the world.

The prison we are in is the mind…..ego… And the door is wide open. Peace is never withheld from anyone who wants it. Pain is inevitable….suffering is optional.

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